Comic Book Men s05e10 Episode Script
Tell 'Em, Jim Lee!
Hey, if you discovered both your parents were robots, would you still love 'em? So, like, you walked in on 'em, and their face plates were off, they looked up at you, and they quickly tried to put 'em back on.
- Yeah.
- So you knew they were robots.
Yeah.
He's like, "Now it makes sense.
" But, yeah, without a doubt, I probably would be like - You'd love 'em more.
- Yeah.
I mean, you know how, like, I love "Terminator.
" I love "RoboCop.
" I love all robot movies.
- Yeah.
- What about you? I would be like, "Why'd you lie to me the whole time?" Okay, but what if it's your girlfriend though? 'Cause you're always gonna love your mom, - no matter what happens.
- Right.
But your girlfriend tells you a lie, she's And you find out she's a robot, - that changes things, right? - Right.
So now I'm learning how to reprogram robots.
You takin' night courses? Oh, you better believe it.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of "Comic Book Men," the only show that knows that Aunt Beru's blue milk comes out of a bantha.
- I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
- Okay, men.
In this comic book store, does anybody buy comic books anymore? They do.
A customer came in lookin' for that special issue of "Spider-Man.
" Hey, how you guys doin' today? How you doin'? I'd like to take a gander at the "Spider-Man" Annual 21? Oh, yeah, sure.
Hey, Mike.
- Yeah? - Do me a favor? Can you grab the Annual where Spider-Man gets married? Who does he marry? - Mary Jane.
- Really? Ooh.
You're not into comics? I am, but I'm not a big Marvel person.
- I'm DC, sorry.
- Okay, oh, all right.
Ooh.
Pretty key issue.
It's rather old.
I mean, I can't believe that, uh, Peter and Mary Jane tied the knot in 1987.
It's that long ago? It's yeah, it feels like it was yesterday, man.
The wedding of the '80s, I don't think it was Princess Diana and Charles.
I think it's Peter Parker and Mary Jane.
Yeah, I think history would debate you And say it was probably them, but I agree.
As a comic book fan, there was no bigger story as Spider-Man marrying Mary Jane, even when Superman married Lois Lane.
Oh, yeah.
You were taking a character that everybody can identify with and then all of a sudden, he's married, you know? I signed up for Spider-Man, not Spider-Dad.
It was a pretty historic issue right there.
And, you know, I don't know if you can remember You may have been too young.
They held, like, a symbolic wedding at Shea Stadium.
- No.
- No way.
Oh, yeah, in between innings of a Met game, I believe.
No, like a real live wedding? Yeah, there was an an actor who played Spider-Man, you know? Stan Lee was the master of ceremonies.
They had people dressed up like the Hulk.
Well, what an exciting wedding.
I mean, you have Harry Osborne there.
Yeah, you also got Betty Brant.
That was his first girlfriend.
A testament to how great a guy Peter Parker is that your first girlfriend would come to your wedding.
Right.
The love of Peter Parker's life was Gwen Stacy, and it's sort of like they turned their back on her.
- But she was dead.
- Yeah, but Say, why couldn't they have had like a memorial ceremony at Shea Stadium? The Gwen Stacy funeral! Yeah, they'd bring a casket around the bases.
Excelsior! All right, so, uh, we're asking $29.
99 for it.
I think that's pretty fair.
Uh, shall I wrap it up for you? Actually, it's not for me.
It's for her.
- Oh.
- Aww.
Whoa.
Are you serious right now? When you walked into my office, you blew me off my feet We're not doing this right now.
After I found out that you had comic book tattoos I did nothing but flood your office with comic books until you agreed to go out with me.
I'm not gonna cry.
No.
Will you marry me? Will you be my MJ? - Are you serious right now? - Dead serious.
- Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! - Oh-ho! Wow! Are you serious right now? - Dead serious.
- Oh, I hate you! - Mwah! - Wow! - Get out of here! - Yeah.
It's kinda romantic, man, 'cause you'd never see that comin'.
But it's also you know, it's kinda scary.
I mean, what happens if she says no? And I mean, I-I imagine he's not gonna buy the book.
- Congratulations! - Congratulations! Thank you very much.
- Aww, congrats.
- I'm, like, shaking! You know what? It it's on the house.
- Really? - Shut up.
Consider it a wedding gift from the Stash.
- Oh, thank you, guys.
- Thank you so much.
That's huge.
I don't think I've ever seen you give anything away.
- That's huge! - Thank you! Hey, you're all invited to the wedding.
- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah? - Wow! - Thank you, guys! Congratulations, you crazy kids.
- Hey, how you doing? - Hello.
You killed my father.
Prepare to die.
Comic book royalty.
The legend, the one and only Jim Lee.
Welcome.
Hey, well, thank you.
