Stan Lee's Last Days 3 3

[HighVoltage]

On 10/19/2020 at 11:55 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I know better, because my father's parents were amazing people. My dad and uncle turned out to be as great as they were. Their biological sister, though? An absolute shame on our family name. She's in 'scum of the Earth' territory.

Sometimes, not even one's parents can fix their stupid.

Agreed.

Parenting is important and can absolutely build a foundation for a young human being to build their life upon.

There is good and bad parenting to be sure.

But each of us is responsible for our own choices & actions.

[SeniorSurfer]

Link to "The New Yorker" book review of Abraham Riesman's new "True Believer" Stan Lee biography.  It looks like a good read though some might find it rehashes subject matter that has probably been examined in more depth, in other publications, and by those in the business (it did get a good "review quote" from Neil Gaiman).  And any publicity about comics is, as the saying goes, better than no publicity at all  As an aside:  I found it an extremely rough-looking picture of Stan used on the cover of Reisman's book.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/15/who-really-created-the-marvel-universe?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[HighVoltage]

1 hour ago, SeniorSurfer said:

Link to "The New Yorker" book review of Abraham Riesman's new "True Believer" Stan Lee biography.  It looks like a good read though some might find it rehashes subject matter that has probably been examined in more depth, in other publications, and by those in the business (it did get a good "review quote" from Neil Gaiman).  And any publicity about comics is, as the saying goes, better than no publicity at all  As an aside:  I found it an extremely rough-looking picture of Stan used on the cover of Reisman's book.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/15/who-really-created-the-marvel-universe?utm_source=pocket-newtab

This was a very good article. You beat me to posting the link.

There's a lot of ground covered in the article, and it's a pretty fair look at Stan across the decades.

(I screen-grabbed the article header art)

[lordbyroncomics]

I was also curious about Keya Morgan and Stan's faltering state in his last days. For one thing, I think the video of Stan forgetting how to sign his name and looking at exhausted at one of his last convention appearances says as much about his supposed "fans" as it does Keya Morgan, whose 'co-creator with Stan Lee' status on his twitter during that time was very bemusing and, of course, very telling.

I stumbled upon Keya uploading stuff, probably misguidedly, a few weeks ago and there's this long video with Stan and his lawyer and Keya here and I do feel Stan himself is a little overwhelmed, 'pixilated' as Groth once described Kirby. And yeah, some of it is his own unintentional undoing. But I have to say. a small part of the young me marked out as soon as Stan suddenly came to life and began to recite the Rubaiyat poem, which I'd long seen him mention in interviews as an inspiration. The video is here: 

 

[PKJ]

Happens to a lot of people famous or not. I remember reading a book on Dimaggio and how he was handled near the end, much the same.

[Calamerica]

On 2/12/2021 at 9:59 AM, PKJ said:

Happens to a lot of people famous or not. I remember reading a book on Dimaggio and how he was handled near the end, much the same.

Art Buchwald. Sad ending to pure talent, and the book "Fatal Subtraction" is a stunner.

[rexinnih]

Had the opportunity to "meet" Stan Lee a few times when I lived in San Diego and went to the con pretty much every year. By meet I mean stand in line with everyone else, have him sign a comic or two and then move on. It was at the 2017 Emerald City comic con that I had the chance to get a picture with him. He was rightfully sitting down and it's the usual ushered in smile, quick pic and move on. He took the time to say thank you to me and that is a memory I will always cherish as I was thinking, you're the 90+ year old gent taking his time for the fans like myself. No, thank you Stan Lee. 

[Off Panel]

On 10/16/2020 at 11:27 PM, Mercury Man said:

I had gotten Stan Lee's Autograph 3 x

2014-  Upbeat, full of smiles, great with the people in line

2016- Upbeat, full of smiles, even exchanged a few Spanish words with the guy in front of me

2017-  Miserable, looked awful, shouldn't have been there

It's amazing seeing the difference.  After 2017 I was done, he even had a show closer to me a few months later, and I refused to go stand in line, based on what I experienced earlier that year.

Great guy, his later in life 'guardians' should be ashamed of themselves. 

This is why I avoid auctions like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/AMAZING-SPIDER-MAN-1-CGC-SS-9-8-STAN-LEE-SIGNED-10X-IN-COLORED-SHARPIES-1-1-/264742245901

Somebody made Stan sign this book nine times in 2017 using different markers so this seller could put it on eBay for a quarter of a million dollars. This guy, StockDoc777, always makes me feel a little sick when I see his auctions. If you look at his other items, it’s a bunch more signed and multi-signed books from Stan, and many are from the time when he was clearly being abused. I sometimes wonder if and how this seller was tied in to the circle of predators who made Stan’s last days so miserable, but I have yet to see any evidence (aside from his inventory). 

I wonder if any of our board detectives know the story of these books.

