Face Front for the answering now begins: pic.twitter.com/AixfKrnJ
How is you're day going Mr. lee?
Not too bad.
Hi Stan! I was wondering as to what type of music you enjoy listening to? Were there any songs or particular artists that inspired your creative side?
Also could you possibly say happy birthday to my friend Alex, he’s 18 in a few days and a big fan of yours so thought I’d try! Thanks!
I dunno that any one particular song inspired me, I grew up listening to love songs & ballads & heroic songs. I like Man of La Mancha, Camelot was a great example of heroic music, I dug it a lot.
I dunno that any one particular song inspired me, I grew up listening to love songs & ballads & heroic songs. I like Man of La Mancha, Camelot was a great example of heroic music, I dug it a lot.
Oh & Happy 18th Birthday Alex! Excelsior!
Which Spiderman movie did you like best. 2002 with Tobey Maguire? or 2012 The Amazing Spiderman with Andrew Garfield?
LOVED your cameo in The Amazing Spiderman. Stan Lee the librarian. heart
Thank you for letting me hug you at the Calgary Comic Expo. I asked first but I don't think you heard me and I hugged you anyway.
You hugged me back for the photo and you are awesome! Thank you for being you!
I love them all & if I had a favorite I wouldn't tell you. I love working on them & working with the people who make them. And I wouldn't wanna offend anybody by placing one over the other. I am such a wonderful person, the world should learn something from my example.
Hi Stan!
Thank you for being an inspiration for many of us here and more. Hope you don't mind me asking a casual question. What do you do during your spare time when you're not busy being Marvel's Stan Lee? (Not that Marvel actually owns you, do they?)
I do interviews...I don't have any spare time.
Hi Stan!
Thank you for being an inspiration for many of us here and more. Hope you don't mind me asking a casual question. What do you do during your spare time when you're not busy being Marvel's Stan Lee? (Not that Marvel actually owns you, do they?)
Hey Stan! 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.
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.
Also, which villain would you want to be?
First off, I wanted to thank you: you created the characters that I spent my childhood with.
There have been plenty of superhero movies made over the last few years:
Which superhero, Marvel or otherwise, would you most want to see a movie for?
What is your favorite and least favorite Marvel film?
I don't have favorites & if I did I wouldn't tell ya. Don't want people getting mad at me.
Hi Stan! I'm a huge fan and I want to thank you for all your work you've done. Spider-Man and Dr. Strange are two of my favorite characters of all time. I have two questions because I couldn't decide which one was better.
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!
First of all, thanks for doing this!!
Second: what was it like when you started? How did people react when you told them you "worked" making comic books?
And third: is there any approach or philosophy, any quote that you have always on your mind whenever you reach an impass?
When I'm really at an impasse, I'll stop & say to myself: "Come on you Jerk, it's just words on paper."
What's your favorite super hero that you did not create yourself?
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
What do you think of the Ultimate line of Marvel comics? Do you approve of re-booting the universe to allow more new people to read comics?
There are variables...if I have a chocolate cake or strawberries & I wanna put ice cream on it, it's gotta be Vanilla. Ice Cream by itself...Chocolate. I know that in your quest for a definitive answer you want me to pick one over the other, but there are even many other flavors that have brought me satisfaction & pleasure over the years. So I refuse to make one definitive choice.
I absolutely love your work :) my question is, did you mean anything that you said in mallrats, or was it all just scripted?
Also, your awesome
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!
Hey, True Believers! I'm done taking new questions for now, but I have lot more answers that I'll be posting for a little while more, and maybe a few more surprises, too... Excelsior!
What is your favorite DC character? Are there any you wish you'd thought up?
What is your least favorite Marvel character? Any regrets?
Thanks so much for the AMA! You're my hero!
My favorite DC character is Lobo, although you couldn't call him a hero...
On behalf of millions of redditors, children, comic book fans and everybody: thank you, Sir.
No, thank you!
I don't even have a question. I just need to tell you that I love you, and your work!
Thanks! It means a lot.
The awkward moment when nobody gets a reply...
