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stan-lee-vegas21So, the other night, while we were having our Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD discussion, we all got the idea to write about our Favorite Boyfriends, and I decided to write about the most important person in all of Marvel Comics (as far as I’m concerned), Stan Lee, who is pretty much the father of Marvel Comics, along with some other guys like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, who did a lot of the earliest artwork. But when it came to dreaming up the characters and writing the stories, almost always (at first), it was Stan Lee.

I remind you that we got this idea to write these things about our Favorite Boyfriends over a week ago now, and since then, Tessie and Tillie have told you about their Boyfriends, but I sort of got delayed. You see, The Man has a lot of comics that are in boxes, and Miss Chrissy and The Man got the idea to go through and organize some of these comics over the last few days, and as soon as I saw those boxes being opened, I could smell the old newsprint, and was irresistibly drawn to what they were doing. So I settled down on the floor, and it seems I have spent the better part of the last several days reading and reading so many comics I never even knew existed, back when I lived in The Hoard. What a great surprise!

Miss Chrissy once mentioned that she has always been a big fan of the original Star Trek, and thought she had seen the episodes, but then years and years later, she was watching TV and suddenly there was an episode of this 20 or 30 year old show that she had never seen before! trixiecomicAt least, she didn’t remember it. And it was kind of that way for me too, this past week, suddenly discovering all these comics that were really OLD comics, but they were NEW to me.

So first of all, I apologize for being so late to the party. But at the same time, this experience has provided me with an excellent opportunity to explain to you why Stan Lee is one of my Favorite Boyfriends. Offered into evidence: this picture of me with a very special comic I found among all the others in the boxes. As you can see, it’s called the “No-Prize Book,” but it’s not actually a comic at all, in the usual sense, because mostly it’s a collection of all the times Stan Lee and his whole group made tremendous boo-boo’s while making the comics. For instance, on one page, Doctor Octopus is fighting Spider-Man, and he says, “And now, SUPER-MAN, I grow bored with this game!” Wh…what?? Super-Man? Huh? BIG boo-boo!

On the cover, there’s a figure that sorta looks like Doctor Doom, but guess what? It’s actually Stan! And by the way, he’s upside down. (In my picture here, he’s right side up, but I’m just sitting with the book upside down, so you can see that it’s Stan.) And this sort of perfectly illustrates one of the main things I most love about him—it’s very clear that he is never afraid to joke around, and poke fun, at even himself.

Miss Chrissy is always telling people that one of the things she loves most about The Man is that he has “a sense of humor.” Well, if Miss Chrissy wasn’t already married to The Man, I think she would like to consider Stan Lee as a Boyfriend, because he apparently has a great sense of humor! (Of course, he’s MY boyfriend, so she can’t have him…)

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Having a sense of humor is something that makes anyone so much more enjoyable to be around. And I think having a sense of humor also makes you feel a lot younger than you really are. Because if I’m not mistaken, Stan Lee is now about 90 years old, which, for a human, is pretty old. You can see by looking at him that he has gray hair, and wrinkles, which are big clues that he’s not young, but you know what? He also always has this big smile on his face, and if you ask me, anyone with a big smile on their face like that is never truly going to look old.

STANLUMPKINAnother way that Stan Lee stays young and fun is that he almost always makes a “cameo” appearance in the Marvel movies. He’s done some pretty funny ones that I’ve seen so far (and some I’ve only read about), but probably one of my favorites is when he was in the Fantastic Four movie, and he played Willie Lumpkin, the mailman that brings the Fantastic Four all their fan mail (and it’s a huge sack of fan mail!!). I read about Willie Lumpkin the mailman in quite a few of the early Fantastic Four comics, so he’s sort of almost like one of the family to me. So it makes perfect sense that Stan Lee would play him in the movies.

Whenever you see Stan in a movie, or on TV, or doing an interview, or whatever, he’s always smiling and laughing, and I don’t think it’s fake. I think he really enjoys everything he does, and everything he has, and StanMarvelREELZhe’s a very happy person. That’s why I consider him one of my Favorite Boyfriends. It’s no fun to hang around with people who are dark and depressing. I think if I was ever lucky enough to actually meet Stan Lee and hang around with him, it would be a lot of fun.

