Rating: 
Summary: Stan "the Man" Lee takes time to tell the story of his life
Review: "Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee" has a cover with Lee surrounded by some of his famous Marvel comics creations (or co-creations depending on where you stand on the whole Lee/Kirby debate), but you may be surprised and/or dismayed to find that only six of the twenty-one chapters are devoted to the glory years at Marvel. Much of what is contained within Lee has talked about before, which means that by now the stories of how the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the rest came to be born have been refined and polished to the point you really wish he would provide more of the details. "Excelsior!" starts from Lee's childhood in Manhattan to those early days when he stumbled into writing comic books, his work as a "playwright" in World War II, and then through the rise of the Marvel empire and beyond. The focus of the book is on the narrative recollections of Lee and if you have ever had an opportunity to hear Stan "The Man" Lee do a lecture or speak at a convention, then you are familiar with his conversational style (I liked it when Stan would pretend to be Clark Kent, take off his glasses and have people wondering where Clark went--plus, the man's autograph is always legible). One thing that struck me was how much Lee was affected by the Great Depression, especially since he often laments over the value of the comic books he created but never bothered to collect. Yet it is also clear that Lee is not driven by money but more by love of family and work, two subjects he talks about with equal passion. He does take pains to try and address the issues of his infamous rifts with artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and whether you believe his side of the story or not he certainly bears no animosity towards either man. There is no denying that Lee was a self-promoter of the first order, but he certainly tried to take along everybody else in the Marvel Bullpen and it is equally clear that Kirby and Ditko were not especially outgoing types. George Mair provides a more objective view of Lee's life with historical facts and critical insights in his portions of "Excelsior!" which frame the lengthier excerpts from Lee. Mair is especially good when he points out how some example from the early year's of Lee's career translated into a principle he applied while running Marvel. Ultimately, Mair makes the case that Lee "created a new mythology for the twentieth century" by putting "the human in the superhuman." I rather like this approach, which allows a subject to tell their story in their own words and also provides a way for biographical assessments by another party. The book is illustrated with mostly family photographs, although rather sparsely at times, especially during the Marvel days. I do not know if readers of Marvel Comics who came to Spider-Man and the rest after Lee's tenure as writer/editor will be as interested in this as us old-timers, but I would think Lee's stories about how comics changed would be worth reading. His chapter on "Seduction of the Gullible," dealing with the efforts of Dr. Frederic Wertham that resulted in the creation of the Comics Code, provides a much different perspective on those times than you get from reading Bill Gaines's thoughts on it all. This is by no means a major look at the life and work of Stan Lee, but it does have its shares of worthwhile insights. 'Nuff Said.
Rating:
Summary: Stan "the Man" Lee takes time to tell the story of his life
Review: "Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee" has a cover with Lee surrounded by some of his famous Marvel comics creations (or co-creations depending on where you stand on the whole Lee/Kirby debate), but you may be surprised and/or dismayed to find that only six of the twenty-one chapters are devoted to the glory years at Marvel. Much of what is contained within Lee has talked about before, which means that by now the stories of how the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the rest came to be born have been refined and polished to the point you really wish he would provide more of the details. "Excelsior!" starts from Lee's childhood in Manhattan to those early days when he stumbled into writing comic books, his work as a "playwright" in World War II, and then through the rise of the Marvel empire and beyond. The focus of the book is on the narrative recollections of Lee and if you have ever had an opportunity to hear Stan "The Man" Lee do a lecture or speak at a convention, then you are familiar with his conversational style (I liked it when Stan would pretend to be Clark Kent, take off his glasses and have people wondering where Clark went--plus, the man's autograph is always legible). One thing that struck me was how much Lee was affected by the Great Depression, especially since he often laments over the value of the comic books he created but never bothered to collect. Yet it is also clear that Lee is not driven by money but more by love of family and work, two subjects he talks about with equal passion. He does take pains to try and address the issues of his infamous rifts with artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and whether you believe his side of the story or not he certainly bears no animosity towards either man. There is no denying that Lee was a self-promoter of the first order, but he certainly tried to take along everybody else in the Marvel Bullpen and it is equally clear that Kirby and Ditko were not especially outgoing types. George Mair provides a more objective view of Lee's life with historical facts and critical insights in his portions of "Excelsior!" which frame the lengthier excerpts from Lee. Mair is especially good when he points out how some example from the early year's of Lee's career translated into a principle he applied while running Marvel. Ultimately, Mair makes the case that Lee "created a new mythology for the twentieth century" by putting "the human in the superhuman." I rather like this approach, which allows a subject to tell their story in their own words and also provides a way for biographical assessments by another party. The book is illustrated with mostly family photographs, although rather sparsely at times, especially during the Marvel days. I do not know if readers of Marvel Comics who came to Spider-Man and the rest after Lee's tenure as writer/editor will be as interested in this as us old-timers, but I would think Lee's stories about how comics changed would be worth reading. His chapter on "Seduction of the Gullible," dealing with the efforts of Dr. Frederic Wertham that resulted in the creation of the Comics Code, provides a much different perspective on those times than you get from reading Bill Gaines's thoughts on it all. This is by no means a major look at the life and work of Stan Lee, but it does have its shares of worthwhile insights. 'Nuff Said.
