In the opening pages of Tom Scioli’s new graphic biography, I Am Stan, an elderly Stan Lee is signing autographs at an event. But the co-creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, and other world-conquering I.P. is hesitant. “Stan Lee,” says the minder behind him. “S. T. A. N. L. E. E.” It’s a dark moment for Lee, a writer who helped bring so many brightly costumed heroes to print and a salesman who’s rarely silent over the course of the book.
Scioli, a Pittsburgh-based cartoonist and the author of Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, another graphic biography, adapts his style to suit his subject. In his Kirby book, Scioli left his pencils uninked (a nod to Kirby, who was usually inked by others) and deployed a six-panel grid (a layout Kirby often used). In I Am Stan, Scioli stacks up page-wide horizontal panels, which give his word balloons plenty of room to expand. Lee, who helped usher in the modern era of Marvel Comics, is always talking—telling stories, soothing disgruntled artists, pitching schemes, and manufacturing myths.