There would be so many questions I would want to ask him! What a brain to pick! Think of all the great comic book characters that sprang from his brain! How did he get all these terrific ideas? Are there any more new characters lurking around in there? Are there characters we haven’t seen yet, but who would make the Marvel Universe a more colorful and exciting place than it already is?

So, in conclusion: Being fun, and creative, and loving life and having a great sense of humor. That’s what I like about Stan, and why I consider him my Boyfriend, And that’s why wrinkles and gray hair will never matter to me. No matter how old he is, Stan Lee will always be young and heart.

And he will always be my Boyfriend.

1025tillcoulson shadesTessie has just shared with you her thoughts about why Fitz from Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD is her Favorite Boyfriend. I also have a Favorite Boyfriend from the show, but he’s much more mature. I like Agent Phil Coulson best of all. And what’s not to like? He is a fearless leader who is willing to take chances and “think outside the box.” He always seems to be in complete control, and nothing rattles him.

Except when it does, like when he started to find out more about what really happened to him after he died. Up till now, he’s always been a Company Man, saying “You’ve got to trust the system.” But now he’s not so sure that the system can be trusted, so we get the impression that he’s going to start to go off on his own a bit…a RENEGADE! I can’t wait to see what happens when our smart and fearless leader loosens up and starts to ACT outside the box!

There is so much potential for Agent Coulson, with the entire SHIELD team behind him and totally devoted to him, to go places and make changes that have never before happened in this Marvel Universe. I can’t wait to see where we go from here!

coulson1But that’s not what I came here to talk about, is it? Let’s talk instead about how cute Agent Coulson is! Yes, I know he’s “middle aged,” so it’s hard to imagine that a Whimsie would think of him as a Boyfriend, but at the same time, there is something youthful and impishly adorable about him! He’s short, so his physical presence is not overpowering. That’s part of what makes him cute. And also…what a great smile! And always a sparkle in his eye!

coulson capI like also that he has this fascination with the superheroes of the past. He has a lot of Marvel Memorabilia that he collects in his office. Remember in The Avengers movie, what a fan-boy he was when he met Captain America? That was cute! He has such a respect for all superheroes—as someone in his position should! But he takes it to the next level, and I like that about him.

Oh! And let’s not forget: he has a car named Lola…that flies! Having a Boyfriend with a car is always a plus. Having a Boyfriend with a really cool car is an even bigger plus. But nothing beats a Boyfriend with a car that FLIES! And he always looks so cool when he’s flying around in his car, with his aviator shades, looking like, “Oh yeah…my car is flying…no big deal…”
coulson lola

But it is a big deal, and everything about Agent Phil Coulson is a big deal. He is deceptively unimposing on the outside, which makes it only more surprising and delightful when you find out what he can do, and what he WILL do, for the good of all mankind.

My SHIELD Boyfriend may not have any bona-fide “superpowers” like Iron Man or Thor, and he may not even have the “super-smarts” of Tessie’s Boyfriend Leopold Fitz, but it’s impressive how much heart and courage he is willing to employ in order to do his job to the best of his ability. And his job is not being the manager of the local grocery store, or selling insurance—his job is keeping the world safe from every kind of threat from both super-villains, and just ordinary bad guys. That he does… and he looks good doing it! What more could we possibly ask from our most enchanting non-superhero?

coulson shield

Chrissy’s note: The Whimsies had planned to write and post their “My Favorite Boyfriend” essays all at the same time, but then The Man and I began a big project of sorting through boxes and boxes of Marvel Comics, and little Trixie became so distracted by the number of new and wonderful comics she had never seen before, that she has spent the last several days not writing, but reading! So Tessie and Tillie will share their thoughts with you now, and Trixie will be along in a few days, after she gets caught up on her reading.

bagladyTrixie and Tillie are always teasing me because I consider Fitz from the TV show Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD to be one of My Favorite Boyfriends. I don’t know why they tease me, but it’s probably because they think I’m only watching the show BECAUSE of him… which is absolutely not true! IAIN DE CAESTECKERIt’s a great show, full of fun and suspense, and that’s why I watch it. But any show is made even better when it just happens to have a smart cute guy in it!

