  | With great power : the marvelous Stan Lee Author: Eriksen, Annie Hunter | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
For Stan Lee, it was books of adventure, monsters, and magic that helped him transform from an ordinary boy to a superstar superhero creator. At first, reading these stories was a pathway to a world bigger than his family's tiny apartment in New York City, but it wasn't long until Stan was crafting his own stories, creating comics professionally when he was still just a teenager!
| Illustrator: | Gatlin, Lee |
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: LG Reading Level: 4.50 Points: .5 Quiz: 522409 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (07/15/21)
School Library Journal (12/01/21)
Booklist (09/01/21)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/10/21)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 09/01/2021 In her admittedly “unauthorized biography,” Eriksen goes for the whizbang as she traces Lee’s career from bookish childhood and first gig as errand boy at Timely Comics through his invention of the “flawed but ‘Fantastic Four!’” and a host of other “perfectly imperfect superheroes” that appeared in Marvel Comics and, later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Skipping his troubled final years and not-always-smooth working relationships with Jack Kirby and other comics artists, she inks him in as an irrepressibly creative role model who took his “With great power comes great responsibility” meme seriously and preached moral behavior in his long-running “Stan’s Soapbox” column, complete with aspirational tagline “Excelsior!” Gatlin brightens this sunny picture further with exuberant cartoon scenes of the skinny, square-browed impresario amid a burgeoning crowd of MCU superheroes and a thoroughly diverse crowd of costumed fans. Few, if any, readers will have trouble naming all the characters from their garb, and Lee himself, who died in 2018, is already a historical figure to younger members of his audience. ’Nuff said. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 12/01/2021 Gr 1–4—If "Every hero needs an origin story," Eriksen pens one here for superhero creator Stan Lee. This unauthorized picture book biography explores the early life and later successes of the comics writer, born Stanley Lieber. Many students will recognize the subject and his characters, and the inspiring story will appeal to kids, even though it may seem more legend than real life. The text and illustrations include graphic novel elements, such as speech bubbles and illustrated onomatopoeia, to capture the comic book effect. Gatlin implements a muted palette for the small 1930s New York City apartment of Lieber's immigrant family. As famous comics characters are introduced in the biography, bright reds, greens, and oranges are a contrast to the grays and browns of his days as an errand boy and early career as a writer with the pseudonym Stan Lee. This is a carefully crafted and positive tribute: "You don't need a pair of web shooters or impenetrable skin to stand up for your fellow man…anyone can be a hero, as long as they stand for what's right!" VERDICT This is an engaging and glowing primer on the life and contributions of Stan Lee.—Jamie Jensen, Wayne Cox Elem. Sch., Roanoke, TX - Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
