Society & Culture
"I'm not damning Stan Lee, I'm living with ambiguity" says Abraham Riesman of his essential new Stan Lee biography True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee. No matter where you stand on the debate of who gets credit for Marvel comics, you MUST read this book. It's past time for a serious work of history like this one examining the conflicting stories behind one of most imporant cultural forces of the 20th century. Abe has done completely new research into the Lieber familiy's history in Romania and the Romanian Jewish mileiu of Stan's youth. He's interviewed the journalists who wrote key pieces around Stan's life and times at Marvel. He's gotten everyone to talk, from Stan's brother (cartoonist Larry Lieber) to the vultures who plagued Stan at the end of his life. Abraham Riesman is a journalist whose work has appeared in Vulture, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, The Boston Globe, and many other outlets. He is the author of TRUE BELIEVER: THE RISE AND FALL OF STAN LEE and the forthcoming RINGMASTER: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF VINCE MCMAHON. He lives in Rhode Island with his partner, the journalist SI Rosenbaum. His website is abrahamriesman.com and his Twitter handle is @abrahamjoseph. For more from me on Stan Lee, listen to my episode with journalist Spencer Ackermen upon Lee's death: https://graphicpolicy.com/2018/11/23/stan-lee-politics-and-business-with-spencer-ackerman-listen-to-the-podcast-on-demand-and-on-the-go/