At the end of April at the Calgary Comic con none other than Stan Lee is going to be there and this is what I'm hoping to do.

I want to give him a hard copy of my comic ‘The Dragon Fists of Smorty Smythe’ as a token of my esteem. It's for him to keep and read at his leisure and get back to me on it at his convenience as my email is in the back cover.

The ONLY thing I would ask of him is if he likes, and ONLY if he likes it, to just give me a thumbs-up on Facebook.

If the top man of the comics industry likes my work it will draw attention to it. And in return the best I can do is give him a good laugh!

Does anyone here know if this is a wise approach?

Just here to say how jealous I am.


I am very jealous.

Not sure if there's another approach that would even remotely work… Seems like your best bet… Hoping for Stan Lee's thumbs up for ya….!

I hate to be a downer, but I don't think this is a great idea unless you want to annoy Stan Lee. I'm sure he's had a million young comic artists try the same thing. If you genuinely do want to give him your comic as a token of your esteem, that's cool - but if you're asking him for feedback and publicity, it's not really a gift. I think personally I would be annoyed if someone's gift came with strings attached like that.

Also, there's a strictly pragmatic problem - Stan Lee said recently in an interview that his eyesight is too poor these days to read comics.

Just include basic contact information at the back, like you normally would with a comic book. If he decides to contact you, he's free to do so on his own. If he doesn't, he doesn't and he still gets a free comic out of it.

bake him a pie. that will sweeten the pot.

Just ask for the thumbs up directly and send him a link to the thing you want thumbed up :D
I'd imagine that the old guy gets a lot of things that he won't ever be able to read, and as Hippie says his eyesight is a massive issue now.

So give him the comic and ask for the thumbs up- in a nice way. What have you really go to lose?

That's my attitude about it… I agree with Hippie that it really might annoy him and there's a good chance it'll never get read, but you know what… if you don't give it to him there's a 100% chance it won't get looked at! Nothing much to lose here!

Give it to him and ask for the thumbs up! :D

Thanks guys. I mean what have I got to lose?

Tell him Drunk Duck sent you and get a photo with him and post it here! :D

As a child of a family of lawyers, I do feel the need to point out, he might not be able to take your comic for legal reasons. It would give you the opportunity to sue him if any of his future products have anything in common with your work. It's easier to prove he didn't steal your idea if he hasn't seen it. That's why most publishers return comic and novel scripts unopened.


Not saying he would do that. Just be prepared to be gracious about it if he declines.

Get the photos and autograph. Mention that you do a comic and if he expresses interest give it to him then. Or say that it's a token of your esteem and respect for him and his work. If you only knew the number of manuscripts well-known creators get pressed into their hands at events. Usually the best thing is to decline everything.

I'm jealous you'll get to meet him, I have no idea on how to get him to read a comic though. I am also jealous that Calgary's fan expo always has way better guests than Vancouvers D:

Well people, I met Stan at the convention last night and guess what…?

He took ONE LOOK at my comic and laughed out; “This looks great! I've GOT to read this!”

He even asked for MY AUTOGRAPH on it!!!