Well, just being 89 is a legit enough reason to not do a convention appaearance. Hopefully nothing more is involved.
Get better soon Stan! The wording by his press agent is oddly vague with "very serious circumstance". At 89 the first thought is health issue but whatever the situation I hope it turns around for the better quickly.
Not to be a "pot stirrer", but I've also heard that Stan has become increasingly disenchanted by Marvel starting since about the time they started "revamping" the books back in the early-mid 00s, and esp now that it's "all Avengers all the time", downgrading the F4 and X-franchises to "oh yeah, we also publish these" status.
He created all three. The FF might be a favorite, since he stuck with it longer, but I cant see him getting in a snit about the Avengers being more popular right now. The popularity of each book has been cyclical. The FF was "Number 1" in the 60s,The Avengers in the 70s and the X-Men in the 80s and 90s. Now its the Avengers turn again.
I seriously doubt that Stan Lee really cares over what Marvel is doing these days. I mean, come on, once you've made it through the 1990s it doesn't get much worse...
^^ I wouldn't bet on it. But I hope Stan is okay. At 89, he should be very careful about over-exerting himself.
That said, I'm pretty appalled at what passes for writing in comics these days. From Earth-2 #0: "Seventeen minutes previous." "Since then, my partners in resistance and myself have been..."
Considering the sheer amount of X-books being published right now (even after, what, two waves of cancellations in the 00s?), I thought they and the Avengers books were pretty even, given that half of Marvel is currently an Avenger right now. Even as an obvious X-Fan, I don't think that corner of Marvel is being neglected in the comic book realm. Movies? Sure, have at it, the shared cinematic universe was brilliantly executed. On the other end, the FF, by virtue of family and chemistry, are almost designed to be small and contained -- anyone remember the catastrophe that was the Fantastic Force? Even decent books like the various Thing solo runs were pretty short. Sure, Spidey can join, but the focus will always be on the family. The FF's limit seems to be just a couple simultaneous books, and that's alright. As for Stan, I certainly hope everything's alright. His creations are selling like gangbusters, and, to sound selfish, I'd like to shake his hand one day.
Finally! The real story! Stan Lee recuperating after pacemaker surgery. Excelsior, Stan! Get well soon.