The 1990s were a wild ride. The Founder of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, spoke to the Author of Eon Legacy at multiple Comic Cons and Comikaze over the years. This just one of those stories.
In the late 90s and early 2ks “Fan” conventions began growing in popularity and mainline acceptance. The 80s and early 90s did have comic and sci-fi conventions but it wasn’t as popular. However, the Author of Eon Legacy, R.A.G. Rankin was spending his allowance on 1 day tickets and whole weekends when he could afford it. As mentioned before, Gary Gygax of Dungeons and Dragons fame were one of his encounters. Another was the late Stan Lee who was more than happy to give his opinion on the “writings of new talent”. We’ve got the first encounter abridged for you to enjoy:
First Encounter- San Diego Comic Con (late 90s)
RR: Wow! Stan Lee, I am a huge fan! My uncle had every comic you produced and I got a chance to read them and my dad said you’ve got a great sense of moral and civic justice about you which makes your work just that more groovy!
SL: Greetings, true believer! Last in line means you get more of my time! Thank your uncle for introducing you and thank your father for being a fan!
RR: Oh, I will, Mister Lee.
SL: So what can I do for you, young man? I don’t see you carrying any memorabilia to sign.
-At this moment Stan Lee looked at his handlers who both shrugged. He then leaned forward and tilted his head down so he could look over his glasses.
RR: Sorry, no, sorry. I came to ask your advice because I know you’re the guy wo wrote much of your comics but always had artists do the work and I’m working on a role playing game and needed your input.
SL: Input on a game? Role playing? You know I helped cosign a Marvel Superheroes tabletop adventure role playing game back in 85! The ideas that came from the people that played were out of this world! Sure, I’ll take a looksie!
-RR Handed stand the 3-ring binder with the newly updated draft since the encounter with Gary Gygax. The new draft had another 30 pages of content with more “World building” which was Gary’s suggestion. Stan took a few moments, only spending time on the pages that had actual lore and totally ignored the pages with numbers, tables, datasheets before sitting back and smiling bright.
SL: Son, you spin a good yarn. A short yarn but good none the less.
RR: Thanks, Mister Lee!
SL: Call me Stan or Generalisimo because I’m going to lay it onto you thick. How old are you?
RR: Sixteen, Generalisimo.
SL: Alright, better to know now rather than later. A good yarn is a good thing but if it’s too short you can’t make a scarf out of it, or socks, or mittens. If it’s not dyed and woven into an ideal form it will lack flare and while some people just want a functional product it will never provide the warmth to someone whos eye’s it caught.
RR: Umm, so I need more story?
SL: Story, art, pizzazz, the whole shebang! You’ve got a great ideas but you need more worldbuilding. Four characters won’t cut a property that BLASTS you into the Omniverse! You need more of everything! You do that and I can put in a good word for you with the right people but this – this needs some work.
RR: Wow, that’s what Gygax said. I’ll definitely get to that suggestion, Stan
SL: You know Gary? Wow, well he does come up with some fascinating fantasy. I guess you could say we’re on the same page. If you go public with this and I had time to play it I would! Send me a copy when you’re done!
RR: Wow, really? That’s pretty wicked!
SL: Oooh yes, wicked is a good word for it! Keep writing those wicked works because if it weren’t for things like them we’d have nothing!
RR: Indeed, Generalisimo.
SL: Indeed! Excelsior! By the way you’ll be seeing me a lot more in movies soon! Tell me what you think next time we meet!
-Stan Lee gave a finger-gun and a wink as he stood and started heading out of the hall. Somewhere, in the celebrity zoo you could hear Adam West arguing loudly with Mark Hammill but that’s a story for another time.
In Closing: Stan Lee was willing to tell a teenager a thing or two about what he was working on despite having a comic book empire in his hands. Rather than soft-balling the truth or gatekeeping like so many do today Stan was forward, honest, and in a sense brutal like many of the comics he produced. While some were simply a work of the times many of them had a story to tell and a moral that is lost in many modern works of fiction.