STAN LEE

A young readers’ adaptation of Batchelor’s 2017 profile of the same name for adult readers, co-publishing with a new version of the adult original.

Along with lightly massaging his text, the author adds a chapter that takes the Marvel universe story up to Lee’s death in 2018 and details the horrific elder abuse that marked his last years. Taking an evenhanded stance on the ugly squabbles that developed between Lee and artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko over who played just what roles in developing the foundational Marvel characters, he nonetheless perceptively argues that Lee’s distinctive voice was his greatest contribution because it created and, over decades, established a uniquely human, flawed superhero archetype. But he makes more debatable claims too, for example, about the vast extent of Marvel’s cultural influence, and sometimes assumes the role of apologist, as when he soft-pedals the sexism of projects like Savage She-Hulk and Stripperella. Problematically in terms of audience appeal, Batchelor stuffs his account of Lee’s career trajectory from office boy to international icon with more than enough minor detail about sales figures, corporate maneuvering, marketing deals, failed publications, personnel shifts, and the like to glaze the eyes of most fans. Readers who really can’t get enough about the comics biz will gravitate anyway to the marginally longer edition for adults.Nine drawings of Lee and associates and a scanty selection of photos and covers offer inadequate visual relief from the densely packed pages.

A superfluous offering.