Stan Lee

[hondobrode]

I'm going to be seeing him at Dallas Comic Con in a few weeks. I've got a print I want him to sign and I've been wondering what to say to him.

Part of me wants to stand up for Jack Kirby, as in "Why no credits for Jack on the Avengers movie credits ", but I'll never get to see Stan again.

What do you guys suggest I say ? The guy is a legend, despite over-inflating his accomplishments and not giving some of his contributors and fellow creators with the full credit they deserve.

[shaxper]

I'm going to be seeing him at Dallas Comic Con in a few weeks. I've got a print I want him to sign and I've been wondering what to say to him.

Part of me wants to stand up for Jack Kirby, as in "Why no credits for Jack on the Avengers movie credits ", but I'll never get to see Stan again.

What do you guys suggest I say ? The guy is a legend, despite over-inflating his accomplishments and not giving some of his contributors and fellow creators with the full credit they deserve.

I was going to see him in Pittsburgh a few weeks back -- then I saw his prices. $50 to have him sign something (and that's only ONE item; it's $50 for each thing he signs!), $60 for a picture, plus you have to wait in a line to get tickets to get in the other TWO lines to get the signature and picture. Worst yet, I didn't hear anything about those absurd fees going to a charity. I've always respected Stan Lee quite a bit, but this experience hurt that respect a little bit.

Anyway, be ready for this.

[CromagnonMan]

I was going to see him in Pittsburgh a few weeks back -- then I saw his prices. $50 to have him sign something (and that's only ONE item; it's $50 for each thing he signs!), $60 for a picture, plus you have to wait in a line to get tickets to get in the other TWO lines to get the signature and picture. Worst yet, I didn't hear anything about those absurd fees going to a charity. I've always respected Stan Lee quite a bit, but this experience hurt that respect a little bit.

Anyway, be ready for this.

yeah, paying to meet someone is a bit of a joke, comes off as whore-ish to me. i cant quite believe people actually are willing to pay.

[shaxper]

yeah, paying to meet someone is a bit of a joke, comes off as whore-ish to me. i cant quite believe people actually are willing to pay.

I've enjoyed meeting my share of celebrities at conventions and buying something from their table with the understanding that it's appropriate for them to get paid to be there, but this experience just waaaaay crossed the line for me. People were herded like cattle, and the prices were absurd. $50 for the man to sign an item??? You weren't even buying anything!


Incidentally, George Perez was also there, sitting at an empty table with no product to sell, no charge for autographs, and just seemed genuinely thrilled to meet each of his fans, sign their things, talk with them, look at their own artwork, and jump up to take pictures with them. It's far more generous than I'd ever expect a celebrity to be, but the man sure had class doing it that way!

[Richard Bishop]

Incidentally, George Perez was also there, sitting at an empty table with no product to sell, no charge for autographs, and just seemed genuinely thrilled to meet each of his fans, sign their things, talk with them, look at their own artwork, and jump up to take pictures with them. It's far more generous than I'd ever expect a celebrity to be, but the man sure had class doing it that way!

I don't know if you were at the Pittsburgh show on Friday, but Perez was scheduled to do a Q&A at 4:00. At 3:45, the PA system came on and it was announced that Mr. Perez had requested the Q&A be cancelled because his table still had a huge line and he didn't want to abandon those fans who'd stood in line to talk with him one-on-one.

I'm not one to get things signed or even meet the artists/writers (I only talked to a few of the indy creators at the back of the room, primarily when something at their booth caught my eye), but I thought that was a really classy move on his part. It's gestures like those that are why his table always has the longest line at the show; he seems genuinely nice and appreciative that people like his work and want to talk to him about it.

[adam_warlock_2099]

I only have met Alex Ross back in the mid 90's when I went to a convention at a local hotel conference room when I lived in St. Louis. This was before the internet and I remember I passed right by his table because he didn't have any comics to sell and I didn't know who he was. I had never saw a picture of Alex Ross. On my way out of the room, I noticed a name tag that said Alex Ross. I scrambled to tables to find a copy of Marvels #2 to sign, since that was my favorite of his work at the time. He was really nice and friendly. Just a guy that happens to draw superheroes, not a celebrity.

[Scott Harris]

Part of me wants to stand up for Jack Kirby, as in "Why no credits for Jack on the Avengers movie credits ", but I'll never get to see Stan again.

Well, personally I wouldn't go with this for a couple of reasons. Stan doesn't really have anything to do with the movies other than making cameos in them. And in this particular case I'm sure he has no say over whether Jack is credited or not. I'd bet good money that Jack is not credited due to the recent, nasty legal spat between the Kirby estate and Disney/Marvel over character rights. I'm sure Disney has no intention of crediting Kirby not just to be rude, but also because they don't want to do anything to bolster the Kirby estate claims on the characters. It's not cool from my standpoint either, but in this case I don't think Stan has anything to do with it.

I was going to see him in Pittsburgh a few weeks back -- then I saw his prices. $50 to have him sign something (and that's only ONE item; it's $50 for each thing he signs!), $60 for a picture, plus you have to wait in a line to get tickets to get in the other TWO lines to get the signature and picture. Worst yet, I didn't hear anything about those absurd fees going to a charity. I've always respected Stan Lee quite a bit, but this experience hurt that respect a little bit.