Says who?
You are my all-time favorite person that I have never met.
Will you choose a name for my new dog?
Hey Stan! Which of the characters you created do you think is most underrated and should be more popular?
Just wanted to say, "Thanks." That is all.
You're welcome.
Just wanted to say thanks for inspiring some of my wedding!
Could you tweet to your followers that you're operational here? It proves you're the real deal and increases the viewers on this thread as well. Thanks! Edit: Thanks!
Also, my question: You've done many cameos in the marvel movies, my favorite being the most recent in The Amazing Spider-Man. Which cameo was the most fun for you to do?
I loved doing them all! They're a helluva lotaa fun!
proof or it didnt happen
What didn't happen?
Hello Stan,
I’ve been a True Believer for nearly 3 decades. I’ve enjoyed your creations and writing for many years and they have meant a lot to me. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some of our questions. 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?
I also just want to say, you look super manly in the picture from the 1975 San Diego Comic Con and I squeal like a little boy every time you pop up in a Marvel Movie, Nuff said.
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.
If you HAD to choose your favorite DC character, who would it be and why?
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!)
Who's your biggest inspiration?
P.S. I love you.
P.P.S. Platonic love that is.
I'm not much of an "inspiration" guy. When I have to write a story, I sit down and doodle until I get an idea that I like. Then my pen or pencil is the most the most useful inspiration... for years it was my typewriter. I would sit back and pound it all out. Before that of course, I was etching my ideas on the walls of caves.
What's your favorite food?
I'm not really good t picking favorites. I like Italian, if it has a good thick sauce... and Chinese. I like whatever my wife makes for me, she knows more about what I like than I do. I enjoy anything that isn't poisonous.
You wont read this.
Won't I?
What is the moment you are most proud of?
Stan, first of all, thank you for doing this AMA. I grew up reading X-Men and Spiderman and you have always been an inspiration.
How often do people mistakenly ask you to sign or ask you about comics which you had no part in creating?
People will often ask me to sign pictures or comics of characters I didn't create... Wolverine being a chief example of this... I always make it a point to tell people that I didn't create the character, but they ask me to sign it anyway. I'll always oblige a fan, but I won't do it under false pretenses.
Stan Lee! im in the internet presence of Stan Lee! And he might read this! A few questions: do you know how bad ass you are? which superhero is your personal favorite, or the one you relate to the most? when did you decide that you wanted to be a bad ass for a living? can i tell people that we're friends? You had a major impact on my life. Spiderman is the best superhero ever in my opinion, although my dad was a big fan of the fantastic four.
your pal, ryan
Also, your cameo in the new spiderman is my new favorite. It was hilarious
Thanks, I think.
No, but seriously, thank you.
Hi Stan! First of all I can’t describe how much comic books have changed my life and how ecstatic I am to even have the chance to ask you a question!
Anyways my question is when 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!
What do you consider to be your first big break? Can you pinpoint one single event that changed your life?
What obscure characters would you like to see adapted into a big budget film?
Black Panther. He's not too obscure, I hope.
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 (http://youtube.com/user/worldofheroes)! Also check up on my facebook page later in the day (www.facebook.com/realstanlee) 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!
Do you think you will ever write your "Great American Novel"? or have you had ideas on what you would want to write about?
Also, would you consider resuming your weekly "Stan's Soapbox" column?
I have, in venerable video form as part of my World of Heroes channel on youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA2B5DB1786F4B226
As our athletes and movie stars have gotten bigger and stronger, so have our superheroes. Some complain that the sense of vulnerability particularly evident in Marvel heroes has been diminished, and that we are learning to admire power moreso than character.
Do you agree with this? Is there an end in sight or will our heroes just keep getting more muscular and powerful?
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?
What's your opinion on the current state of the comic market?
Are things like paper comics being phased out, or do you see them starting to trend upwards?
Any modern day comics you'd recommend?
This interview was transcribed from an "ask me anything" question and answer session with Stan Lee conducted on Reddit on 2012-08-14. The Reddit AMA can be found here.