' belongs more in the latter category rather than the former. I feel as if any book with a title of the form 'How to Draw. For example, 'How to write a sonnet in Persian,' or 'How to win the Lottery,' or 'How to sing the aria Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (Hell's vengeance boils in my heart) from Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute).'

Perhaps from a book in conjunction with a video of somebody actually dancing the Macarena.īut there are other skills which do not lend themselves so readily to acquisition from the perusing of a single book. Similarly perhaps 'How to Bake a Chocolate Cake,' or even 'How to Dance the Macarena'. For example, if I were to read a 'How to Solve a Rubik's Cube' and pay good attention, then I would almost certainly expect to acquire the ability to solve a Rubik's Cube at the end of that process. Some things are easier to learn than others. Now please can we talk about 'How To' books for a moment. His name isn't even credited as a co-Writer. Stan didn't write this book of course, which is duly acknowledged in the details as soon as you open the cover. Then Stan would add the dialog to the finished product. He would sketch out the plot, then send the artist away to create the actual story breakdowns and draw the artwork. Followed of course by a famous series of disposable Marvel Editors.Įven when he was 'writing' comics, Stan famously invented the Marvel Method which let him direct multiple comic books with the minimum amount of actual writing work.

But as soon as he got the chance to head west to Hollywood, he grabbed it with both hands, slapped 'Emeritus' on his business card, and left writing far behind in the hands of Gerry Conway. Sure, he enjoyed the spitting out of ideas, and he enjoyed coordinating the creators. Writing comics was a job to Stan, not really a passion. In fact, Stan probably hadn't even read more than a dozen comics since the seventies. We also know that Stan Lee was 91 when this book was published, and hadn't written more than a dozen comic book stories since Gwen Stacy last drew breath back in 1973. Now, you and I know that Stan Lee never truly drew a comic book superhero in his life. It is 'Stan's' book about how to draw superheroes.

Stan's name appears on the cover of this book.

Stan lee how to draw