IAM The Real Stan Lee

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?

http://youtu.be/a5b5R0I0mKM

Face Front for the answering now begins: pic.twitter.com/AixfKrnJ

How is you're day going Mr. lee?

Not too bad.

Hey Stan! Which of the characters you created do you think is most underrated and should be more popular?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdeSzRP8TEk&feature=youtu.be

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!

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.

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!

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDo27sgzqt8&feature=youtu.be

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.

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.

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."

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.

Oh & Happy 18th Birthday Alex! Excelsior!

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.

1. 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?
2. 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!

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:

1. Which superhero, Marvel or otherwise, would you most want to see a movie for?

2. 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.

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!

• 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!

You are my all-time favorite person that I have never met.

Will you choose a name for my new dog?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4yX5DfCZ_w&feature=youtu.be

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!

Just wanted to say, "Thanks." That is all.

You're welcome.

What is the moment you are most proud of?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVHC_Q7TBPA

You wont read this.

Won't I?

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.

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!)

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.

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?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rUwcDoIpd4&feature=youtu.be

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.

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?

http://youtu.be/3urMmgaZRIA

If you HAD to choose your favorite DC character, who would it be and why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUNUZCu0NWY

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!