Posted in: Comics | Tagged: c2e2, marvel

Getting a Hug From God – Stan Lee Stories at C2E2

The Saturday afternoon Marvel Fanfare panel at C2E2 was a chance for fans to talk over the love of all things Marvel with Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski and Ryan Penagos (Agent M), the Vice President & Creative Executive at Marvel New Media and a chance to share their stories of Stan Lee.

Cebulski talked about how while Stan and Jack Kirby started Marvel from the creative standpoint, it was Stan who started it all from the fan standpoint. Lee's use of letter pages and Stan's Soapbox to promote books, characters, and creators got the fans involved in the process of creating Marvel comics in a way no one else had done before.

Penagos stated that the first time he was introduced to Stan, Stan asked what he did. He told him he worked for Marvel.Com to which Stan said "I love that website!" Penagos said he was sure Stan had never visited the website, but the fact that he said he loved it still brought a huge smile to his face. He added that he eventually interviewed Stan numerous times over the years, and that one time Stan enthusiastically said "That was a great interview!" Penagos smiled and said "Praise from Stan was like a hug from God."

Cebulski said he too got the feeling Stan wasn't sure who he was, that everytime they met Cebulski would introduce himself again or one of Stan's handlers would whisper in his ear and then Stan would say "Hi CB!" But he added that the last time he saw Stan it was at a dinner in Los Angeles. Cebulski was waiting in a van for others to go to the dinner, when the door opened and Stan got in without one of his handler's whispering in his ear. Stan saw him and said "Good to see you CB!" Cebulski smiled and told the audience "That's when I knew he knew who I was."

Fan interaction was an important part of the panel. One fan asked about the inconsistent use of Marvel characters in video games and wondered if Marvel could do more to make sure the writers of the books got input into the games. Cebulski said that games used to be licensed out and that the amount of input Marvel got into a game was limited. But with games now being produced in-house at Marvel in conjunction with game studios, Marvel was able to provide more guidance during the creation of the game. Penagos cited the recent Spider-Man game for the PS 4 as an example, with both Dan Slott and Christos Gage contributing a lot to the story and dialogue.

Another fan talked about how the Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso tenures as Marvel Editor-in-Chief had seen an increased push for diversity and the creation of characters like Miles Morales and Kamala Khan. He then asked Cebulski what characters he would like to have as the hallmark of his tenure. Cebulski said it was too soon to know the answer to that, but added that he agreed with what editor Ralph Macchio once told him, that there were no bad characters, only characters that hadn't been written well yet. As an example he cited Bullseye, a character that was treated somewhat as a joke until Frank Miller got ahold of the character and turned him into the violent Daredevil rival everyone now knows.

A follow-up asked Penagos and Cebulski what characters they wanted to bring into the spotlight. Penagos said his answer was always M.O.D.O.K. when this question came up, so now that he is getting his own animated series, he didn't have a ready answer. Cebulski stated that he thought Moon Knight was a character that could be given more prominence, that while the character had some recent stellar runs, they hadn't caught on as well as they should have done. Penagos then smiled and said they need to bring back Paste Pot Pete. "He's a guy with a pot of paste who glues people to the ground. " So you heard that here first, Bleeding Cool readers. I assume the mystery December 2019 event teased in the Marvel Next Big Thing panel is Paste Pot Pete-centric.

A librarian fan asked about the need for books suitable for libraries. Cebulski stated that he could no over estimate the influence of libraries in the success of books like Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. He added that those books reached an audience in libraries and other areas outside the direct market that brought new readers into comics and comic shops. He explained that Marvel has a small group dedicated to working with libraries.

Although the point of the panel was to focus on the love of all things Marvel, a few somewhat newsworthy items came up during from the questioners. A fan talked about how finding the Young Avengers series from Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung got him into comics and asked if there was anything coming up for that version of the characters. After discussing how Heinberg once used his name on a character's fake ID on the OC, Cebulski said that while there were things coming up for the Young Avengers later this year, he could neither confirm nor deny the involvement of Heinberg and Cheung.

Another fan, who takes part in a graphic novel book club, asked if there would be more series like Spider-Man Life Story that took place outside continuity so that they were more accessible to readers who didn't want to take part in the larger Marvel universe. Cebulski stated that there were plans for more books along the line of Spider-Man Life Story that drew on Marvel history but weren't tied to Marvel continuity.

Another fan mentioned his favorite character was the Red Hulk and lamented his recent death. After joking that 'Dead is dead at Marvel', Penagos said that anyone could be the Red Hulk, causing both him and Cebulski to go 'Hmmmmmmm.'

Someone else asked about hints Donny Cates has been tweeting about bringing back the Ultimate Universe. Cebulski said that next year is the 20th anniversary of the Ultimate Universe and that if Marvel was going to do something, next year would be the time to do it but it would be building on existing things and not relaunching the entire Ultimate Universe.

Unfortunately, the panel ended before I could ask if there were plans to give Chris Claremont a new ongoing title. He would be the perfect writer for Paste Pot Pete, so that's probably happening.

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