Yes, Fitz is smart and cute, but those are not the only things I like about him. First of all, let’s consider his name: Leopold Fitz. What a great name! They could call him “Leo,” and it would still be a great name! He sounds like he could be a Russian novelist, or jazz musician, don’t you think?

Of course they call him Fitz, because it “fits” so perfectly with the name of the other scientist on board, Jemma Simmons. Fitz…Simmons….get it? Cute! But what’s cutest of all is the way these two are with each other. It’s so obvious they care about each other very much. They are so much alike they can even finish each other’s sentences. They are both super-smart, ELIZABETH HENSTRIDGE, IAIN DE CAESTECKERbut in different areas, so it’s like they are two sides of one really really super-smart scientist who knows EVERYTHING. When you’ve got Fitz and Simmons together, you’ve got a lot of scientific power working for you, and sometimes they even help each other out, because they can bounce ideas off each other.

But that’s not the best thing about the two of them together. Well, it is for the other SHIELD agents sometimes, when Fitz and Simmons step in to save the day, but the best thing for us in the audience is seeing how much they care about each other.

At first I thought they were a married couple, or boyfriend and girlfriend, but then it became apparent that they are just really good friends and close co-workers. They are as close as a guy and girl can be without getting romantic. Tillie tells me the word to describe them is “platonic.” I don’t know if they ever will get romantic. A part of me thinks that would be cool—and that’s saying a lot, because I consider Fitz MY boyfriend, but here I am saying it would be okay if he became Simmons’ boyfriend. They are that good together, that even I wouldn’t mind it if they became romantic. A part of me thinks they would be good together as a romantic couple. And if they ever got married and had kids, how smart and cute would those kids be?? Just think about THAT for a while!

But then…another part of me thinks…no, they are just perfect the way they are. They should stay that way. Now, I don’t know much about real romance, but from what I see in movies and read in books, sometimes a real romance can do a lot to mess up a good friendship. And this SHIELD team cannot afford to have their Fitzsimmons working at any less than top capacity! And for us in the audience, it WORKS that they are “platonic.” IAIN DE CAESTECKERSo as Miss Chrissy says, the other part of me has to agree: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Really. I think it would be best to just keep them the way they are.

So that’s probably the best thing I like about Fitz. But that’s not all! As I’ve already mentioned, of course, he’s cute. He has the most beautiful skin, almost as clear and shiny and beautiful as a Whimsie! And his curly hair is cute too! But what about that accent? Is it British? Is it Scottish? You know, I have to be honest: sometimes I can’t always understand everything he’s saying, but he sounds so adorable when he says it, I could just listen to him for hours and hours!

It’s good to have a favorite TV show, but it’s even better when one of the characters on that show is also one of your Favorite Boyfriends. I would watch SHIELD even if Fitz wasn’t on it. It wouldn’t be as good of a show, but I would still watch it. But it’s more fun this way.

3After what many here in Whimsieville considered a disappointing offering of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD last week, we were all delighted to find the show back in full form this week. The Whimsies were especially delighted…

TRIXIE. Well! That was more like it! Wouldn’t you say?

TILLIE. Absolutely! There was nothing about that episode I didn’t enjoy!

TESSIE. It was great! There was so much of what we like about the show in this episode. So much humor, so much drama—

TILLIE. So much Fitz?

TESSIE. Well…yes! There was a lot of Fitz, and a lot of Simmons, and it’s no secret that they’re my favorite characters. So there!

TRIXIE. They both had some pretty funny lines, you have to admit.31

TILLIE. I liked when Fitz said that Simmons was smarter than him, because she loves homework more than life itself.

TESSIE. (giggling) That was pretty funny!

TILLIE. That reminded me of Jennifer. She was really smart and liked homework too. But she was never as smart as Fitz or Simmons.

TRIXIE. They were the youngest students to ever come out of that Academy. And they’re like superstars to the kids who are there now!

TESSIE. (giggling) Yeah, that was pretty cool. Super-nerd super-stars!

TILLIE. I really liked how they surprised you with what was going on in that story. Remember? At first we thought it was another kid freezing that really smart kid.