Thank you very much, man.
Hello.
My name is Inigo Montoya.
You killed my father.
Prepare to die.
What's going on? You've never heard of "Princess Bride"? - Come on.
- You're making me very sad.
What was the premise? Uh, premise is, that Princess Buttercup falls in lo Falls in love with Wesley.
Now I know why I don't recognize this movie.
So what do you got there? I have got Inigo Montoya's sword.
This is a replica sword, I'm assuming? It is.
It's by a company called Factory.
They made only 750 of them and they were made in the presence of the original, so it is the exact dimensions, weight and all.
Why did you buy it? 'Cause I love the movie very much.
It's probably the perfect blend of comedy, action - Romance.
- And romance.
- It's really got everything.
- What other It doesn't have robots or time travel, but other than that, it's got all the good stuff.
Well, that's why it sucks.
It could have 500 of these swords.
Look at his face! If it doesn't have robots and time travel - "The Princess Bride.
" - I love that movie! That's an amazing movie.
How do you not like You gotta be, like, a Nazi robot to not like that movie.
It's really quite a beautiful story.
Mandy Patinkin plays Inigo Montoya.
And he's looking for the six-fingered man who killed his father, and wouldn't you know, in the third act, he faces the six-fingered man.
And the six-fingered man kicks his ass.
He's dying, he's got pokes all over, and he's been sword fighting.
Inigo Montoya uses that mantra to get up and fight the dude back.
He's like, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!" And he knocks the sword away from the dude, and he's just like, "Offer me anything in the world.
" And he's like, "I'll give you anything.
" And he goes, pfft, and he stabs the guy.
He's like, "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!" That's so metal, dude! How can you not like that? Have you seen "Conan the Barbarian" with Arnold? Yes, it's much more badass.
I understand.
You really should hold the sword.
- Yeah.
- Give it try it out, maybe? - Yeah.
- Yes.
Let me see.
Step back.
You know, it does feel it feels very Like it's got some weight to it.
I look like that guy? What's his name? - Tony Montana? - No.
Inigo Montoya! I think you're thinking of "Scarface" actually.
I don't know.
Your customers will know this movie and know this sword.
You think you can move it? - I can move it.
- Well My instincts are right.
How much would you need for the sword today? I would really like $600.
Would you take $300 for it? I really couldn't.
Could you do $550? Why don't you do this? You buy it for the $550.
If it doesn't sell inside of six months, you gotta buy it.
I believe in you, Ming.
It'll test your salesmanship as well as your instincts about the product.
I think we definitely sell this within six months.
Deal.
$550.
All right.
- Thank you.
- Bye, guys.
- All right.
- It's badass, man.
This is Inigo Montoya's sword.
Prepare to die.
I die every day inside when I come to work and I see your face.
You ever been run through before? 'Cause it's 'bout to happen right now.
Kids, we are privileged to have comic book royalty at the table with us here today.
The legend, the one and only Jim Lee.
- Welcome, sir.
- Hey, well, thank you.
Thank you very much, man.
Figured these guys would love to ask some questions.
Fire away.
Is there one character that you can say that, like, you never get tired of drawing, like, you still get excited every time you have to draw 'em? They're very few.
You know, each character represents kind of a note and if you play that note or you're playing that same song over and over again, you get a little tired.
That said, I think that's why Robin works so great with Batman because Batman is so dark and full of angst, then you put this really light, bouncy character next to him and you get that real nice juxtapositioning of light and dark.
You know, a lot of people kinda dismiss Robin, but he plays a real critical part in kinda humanizing and making Batman more accessible.
Nice.
What about you, Zap? You got a question for the great Jim Lee? Sure do.
What was the most daunting project that you ever undertook? Probably, uh, "All Star Batman and Robin," uh, working with Frank Miller.
He was the guy that really inspired me to get into comics, and then years later, I'm working with the guy.
And, uh, thing with Frank is, he's obv obviously a master storyteller, so as soon as I read the script, I would imagine what he would draw, so it was kinda daunting, but after I kinda got past that and said, "This is Batman, you should have fun with it," it was smooth sailing after that, but working with, you know, your idol is one of the really cool things about comics.
Bry, you got a question for Jim? - I do.
My middle name is Lee.
- Okay.
I find myself to not be very successful.
- You have Jim Lee, Jason Lee - Right.
Bruce Lee, Sara Lee.
Should I change my name to Bryan Lee and drop the Johnson? Oh, sure, uh, yeah.
Why not, man? Sorry, Dad, killin' the family name.
Bryan Lee from now on.
Got some stuff outside from one of the best '80s movies of all time.
- Oh, wow! - You weren't kiddin'.