[Mercury Man]

9 hours ago, Off Panel said:

This is why I avoid auctions like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/AMAZING-SPIDER-MAN-1-CGC-SS-9-8-STAN-LEE-SIGNED-10X-IN-COLORED-SHARPIES-1-1-/264742245901

This is one of the most stupidest things I have ever seen, from a Stan Lee SS.  And there are some really bad ones out there. 

[The Man Without Beer]

Seems like his wife had the sense and control to keep things running smoothly. After she passed it went down hill for Stan and the true "Vultures" came out.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Appears to be a very sad and complex story.

I doubt the full truth will ever come out as the main protagonists turn on each other.

I have one signed book by Stan & Romita. Makes me feel better that it was signed way back in the noughties when all this skullduggery had yet to happen, and Stan was master of his domain. 

[Hollywood1892]

On 2/14/2021 at 10:59 AM, Mercury Man said:

This is one of the most stupidest things I have ever seen, from a Stan Lee SS.  And there are some really bad ones out there. 

I'm blind. Thought it said $250.00

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

On 2/14/2021 at 3:59 PM, Mercury Man said:

This is one of the most stupidest things I have ever seen, from a Stan Lee SS.  And there are some really bad ones out there. 

After having read the article, this book leaves a very bad taste.

Smacks of complete exploitation of a very vulnerable elderly human being.

Shameful.

[Hollywood1892]

4 minutes ago, G G ® said:

After having read the article, this book leaves a very bad taste.

Smacks of complete exploitation of a very vulnerable elderly human being.

Shameful.

I wouldn't just blame the guy wanting to get the book turned into a rainbow. I'd be pointing the finger at Stan's publicists

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Just now, Hollywood1892 said:

I wouldn't just blame the guy wanting to get the book turned into a rainbow. I'd be pointing the finger at Stan's publicists

I wasn't. I was referring to the so called aides of Stan who were obviously there.

However the book owner must have been present, and must have seen what was going on, especially if Stan was being cajoled and encouraged  to write his name, as is mentioned in the article, that makes him culpable also.

It's a long article but it is worth reading it.

[Hollywood1892]

3 minutes ago, G G ® said:

I wasn't. I was referring to the so called aides of Stan who were obviously there.

However the book owner must have been present, and must have seen what was going on, especially if Stan was being cajoled and encouraged  to write his name, as is mentioned in the article, that makes him culpable also.

It's a long article but it is worth reading it.

Oh I wasn't accusing you, sorry if it appeared that way. I was simply just pointing out that it was definitely a precarious situation that a vulnerable celebrity was put into

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

9 minutes ago, Hollywood1892 said:

Oh I wasn't accusing you, sorry if it appeared that way. I was simply just pointing out that it was definitely a precarious situation that a vulnerable celebrity was put into

No worries. I have to say tho' that book is fugg ugly.

[Mmehdy]

Sad story, I saw Stan many times, in the end it was not pretty. Still we need to pay respect to the fact that without him (him thinking about quitting circa 1959) we would not be here today.

[lordbyroncomics]

5 hours ago, G G ® said:

I wasn't. I was referring to the so called aides of Stan who were obviously there.

However the book owner must have been present, and must have seen what was going on, especially if Stan was being cajoled and encouraged  to write his name, as is mentioned in the article, that makes him culpable also.

It's a long article but it is worth reading it.

I actually really WOULD point the finger at Stan's fans. I was amazed at that now infamous video of Stan's last (?) convention appearance that video was widely distributed of, where Keya Morgan has to remind Stan to spell his name, since all an exhausted-looking Stan did was scribble. Now, Morgan (rightfully) got most of the heat for his conduct on that video, but what about the 'fans', like the woman complaining? There's no awareness or concern for Stan's obviously out-of-it condition. I increasingly believe Stan was slipping for a couple years before his wife died but he was so active, it could off-shoot any obvious signs. Michael Davis wrote on Bleeding Cool that he saw Stan and Stan didn't remember who he was, and one of Stan's assistants took him aside and said something like, he has good days and bad days and he's exhausted... and then there's a video on YouTube about the Captain Marvel film where a still genial Stan says "I can't remember why I made her a female!" (he had nothing to do with Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel)... I think there were many signs but people didn't want to "let go", which is human.

For me, the sad thing is that every interview with Stan in his 80s' and early 90s', his lust for life and zeal is tangible and he goes on about it; he'll say he hopes he has another 20 years to stay busy, he says he doesn't understand why zombies would be popular... and, the last couple of interviews he says he has no ambition to live longer, he has nothing left to be excited about, etc. Whatever one feels about Stan Lee, his sense of urgency in needing to stay busy was really unavoidable. At the end, he was just waiting to go and people wouldn't let him.

[lordbyroncomics]

for some levity, I'd like to share this "Stan" interview that just entertained me greatly after not seeing it for a couple of years:

ReedPop TV: Exclusive Sit-Down Interview with STAN LEE - YouTube