TRIXIE. Yeah, we thought it was the girl who wouldn’t go in the pool.

TILLIE. And then Miss Chrissy said she thought that would be too easy, so it was probably someone else…like maybe one of the teachers.

TRIXIE. And the man pointed out that we had only met one teacher so far, the black lady with the British accent.Keep-calm-and-carry-on-scan

TESSIE. Hey! Why does everyone have a British accent?

TRIXIE. I don’t know. Maybe because the Academy is in Britain?

TILLIE. (getting back on track) And then what happened? It turned out it was the smart kid, and that other kid, the one who got his leg frozen in the pool, who were behind it all.

TESSIE. Yeah! They did it all just so Fitz would come visit and give them the answer to the problem about how to make their machine work.

TRIXIE. And it worked! Their plan worked, and their machine worked!

TESSIE. That was kind of scary, actually, when the machine worked and made that big storm. That was a scary storm.

TRIXIE. (suddenly serious) I don’t like storms. I don’t like thinking about rain…and getting wet…

TILLIE. (comforting Trixie) Not to worry, Trix. Here in Whimsieville, we’re safe. Even from big storms. green-skies

TESSIE. (comforting Trixie) And besides, that was not a REAL storm. A real storm WOULD be scary, but that was a TV/Movie storm. Lots of special effects.

TILLIE. It’s fake.

TRIXIE. Yeah…fake…

TILLIE. (wisely changing the topic) Anyway! What about our other story? About Skye? Did we find out a lot about her?

TESSIE. I don’t know. Did we? We found out that SHIELD has been protecting her all these years, but we haven’t found out WHY.

TILLIE. And why is she a…what is it called?….an “0-8-4”?

TRIXIE. An 0-8-4 is an object of unknown origin. Remember? From like the second episode.

TILLIE. Yeah, we remember. But what does it mean?

TESSIE. Does it mean she’s an alien?

TILLIE. Or does it just mean she’s of unknown origin? Like…nobody knows who her mother and father are, so she’s of “unknown origin.”

TRIXIE. Yeah, but somebody’s trying to KILL her. Trying to kill her so much that a bunch of SHIELD agents got killed trying to protect her when she was a baby. So…why?

TESSIE. That’s what I want to know. Why??

TILLIE. Well, that’s what this show excels at, isn’t it? Giving you an answer that only makes you ask more questions.

TRIXIE. How true! I have so many questions!

TESSIE. Right! And let’s not even get into the questions we have about the coming attractions!

TRIXIE. OMG! OMG! Who is our favorite old man in all the world?313

TILLIE. That’s an easy question! Obvious answer: Stan Lee!

TRIXIE. Of course! And he’s going to be on the next SHIELD show!

TESSIE. Just like he’s in all those movies.

TRIXIE. THIS should be fun! I can’t wait to see him!

TESSIE. I know. Trixie’s in love with Stan Lee.

TRIXIE. I am! He’s one of My Favorite Boyfriends!

TILLIE. You should write about it, Trix.

TRIXIE. I think I will! But if I do, then you need to write about how Agent Coulson is your Favorite Boyfriend!

TILLIE. I will! And then Tessie should write about how Fitz is her Favorite Boyfriend!

TESSIE. I will! In fact, I think we all have a lot of writing to do, don’t we?Quill_(PSF)

TILLIE. We do…we do…We should get some sleep, because I think tomorrow’s going to be a big writing day.

TRIXIE. Good idea, Till. We should sleep.

TESSIE. Yeah. We should sleep…

But of course the Whimsies were so wound up there was no way they were getting to sleep any time soon. They stayed up long past the time Mr. Squee walked by and rolled his eyes and curled up into a cat-ball at their feet to begin his nighttime snoozing session. They stayed up looking at comic books, and talking about Boyfriends, and watching their favorite parts in their favorite movies on their new Blu-ray player.

The Man and I had to go to sleep because we had to wake up early the next day to go to work. In the morning, I found the Whimsies all konked out, with Thor on the Blu-ray, comics strewn all about, and Mr. Squee still curled up, snoring at their feet. Ah! To be a cat! Ah! To be a Whimsie!