My God! There's a lot of pressure when you're sittin' there and you're there too! Uh, I had to want it more than anyone else! When you're workin' on something like "Hush," which goes on to become as seminal as "Dark Knight Returns," is there any inkling like, "This is gonna live forever," or are you just like, "I gotta get this page done"? You never know as you're doing it how it's gonna be received and then whether it's gonna sort of stand the, uh, test of time over the years.
One of the great things about having worked in comics for so long is seeing fans that are 15 years old, 30 years old, - 45 years old - Right.
- And you can time - stamp when they got into comics based on the stuff that they saw of your work at that time.
I've seen a lot of comments on Twitter like, "Oh, yeah.
This character really kinda changed my life," and, um, you know, "It awakened my sexuality," whatever You know, what have you, right? So there's somebody that comes up to you, and they're like, "Sila!" Yeah, exactly right.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, we've all been there at some point.
- Hey, how you doin'? - How you doin' today, guys? - Hey, how are ya? - Guys into '80s movies at all? Amazing '80s movies.
Is there any other kind of '80s movie? We love '80s movies.
I got some stuff outside from one of the best '80s movies of all time.
And you can't fit it through the door? Uh, I can't.
They're actually pretty big and there's a few of 'em, but you're gonna love 'em.
- All right, let's check it out.
- Okay.
- Lead the way.
- Sure.
Every so often, somebody comes in and asks us to go outside with the promise of seeing something so cool that, you know, it'll be an opportunity of a lifetime.
One of two things usually happens after that.
Somebody shows you a dick pic, or somebody hits you in the back of the head and takes your money.
That's why I don't follow Ming out when he asks me.
But, um - That's awesome.
- Wow.
- You weren't kiddin'.
- Oh, my God.
Gentlemen, these are my Gremlins.
- Awesome.
- They're in the sunlight, even though they're not supposed to be, but yeah.
Where'd you get 'em? When I was a kid in, like, the early '90s, I used to go to the old Warner Brothers Studio Store.
- Mm-hmm.
- These guys were hanging from the rafters, like, as part of, like, decoration.
And I would always ask if I could buy them, and they said they weren't for sale, they were part of the store.
That store went out of business a long time ago.
- I-I finally picked them up.
- Very cool.
It's pretty elaborate for a display item, you know, not for sale.
Yeah, maybe that's why Warner Brothers - went out of business, man.
- Exactly.
Put too much money into the props that were on Hangin' on the wall.
I saw "Gremlins" when I was, like, in high school.
How old were you when "Gremlins" came out? I was ten.
So, I mean, it fascinated me.
I saw it more of as a, like, a cautionary tale.
Maybe American responsibility, because, if you remember, the guy who had the gremlin was a little Asian dude.
- Yeah.
- Like it yeah, no.
You know, the white man tried to come in and buy it, and he wouldn't let him buy it.
You know, and what happened? You literally took one of the best movies of childhood and turned it into a metaphor for American interventionism.
Like, why, man? Hey, that's just what I saw.
Hey.
At ten? I think that if we got these, I think we could move 'em at the Stash.
I mean, it may take a while, but, you know, Christmas rolls around, decorate the store, set up the Christmas tree, - put 'em around the bottom.
- Oh, yeah.
Put a little Santa hat on this one.
What are you looking to get for 'em? For the group, all three, I'd like to get $5,000.
$5,000, huh? - Whew! - Which is a good price.
- For you.
- For you, yeah.
For me.
Any chance you'd take $2,500? I don't think I could go as low as 2,500 bucks for the three.
But I could take off 500 bucks and do $4,500.
What about $3,000? I could split them up if you wanted to maybe do - one of them or two of them.
- You can't break 'em up.
That'd be like breaking up, you know, like, a A litter of puppies at the pet store.
You just don't do that.
I think my highest offer I could go today would be $3,500.
I-I couldn't go higher than that though.
$4,000 for all three.
Yeah I can't do it.
I-I think $3,500 is Is where I'm gonna - have to draw the line today.
- All right, I understand.
I appreciate you takin' a look at 'em though.
Thanks for bringin' 'em in though.
- No problem.
Not a problem.
- Yeah, thanks.
You told me a phenomenal story about putting yourself in the headspace to be successful, 'cause you weren't - always in the industry.
- Sure.
One at one point, you, like fans, were outside the industry, wantin' to get in.
Yeah, you know, it's weird, 'cause I've only shared that story with you just 'cause I thought it was such a weird story and it was always - everything that you remember.
- It's fantastic.
Okay, so I very much wanted to get into comics, and my two favorite comic book writers were, uh, John Byrne and Frank Miller.
And for some reason, I was into this whole, like, Rocky thing where I had it was like mind-body, right? It wasn't just that the art had to be good enough, I had to physically want it more than anyone else, and so, uh, there was this little track at this high school and I would run, like, a couple miles, but while I was running I would be chanting, "Miller, Byrne, Miller, Byrne," as if, like, every step I was taking was physically getting me closer towards this goal of becoming John and Frank.
