I realize it’s unusual to re-eulogize the same person two days in a row, but STAN LEE was special. Also, since this is Fan Film Factor, I wanted to take a moment to highlight his appearances in two fan films (and his love for Star Trek) before <sniff, sniff> letting him go.
Three years ago, the folks at STARSHIP FARRAGUT raised $15,787 from 202 backers in a Kickstarter intended to fund their series finale “Homecoming.” You can read about the full history of this cutting-edge fan series in this 3-part blog.
Although “Homecoming” is still unreleased (all of the scenes and reshoots were completed by summer of 2016, so the finale remains in a state of post-production), a brief segment was released in August of 2017 featuring none other than STAN LEE! I captured a still image of Stan from that video and used it yesterday for my eulogy blog. Here is the full minute-long clip that includes Stan’s full cameo…
Stan had previously appeared in an early pilot vignette for the fan series TREK: ISOLATION, which was set to spin off from Starship Farragut back in 2015. The vignette, “A Great Responsibility,” viewers with stunned looks on their faces as they saw the legendary Marvel Comics godfather sitting at a desk, wearing a gold TOS Starfleet admiral’s tunic! Here is that video in its entirety…
The fact that someone as famous as Stan Lee, a man who was already well into his 90s(!!!) when these two productions were shot, would even agree to appear in a “silly” Star Trek fan film says so much about this amazing man whom we lost yesterday. Stan was so easy-going, so humble, and loved to have fun. He truly appreciated the fans and would often bend over backward for them.
And Stan loved Star Trek. He discussed the original series with ROD RODDENBERRY (son of Star Trek‘s creator GENE RODDENBERRY) for the documentary TrekNation…
I leave you with this wonderful illustration that I saw yesterday on Facebook…
Face front, true believers!
Sadly, men of the same stamp as Stan Lee, the likes of Gary Gygax, E. Joseph Cossman, Al Ries, Edward Bernays are all of the same era and have mostly died out. There was a time when respect towards others striving to achieve lived before competition broke into the heart of a new generation where time is money and, without money, they have no time for you. And the respect died. It seems I caught the last crest of that wave receiving help and advice from all of the above – excepting Lee, to whom I never reached out to though I was received hospitably into the home of Gary Groth but not advised as by the others.
I was not a fan of Stan Lee, or Superhero comics in general. There were exceptions, and I certainly tried to create one of my own, which put me in contact with Groth and Mike Richardson in ’89. But reading your post here brings me to a general sadness for the loss of men like Stan Lee. Will we never see their ilk again?!
Love the nods to the Marvel UNIVERSE, and Excelsior!