November 2010 Archives

LONG BEACH -- "POOF!" Where'd he go?

Apparently comics legend Stan Lee has the power to disappear.

When the iconic creator of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men and other characters from Marvel appeared Sunday at the second annual Long Beach Comic Con, a young fan spotted him and sprinted to a railing to get a better look. But then, in true comic fashion, Lee vanished.

"He was right there," the dejected girl said, pointing to an empty escalator.

Minutes later, Lee alighted at a nondescript table to sign autographs in the large exhibit hall at the Long Beach Convention Center. Within moments, a line of several hundred fans snaked across the back wall. But within 20 minutes, Lee was again nowhere to be found.

Even one of Lee's handlers couldn't find the elusive 87-year-old.

However, when it was time for $40 photos to be taken with Lee, he magically popped up on-site. That session, held behind closed curtains, lasted mere minutes and once again the sprite was on the move.

He did stop long enough to chat with actor Bruce Boxleitner, who was on hand to promote his appearance in the new "Tron: Legacy" movie.

Although Boxleitner, who also starred as the title character in the original Tron movie, is a regular at comic and science fiction conventions, he and Lee had never met.

"Would you sign for me?" Boxleitner asked, handing a case containing a Spider-Man figurine belonging to his son, Michael.

"He's a big Spider-Man fan," Boxleitner said.

"As he should be," Lee said as he signed.

"The son of Tron flips for Spider-Man," Boxleitner joked.

Boxleitner and Lee also exchanged autographed photos of themselves together. Lee's contained a comic text bubble that said "To Bruce, Tron himself," while Boxleitner inscribed his "Stan, you're my hero."

As Lee picked up his photo from Boxleitner he said, "He not only looks better than me, he has better handwriting. I look like the villain, and you look like the hero."

"That's the twist," Boxleitner said.

Before leaving, Lee told Boxleitner he wanted to make a cameo appearance in Tron, as he famously has done in movies based on his Marvel characters.

Lee also appeared at a ribbon-cutting for last year's Long Beach Comic Con and was clearly the superhero of this year's event as well.

"Stan's a big get for anyone," said Phil Lawrence, one of the organizers of the event. "I think he liked last year so much he came back."

Fans mingle with stars

The local Comic Con is not just about stars like Lee and Boxleitner, or even former pro wrestler the Honky Tonk Man, who sat alone for long stretches at his table. It is also about retailers, publishers and working comic artists - there were more than 170 in the Artists Alley. And it is about the fans, many of whom on this Halloween day were decked out in all manner of superhero, super villain, graphic novel and science fiction garb.

They were people like Uzziel Pinzon, who was dressed in a Super Mario costume and stood in line to meet Lee. He came with his little brother, 5-year-old Kyle, who was dressed, fittingly, as Mario's brother, Luigi.

"To me, Stan Lee is crazy. I just want to get him to sign my "`Carnage' #1 comic," Pinzon said, referring to a recently released Marvel supervillain, who battles Spidey and Iron Man.

Kyle shook his head when asked if he knew who Lee was.

Pinzon said, he was trying to get his brother interested in comics and said the meeting with Lee would be something he could share and remind his brother about in the future.

Among attendees there was mixed reaction to the Halloween date.

Last year, the event was held in the first weekend in October, but it was changed this year so it would not conflict with the New York Comic Con, Oct. 8-10, which would have pulled away many exhibitors.

Lawrence said the Long Beach event has to compete with a crowded national field now in comic book and other similarly themed events. Last year, the Long Beach convention drew about 6,300 fans. Lawrence was unsure where this year's attendance would fall, although he said on Sunday afternoon people were still registering online.

Future plans

So far, the Long Beach event is geared more toward the comic and artist crowd, rather than film and other genres, and Lawrence said he hoped to continue that focus while expanding the event each year.

"We want to grow, but we want to try not to lose our core of comic book audience," Lawrence said.

Although he admitted he'd like to reach the status of the San Diego Comic-Con one day, he added, "I like the fact that anyone can walk up and buy a ticket."

Artists said the numbers seemed a little less this year. However, the event was in a larger space, which may have made the crowds seem thinner.

Jerrell Conner, an artist and writer from North Long Beach who created the "Revelations" series, was on hand selling not only his comic series, but artwork and even T-shirts with some of his signature art. He is a regular at similar events in San Diego and San Francisco and is thinking of attending those in Seattle and Phoenix to "get exposure in different markets."

Conner said his business was down this year but hoped it might pick up later in the day.

The artist said he saw more families at this year's event. Children 10 and younger were admitted free, and candy was passed out by many vendors.

Conner guessed this year's event might have conflicted with people's regular Halloween schedules.

Pinzon, however, liked the vibe.

"It's cool that it's on Halloween. I think a lot of people had their costumes ready, anyway," he said. "The people are great."

As Lee was preparing to exit, Lee and Boxleitner shared a couple of parting words.

"I'm still a fanboy after 60 years," Boxleitner said.

"As it should be, as it should be," Lee replied.

Suddenly Boxleitner remembered he should get an autograph for his wife, Melissa Gilbert.

He looked up, but POOF! Lee was gone without so much as an "excelsior!"

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291