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When Roy Thomas Met Stan Lee, in His Final Days

Published Tue, 12 Mar 2019 09:00:43 -0500

Last updated Wed, 13 Mar 2019 08:59:11 -0500

John Cimino writes,

Thinking of Stan "The Man" Lee and his cameo in Captain Marvel. It's Stan's first live cameo shown in a world that doesn't have him in it. Maybe I'm a little more saddened by this than most, because I was with him and Roy Thomas right before he passed.

You see, it wasn't easy to get those two legends together — it was actually a three year debacle. The sh-tty people around Stan made it impossible for me to set this up because they wanted Stan for their own evil agenda. Shady shenanigans were always used to keep them apart. It was frustrating because Roy wanted to see him and he knew Stan wasn't doing well health-wise.

In 2018, things finally changed and people were out of Stan's life. But now, he wasn't the Stan Lee of old that always had a sparkle to him; he was tired, missing his wife Joan (who passed almost a year earlier), sick and looking every bit of 95 years in age. For months he was depressed, didn't want to see anyone and ready to leave this Earth. But I knew if he saw Roy Thomas; his protege and respected colleague, it would bring some happiness back to him (and make Roy happy as well).

I had a connection help me get in touch with Stan's new handler, this time a good kid who cared about him and not his money. When Stan found out Roy wanted to come visit him, he instantly wanted to see him — I knew I was right.

The first thing Stan did was flash a BIG smile when Roy walked in the room. I got so emotional because I was able to give Stan (and Roy) that pure tender moment. It was like my gift back to him for all the moments he gave me throughout my life with his wonderful stories and creations. It was magical.

Eventually he said, "Hi John." and held my hand and told me to take care of his "boy" Roy. It was bitter sweet because of all the chaos he had to go through in the last few years of his life from all the deceptive people around him, he didn't want that to happen to Roy. I promised Stan that I would always protect Roy, have his back and that I loved him. He smiled and said "God Bless you." We took photos together with the last one being Stan, Roy and myself (the last one Stan would ever take). Less than 48 hours later Stan "The Man" Lee was dead.

As sad as that was, it reads like a fairy tale. Or should I say a comicbook?

While this story is personal to me, we all have a little Stan Lee story because he managed to touch everyone of us in some way. Whether it be a cameo appearance, signing, picture, or just reading his work and becoming inspired, the man was able to give us a bunch of smiles and leave his mark on the world.

Let's share this so everyone smiles along with Stan.

Excelsior.