FAN-tastic Stories: Happy Birthday Mr. Jim Lee!

For those of you old enough, think back to what you were doing in the summer of 2003. I’m sure some of you can recall Beach trips with your family or friends, going to the pool and hanging out all day. Maybe getting Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on release and playing all night long? Me? I was a college kid, working 2 jobs AND selling porn out of the trunk of my car at discount prices to drunk college students.

The smut peddling on the side was an idea of a friend of mine from back home who owned a video store. DVD’s were all the rage and production companies were giving him crazy deals to get DVD’s in stock for rentals and phase out VHS completely. All the overflow would go to me and a friend that went to another college. This was not a glamorous side hustle, but with the risk of a Trojan virus hitting your computer with the wrong click, paying $10 for a DVD wasn’t such a bad deal to take. And anyway the hustle was worth it, because all of this money, unlike my other two jobs which funded school and living, was my ticket to Wizard World Chicago Comic Convention, at that time, my Mecca.

I had been attending Wizard World Chicago for 3 years now, my first time being in 2001, while I was in High School. It was the first trip my friends and I took without our parents and it was as great as you’d imagine. Good enough to spark a tradition. This year was special though, this year my friend was going to be setting up a booth and beginning his journey into Comic Writing.

Credit: Wizard Magazine

I couldn’t have been more excited for him. We got there a day early, 10 hour drive that felt like a breeze. Checked into our hotel, a Hyatt Regency that was connected to the Convention Center and had a rotating restaurant on top of it. This was by far the nicest place this West Virginia boy had ever set foot in. Also, the elevator, a glass circle tube in the middle of the lobby, was the fastest thing I’d ever seen. After dropping our luggage off in our room, we set out for the hotel bar. I was among the slight few not yet 21, so TECHNICALLY we sat outside of the bar. But, we had become proficient in stealing beers off of the back of carts as they were passing by. Plus, we didn’t need alcohol to have a good time, we had weed!

Since hangovers didn’t exist to me back then, the next morning I was up and waiting for the convention to open. It was then that my friend bestowed upon me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. A vendor badge that allowed me to enter the convention THREE HOURS EARLY to set up the booth with him. The caveat here being it would only take an hour at most to set up and the rest of the time you get early access to other vendors and booths. I still get excited thinking about it. I have had so many cool conversations with stars and other random people during these early access times, but that is for another story. What is important here, is that a movie studio was promoting a new Zombie movie and doing zombie make-up tutorials.

I feel like this is as good a place as any to mention my friends book. It is called “Zombie Highway” (check it out!) and after seeing the zombie make-up artists we had simultaneously brewed the same idea. After showing the artists a few pictures of the zombies in his book, they were more than excited to help out and gave us the zombie makeover we needed. After a quick change into something more zombified, I set out onto the convention. Stumbling around for brains and handing out placards directing people to our booth. Then, over the loudspeaker, I hear “Everyone join us in celebrating Jim Lee’s 40th Birthday at booth…”

Faster than a zombie from a Zack Snyder film, I ran back to the booth to get Jim Lee a birthday present.

I knew right then, I was going to get my friends comic into the hands of Jim Lee. How did I intend to do this? Who knows. But, I’m strutting to the booth with the confidence someone dressed head to toe like a 1960’s zombie could only feel at a Comic Con. I turn the corner and…. Shit… there were literal 100’s of people standing in a circle around this booth. Plan B.

Concert rules applied in this situation. You wave like you’re trying to get to your friend ahead of people. You shimmy when someone’s guard is down. You Shake. You Bake. And you make your way to the front. But this took some time and in my focus of my one true goal, I missed a few things. Firstly, they introduced Jim Lee to rounding applause (this was a great distraction for my mission). Second, Jim gave a pretty good speech (another applause, another group of suckers left in my dust). Third, everyone started singing “Happy Birthday”. It wasn’t until I sang “Happy Birthday Jim Lee…” did I realize that I was in fact singing happy birthday to an idol of my childhood and wasn’t even acknowledging it. That’s when it hit me.

No one was speaking anymore. The reverb of the microphone catches my attention and I look up. I had made it to the front AND Jim Lee is pointing directly at me!

Credit: Getty Image

Eyes locked, a smile on Jim Lee’s beautiful forty year old face, caked on white paint and blackened teeth on mine. My friends comics clutched tight in my hands, or are they anymore, I don’t know really. I’m sweating. Why is everyone staring at me? Had he said something to me? Was I supposed to reply? Or worse, did I scream happy birthday and throw the comics at him? Am I still holding them? The sweaty tack feel of my fingers tells me I am.

“Hey Zombie! Want the first slice?” Jim Lee says, holding a slice up on a tiny paper plate. As if he was my incredibly talented uncle at a family reunion.

Trying SO HARD to keep it cool and casual, I immediately decide Jim Lee wouldn’t care that I’m more of a Pie man and not to bring that up. Abandoning the mystique of my new zombie persona I stutter the deepest “Happy Birthday Mr. Jim Lee” I can and hand him the stack of comics.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

I return to the booth a hero. Cake clutched proudly in my hands. I stared at the slice for 30 minutes, I’m not ashamed to admit that. Then we feasted. One slice of cake doesn’t split between 5 - 8 people easily. But, this was a victory for friends. And to the victors go the spoils.

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Follow Chase on Bluesky @commentcomics.bsky.social