Publishers Weekly
★ 03/09/2020
Leibovitz (A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen) brilliantly charts the life and legacy of the founder of Marvel Comics in this slim but affecting biography. Leibovitz calls Stan Lee (1922–2018) an “effervescent self-promoter” and notes that “by any measure of significance at our disposal, few artists have had so much of an impact on American popular culture.” He walks readers through Lee’s childhood (he was born in New York City to poor Jewish immigrant parents), his start in the business as an errand boy for what was then Timely Comics, and his channeling of his dissatisfaction with existing characters into the development of ones that had recognizable human emotions, and which paved the way for Marvel Comics with such heroes as Spider-man, Iron Man, and Black Panther. Leibovitz examines Lee’s ideas and the inspiration behind his characters, arguing that, in order to understand the characters, they must be regarded as having been “formed by the anxieties of first-generation American Jews who had fought in World War II, witnessed the Holocaust, and reflected—consciously or otherwise—on the moral obligations and complications of life after Auschwitz.” Fans of the legendary comic book writer and publisher will devour this expert mix of biography and literary analysis. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
"Mr. Leibovitz provides fresh interpretations of the Marvel universe, itself a super-heroic feat. Lee’s contentious heroes, he finds, take their cue from the Talmud, which unveiled spiritual truths through the clash of opposing interpretations."—Michael Saler, Wall Street Journal"Fans of the legendary comic book writer and publisher will devour this expert mix of biography and literary analysis."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review"An analysis that goes deeper than most into the metaphysical vision of comics pioneer Stan Lee. . . . Leibovitz brings to the project a deep love for—and knowledge of—the comic-book world that Lee created. . . . Another solid addition to the series in which the author brings the seriousness his subject deserves."—Kirkus Reviews"Leibovitz is a master storyteller. . . . [His] characteristically creative take on Lee, it should come as no surprise, surpasses the usual biographical fare. . . . Brilliant."—Rabbi Stuart Halpern, Jewish JournalCHOICE 2021 Outstanding Academic Title“Liel Leibovitz’s Stan Lee: A Life in Comics interprets Lee’s and his collaborators’ Marvel co-creations—such as the X-Men and Spider-Man—in a uniquely Jewish context, bringing fresh insights and added dimension to characters whose genius lies, in part, in their ability to credibly sustain such interpretations.”—Danny Fingeroth, author of A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee“From one of our most incisive Jewish cultural critics—someone who is equally at home in the history of Jewish thought and text and the pop culture world of the postwar period—this is a thoroughly entertaining, deeply intelligent, and highly thoughtful work.”—Jeremy Dauber, author of Jewish Comedy: A Serious History
Kirkus Reviews
2020-02-07
An analysis that goes deeper than most into the metaphysical vision of comics pioneer Stan Lee (1922-2018).
In the latest volume in the publisher’s Jewish Lives series, Leibovitz necessarily focuses on Lee’s essential Jewishness and indicates that his life and legacy deserve academic scrutiny. As an author and commentator who works closely with many Jewish media outlets (he is a senior editor at Tablet) and who has previously published on Jewish subjects, he has the right credentials for the subject. Most importantly, however, Leibovitz brings to the project a deep love for—and knowledge of—the comic-book world that Lee created and how that world impacted popular culture and vice versa. With Marvel Studios now dominating the movie industry, one is less likely to underestimate the popular reach of Spider-Man or the Avengers, but Leibovitz argues that most are missing the big picture, that even serious scholarly attention has been “focusing on history and sociology but rarely on philosophy and theology.” The author’s analysis is not exactly an introduction or a primer, and it will most satisfy those who are already well versed in the Marvel universe, the Talmud, and the cultural and political upheavals that so profoundly impacted the thematic progression of Lee’s empire. Leibovitz wants readers to recognize the cultural parallels between comic books and rock ’n’ roll, to see Lee as a kindred spirit with “another gnomic Jewish artist, Bob Dylan,” and to see how “his comic books, like Dylan’s songs, have become vast cultural canvasses onto which anyone interested in the art form can paint his or her own interpretations, an ongoing dialogue with the artist that mirrors the ancient Talmudic logic of constant conversation and disputation.” The author also touches on Lee’s gift for self-mythologizing and the charges that, as a collaborator, he has taken more credit than is his due.
Another solid addition to the series in which the author brings the seriousness his subject deserves.
