Review: Stan Lee's How to Draw Superheroes

By Wolfen Moondaughter
September 2, 2013

To be honest, this book is a bit misnamed: I would have called it "How to Create Superheroes."

The book starts by talking about mythology and the evolution of the hero concept -- including talk of pre-Egyptian pantheons, and the demotion of the gods in various cultures. There's also some interesting discussion of gender. Basically, Lee explores how heroism is in the eye of the beholders and changes with the beholders' cultural needs and the integration of societies. He then essentially goes on for the rest of the book to discuss the visual shorthand of comics (without calling it that) and how to apply them to the characters and settings you create.

This book may basically be a collection of stereotypes in that regard, but the shorthand is there in comicdom, like it or not, to build upon -- or break, once you know what it is! Think of it as a book of house-plans -- you find something moderately appealing, then start changing things to suit your tastes better. He also offers helpful hints on how to mix things up to make something fresh out of what's come before (such as how different character motivations, backgrounds, weaknesses, operational considerations, and alternate perspectives can make characters with the same basic powers suddenly very different), and how to look to the world around you for inspiration. There's also a lot of good input on how supporting cast, enemies, vehicles, and settings not only need to be well-developed in and of themselves, but also how they affect and reflect on the hero (rather than just how the hero affects them).

Don't look to this has a how-to-draw book, though -- there's not really any actual instruction in that regard, so much as challenges thrown at you. While Lee is pretty descriptive in the text, explaining not just what the archetypes look like but why, the illustrated examples are pretty lackluster, on or even below par compared to many a kiddie how-to-draw book

Another spot where I see the book as something of a failure is in the chapter on heroines. The drawing for the "W-Type" is particularly annoying -- she's wearing a quite revealing and gravity-defying top that I think must be glued on, the sort that sends my eyes rolling into my head. I wasn't too thrilled about a crotch-shot-bearing cover of Black Widow that was included, either. Text-wise, I appreciate that Lee wants to demonstrate how powerful a heroine can be versus expectation, that they aren't powerless damsels, but it comes off as trying too hard to say women as just as good as men. I think it's actually more equalizing to just not say anything in that regard. Much of what is said in that chapter about motivation can easily be applied to male heroes too -- he even makes a comment later to the effect that they're similar -- so why separate heroes and heroines at all?

Why not make one hero chapter that is largely unisex, and then just put the examples of men and women side-by-side with footnotes when there are actual differences to consider? And why are both types of male heroes cited as basically bodybuilders, and the women suggested at first to be softer / more appealing? He does go one to suggest more body-types for women later, at least, but the initial suggestions are a bit cliché and off-putting. For that matter, why are the more lithe males relegated to sidekicks or teen heroes (both subjects put together in a separate chapter)? Instead of correcting yourself later, why not be correct in the first place?

Moving along, Lee does a fair bit of project-name-dropping, but I'm not complaining there -- I'd expected someone who is offering their expertise to give credentials. If you haven't read his previous book, How to Draw Comics, he does touch upon the building-blocks of artwork again here, briefly, but I still recommend reading the first book as well -- maybe even more so than this one. If you have How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, I do recommend picking both of these up, as they expand greatly on it. This, like the previous book, is a high-quality, full-colour, sizable paperback, and $24.99 is a great price for the value!

WatsonGuptil.com — One of the co-publishers of the book.
Dynamite Entertainment — Another co-publisher.