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Questionable Stan Lee signed comics

Well, there's actually nothing questionable about them to me; I'm just being polite. Among the problems are the completely wrong 'S' and the fact that he simply doesn't write such a large signature.

ebay seller: jwantitihaveit 98.3% Positive feedback

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stan-lee-autograph-SPIDERMAN-WOLVERINE-/251...

Here are 2 completed items from the same seller that I reported when they were first listed. Nothing was done and they were sold to unwitting buyers.

Here's the nice generic signing picture used for "proof", which was appropriated from this blog about the London Super Comic Convention

http://www.liveforfilms.com/2012/02/28/london-super-comic-conventio...

Here are a couple of legit Stan Lee CGC Signature Series autographs for quick comparison.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on April 22, 2013 at 2:14pm

If I posted ebay art-related forgeries coming out of Italy, I'd be here all day, but I thought these were particularly funny and appropriate for this thread.

ebay seller: meybellis

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPIDER-MAN-DRAW-SIGNED-BY-STAN-LEE-AND-STEV...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPIDER-MAN-PRINT-6-8-x-10-2-SIGNED-BY-STAN-...

Besides the fact that these are obvious quick and poor forgeries, the famously reclusive Steve Ditko simply doesn't autograph items like this on principle. The only exemplars of his handwriting that I know of come from polite refusals to sign/sketch, such as these.

"I can't guarantee about the autographs, but seems to be authentic." says the seller.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on April 25, 2013 at 7:47pm

ebay seller meybellis returns under the new name comicsfinds with more worthless garbage.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPIDERMAN-PENCIL-SKETCH-SIGNED-BY-STAN-LEE-...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERMAN-BATMAN-AND-OTHER-HEROES-PENCIL-DRA...

It appears he's tracing over real art with pencil (claiming they're original sketches), adding horrible forged signatures, and starting the bidding at $1, which seems like a monumental waste of time and effort since I can't imagine even the most ignorant buyers bidding more than a few dollars on these.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on May 13, 2013 at 5:46am

Right... he'd be better off selling the pencil tracings as "homage" sketches or something like that rather than ruining it with obvious fake signatures.

That said, the Bob Kane is such a simple signature, the example above shows how easy it is for even a crude forger to knock it off somewhat convincingly. I don't think I'd touch a Kane unless the provenance was iron clad or it was something signed under supervision.

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Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on May 13, 2013 at 9:35am

I agree. I've seen more than a few Bob Kane sketch forgeries as well, since he had a simpler style and seemed to stick to about 2-3 go-to poses for characters that would probably be tempting for forgers to trace/copy.

A lot of sketch forgers tend to have the same general group of artists for sale - Bob Kane, Charles Schulz, Dr. Seuss, Keith Haring, Peter Max, etc. - I guess because they think it's easier to copy their "minimalist" styles, for lack of a better term. An interesting red flag that I noticed over time.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on April 22, 2013 at 5:52pm

All of the items in question are fake. I have had the PLEASURE of meeting Mr. Lee on many occasions. I had no idea how rampant these forgeries were. SCUM!

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Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on May 12, 2013 at 7:36pm

Here's a set of not-even-trying scribbles for sale by cristobaln2006. 1 Stan Lee & 2 Todd McFarlane.

"I just got all this comic books from an old comic book dealer" - That's great, but that doesn't give you a free pass to list this garbage when 30 seconds of research in the form of a Google image search would tell you that these look absolutely nothing like legitimate signatures.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Spider-Man-154-vf-nm-signed-by-Stan...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spawn-Vs-Batman-Nm-Signed-By-Todd-Mcfarlane...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spawn-84-Nm-Signed-By-Todd-Mcfarlane-/13090...

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Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on May 12, 2013 at 7:39pm

Another whopper in completed listings

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sub-Mariner-31-Vf-Signed-By-Stan-Lee-/14095...

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on May 13, 2013 at 5:47am

Unfortunately this seems to be a growing trend. Take comics that belong in the 50 cent bin and try to turn them into fool's gold with a fake signature. Even if they get $15 for it, it's an easy $15 and a huge increase over what the comic alone would fetch.

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Permalink Reply by CEE GEE on May 15, 2013 at 9:15am

THOSE MCFARLANES LOOOK BAD TOO

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Permalink Reply by CEE GEE on May 15, 2013 at 9:13am

HORRIBLE ATTEMPTS....HERES MINE

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Permalink Reply by Tom Schwartz on May 22, 2013 at 12:28am

Rich V. started a thread about forger dzstephenns selling bogus U2 items and the name rang a bell because I remember seeing a bunch of bad Stan Lee sigs from them as well.

Better late then never, I'll put the 3 completed auctions that I found in this thread for reference and a future warning. You can click to enlarge the pics.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAN-LEE-AUTOGRAPHED-SPIDERMAN-10x7-CLEAR-P...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAN-LEE-LES-DANIELS-AUTOGRAPHED-MARVEL-5-D...