So I-I-I don't know if it helped or not, honestly.
- It it clearly helped! - But it did get me in shape.
- It got me in shape.
- Of course.
To me, it was just about I had to want it so much that it I could work through the pain of anything, right? I could run ten miles, I could move to New York City, and then work as a janitor at Marvel if that would get me into the, uh, office, so I just was super focused on it, and I think about six months later, I-I-I got my first gig.
- Isn't that tremendous, man? - Yeah.
And now think about it.
There's some kids runnin' around tracks somewhere going, "Jim Lee, Jim Lee, Jim Lee.
" Oh, my God, dude! - I had this! - I had this too.
- Hey, how you doin'? - What's goin' on, guys? - How you doin'? - Are you guys into football? Oh, my God, dude! - I had this! - I had this too.
- I absolutely - Even I had this.
Oh, how awesome was this game? Oh, my God.
Electric football.
I haven't seen it in decades.
Look how massive it is, man.
It just screams power.
Grandeur.
NFL.
Remember that kid in that "Christmas Story" - when he got the rifle? - Yes.
- This was my Red Ryder.
- I know exactly.
This was what I was beggin' my parents for that Christmas.
I wanted it probably more than you did.
- No way.
- No, I Okay, listen.
Okay.
Leading up to Christmas that year, did you plan NFL games nightly and start to compile a statistics book? I had it all mapped out.
- I was gonna do it all.
- Okay.
I was gonna I was gonna be the Commish.
I had such dreams, I mean The National Flanagan League.
You play here.
It it vibrated, and you laid out all your players on a on a metal field.
You plugged it in and then you watched the action.
You you had there was, like, little wheels on the bottom of the players, and if you turned the wheels a certain way, those players, when the vibration starts They vibrate right off the table.
It looks pretty good, man.
It's got all 11 players on each team.
And most importantly, 'cause everybody loses it, the football.
This is everything.
That's the key to thousands of hours of fun.
Well, for him, apparently.
All right, well, the last thing, hit the switch.
Power on.
- My God! - Spinning in a circle.
They're just runnin' around randomly.
Maybe it's 'cause they're not going fast enough.
Yeah, there oh, there we go! - There we go! - That's the noise I remember.
This this is probably the worst game ever invented.
Hey, I don't know where you got such high, lofty expectations for this game.
Did you believe everything they said on the box? Like, "Real NFL Action!" "Players will turn left and right!" I just don't think you have the patience or the mind-set to play it properly.
That that's what I-I feel happened here - I - Because we know for a fact that people still play the game and there are leagues devoted to this game to this day.
- No.
- Yes.
There's a world championship of electronic football.
I think "electronic" - is taking it a little far.
- Yeah! - Let's call it what it is! - Keep that "electric.
" "Vibrating metal kinda football.
" Your mom will love it! Tell her to sit on it.
I think it would be hours of joy at the Stash for us.
You're seriously gonna buy this? Yes, I want it.
For for me.
So what are you lookin' to get for it? - $250.
- $250 though, um It's a time machine, man.
You know, brings you right back.
How 'bout $100? Oh, I can't do $100.
- I can't do $100.
- Come on.
$200.
How 'bout$125? You do $150, I'm happy.
All right, you got it.
- All right.
- Cool.
- Appreciate it.
- Enjoy.
I have a ton of, uh, Jim Lee artwork in my life.
There are two original pieces that I cherish.
One, it was a piece that you drew of Harley Quinn holding Batman and Joker as marionettes.
It's stunning to look at.
- The other piece is in the Stash.
- Sure.
It's a door that features Superman, - Batman - Right.
- And then Jay and Silent Bob.
- Sure, yeah.
We framed it and put it on display - Right.
- In the Stash here, like, in a big frame behind glass.
Dude, I was sweatin' bullets when I was doing that piece 'cause I'm I'm not really great with likenesses in that I don't spend a lot of time on it, and that's kind of a separate skill altogether.
So there's a lot of pressure when you're sittin' there, - and you're there too - Yes.
Just how it's like Uh, just, like, watching all this go down, and I'm I'm working vertically with a Sharpie.
So there's a lot of things that are going on as you're doing the piece.
I don't know how long it took, but it felt like five minutes.
I mean, again, you escape into that world.
It was so fast that, like, by the time he was done drawing, I noticed that I was I was turgid.
- I was just like - Okay, all right.
That was you behind me.
All right, yeah, yeah! All right, so, uh Is that a Sharpie in your pocket? - Yeah, yeah.
- No.
Oh, man, that's all the time we got for this week.
We gotta go.
For "Comic Book Men," I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the tremendous Jim Lee.
