They say you should never meet your heroes.

Stan Lee is a hero to many. Born Stanley Martin Lieber (1922–2018), he is most famous for creating the Marvel characters that populate the MCU—Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man, to name a few. He has endeared himself to fans through his ubiquitous cameos in MCU films.

The problem is, no one is really sure to what extent Stan Lee actually created all those characters. Artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko actually drew the panels and, due to the “Marvel Method,” may actually have had a more substantial role in creating the characters than Stan Lee himself.

In True Believer, Abraham Riesman takes an unflinching look at Stan Lee, revealing a man who excelled at self-promotion with few moral qualms. Lying was second nature, as Riesman’s investigative works proves. In the end, Stan Lee drove away friends, was preyed upon by his family, and failed repeatedly in business. The second half of his life was consumed with lawsuits and investigations.

With great power comes great responsibility—but what if that power was generated through little more than self-aggrandizement and luck? Stan Lee’s biography leads the reader to question the cost of fame.

Riesman, Abraham. True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee. Crown, 2021.