The daughter of Stan Lee, J.C., has settled a lawsuit against Max Anderson, the comic book legend’s former longtime road manager accused of elder abuse and pilfering tens of millions of dollars in memorabilia, autograph revenue and appearance fees.
Ahead of a trial slated to start next week, both sides on Thursday informed the court of a deal to resolve the case. The agreement is conditioned on the completion of certain undisclosed terms. Further details weren’t revealed.
At the heart of the lawsuit: Allegations that Anderson leveraged his control over Lee’s life to steal over $21 million — as well as hundreds of pieces of collectibles and memorabilia, including Batman creator Bob Kane’s original drawing of the “Joker” and movie props featured across Marvel movies — toward the end of his former boss’ life.
Shortly after meeting Lee around 2007, Anderson assumed exclusive control of his operations for comic book conventions and public appearances until he was pushed out of Lee’s circle by J.C in 2017. He also acted as a caretaker for the aging comic book writer, who was in his 80s and 90s at the time and was essentially blind, coordinating health care services while serving as a business fiduciary in some dealings.
Over the course of almost a decade, Anderson, who said he didn’t receive monetary compensation for his work and was paid in the form of autographs on collectibles, accompanied Lee to 111 comic book conventions around the world. At these conventions, Anderson and a business partner operated a booth where fans could purchase a signatures on collectibles for up to $120 a piece. The origins of the business, “Stan Lee Collectibles,” was a subject of the lawsuit, which alleged that Lee didn’t see any profits from the venture. Before Lee died, he signed an agreement granting Anderson a worldwide license for use of his name and likeness in perpetuity for a dollar, the lawsuit alleged.
J.C. claimed that Anderson pushed her father to work tireless hours until months before his death. She accused him of stealing at least $11.1 million in autograph revenue and $10.2 million in appearance fees. Anderson has denied ever handling money at events, which saw Lee earn roughly $35,000 in a single day signing autographs and taking pictures.
At trial, witnesses, including Anderson’s twin brother who worked security at some events, were set to testify that they saw Anderson handling “duffle bags” of cash, which was allegedly used to buy art and other luxury items, according to court filings. Anderson’s ex-wife was also set to tell the court that she saw Anderson handle significant amounts of cash after returning home from events with Lee and that he kept “stacks of cash” in a large bedroom safe. Lawyers for J.C. claimed that Anderson’s personal wealth and assets ballooned in the years he worked for Lee.
A contentious part of the litigation was a museum intended to house Lee’s memorabilia, collectibles and personal items to be featured at various comic book conventions. Anderson, through his license for use of Lee’s name and likeness, arranged for Lee to gift him personal items that were to be placed in the museum but were allegedly rerouted to Anderson’s businesses. For the last decade, the pieces have been in Anderson’s possession at his comic book store and home while the museum has only been featured at a handful of conventions, the lawsuit alleged.
Anderson has said that he can’t identify which items belong to the museum and that much of it was stolen, damaged or thrown out since they weren’t valuable. J.C.’s lawyers have pushed back on that assertion, pointing to a lawsuit he filed over collectibles stolen from his home, including original movie props like Iron Man’s mask, the arm of Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy and a set of X-23 claws from Logan.
