At left in the photo above, you have Marv Wolfman, writer of cartoons and comic books and co-creator of many comic book characters not co-created by the guy in the middle. The guy in the middle is Stan Lee, and I probably don't have to tell anyone who'd find their way to this website who Stan Lee is and what he's done. The dashing gent at right is me and the photo was taken last night at the annual banquet of the Comic Art Professionals Society as it honored the guy in the middle.
I got to be the Master of Ceremonies and make a speech. Marv spoke, a member named Pat McGreal assembled a wonderful video overview of Stan's career and Scott Shaw! presented a special Stan Lee edition of his Oddball Comics slideshow, displaying some of the odder comics that Stan has worked on in his long career. Stan had to sit there and listen to it all. No wonder he got drunk.
The room (at a posh county club in Northridge) was packed with interesting, talented folks. Most were cartoonists but there were also actors like June Foray and Gary Owens, all convened to toast Stan and celebrate his life and times. It was a great evening and I'll post a few more photos as soon as the folks who took them e-mail them my way.