Good morning, true believers! Stan Lee answered questions on Reddit yesterday, and we’ve selected our favorite twelve answers below, some of them including videos of Stan the Man himself. We learned Stan Lee’s power comes from his mustache and his favorite DC character is Lobo. I love his sly grin when he says his favorite is Lobo, considering that character was DC’s parody of Marvel. He’s still as funny as ever.
If you can be any of the superheroes you created which one would you choose to be and why?
“Tony Stark! He’s rich, he has women, boats, planes & a sense of humor.”
Heck yeah. Who wouldn’t want to be Iron Man?
Also, which villain would you want to be?
“Dr. Doom, then I’d be a king! Ya know I was in London, a couple of months ago & I was hoping that when I got off the plane, the queen would be there to greet me & put a ribbon around my neck that I could be Sir Stan Lee…but I guess she was busy or something.”
What is your favorite DC character?
“My favorite DC character is Lobo, although you couldn’t call him a hero…”
Will you choose a name for my new dog?
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Where do you get all your inspiration? Does the moustache hold special powers?
“I have tried to keep this secret for decades… I’m so often asked where I get my inspiration from… I don’t know how you managed to figure it out – YES! It’s the moustache! (Believe that and there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell ya!)”
What is the moment you are most proud of?
What obscure characters would you like to see adapted into a big budget film?
“Black Panther. He’s not too obscure, I hope”
Do you think there will ever come a time when Marvel should retire the men behind heroes like Peter Parker and Tony Stark for good and have them pass the torch to someone else? Using modern technology if you could be given a retroactive cameo in any existing movie what movie would you want to appear in?
“Our characters will never retire! You keep buying ’em we’ll keep doin’ ’em. There is no movie that has ever or will be made that my cameo wouldn’t improve…so all of ’em!”
Give this man ALL THE CAMEOS.
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Did you mean anything that you said in mallrats, or was it all just scripted?
“What I said in Mallrats was scripted, but I’m such a magnificent actor that people think I’m dreaming the words up at that very moment. Even though I like Kevin Smith, I’m very disappointed that he hasn’t asked me back to cameo for any films since Mallrats. To incur the wrath of Stan Lee is not something one wants to do. So watch out Mr. Kevin Smith!”
You shouldn’t make Stan Lee angry, Kevin Smith. You wouldn’t like Stan Lee when he’s angry.
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My questions are about the Comics Code Authority. Having been working in the industry before the formation of the CCA and well after, what is your opinion of it? Also, the CCA was created shortly after the book Seduction of the innocent was published, would you share your opinion of the book? Did the CCA help the industry or hurt it? Did you find the guidelines hard to work with? The Spiderman issues #96-98 that the Department of Health asked you to do are famous for the removal of the seal and the return of it on issue 99; it seemed to me that you weren’t concerned about the code. Were there any guidelines that you were baffled by? Were there any stories that you had wanted to tell but were unable to because of the CCA? How do you feel about the publishers that went belly up due to the CCA? And Finally, When publishers decided to move away from the use of the CCA was there any sigh of relief? [Editorial note — Dude, there had to be a shorter way to ask that.]
“I think the CCA were trying to do a good thing. They thought that only children were reading comics and they genuinely cared about what they were doing. They were mostly a pain in the neck, but we worked with them because they had good intentions.”
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When you first started in the comic book business who and or what inspired you do be a part of it?
“I kind of fell into it, actually. I answered an ad in the paper for a position at a magazine company, and it turned out to be at Timely Comics. Timely was was run by Martin Goodman, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Little did I know I’d end up where I am now!”
How do you really feel about your comics transforming into blockbusters? Are you disappointed that kids these days will be discovering these characters in movies instead of comic books?
“I’m done answering questions for the day, my beloved Brigadiers! We’ll be posting a few more of my video responses, but for now I’m off to other adventures. Remember to follow me on twitter @therealstanlee and to subscribe to my premium YouTube channel Stan Lee’s World of Heroes! Also check up on my facebook page later in the day to see how you can win the signed reddit IAMA printout featuring the Stan Lee Reddit Alien that I was holding earlier. Till next time, True Believers – Excelsior!”
Stan Lee is finished here.
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