Wow.
Thank you, thank you, guys.
The world is full of Jokers, kids, so always be Batman.
Good night.
- Yeah.
- So you knew they were robots.
Yeah.
He's like, "Now it makes sense.
" But, yeah, without a doubt, I probably would be like - You'd love 'em more.
- Yeah.
I mean, you know how, like, I love "Terminator.
" I love "RoboCop.
" I love all robot movies.
- Yeah.
- What about you? I would be like, "Why'd you lie to me the whole time?" Okay, but what if it's your girlfriend though? 'Cause you're always gonna love your mom, - no matter what happens.
- Right.
But your girlfriend tells you a lie, she's And you find out she's a robot, - that changes things, right? - Right.
So now I'm learning how to reprogram robots.
You takin' night courses? Oh, you better believe it.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of "Comic Book Men," the only show that knows that Aunt Beru's blue milk comes out of a bantha.
- I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
- Okay, men.
In this comic book store, does anybody buy comic books anymore? They do.
A customer came in lookin' for that special issue of "Spider-Man.
" Hey, how you guys doin' today? How you doin'? I'd like to take a gander at the "Spider-Man" Annual 21? Oh, yeah, sure.
Hey, Mike.
- Yeah? - Do me a favor? Can you grab the Annual where Spider-Man gets married? Who does he marry? - Mary Jane.
- Really? Ooh.
You're not into comics? I am, but I'm not a big Marvel person.
- I'm DC, sorry.
- Okay, oh, all right.
Ooh.
Pretty key issue.
It's rather old.
I mean, I can't believe that, uh, Peter and Mary Jane tied the knot in 1987.
It's that long ago? It's yeah, it feels like it was yesterday, man.
The wedding of the '80s, I don't think it was Princess Diana and Charles.
I think it's Peter Parker and Mary Jane.
Yeah, I think history would debate you And say it was probably them, but I agree.
As a comic book fan, there was no bigger story as Spider-Man marrying Mary Jane, even when Superman married Lois Lane.
Oh, yeah.
You were taking a character that everybody can identify with and then all of a sudden, he's married, you know? I signed up for Spider-Man, not Spider-Dad.
It was a pretty historic issue right there.
And, you know, I don't know if you can remember You may have been too young.
They held, like, a symbolic wedding at Shea Stadium.
- No.
- No way.
Oh, yeah, in between innings of a Met game, I believe.
No, like a real live wedding? Yeah, there was an an actor who played Spider-Man, you know? Stan Lee was the master of ceremonies.
They had people dressed up like the Hulk.
Well, what an exciting wedding.
I mean, you have Harry Osborne there.
Yeah, you also got Betty Brant.
That was his first girlfriend.
A testament to how great a guy Peter Parker is that your first girlfriend would come to your wedding.
Right.
The love of Peter Parker's life was Gwen Stacy, and it's sort of like they turned their back on her.
- But she was dead.
- Yeah, but Say, why couldn't they have had like a memorial ceremony at Shea Stadium? The Gwen Stacy funeral! Yeah, they'd bring a casket around the bases.
Excelsior! All right, so, uh, we're asking $29.
99 for it.
I think that's pretty fair.
Uh, shall I wrap it up for you? Actually, it's not for me.
It's for her.
- Oh.
- Aww.
Whoa.
Are you serious right now? When you walked into my office, you blew me off my feet We're not doing this right now.
After I found out that you had comic book tattoos I did nothing but flood your office with comic books until you agreed to go out with me.
I'm not gonna cry.
No.
Will you marry me? Will you be my MJ? - Are you serious right now? - Dead serious.
- Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! - Oh-ho! Wow! Are you serious right now? - Dead serious.
- Oh, I hate you! - Mwah! - Wow! - Get out of here! - Yeah.
It's kinda romantic, man, 'cause you'd never see that comin'.
But it's also you know, it's kinda scary.
I mean, what happens if she says no? And I mean, I-I imagine he's not gonna buy the book.
- Congratulations! - Congratulations! Thank you very much.
- Aww, congrats.
- I'm, like, shaking! You know what? It it's on the house.
- Really? - Shut up.
Consider it a wedding gift from the Stash.
- Oh, thank you, guys.
- Thank you so much.
That's huge.
I don't think I've ever seen you give anything away.
- That's huge! - Thank you! Hey, you're all invited to the wedding.
- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah? - Wow! - Thank you, guys! Congratulations, you crazy kids.
- Hey, how you doing? - Hello.
You killed my father.
Prepare to die.
Comic book royalty.
The legend, the one and only Jim Lee.
Welcome.
Hey, well, thank you.
Thank you very much, man.
Hello.
My name is Inigo Montoya.
You killed my father.
Prepare to die.
What's going on? You've never heard of "Princess Bride"? - Come on.
