Spider-Man: Homecoming Analysis by Marvel Historian Bob Batchelor

Summer blockbuster Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters on July 7!

With one of the biggest summer blockbuster films just weeks away from opening night, Marvel historian Bob Batchelor is ready to provide insight, context, and more to your articles and pieces about the film, Spider-Man, the character’s history, and its impact.

Batchelor, who teaches at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, is the author of more than 25 books, including Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel (Rowman & Littlefield, September 2017, adult trade, retail $22.95). Amazon: http://amzn.to/2q4lNYe

A lifelong comic book fan and noted media resource, he has been an editorial consultant for numerous outlets and been quoted in or on BBC Radio World Service, Today.com, Columbus Dispatch, msnbc.com, The Miami Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Dallas Morning News, Taiwan News, Associated Press, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.

 Quote:

“Superman launched comic book superheroes, but Spider-Man made them human. This teenager from Queens was full of complexities and angst, just like the rest of us. But, he still abided by Stan Lee’s immortal line: With great power, there also must also come -- great responsibility.”

 WHO:

 Bob Batchelor, Marvel historian and writer, Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel (Rowman & Littlefield, September 2017, adult trade, retail $22.95)

The book is also on NetGalley:
https://www.netgalley.com/widget/redeem/114943_29645_149763656359441ed401c4c_9781442277816_US

 Batchelor is the author of Mad Men: A Cultural History, John Updike: A Critical Biography, and Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel, among others. He is a noted popular culture commentator and editor.

 Endorsements for Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel…

 “An insightful and candid look at one of the 20th century’s greatest mythmakers.” -- Mark Waid, writer, Kingdom Come

 “A brilliant biography of the legendary Stan Lee, focusing on his pioneering role in the development of the comics industry and his impact on American popular culture and society. Stan Lee is must reading for comics fans and anyone interested in the creative process. A great book about a great man.” -- Arthur Asa Berger, author of Li’l Abner and The Comic-Stripped American

 Overview:

The Amazing Spider-Man. The Incredible Hulk. The Invincible Iron Man. These are just a few of the iconic superheroes to emerge from the mind of Stan Lee. From the mean streets of Depression-era New York City to recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Lee’s life has been almost as remarkable as the thrilling adventures he spun for decades. From millions of comic books fans of the 1960s through billions of moviegoers around the globe, Stan Lee has touched more people than almost any person in the history of popular culture.

In Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel, Bob Batchelor offers an eye-opening look at this iconic visionary, a man who created (with talented artists) many of history’s most legendary characters. In this energetic and entertaining biography, Batchelor explores how Lee capitalized on natural talent and hard work to become the editor of Marvel Comics as a teenager. After toiling in the industry for decades, Lee threw caution to the wind and went for broke, co-creating the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and others in a creative flurry that revolutionized comic books for generations of readers. Marvel superheroes became a central part of pop culture, from collecting comics to innovative merchandising, from superhero action figures to the ever-present Spider-Man lunchbox.

Batchelor examines many of Lee’s most beloved works, including the 1960s comics that transformed Marvel from a second-rate company to a legendary publisher. This book reveals the risks Lee took to bring the characters to life and Lee’s tireless efforts to make comic books and superheroes part of mainstream culture for more than fifty years.

Stan Lee: The Man behind Marvel not only reveals why Lee developed into such a central figure in American entertainment history, but brings to life the cultural significance of comic books and how the superhero genre reflects ideas central to the American experience. Candid, authoritative, and utterly absorbing, this is a biography of a man who dreamed of one day writing the Great American Novel, but ended up doing so much more—changing American culture by creating new worlds and heroes that have entertained generations of readers.