I went to the Comic-Con in Portland today to see Stan Lee! I took advantage of the photo-op and the autograph signing, and I gotta say that, as cliché as it is, Stan IS THE MAN! Nice and personable and always with a smile. His Q&A was fun. He said that Dan Slott is a genius for coming up with the "Superior Spider-Man" concept. Despite what he is quoted as saying elsewhere, Stan said today that he was never even asked to be in "Guardians of the Galaxy". He thought that the last Fantastic Four movies would have been classics if they had gotten Doom right. He told a story about his favorite typewriter, the one that he created and wrote all of these characters on, and how his wife destroyed it in an argument. Near the end of the Q&A, someone asked him to give everyone in the room a No-Prize, and after having a little fun with it, said, "By the power vested in me, which I gave to myself, I hereby give each and every one of you a No-Prize!" I am so not worthy. Excelsior! (Me with the shield, and my nephew with Mjolner.)
Though I'm not a huge comic book fan (but I do enjoy them) and the fact that I have always thought that conventions charge way too much for photo-ops with celebrities, I'd pay a hefty price for a chance to be in a pic like that, with Stan Lee. His influence on popular culture cannot be understated, and the fact that he is one of the coolest and most easily likeable celebrities ever makes it a done deal. Stan is the man, make no mistake.
It was a hefty price. $100 that my nephew and I split between us. It was worth it. I squeed like a fan-girl. Or as Black Widow would have put it, "I thought he was going to swoon."
The picture doesn't hide how excited you are to be living in that moment. Money very well spent, you have a memory for a lifetime now!!
It's incredible to think that Stan THE MAN is 92 years old. He's totally still with it, and has always given 100% when I've seen him at comic conventions.
I dunno ... all that money, and you have no prize to show for it. Edit: Oooh! Oooh! I thought of another one! He may be all that, but the man's no prize.
CSB, I've actually got two No-Prizes from the 80's. I don't think they printed my letters in the letter columns though. I still have them around somewhere.
My "Uncle Stan" moment was back in October '13 when he came to Wizard World Nashville. I pre-paid in advance and mine was $80. My friend waited around and didn't get his till the week of and it was $100. He kicked himself for not pre-ordering then. Turtletrekker did you notice if it was cheaper, earlier during the shows promotional period? Was it a Wizard World event?
It was a Wizard World show, and my nephew and I did the photo op kind of at the last minute, so I'm not sure if it would have been cheaper with a pre-order.