- You're making me very sad.
What was the premise? Uh, premise is, that Princess Buttercup falls in lo Falls in love with Wesley.
Now I know why I don't recognize this movie.
So what do you got there? I have got Inigo Montoya's sword.
This is a replica sword, I'm assuming? It is.
It's by a company called Factory.
They made only 750 of them and they were made in the presence of the original, so it is the exact dimensions, weight and all.
Why did you buy it? 'Cause I love the movie very much.
It's probably the perfect blend of comedy, action - Romance.
- And romance.
- It's really got everything.
- What other It doesn't have robots or time travel, but other than that, it's got all the good stuff.
Well, that's why it sucks.
It could have 500 of these swords.
Look at his face! If it doesn't have robots and time travel - "The Princess Bride.
" - I love that movie! That's an amazing movie.
How do you not like You gotta be, like, a Nazi robot to not like that movie.
It's really quite a beautiful story.
Mandy Patinkin plays Inigo Montoya.
And he's looking for the six-fingered man who killed his father, and wouldn't you know, in the third act, he faces the six-fingered man.
And the six-fingered man kicks his ass.
He's dying, he's got pokes all over, and he's been sword fighting.
Inigo Montoya uses that mantra to get up and fight the dude back.
He's like, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!" And he knocks the sword away from the dude, and he's just like, "Offer me anything in the world.
" And he's like, "I'll give you anything.
" And he goes, pfft, and he stabs the guy.
He's like, "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!" That's so metal, dude! How can you not like that? Have you seen "Conan the Barbarian" with Arnold? Yes, it's much more badass.
I understand.
You really should hold the sword.
- Yeah.
- Give it try it out, maybe? - Yeah.
- Yes.
Let me see.
Step back.
You know, it does feel it feels very Like it's got some weight to it.
I look like that guy? What's his name? - Tony Montana? - No.
Inigo Montoya! I think you're thinking of "Scarface" actually.
I don't know.
Your customers will know this movie and know this sword.
You think you can move it? - I can move it.
- Well My instincts are right.
How much would you need for the sword today? I would really like $600.
Would you take $300 for it? I really couldn't.
Could you do $550? Why don't you do this? You buy it for the $550.
If it doesn't sell inside of six months, you gotta buy it.
I believe in you, Ming.
It'll test your salesmanship as well as your instincts about the product.
I think we definitely sell this within six months.
Deal.
$550.
All right.
- Thank you.
- Bye, guys.
- All right.
- It's badass, man.
This is Inigo Montoya's sword.
Prepare to die.
I die every day inside when I come to work and I see your face.
You ever been run through before? 'Cause it's 'bout to happen right now.
Kids, we are privileged to have comic book royalty at the table with us here today.
The legend, the one and only Jim Lee.
- Welcome, sir.
- Hey, well, thank you.
Thank you very much, man.
Figured these guys would love to ask some questions.
Fire away.
Is there one character that you can say that, like, you never get tired of drawing, like, you still get excited every time you have to draw 'em? They're very few.
You know, each character represents kind of a note and if you play that note or you're playing that same song over and over again, you get a little tired.
That said, I think that's why Robin works so great with Batman because Batman is so dark and full of angst, then you put this really light, bouncy character next to him and you get that real nice juxtapositioning of light and dark.
You know, a lot of people kinda dismiss Robin, but he plays a real critical part in kinda humanizing and making Batman more accessible.
Nice.
What about you, Zap? You got a question for the great Jim Lee? Sure do.
What was the most daunting project that you ever undertook? Probably, uh, "All Star Batman and Robin," uh, working with Frank Miller.
He was the guy that really inspired me to get into comics, and then years later, I'm working with the guy.
And, uh, thing with Frank is, he's obv obviously a master storyteller, so as soon as I read the script, I would imagine what he would draw, so it was kinda daunting, but after I kinda got past that and said, "This is Batman, you should have fun with it," it was smooth sailing after that, but working with, you know, your idol is one of the really cool things about comics.
Bry, you got a question for Jim? - I do.
My middle name is Lee.
- Okay.
I find myself to not be very successful.
- You have Jim Lee, Jason Lee - Right.
Bruce Lee, Sara Lee.
Should I change my name to Bryan Lee and drop the Johnson? Oh, sure, uh, yeah.
Why not, man? Sorry, Dad, killin' the family name.
Bryan Lee from now on.
Got some stuff outside from one of the best '80s movies of all time.
- Oh, wow! - You weren't kiddin'.
My God! There's a lot of pressure when you're sittin' there and you're there too! Uh, I had to want it more than anyone else! When you're workin' on something like "Hush," which goes on to become as seminal as "Dark Knight Returns," is there any inkling like, "This is gonna live forever," or are you just like, "I gotta get this page done"? You never know as you're doing it how it's gonna be received and then whether it's gonna sort of stand the, uh, test of time over the years.
