This unauthorized biography by cultural historian Batchelor (Mad Men: A Cultural History) is as much a history of Marvel Comics and the comic book industry as it is of Stan Lee, the man largely credited with transforming the comic book industry into a pop culture colossus. Batchelor begins with Lee’s childhood in New York City during the Great Depression, to which he attributes Lee’s strong work ethic and ambition. A workaholic from an early age, Lee joined the comic book industry at its infancy, learning the ropes from writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby, who were his mentors at Timely Comics (later renamed Marvel Comics). By age 19, Lee had already taken over as editor-in-chief. Aside from the first chapter on his childhood, the book mainly glosses over Lee’s personal life, focusing primarily on his career. Batchelor shows how Lee led his team of writers and illustrators with a can-do spirit, working with his staff in employing snappy dialogue and colorful graphics to concoct a dynamic new medium. Introducing racial diversity, serial storytelling, current events, and emotional conflict, the boastful Lee and his team devised a marvelous universe of new characters, who connected strongly with readers by displaying emotional weaknesses that equaled their physical strengths.... Batchelor successfully shows how this dreamer and risk-taker perfectly captured the cultural zeitgeist and assisted in creating 'fairy tales for grown-ups.'

Publishers Weekly

Meet Stanley Lieber: movie fan, adventure-story fan, budding writer. Young Stanley started in the comic book business as an assistant to Timely Comics’ head writer, Joe Simon, and to artist Jack Kirby. Along the way, as he graduated from assistant to writer, he became known as Stan Lee and wound up revolutionizing the comic-book business: in partnership with some of the great artists (Kirby and the legendary Steve Ditko, among others), he created Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and other familiar superheroes. What made Lee’s creations special was his insistence on giving them recognizable human traits and flaws; these weren’t idealized superheroes but real people with special abilities. This is a solidly researched and written biography of Lee (who is in his mid-nineties now).... [Lee] is a hugely entertaining story, and the author tells it well.

Booklist

Where Batchelor succeeds most is fleshing out the settings and context along the narrative spine of Lee’s life. To understand Lee’s emerging choices as a teenager, for instance, is to comprehend the rise of the pulp book business, the branching out of comic strip publishing and the convergence of colorful men looking to make a buck after World War I, even if it meant making connections with the Mob. Superheroes are first embraced by American readers not yet economically lifted by the postwar boom. [Stan Lee:] The Man Behind Marvel is a thorough primer for the newcomer to the tale of Lee’s legendary 1960s rise. Batchelor delves into not only how Lee worked as an editor — the creative freedom he gave many artists worked to his advantage, too — but also how he built himself into a celebrity brand synonymous with the Marvel name.

The Washington Post

Bob Batchelor's bio of Stan Lee is not only thorough and accurate, it's also extremely well written. If you enjoy reading Stan's stories, you'll enjoy the story of Stan just as much.

Steve Englehart, novelist and comic book writer (The Avengers, Captain America)

An insightful and candid look at one of the twentieth century's greatest myth-makers.

Mark Waid, writer (Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, Kingdom Come)

Bob Batchelor's book takes us on a journey into the life and imagination of Stan Lee, whose collaborations with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko laid the foundation of the Marvel Universe and unleashed a creative explosion that continues to impact--and transform--all of popular culture.

J. M. DeMatteis