Uslan was born in Bayonne, New Jersey and was an avid comic book collector from a very young age, owning a collection that included the second issue of Batman and the first Superman comic, among others. He grew up in Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey and graduated from Ocean Township High School in 1969, by which time his collection filled the garage of his home with 30,000 comic books. A fan of the darkness inherent in the Batman comics, he was dismayed by the campy portrayal of the character in the '60s television series, which was at the height of its popularity during Uslan's teen years. While still an undergraduate and a graduate at the same time at Indiana University School of Law – Bloomington, attempting to break into the film industry by sending off over 300 résumés, Uslan "developed a course idea for the Experimental Curriculum program at IU".
Uslan recalls that Roger Stern "has been teaching a one-hour credit experimental course on comic book history and art," while he (Uslan) was "having fun with an I.U. Free University course on 'The Comic Book Hero'." Stern and Uslan discovered they shared interests, and when Stern "couldn't stand teaching the course any longer," Uslan took it over and changed it into one that took "an academic approach to the comics, divided into its history, folklore, art, sociology, psychology, and literary/educational value. Looking at their stages of relevancy and fantasy, the many aspects of censorship, their effects on other media, penciling and inking styles, their psychological implications, current and future trends, and the role of comics in school systems."}}
Uslan intended that his course on comics gives students the full three hours of college credit, on a par with "history, physics, or chemistry." In order to be eligible to teach the course as an undergraduate, Uslan found a sponsor in Henry Glassie, a professor in the Department of Folklore, who saw superheroes as the logical descendant to Norse, Egyptian and Greek mythology.
The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences challenged the nature of Uslan's course, but gave his approval. Uslan's course, by then-titled "The Comic Book in Society," thus became "the first accredited course on the serious study of comic books."

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