NY ComicCon Hangover: How I Almost Shook Stan Lee's Hand

I say almost, because I am a dumb ass.

See, here's what happened: I was at Saturday's "Cup O' Joe" panel, where Marvel ed-in-chief Joe Quesada made a few announcements, then fielded questions from a long line of fans. It's a funny, freewheelin' kind of panel. Early on, Joe announced the new Punisher MAX news, and called me up to tell the audience about it. "And then get the hell off the stage," he joked. I said something about Frank being my kind of character: "He's old, he's bitter, and he likes to kill people." Then, as per Joe's instructions, I got the hell off the stage.

"Hey, wait," Joe said. "I was kidding. You can stay up here."

But I felt weird about that; I mean, it was Joe's panel. So I sat back down.

"Now I feel bad," Joe said, then waited a beat before adding: "Okay, I'm over it."

It was a funny moment.

Announcements ended, Joe started taking those questions, and then halfway through the session... STAN LEE WALKED INTO THE ROOM.

To a lifelong nerd like me, there's no bigger celebrity on earth. In fact, Stan Lee was the first person I ever attached the label "celebrity" to. Even The Bride gasped when he walked into the room... and she's a far cry from a comics fan. Everyone knows Stan Lee. And to know him is to worship him.

Then came the moment that now sticks in my back and twists: Stan Lee proceeded to shake the hands of everyone gathered on the dais: Joe Quesada, Marvel's marketing and PR honcho Jim McCann, publisher Dan Buckley, writer/editor C.B. Cebulski, executive editor Axel Alonso...

And only later did I realize that the list could have included super-geek Duane Swierczynski... if only I had remained on stage.

So yeah. Big dumb ass here.