This is a little trickier, but I'm going to play devil's advocate and stand up for Stan again, just a little bit. There are two reasons why having a fee like this might make sense, other than just milking fans. The first is that is simply might not be money going into Stan's pocket, at least not directly. What i mean is, in order to have Stan appear at the show, it's very possible that the show's organizers had to pay a hefty appearance fee. So if they shelled out $10k or $25k or whatever (I'm just making up numbers) they might have imposed the $50 per person fee in order to make back their money. This is not uncommon.

The other reason for this may be logistics. If Stan were signing for free, like Perez was, he would have a line out the door for miles, which would mean that a) he would be stuck to the chair for probably much longer than he wants to be and b) a lot of people might end up being turned away and disappointed. By charging a $50 fee, it will drastically reduce the number of people in line and the amount of time it takes for Stan, which could be an issue at his age. Or he might only have X amount of hours before he has to leave for his next gig. Charging the fee definitely makes the logistics easier.

Not that it isn't really annoying. I met Stan at a show in 1989 and I didn't have to pay any extra for the autograph. But even in the 80's it was common at baseball card shows I went to for all the people signing to charge fees. These days at comic shows it's still unusual, but I've been seeing it more and more. The last couple of shows I've been to some of the bigger names had a policy where the first signature was free but additional signatures cost money, which I think is a nice balance to prevent people from bringing in a giant stack of comics to resell on eBay. Mike Grell was $5 for each additional and Bill Sienkiewicz was I think $2 or $3 each after the first.

[randle-el]

This is a little trickier, but I'm going to play devil's advocate and stand up for Stan again, just a little bit. There are two reasons why having a fee like this might make sense, other than just milking fans. The first is that is simply might not be money going into Stan's pocket, at least not directly. What i mean is, in order to have Stan appear at the show, it's very possible that the show's organizers had to pay a hefty appearance fee. So if they shelled out $10k or $25k or whatever (I'm just making up numbers) they might have imposed the $50 per person fee in order to make back their money. This is not uncommon.

The other reason for this may be logistics. If Stan were signing for free, like Perez was, he would have a line out the door for miles, which would mean that a) he would be stuck to the chair for probably much longer than he wants to be and b) a lot of people might end up being turned away and disappointed. By charging a $50 fee, it will drastically reduce the number of people in line and the amount of time it takes for Stan, which could be an issue at his age. Or he might only have X amount of hours before he has to leave for his next gig. Charging the fee definitely makes the logistics easier.

You could do the same thing without charging money. For example, limiting it to the first 200 people in line, or having a lottery. Yes, people would get turned away, but people are getting turned away anyway, like Shaxper mentioned, because they are turned off by the multiple lines and high fees.

Trying to recoup the appearance fees is a little more logical.

[Jolly Mon]

You could do the same thing without charging money. For example, limiting it to the first 200 people in line, or having a lottery. Yes, people would get turned away, but people are getting turned away anyway, like Shaxper mentioned, because they are turned off by the multiple lines and high fees.

Trying to recoup the appearance fees is a little more logical.

Also, whether it's $50 each or a huge appearance fee, he is still milking the fans.

I guess to get back to the original question, what I would ask him is why is he worth $50-$60 per signature/photo?

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

Speaking for myself, I will never be in such a situation because I get so intimidated by these kind of personal appearances. But it seems to me that it's a question of supply and demand. It's not that Stan Lee is getting everything out of these deals (in fact, at his age I'm sure there's a physical cost in going through such ordeals) while the people lining up are being used and getting nothing out of it. They are getting value for their money.

If someone really feels morally compromised by talking to Stan Lee for a few seconds, then they shouldn't be lining up to get him to sign a poster. And if they have the chutzpah to get him to sign their poster, even though they have no respect for him, they're being just as mercenary and are in no position to judge Stan Lee's soul.

Under such circumstances, I would hope the person would understand this isn't the place or the time to make moral judgements by saying something nasty to the man. If it was me--if I had the nerve and the patience to stand in line--I would say "It's a honour to meet you, sir"--and I would mean it. Because really meeting Stan Lee at this time in his life is an honour.

[Slam_Bradley]

There's also the fact that Kirby has a co-creator credit in the end credits. So that probably wouldn't be a very good question.

[dan bailey]

There's also the fact that Kirby has a co-creator credit in the end credits. So that probably wouldn't be a very good question.

Leave it to a lawyer to split hairs like this.

[hondobrode]

Oh.

I'd heard there were no credits for Jack and haven't seen the movie yet.

Glad to know he's listed.

I greatly admire Stan. Why else would I go to see him ? He's most of the reason I'm going to this show. No one is perfect. There are probably things about everyone that a person wouldn't agree with, but that doesn't mean they throw the baby out with the bath water.

I'm definitely getting my print signed, and probably just telling him how much the stories he and the Bullpen meant to me both then and now.

[destro]

It's funny, I've never had any desire to meet anyone whose work I admired, whether it was an artist, musician or whatever. I just feel like they would have heard it all before. And I feel like their work is what I'm interested in, not so much them personally. But that's just me.

Not trying to be a bummer here, I get that lots of people love that sort of thing. I haven't been to a comic convention since the early 90s, I did actually meet Peter David there briefly and he was pretty nice and signed a comic for free. I also remember meeting Jimmy Doohan at a Star Trek convention as a kid and he didn't charge either.

Anyway I hope you have fun hondobrode.

[hondobrode]

Yeah, it'll be good. Perez and Neal Adams will be there too. I've met Neal, but not George. Want to get a commission from him maybe.

Thanks Destro !