Someone Is Attempting To Sell Stan Lee's Blood

In a twist that sounds like something straight out of a comic book, Marvel mastermind Stan Lee is allegedly dealing with people selling his own blood. That's right. There is a comic book store on the Las Vegas Strip that was using Lee's own blood as a signature on several Black Panther comic books. When people say Stan Lee put his blood, sweat, and tears into his creations, we don't think it wasn't meant to be taken quite so literally.

TMZ has the scoop on the Stan Lee scandal. These blood-signed copies of Black Panther were sold at the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. store. Each edition reportedly came with a certificate of authentication, described as a "Hand-Stamped Signature of STAN LEE using Stan Lee's Solvent DNA Ink." Since the story went public, Evan Michailidis, a legal representative for Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N., has released the following statement to TMZ.

So, there goes your chance to own Stan Lee's blood. Now, we're sure you're asking yourself, "Hey, where does one obtain Stan Lee's blood in the first place?" That's a good question! We might have an answer too. In October, it was reported that Stan Lee's blood was stolen after a former business associate presented Lee's nurses with fake documents that authorized a blood sample to be drawn from the 95-year-old comic book entrepreneur. It was considered a sizable amount of blood, enough to make Stan Lee feel dizzy and lightheaded. So, whoever took Stan Lee's blood got a good bit.

It has not been a pleasant few months for Stan Lee. A month ago, the Marvel figurehead revealed he was battling pneumonia. Lee also recently discovered someone had stolen $1.4 million from his place in the Hollywood Hills. This break-in was reported after someone had forged checks in Stan Lee's name to receive $850,000, which they used to buy a condo. It also follows another incident at the end of 2017 when Stan Lee lost $300,000. In addition to all this misfortune, Stan Lee became a widower last year when Joan Lee, his long-standing wife for nearly 70 years, passed away at 93.

On the plus side, Black Panther continues to bring in the dough. The Marvel mega-blockbuster overperformed its expectations, and it was already expected to be a huge hit. Ryan Coogler's film has made well over a billion dollars worldwide, and it shows few signs of slowing down. It currently sits as the fourth highest grossing film in U.S. history. So that should hopefully keep Stan Lee in good spirits, despite all this misfortune thrown his way.