To Earpers, he is the man that brings Doc Holliday to life on one of the most popular shows on television, Wynonna Earp. While that is certainly understandable, there is much more to Tim Rozon than just that one character and his love for comic book culture. For Tim, it started at a much younger age. I have been fortunate enough to have a couple of conversations with him over the years, and have talked to him about his love for comic books almost every time. I remember our first conversation was about his large collection of Marvel comics and which books are displayed in his collection.
When Stan Lee passed away this week at the age of 95, the stories started to come out from so many about how much Stan meant to them. One of the first people I thought of to help pay tribute to The Man was Tim, because of how he spoke of Stan Lee before his passing. I was able to reach out to Tim to ask him a few questions about Stan Lee and the impacts that the icon had made on both his life and his career. While he wasn't able to come on this week's tribute podcast, he was able to answer a few questions for me. Here are those questions:
James: What is the biggest impact that Stan Lee had on your life?
Tim Rozon: I grew up in a single father household with my two brothers. My Dad did the best he could to teach me life lessons but he wasn’t always able to be around. In my youth I found a deep love for Comic books.
Stan Lee’s characters were always my favourite. Especially The Silver Surfer. The Surfer, like all Stan’s characters was able to teach me at that young age, the importance of being a good person and that sacrifice, acceptance and perseverance were the foundation to build my own character from.
His stories taught me to have real values and inner strength and what it means to be and do the greater good. In so many ways I was raised into the man I am now because of Stan Lee’s characters and stories. I thank him from the bottom of my heart. I hope he is now resting peacefully in his Zenn-La.
James: Now that you have started writing comic books yourself, are there any lessons that you took from Stan in your work?
Tim Rozon: Everything. I took to writing comics so quickly because I’ve read, lived and breathed comic books for so long. Stan’s Comic books especially. He influenced everything about the way I develop a character to the way I tell a story. The most important lesson is that every character has to have a story. Not just the hero. Those old Silver Surfer books were pure magic. Something so simple as The Surfer alone on Surfboard flying through the cosmic, longing for something he can’t remember and the parallel of Galactus the devourer of worlds making him his herald. Each character so fleshed out and compelling. Magic.
James: Do you have any stories about meeting Stan or a personal experience you can share? If not, what would you say is Stan Lee's biggest contribution to the industry?
Tim Rozon: My whole life all I wanted to do was to one day meet Stan Lee and to one day also get to SDCC. If you would have told me that I would one day be invited to SDCC as a guest I never would have believed it but in 2016 that’s exactly what happened. IDW brought me and the rest of the cast of Wynonna Earp in for our very own book signing and panel.
That weekend had more than one highlight for me but nothing compared to the moment I met Stan Lee. We were backstage on a golf cart driving to the main hall. I remember being so exited to see the floor and when the gold cart stopped and I got off... We literally bumped into Stan Lee. I told him I loved the Fantastic Four 48 and that Silver Surfer was my favourite and I thanked him for Galactus and he then thanked me for knowing my stuff. He thanked me. That was Stan Lee.
Seeing so many amazing stories about Stan Lee these last few days just shows us all how much of an impact that he had on so many people. There is really no Universe that hasn't been impacted by The Man. Literally anyone who enters, or even shows an interest in comic book culture, does so in large part thanks to Stan Lee. One of the things he leaves us with are people like Tim, who fell in love with his stories all those years ago, who will continue telling stories for years to come in some capacity. There will never be another Stan Lee, but as you can see, he will live on in all of us.
Episode 240 of our podcast will feature a tribute segment to Stan Lee, and will be available on Friday, November 16th. You can also learn more about Tim Rozon's comic book collaboration with Beau Smith, Wynonna Earp: Season Zero from IDW Publishing, by
clicking here.
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