Superhero Media: Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible

Excelsior! It's amazing that reading about Stan Lee's life, in his own words, can still strike a nerve after all this time. What else should Stan Lee's memoir be but a graphic novel? Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible isn't as well produced as a nice Marvel (or even DC) book, but the less iconic style enables the aping of other artists, like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and John Romita, who feature in the story of Stanley Lieber's journey to icon status. Every panel of Kirby has his cigar trailing a cloud of "Kirby Dots", which is a lovely touch. Speaking of Kirby, Lee does address some of the controversy attached to his time at Marvel and some creators not receiving due credit; I'm not so sure that "we had no idea at the time and it became an issue only much later" is the best of excuses, but it does ring of honestly to me. So if you're looking for the tell-all confession of an industry insider, Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible probably isn't the one for you. 

For all his years as Marvel's "Hype Man", the tone of Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible is shockingly humble, with Lee coming across as genuinely grateful for the life he's led, warts and all. As much as we nerds tend to worship Lee almost unreservedly, for most people, struggling to get comics onto shelves and negotiating Intellectual Property rights wasn't always a good time, and the apotheosis only came much later.  For those who came to love Lee only through multimedia, Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible is not only a cornucopia of the rough road to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but confirms Lee's line from Teen Titans Go! to the Moves, "I love cameos!" For those wondering, his favourite at the time of Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible's writing was from Avengers: Age of Ultron, though Big Hero 6 gets a shout-out as well. 

I think we nerds need to remember that Stan Lee was a person, not a mere icon or figure of worship and deserves no more praise for his creative works, or derision for his faults, than anyone else. Lee's role in the movement of comics from disposable children's literature to the biggest pop culture of the 21st century is undeniable, which makes reading about him and his work highly informative, even if you're still more of a Bob Kane or Steve Ditko person. Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible is not just a book for Marvel fans or Stan Lee fans, it's for anyone interested in the history of comics, or the development of pop culture, or even just the creative process of writing. If you have a comic collection and Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible isn't in there somewhere, you're missing out, it's right up there with your Essentials and Showcases in that it is a major part of the medium's history and informs what we're reading and seeing to this day.