Life is good in Whimsieville.

Trixie here! Well, it’s been a while since I’ve talked about Boyfriends, but just the other day The Man hooked up a new Blu-Ray player in our room (actually, Miss Chrissy and The Man got the NEW Blu-Ray player, and we got the old one, but hey! whims2It’s new to US!) and ever since then we’ve been watching Blu-Ray movies, almost non-stop. You see, it’s been really, really COLD here lately, and even though there hasn’t been any snow yet, it’s still been too cold to do anything outside, so the best thing to do is cuddle up under blankets and watch movies all day long.

And what great movies Miss Chrissy and The Man have in their collection! I won’t go through all of them here, because I’m anxious to tell you about my new boyfriend, who I just met in The Avengers movie. You must think I’m talking about Thor, right? But I’m not! Thor is my OLD boyfriend, remember? And of course he is just GREAT in The Avengers, he does so many cool things and has so many funny lines. Thor is still my boyfriend of course, but now I have a NEW boyfriend as well.

(Oh dear! I hope Thor won’t think I’m being fickle…)

banner1My new boyfriend is Bruce Banner. Of course, being a fan of Marvel Comics, I’ve known Bruce Banner for a long, long time, but I have never seen him portrayed so wonderfully as he is by the actor Mark Ruffalo, in The Avengers. In the past there were other actors who portrayed Bruce Banner, and they were all good in their own way (some better than others, actually, but we won’t get into that here…) But anyway, my point now is that THIS Bruce Banner is just the stuff for a girl like me who loves those Marvel heroes!

First of all, he’s really cute. Thor is my BLONDE boyfriend, but Bruce Banner is my “tall, dark and handsome” boyfriend. And he has such lovely, expressive eyes! And he’s so soft-spoken, which is exactly the way Bruce Banner should be, so that he is totally opposite of what happens when he turns into the Hulk.

I love the way this Bruce Banner keeps referring to Hulk as “the other guy” and how it’s really best not to have him around. It’s very understated. He really wants everyone to be safe, so he just wants everyone to leave him alone, so there won’t end up being a reason why Hulk has to come out. It’s kind of sad how there’s this whole part of him that he really does not feel good about at all, but at least he’s trying his best not to go there. He’s not really MAD about it (cos you know what would happen if he got mad…), so he’s just trying to stay calm. I like how calm he is, when he’s not Hulk.

I also like how SMART he is. We should never forget what a great scientist Bruce Banner is, and this movie won’t let you forget. It’s really cute the way he and Tony Stark “bond” over science talk. (“Finally!” Tony says, “someone who speaks English!”) Sometimes us normal people might not understand how difficult is must be for the super-smart, how lonely it is, because compared to them, robert-downey-jr-mark-ruffaloeveryone else is simple-minded, and maybe not so interesting. So again…it’s SAD that Bruce Banner is alone because he is afraid of letting out Hulk, but it’s also sad that he’s so alone because most people can’t keep up with his brain. But it’s good that he and Tony Stark have each other to talk to now, and I thought it was nice that at the end of the movie, when they drive off together. They’re friends now, and it’s good to have friends.

smartOf course, I also like the way Tony Stark is smart, but he handles his “smarts” differently. Instead of getting all quiet and going inside himself, Tony Stark gets even more outspoken. He gets cocky. Bruce Banner is not cocky at all. When Tony Stark is cocky, he’s funny. Bruce Banner is not really that funny. Mostly, as I say, he’s sad.

comicbannerHe’s sad, but he’s good, and he’s nice to look at. He only wants the best for the whole world. And did I mention he has nice eyes? And nice hair? And a nice voice?

Okay, I think I’ve said enough. I understand there is going to be ANOTHER movie about The Avengers, and I can’t wait to see it when Miss Chrissy and the The Man get it on Blu-Ray or DVD! It could be a long wait for us Whimsies to see this movie, but all good things are worth waiting for. Once again, I will have TWO boyfriends in one movie, and all that exciting Marvel superhero action! It’s enough to make you wish the weather never warms up, and it snows and snows, so there’s nothing to do but cuddle up under the blankets for hours on end, watching movies!!