One of the great things about having worked in comics for so long is seeing fans that are 15 years old, 30 years old, - 45 years old - Right.
- And you can time - stamp when they got into comics based on the stuff that they saw of your work at that time.
I've seen a lot of comments on Twitter like, "Oh, yeah.
This character really kinda changed my life," and, um, you know, "It awakened my sexuality," whatever You know, what have you, right? So there's somebody that comes up to you, and they're like, "Sila!" Yeah, exactly right.
Yeah.
It's like, yeah, we've all been there at some point.
- Hey, how you doin'? - How you doin' today, guys? - Hey, how are ya? - Guys into '80s movies at all? Amazing '80s movies.
Is there any other kind of '80s movie? We love '80s movies.
I got some stuff outside from one of the best '80s movies of all time.
And you can't fit it through the door? Uh, I can't.
They're actually pretty big and there's a few of 'em, but you're gonna love 'em.
- All right, let's check it out.
- Okay.
- Lead the way.
- Sure.
Every so often, somebody comes in and asks us to go outside with the promise of seeing something so cool that, you know, it'll be an opportunity of a lifetime.
One of two things usually happens after that.
Somebody shows you a dick pic, or somebody hits you in the back of the head and takes your money.
That's why I don't follow Ming out when he asks me.
But, um - That's awesome.
- Wow.
- You weren't kiddin'.
- Oh, my God.
Gentlemen, these are my Gremlins.
- Awesome.
- They're in the sunlight, even though they're not supposed to be, but yeah.
Where'd you get 'em? When I was a kid in, like, the early '90s, I used to go to the old Warner Brothers Studio Store.
- Mm-hmm.
- These guys were hanging from the rafters, like, as part of, like, decoration.
And I would always ask if I could buy them, and they said they weren't for sale, they were part of the store.
That store went out of business a long time ago.
- I-I finally picked them up.
- Very cool.
It's pretty elaborate for a display item, you know, not for sale.
Yeah, maybe that's why Warner Brothers - went out of business, man.
- Exactly.
Put too much money into the props that were on Hangin' on the wall.
I saw "Gremlins" when I was, like, in high school.
How old were you when "Gremlins" came out? I was ten.
So, I mean, it fascinated me.
I saw it more of as a, like, a cautionary tale.
Maybe American responsibility, because, if you remember, the guy who had the gremlin was a little Asian dude.
- Yeah.
- Like it yeah, no.
You know, the white man tried to come in and buy it, and he wouldn't let him buy it.
You know, and what happened? You literally took one of the best movies of childhood and turned it into a metaphor for American interventionism.
Like, why, man? Hey, that's just what I saw.
Hey.
At ten? I think that if we got these, I think we could move 'em at the Stash.
I mean, it may take a while, but, you know, Christmas rolls around, decorate the store, set up the Christmas tree, - put 'em around the bottom.
- Oh, yeah.
Put a little Santa hat on this one.
What are you looking to get for 'em? For the group, all three, I'd like to get $5,000.
$5,000, huh? - Whew! - Which is a good price.
- For you.
- For you, yeah.
For me.
Any chance you'd take $2,500? I don't think I could go as low as 2,500 bucks for the three.
But I could take off 500 bucks and do $4,500.
What about $3,000? I could split them up if you wanted to maybe do - one of them or two of them.
- You can't break 'em up.
That'd be like breaking up, you know, like, a A litter of puppies at the pet store.
You just don't do that.
I think my highest offer I could go today would be $3,500.
I-I couldn't go higher than that though.
$4,000 for all three.
Yeah I can't do it.
I-I think $3,500 is Is where I'm gonna - have to draw the line today.
- All right, I understand.
I appreciate you takin' a look at 'em though.
Thanks for bringin' 'em in though.
- No problem.
Not a problem.
- Yeah, thanks.
You told me a phenomenal story about putting yourself in the headspace to be successful, 'cause you weren't - always in the industry.
- Sure.
One at one point, you, like fans, were outside the industry, wantin' to get in.
Yeah, you know, it's weird, 'cause I've only shared that story with you just 'cause I thought it was such a weird story and it was always - everything that you remember.
- It's fantastic.
Okay, so I very much wanted to get into comics, and my two favorite comic book writers were, uh, John Byrne and Frank Miller.
And for some reason, I was into this whole, like, Rocky thing where I had it was like mind-body, right? It wasn't just that the art had to be good enough, I had to physically want it more than anyone else, and so, uh, there was this little track at this high school and I would run, like, a couple miles, but while I was running I would be chanting, "Miller, Byrne, Miller, Byrne," as if, like, every step I was taking was physically getting me closer towards this goal of becoming John and Frank.
