Stan Lee

I'm not a professional art critic, but as an ordinary person that only knew Lee by its achievements not by the processes to get there, this documentary gave me a wider and deeper perspective not only about how Lee was a genius in the using of empathy but also in translating the reality around him (especially the youth one) into something amazingly simple and accessible to the mass audience, in a very different and lighter way that institutions and governments do so. To be honest, I've never truly understood why Marcel comics was much more effective then DC get into the heart of all generation, race, origin ranges of people around the world, now I got it.

The story of Stan Lee as told mostly by Stan Lee. While it is interesting to hear from the subject of a documentary, the film makers themselves should be a little more detached. They do touch upon the idea that Stan Lee may not have come up with this iconic characters himself, but an interview with Jack Kirby is edited in a way that makes Kirby look like he doesn't have much of a case, and he did. The other part of this film is that it really wants to be a happy story, but the end of Stan Lee's life was anything but. He was accused of sexual assualt, and he definitely was the victim of elder abuse. (there was even a trial). Neither of these things were mentioned.

Stan Lee Is an American Legend. This terrific documentary covers his long, long life and his work at Marvel as well as much of his personal life. His impact on American culture should not be under estimated. His stories have shaped the psych of people of all ages for many decades. Americans have been taught by Stan Lee to believe that good will triumph over evil. We all want to be a Super Hero and Stan Lee makes us believe that we just might, some day, be just that. Stan Lee is a GREAT American and as this documentary clearly shows he is also a great guy. His imagination is unsurpassed. A quick examination of the characters he has created shows that.

A glossy cover without substance inside. You know how when your grandpa tells stories that as he gets older the stories get retconned so he sounds more and more like a hero? Stan Lee has been doing this since the '70s. Stuff that just happened by chance or that Ditko or Kirby came up with, Lee says came to him after some inspiration or consideration. Sure, Stan. Anyone who has seen him speak at a con knows he was all hot air and self-hagiography. Lee became a salesman in the '70s, and frankly he had to, to stay in the biz. And it was through his ruthless salemanship that comic books became as influential as they became to you and me. Did he screw over Kirby and Ditko? Most certainly. Roy Thomas is the one who says the smartest thing in this doc-that Kirby and Ditko and Lee were able to do what they did only because they worked together. But for the most part that of nuance is missing from this CBS Sunday Morning-style puff piece. The story of Lee and Marvel needs to be told alongside the story of the commercialization/corporate takeover and cheapening of the value of comic book heroes. That's the crossover event I want to see.

In many ways this did not surprise. In his own words Stan the Man inflates and regurgitates his own modest history to that of superhero status. Though in many ways a progressive and forward thinking creator this only shovels more turf on the graves of his equally illustrious collaborators and only can be read as an extended advertisment for his home at Disney+.

With a cutup narration delivered awkwardly scattershot from Lee himself, here is a smoke blowing look into a lifetime of one mans aparently singlehanded endeavor to create a world beating comic book company.

Disingenous and self serving. Avoid.

See instead, 'In Search Of Steve Ditko', on YouTube, which at least allows more room for dissenting voices.

2/10.