NYCC 2011 - Shakespeare Gets A POW! Treatment by Stan Lee and 1821 Comics

Of all the surprises that befell on Red Dot Diva at NYCC 2011, she never expected to have a good Squee over comic-book legend and former head of Marvel comics, Stan Lee!

She was well aware that Stan Lee (who is now Founder, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment) would be at the convention, but because he has always been wildly popular with fans, she thought that meeting the man would be near to impossible.

In between spending fangirly time with her friends, doing touristy stuff, stalking comic book creators and being shown round the city (thanks to a particular silver fox) ... oh, and not to mention, the wondrous lack of free wifi, she managed to miraculously receive an email for a press invite to the unveiling of "Romeo and Juliet: The War" - a new graphic novel by 1821 Comics, a new comic book/graphic novel company based in LA, and Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment.

It didn't take her more than a couple of seconds to RSVP a loud YES.

Red Dot Diva arrived at 1821 Comics booth on Friday just slightly after 12 pm. Thousands of fans and onlookers have already gathered around to catch a glimpse of the man and to view the launch of the graphic novel. With her lack of height and totally surrounded by (giant) Americans, Red Dot Diva could barely sneak a peek of the man, until a group of three young and kindly fellow blogger-journalists offered her a spot to stand beside them. (She is sorry she did not manage to get their names in all that rush. They were cute too!) And one even tried to get a pic of Stan Lee for her. So sweet!

However, she knew that with an official press invite, there had to be a better spot for her to get a good camera angle. Nosing around the booth, she saw that there was indeed a press area in the cordoned section, so she boldly introduced herself to the 1821 Comics peeps and ... yeah!.. was asked to stand at a prime spot right up front for picture-taking. Guess being cute and petite has its benefits *g*

Not long after, Terry Dougas, co-founder of 1821 Comics and co-creator of "Romeo and Juliet: The War" stepped up to begin the event and in the midst of loud, excited cheers formally introduced Stan Lee.

Stan, who was beaming brightly from ear to ear, looked chipper as well as dapper in a light pink shirt and a pair of khakis. He gamely took over and gave everyone a run-down of what "Romeo and Juliet: The War" is all about. All in a rather impressively clear booming voice.

This is what he said:


The 1821 Comics/ POW! Entertainment co-published graphic novel is based on that well-known fateful romantic Shakespeare story of "Romeo and Juliet" but with a futuristic twist and set in the Empire of Verona, the most powerful territory on Earth. In this re-telling, the Montagues and the Capulets possess superpowers! In fact, the Montagues are cyborgs made of artificial DNA. A love story between cyborgs and super-enhanced human beings? Nice.

Terry Dougas then proceeded to proudly show off a copy of the giant-sized coffee table book together with Stan and the graphic novel's artist Skan Srisuwan. Noting Skan's nationality, it was no wonder the Red Dot Diva had noticed a strong Asian slant in the artwork, which is gorgeous, by the way.

And that wasn't all either, Terry also presented a specially made figurine of the Romeo and Juliet graphic novel characters. Red Dot Diva supposes that this might be made available to the fans when the book is launched?? Maybe?

After the official unveiling, Red Dot Diva waited for her turn to introduce herself to the comic book genius. Stan, still smiling and giving her a rather strong handshake, said, "Singapore?? That's an awfully long way from here!" And with that, she managed to squeeze in a few minutes of precious time with Stan Lee. W000t!

Check out Stan Lee's answer to Red Dot Diva's question and his very special greeting to fans in Singapore!

Stan Lee -- So Squeeable!

If one is curious as to *how close* Red Dot Diva got to the man, she blushingly reveals that she had to lean very close to his ear (by his invitation, of course) in order to speak to him. This was partially because of the raucous frenzy surrounding 1821 Comics' booth that afternoon.

So yes, the Diva has now perved Stan Lee - whom she thinks is utterly adorable in person. (SQUEE again!)

Gill Champion, CEO of POW! Entertainment and Stan Lee

Variant cover of the graphic novel

"Romeo and Juliet: The War" written by Max Work and artwork by Skan Srisuwan will be available on November 30. It is a 10''x13"-sized coffee table book, and will be on sale in both hard and soft cover formats.

Look out for it!