Stan Lee: The Final Chapter is a documentary about the last years of the life of the iconic Marvel Comics writer/creator/publisher that feels personal to me. I met Lee on multiple occasions at comic conventions throughout the years, interviewed comic legend Todd McFarlane, where we talked a lot about Stan, and, like millions of other people, just love Spider-Man and so many other things he’s done. When director/artist and former Stan Lee assistant Jonathan Bolerjack’s powerful documentary opens with police cam footage of officers racing to a call to rescue Stan from elder abuse, it gets the heart-pounding from the jump.
Next, onscreen text says, “3 years earlier,” followed by Jon picking up Stan in a car and telling him that to him, Lee’s just “some old codger,” a montage of Lee’s fast-paced convention lifestyle, and then some shots of San Diego Comic Con. Then, shockingly for me, the film sets upon my local comic book shop: Comics, Toons & Toys. It turns out that it’s Bolerjack’s place of work, so this really is my world.
The actual film itself is heartbreaking. To see one of your heroes be taken advantage of and elder-abused by not just one person, but multiple people, is deeply disturbing. But it’s a story that needs to be told. Jon, as Stan’s driver and assistant, was there with his camera to document the madness that unfolded. Even before the abuse, Lee tells an upsetting story about getting screwed over by his agent when it came time for Marvel to sell its characters to Disney.
Jon Bolerjack and Stan Lee developed a natural rapport that you can see on camera, which happened over the time of long hours on the road and in the air together. Stan even affectionately gave Jon the nickname “Hairspray,” which he used to do only with his top artists and writers at Marvel, such as “Jumpin’” Jack Kirby, so Bolerjack rightfully takes it as a humongous badge of honor.
“To see one of your heroes be taken advantage of is deeply disturbing.”
The issue of trust is a huge one in Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, because in his nineties, Stan is frail, can barely hear or see, and looks for people whom he thinks he can trust to guide him through life at this stage. Unfortunately for Stan, it turns out that his “Spidey-sense” is way off. One of them is a wannabe gangster type who loves shooting off guns, meticulously counting cash, and then telling Stan that he doesn’t know how much they made at a Con (which is when the alarm bells started to set off for Jon), and who actually has a twin brother whom he pins legal issues on. Besides the theft, the worst part is how he works Stan to the bone at conventions, having him sign and speak for long hours and days at a time, when Stan is clearly exhausted and just wants to go home. The film displays how Lee had such a pure love for his wife Joan, and that after she passed, he was sadly worked even harder by the “boss,” instead of being allowed time to grieve.
There’s one particularly difficult scene to watch that I actually discussed before with Spawn/Venom creator Todd McFarlane prior to seeing it in this doc. It’s the final time that Stan and Todd were on stage together (they used to do many panels with each other at Cons), and Todd was quite upset with himself for what he felt like was not giving Lee the proper “sendoff” that he deserved, because he just didn’t know it would be the last time. The film shows the behind-the-scenes lead-up to that panel, with Stan astonishingly nearly falling over before basically being pushed onstage (Todd was already onstage speaking and clearly had no clue in the footage).
We all want to be the hero like in Stan’s comic books, but as Jon and others (such as a group of tough Stan Lee security guards) explain, it’s not so easy when you’re witnessing an adult being taken advantage of. Elder abuse is an issue that we should all be more aware of. Bolerjack has taken a lot of heat online simply for making this documentary, but I want to personally shake Jon’s hand one day to thank him for the help and love that he actually did give Stan “The Man” Lee. “Nuff said.”
"…Bolerjack has taken a lot of heat online simply for making this documentary, but I want to personally shake Jon’s hand one day to thank him for the help and love that he actually did give Stan “The Man” Lee. "
