The Stan Lee Universe Interviews with and mementos from 'The Man' who changed comics and pop culture! Edited by Danny Fingeroth & Roy Thomas!
Published by TwoMorrows Publishing ! |  | | | |
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 TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3591 - Long time readers of this blog will know that I have a great admiration for Stan Lee, ever since the Summer of 1961 to be exact. And I'm talking about Journey Into Mystery #72, not Fantastic Four #1 during the same Summer!
Given that statement, you would think that I have read almost everything that there is to be said about Stan. Well, you'd be wrong. It would appear that there is a 'Stan Lee Archives', aka 'Stan Lee Collection' at the American Heritage Center on the University of Wyoming in Laramie campus. Well, I'm not going to be making a trip out there anytime soon, so I'm glad that a third of this book, 'The Stan Lee Universe' are items that were found by co-editor Danny Fingreroth on a trip to Laramie during June of 2010. In addition, some of this new book's contents originally appeared at TwoMorrows Write #18 and in Alter Ego #74, but not everyone would have seen those issues before now. So what else is in this book? Well... I'm going to post here what the publisher shows on the web page for ordering the book: Face front, true believers! THE STAN LEE UNIVERSE is the ultimate repository of interviews with and mementos about Marvel Comics' fearless leader! From his Soapbox to the box office, the Smilin' One literally changed the face of comic books and pop culture, and this tome presents numerous rare and unpublished interviews with Stan, plus interviews with top luminaries of the comics industry, including JOHN ROMITA SR. & JR., TODD McFARLANE, ROY THOMAS, DENNIS O'NEIL, GENE COLAN, AL JAFFEE, LARRY LIEBER, JERRY ROBINSON, and MICHAEL USLAN discussing his vital importance to the field he helped shape. And as a bonus, direct from Stan's personal archives, you'll see rare photos, sample scripts and plots, and many other unseen items, such as: PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE between Stan and such prominent figures as: JAMES CAMERON, OLIVER STONE, RAY BRADBURY, DENIS KITCHEN, ALAIN RESNAIS and (Sinatra lyricist and pal) SAMMY CAHN! Transcripts of 1960s RADIO INTERVIEWS with Stan during the early Marvel era (one co-featuring JACK KIRBY, and one with Stan debating Dr. Fredric Wertham’s partner in psychological innovation and hating comics)! Rarely seen art by legends including KIRBY, JOHN ROMITA SR. and JOE MANEELY! Plot, script, and balloon placements from the 1978 SILVER SURFER GRAPHIC NOVEL, including comprehensive notes from Lee and Kirby about the story. Notes by RICHARD CORBEN and WILL EISNER for Marvel projects that never came to be! Pages from a SILVER SURFER screenplay done by Stan for ROGER CORMAN, and more! So get a jump-start on the celebration of Marvel's 50th anniversary, and let this incredible book take you on a guided tour of the STAN LEE UNIVERSE. Excelsior! (Co-edited by ROY THOMAS and DANNY FINGEROTH.) Includes a deluxe dust jacket, plus 16 EXTRA FULL-COLOR PAGES of rare Archive Material, not found in the Softcover Edition. Whew! Almost as wordy as Stan The Man! But hoo-boy does it pack a lot into 176 pages! I've been reading this book since it first arrived, and beside all of the goodies mentioned above... It has so much more! And yes, as I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I do have high regards for Stan. Yet, the time that the two co-editors put into this book's presentation, shows me that they also have great admiration and love for the man that they worked for in previous years. The chapters are laid out in good order... The pictures are placed well on the pages, and it is a true 'collection' for 'The Stan Lee Universe' in a sense that the book puts together a well crafted view of Stan Lee. That could also be due to the fact that quite a bit of the book is in Stan's own words, both in letters written and verbal interviews given. That doesn't make it a book like the one by Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon, Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book , which is almost like a biography. Plus it isn't an autobiography like the one by Stan Lee (with George Mair), as seen here: Excelsior! Both of the above are fine books, BTW. Yet this one covers areas, events, and topics that those two books don't. In addition there are multiple interviews with Stan's colleagues during the years, which although some could be considered a little 'gushy' over Stan, are all heart felt and give the reader additional insight on their experiences with Stan. With the book being presented in a somewhat chronological order, the reader is lead from the earliest years of Stan being in comics to Stan himself being a celebrity in shows such as 'Who Wants To Be A Superhero?". I have to admit, this was a pleasure to read, and I am glad that the co-editors put the time in to have it published under the TwoMorrows Publishing imprint. Thus my comic book grade for this book is a NEAR MINT (NM) 9.4 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale. PLUS, if YOU are reading this before February 2nd of 2012... AND are in the New York City Metro Area... There is an upcoming event that I want to bring to your attention. It is The Stan Lee Universe Signing and Celebration event at MoCCA, which you can see at this link, which takes place on Thursday, February 2, 2012 from 7:00pm until 9:00pm! For those of you that aren't in the area, you can purchase the book via the publisher's web site at this link: The Stan Lee Universe. Your choice of a 192 page hardcover or a 176-page Softcover Edition (16 less color pages). I highly recommend this book for the fans of Stan Lee, and also for those who would like to have more insight into Stan the Man! Of course it would make a great gift to those friends of yours that are Stan Lee fans who like me, probably aren't going to Laramie, Wyoming any time soon! My thanks to Danny Fingeroth for bringing this new book to my attention! ~Michael D Hamersky On Comics!
 NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics: My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,591 total posts in number! I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!
BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link! We currently have over 2,678 'Followers'! Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button! And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!! Note: My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...! If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! ! Web Page Note: This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards. Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that! The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer. Note: Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013  Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there. Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!---------------  In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related. You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also! As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!
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TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3590 - Fan Boys: How to Get the Women in Your Life Into Comics