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly a Good Bio of the Marvel Comics Guru
Review: 'Excelsior!' chronicles the life of Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, and many other characters from the Marvel Universe. Lee takes the reader on a guided tour of how he came to be a writer of many of the comics that millions of readers still can't live without. Lee describes how many of his greatest creations became not only great comic book titles, but also animated cartoons, live action television shows, motion pictures, and more. As you might imagine with any autobiography (Lee calls it a "bio-autography"), the author spends a lot of time talking about how he got involved in his line of work, how he met his wife, friends, etc. I wanted to read more about the creative process and how Lee interacted with his artists. (He does spend time talking mostly about Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.) Lee pinpoints a couple of important events in Marvel's history, most notably the three Spider-Man issues from the late 60's dealing with the drug problem, issues that did not carry the Comics Code Authority seal of approval. The book needed many more such interesting stories. While Lee's friends and social contacts are important to him, few of them had anything to do with the comic book world, and I thought he spent a little too much time focusing on them. 'Excelsior!' works best when Lee describes the struggles and victories, the highs and lows, and especially his own perseverance in the comic book world and the publishing industry. It works the least when he spends too much time on people not directly connected to the world of Marvel Comics. 246 pages
Rating:
Summary: The Way It Began
Review: 4.5 stars, really, I wish there were more examples of his work. I am one of those people who loved the Marvel Age of Comics. While many people say they read Spider-Man, the Hulk or the Fantastic Four, even as a kid in the sixties, I would say I read Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko...and a few others. When they left, I left. Though the years I had heard about and read about many behind the scenes stories about Marvel. It was hard to give credence to many of them and I always wanted to find out Stan Lee's story. Here it is. Here Stan Lee tells his story. And what an enjoyable story it is. Mr. Lee tells of his early years, his years in the service during WW2, how he meet his wife and how he started working for Martin Goodman, owner of Timely (later Marvel) Comics. The major part of the story is the creation of the Marvel Age of Comics. Stan Lee, born Stan Lieber, describes how he almost left the occupation of writing comic books. An occupation that was not well respected. But Stan stayed and broke the conventions of book characters. Stan discusses such stories, how he "snuck" his first Spider-Man story into Amazing Fantasy #15 after the publisher turned it down. We learn what was in his mind when he created the Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Thor. For me the most important parts involved the Marvel Method of creating comics and his relationships with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. For years I have heard stories that, frankly, cast Mr. Lee in a bad light. Here, Stan Lee describes how he came up with the character of Spider-man and, at first, gave it to Jack Kirby to draw. Dissatisfied with Kirby's take, Stan turned it over to Steve Ditko. Stan goes out of his way to give co-creative credit to the artist. But Ditko though that Stan just came up with an idea and that he, Ditko, came up with project. I also learned that Jack Kirby was offered administrative positions at Marvel, but turned it down. A reality to me is that nothing Lee, Kirby and Ditko produced separately equals what they did in partnership for those ten years. If you are a fan of the Marvel age, this book is a must read. I couldn't put it down. The parts that are not about Marvel are still entertaining and Mr. Lee does not dwell on anything for too long a time. 'Nuff said
Rating:
Summary: If you like comics
Review: As they say, Stan is THE MAN. He is a little low-key here, but this is a fun, easy read. If you are into comics, you will enjoy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: BETTER THAN NOTHING
Review: At last, comic book fans get the opportunity to explore the life of comicdom's greatest creator and promotor, Stan Lee. Stan, along with his writing side kick George Mair gives us an "inside" glimpse of his life and the world of Marvel Comics. His wit, spicy sarcasm and brilliant style comes through the pages except for one thing; you get to know little about Lee and a lot about the comic book industry and even at that the book falls short on providing the reader with the intrigues of the comic mongols. For those looking for a definitive biography or autobiography of one of comic's greatests masters, Excelsior comes as a big let down. Sure Stan gives us the tidbits of his life and hard times but there is very few lines of introspection about his work and the impact it had on his life. Side kick George isn't any better in providing the reader with a historical context and interpretation of the forces which shaped Stan. Okay is the book all that bad? No. If you know nothing about Lee, Marvel Comics or the evolution of the comic industry, Excelsior is a fair book for initiation into the realms of comicdom. Younger readers would certainly appreciate its style that will immediately captivate their attention. Collectors of comics and its assortment of memorabilia certainly need this book as part of their collection. For those who want a detailed and historical analysis of the life of Stan and the world he created, forget it. Excelsior won't feed your need. Yet in spite of that it is better than nothing so by all means give it a reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee
Stan Lee and George Mair
C. Cho