So I-I-I don't know if it helped or not, honestly.
- It it clearly helped! - But it did get me in shape.
- It got me in shape.
- Of course.
To me, it was just about I had to want it so much that it I could work through the pain of anything, right? I could run ten miles, I could move to New York City, and then work as a janitor at Marvel if that would get me into the, uh, office, so I just was super focused on it, and I think about six months later, I-I-I got my first gig.
- Isn't that tremendous, man? - Yeah.
And now think about it.
There's some kids runnin' around tracks somewhere going, "Jim Lee, Jim Lee, Jim Lee.
" Oh, my God, dude! - I had this! - I had this too.
- Hey, how you doin'? - What's goin' on, guys? - How you doin'? - Are you guys into football? Oh, my God, dude! - I had this! - I had this too.
- I absolutely - Even I had this.
Oh, how awesome was this game? Oh, my God.
Electric football.
I haven't seen it in decades.
Look how massive it is, man.
It just screams power.
Grandeur.
NFL.
Remember that kid in that "Christmas Story" - when he got the rifle? - Yes.
- This was my Red Ryder.
- I know exactly.
This was what I was beggin' my parents for that Christmas.
I wanted it probably more than you did.
- No way.
- No, I Okay, listen.
Okay.
Leading up to Christmas that year, did you plan NFL games nightly and start to compile a statistics book? I had it all mapped out.
- I was gonna do it all.
- Okay.
I was gonna I was gonna be the Commish.
I had such dreams, I mean The National Flanagan League.
You play here.
It it vibrated, and you laid out all your players on a on a metal field.
You plugged it in and then you watched the action.
You you had there was, like, little wheels on the bottom of the players, and if you turned the wheels a certain way, those players, when the vibration starts They vibrate right off the table.
It looks pretty good, man.
It's got all 11 players on each team.
And most importantly, 'cause everybody loses it, the football.
This is everything.
That's the key to thousands of hours of fun.
Well, for him, apparently.
All right, well, the last thing, hit the switch.
Power on.
- My God! - Spinning in a circle.
They're just runnin' around randomly.
Maybe it's 'cause they're not going fast enough.
Yeah, there oh, there we go! - There we go! - That's the noise I remember.
This this is probably the worst game ever invented.
Hey, I don't know where you got such high, lofty expectations for this game.
Did you believe everything they said on the box? Like, "Real NFL Action!" "Players will turn left and right!" I just don't think you have the patience or the mind-set to play it properly.
That that's what I-I feel happened here - I - Because we know for a fact that people still play the game and there are leagues devoted to this game to this day.
- No.
- Yes.
There's a world championship of electronic football.
I think "electronic" - is taking it a little far.
- Yeah! - Let's call it what it is! - Keep that "electric.
" "Vibrating metal kinda football.
" Your mom will love it! Tell her to sit on it.
I think it would be hours of joy at the Stash for us.
You're seriously gonna buy this? Yes, I want it.
For for me.
So what are you lookin' to get for it? - $250.
- $250 though, um It's a time machine, man.
You know, brings you right back.
How 'bout $100? Oh, I can't do $100.
- I can't do $100.
- Come on.
$200.
How 'bout$125? You do $150, I'm happy.
All right, you got it.
- All right.
- Cool.
- Appreciate it.
- Enjoy.
I have a ton of, uh, Jim Lee artwork in my life.
There are two original pieces that I cherish.
One, it was a piece that you drew of Harley Quinn holding Batman and Joker as marionettes.
It's stunning to look at.
- The other piece is in the Stash.
- Sure.
It's a door that features Superman, - Batman - Right.
- And then Jay and Silent Bob.
- Sure, yeah.
We framed it and put it on display - Right.
- In the Stash here, like, in a big frame behind glass.
Dude, I was sweatin' bullets when I was doing that piece 'cause I'm I'm not really great with likenesses in that I don't spend a lot of time on it, and that's kind of a separate skill altogether.
So there's a lot of pressure when you're sittin' there, - and you're there too - Yes.
Just how it's like Uh, just, like, watching all this go down, and I'm I'm working vertically with a Sharpie.
So there's a lot of things that are going on as you're doing the piece.
I don't know how long it took, but it felt like five minutes.
I mean, again, you escape into that world.
It was so fast that, like, by the time he was done drawing, I noticed that I was I was turgid.
- I was just like - Okay, all right.
That was you behind me.
All right, yeah, yeah! All right, so, uh Is that a Sharpie in your pocket? - Yeah, yeah.
- No.
Oh, man, that's all the time we got for this week.
We gotta go.
For "Comic Book Men," I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the tremendous Jim Lee.
Wow.
Thank you, thank you, guys.
The world is full of Jokers, kids, so always be Batman.
Good night.