It was just announced that comic book legend and pop culture icon Stan Lee passed away earlier this morning at the age of 95. There will undoubtedly be innumerable tributes to this great man who had such a positive impact on so many people — not just through his creativity via the various media conduits of the Marvel Universe, but also as an inspiring and famously kind human being. Although no tribute could possibly measure up to Stan the Man’s contribution to this world, renowned publisher Taschen will come very close with their limited edition volume The Stan Lee Story, a mammoth limited edition $1,500 book documenting the life and influence of Stan that has been eight years in the making.
Scheduled to be released later this month, the oversized book will be limited to 1,000 copies signed by Stan Lee and will include “more than 1,000 images, including intimate photographs and artifacts from Stan and Joan Lee’s personal archives, and new reproductions of original art and rare comicbooks from the vaults of the world’s premier Marvel collectors.” The book, which measures a towering 18.5 inches tall, comes in a printed acrylic slipcase and will be accompanied by a separately bound reissue of Stan Lee’s 1947 Secrets Behind the Comics.
I have a close friend who has been working on this project for what seems like an eternity, and he was just telling me earlier this week how excited he was that it was FINALLY going to be released. He told me the price, and I literally gasped. But, just as the title of this post states, I’m beginning to think that there is no price high enough for such a fitting tribute to such a great human being. I encourage you to get yours as quickly as possible because I imagine those 1,000 copies will be snatched up VERY quickly.
If you are curious whether or not Stan got to see the final product, I asked my friend the same question. “Yes,” he says. “And he loved it! You can quote me on that.”
Here is an excerpt from Stan’s foreward to the book, followed by an image of the entire thing, which contains his usual dose of humility and energetic humor:
Congratulations, my friend! If you were able to lift this book, then you truly belong in our wondrous world of Marvel super heroes.
As for me, although I have no secret superpowers of my own — and if I did, I couldn’t tell you because they’re secret, right? — still, I can hardly believe that my life is the subject of a fantastic book like this.
…
I’d love to write more, but I’m sitting with a copy of what is possibly the world’s biggest book and I can’t wait to read it myself.
So hang in there, hero, as all True Believers know — the best is yet to come!
Excelsior!
Stan
More on the book from Taschen’s listing:
This is the big one, True Believers! The mostly true tale of Stan Lee: an unparalleled, Giant-Size extravaganza, eight years in the making, about the one and only Godfather of Comics. From his childhood in Depression-era New York, to making Marvel into the number one comics publisher in the world, to his modern-day reinvention as Chief Creative Officer of global entertainment company POW! Entertainment, Stan “the Man” Lee stands the test of time as the most legendary name in comicbook history.
Stanley Lieber began working at Timely Comics in 1940 at the age of 17 and found himself at the helm of the bullpen as its top editor just two years later. As an editor and writer he guided the company through good times and bad—World War II and the Korean War, the threat of government censorship, and changing readership tastes—until 1961 when he ignited a revolution in comics, helped rebrand the publishing house as Marvel, and revitalized a dying industry with the “Marvel Age of Comics.”
With a legendary stable of art partners including Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita, and Jim Steranko, Lee unleashed a dizzying cascade of seminal comicbook creations—the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men, and the Avengers to name a few. After moving to Hollywood in 1980, he did it again, developing TV and film projects that laid the groundwork for the “Marvel movie,” now a cornerstone of 21st-century film. Stan’s constant cameo presence in these billion-dollar worldwide events is a testament to his influence. As the man behind POW! Entertainment, he has become a master of all media—working with rock stars and professional sports leagues, movie mavens and reality TV shows—reinforcing his creative stature the world over.
Lee’s tale is told in this Collector’s Edition by his successor at Marvel, renowned comics writer, editor, and historian Roy Thomas, who brings “you are there” insights and wide-eyed clarity to key moments of Lee’s journey to pop culture immortality. Featuring hundreds of treasures of comicbook art, a novel-length essay by Thomas, a foreword written by Lee himself, and intimate photographs sourced straight from his family archives, this is a titanic tribute worthy of the Man, not only in breadth but also in sheer size. ’Nuff said.
This Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies, each signed by Stan Lee, includes:
A foreword by Stan Lee and in-depth career biography by Roy Thomas
Complete facsimile comicbook reprints of Stan’s greatest hits and coveted rarities from throughout the decades, true to original size, tipped-in throughout the book; plus a separately bound reissue of Stan Lee’s 1947 Secrets Behind the Comics!
More than 1,000 images, including intimate photographs and artifacts from Stan and Joan Lee’s personal archives, and new reproductions of original art and rare comicbooks from the vaults of the world’s premier Marvel collectors
Printed on archival paper and presented in an acrylic slipcase
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