P. 5 This book is an autobiography of Stan Lee. Many people don't actually know who this man is. Stan Lee is the man who created and wrote comic book characters such as Spider-man, Daredevil, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, and many other charcters. Stan was also the author of these comic book characters and the editor. Stan tells us about what kind of hardships he went through and even about his personal life. I enjoyed reading this book because I always wondered how comic book creaters were able to create characters that were very descriptive. Stan even wrote a whole entire chapter on my favorite charcter, Spider-Man. In this chapter it tells about how Stan lee made Spider-Man. Stan says that he got the idea of Spider-Man by looking at a fly on the wall while he was typing. After he had seen the fly, he rushed to his artist, Steve Ditko and asked him to draw a man that had the characteristics of a spider and Spider-Man turned out to be a hit. Comic books back then cost around twelve cents, here is a quote that will amaze you. "Today, incidentally, copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 sell for up to $20,000 in the collectors' market, if anyone is lucky enough to find one." Some parts that I did not like was that it told a lot about his personal life. When I first started reading this book, I thought his personal life was interesting, but after a while, it started to get repetitive. This book also informs me about what he published and how he did it. I think Stan should've not told us about his publishers so much. After reading about so many publishers, I had to skip some parts because I didn't want to read about it. My favorite part of the book is when Stan talks about his creation of comic book characters and how he created them. It was interesting when he told me some of his stories such as being chased by a policeman that was on a horse. Stan tells stories very descriptive so I enjoyed reading this book very much. Stan writes his comic books so great that I have been influenced to read more about this great character. This book has taught me many great things about Stan Lee's life. I think this will be an enjoyable book for young adults and even adults!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee
Stan Lee and George Mair
C. Cho
P. 5 This book is an autobiography of Stan Lee. Many people don't actually know who this man is. Stan Lee is the man who created and wrote comic book characters such as Spider-man, Daredevil, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, and many other charcters. Stan was also the author of these comic book characters and the editor. Stan tells us about what kind of hardships he went through and even about his personal life. I enjoyed reading this book because I always wondered how comic book creaters were able to create characters that were very descriptive. Stan even wrote a whole entire chapter on my favorite charcter, Spider-Man. In this chapter it tells about how Stan lee made Spider-Man. Stan says that he got the idea of Spider-Man by looking at a fly on the wall while he was typing. After he had seen the fly, he rushed to his artist, Steve Ditko and asked him to draw a man that had the characteristics of a spider and Spider-Man turned out to be a hit. Comic books back then cost around twelve cents, here is a quote that will amaze you. "Today, incidentally, copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 sell for up to $20,000 in the collectors' market, if anyone is lucky enough to find one." Some parts that I did not like was that it told a lot about his personal life. When I first started reading this book, I thought his personal life was interesting, but after a while, it started to get repetitive. This book also informs me about what he published and how he did it. I think Stan should've not told us about his publishers so much. After reading about so many publishers, I had to skip some parts because I didn't want to read about it. My favorite part of the book is when Stan talks about his creation of comic book characters and how he created them. It was interesting when he told me some of his stories such as being chased by a policeman that was on a horse. Stan tells stories very descriptive so I enjoyed reading this book very much. Stan writes his comic books so great that I have been influenced to read more about this great character. This book has taught me many great things about Stan Lee's life. I think this will be an enjoyable book for young adults and even adults!
Rating:
Summary: Peter Parker and his Foster Brother Peter Paul
Review: I am a student of Stan Lee's life and accomplishments as the founding creative force behind Marvel Comics. While DC was lucky with warner Bros. Marvel has been plagued with mismanagement by company executives who never understood what made Stan the greatest writer for teens in history. When he finally got the chance to run his own company, Stan Lee Media, his success at creating the best super hero animation studio on the internet was again sabotaged by the inevitable corporate types.Mr Mair captured the biographical information admirably but didnt do as well on the limitations Stan faced with the companies that employed him. The saddest chapter so far has been the destruction of his internet company by the same malevolent company types that hampered the deserved success of his House of Ideas. Stan's original character,Peter Parker (aka Spider Man) has carried the day for Marvel,while Stan's partner, real life character Peter Paul, who helped get him creative freedoma nd control away from Marvel, has become the roadkill of Stan's efforts to keep expressing his genius for story telling and super hero creating for teens everywhere using all the new technologies. The continually unfolding story of Stan's amazing life will continue to amaze millions well into his 80's.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for All Comic Fans
Review: I could not put this book down. I was a fan of Marvel Comics growing up and have passed on to my son quite a collection of comics. I had read many of Stan's other works regarding comics (Origins of Marvel Comics, Sons of Origins, Bring On the Bad Guys). Each of those books were excellent. However, those books dealt with nothing prior to The Fantastic Four. In this book we learn that Stan had a long career (about 20 years) in the comic book field, Marvel wasn't called Marvel until the 1960's, Stan used to churn out close to 80 titles a month in the 1950's, Stan actually wrote a few books in the 1950's that sold well, and Stan was actually going to quit the trade on the day he was told to create a superhero group (later called the Fantastic Four) for Atlas comics. And those are just of few of tidbits that are contained in this wonderfully written bio/auto bio.
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