It's no exaggeration to say that a large part of Stan Lee's appeal is his personality as much as his many Marvel Comics creations. With his various eccentricities, Lee has undoubtedly left a mark on everyone he met. While some remember him fondly, and some not so fondly, others can't help but recall some of his stranger quirks, and Punisher creator Gerry Conway just shared a story about Lee that is absolutely wild if true.
Though most casual comic fans are aware of Stan Lee's characters, his legacy as a businessman may have been just as important. Stan Lee was responsible for helping foster Marvel as a brand, first with his still iconic Stan's Soap Box editorials that he'd place at the end of the comics he wrote. It was there that Lee first cemented his larger-than-life personality in the minds of Marvel fans with phrases like "true believer" and of course, Stan Lee's catchphrase, "Excelsior." With how hard Lee worked to maintain his role as Marvel's brand ambassador, it's no wonder that he'd put significant stock in maintaining his appearance. However, if Gerry Conway is to be believed, he might have gone just a little too far.
In a Tweet, Conway revealed that Stan Lee actually owned an impressive collection of toupees before he received hair implants. Moreover, Lee would actually wear those toupees in a very particular order to make it look like his hair was still growing. When asked by a fan about how much work that must have been to maintain, Conway responded that his former romantic partner Carla Joseph was hired as Stan's secretary and that part of her duties was making sure that Lee always wore the right toupee for the right day.
Needless to say, the image of Lee trying to convince his coworkers that he still had a full head of hair is hilarious. Though it's impossible to know for certain whether Conway's story is true or not, it certainly lines up with Lee's persona so readers have no reason to doubt it. For reference, Lee once confirmed in interviews that J. Jonah Jameson was actually a caricature of himself made slightly grumpier, so these toupee shenanigans certainly sound like they're in Lee's wheelhouse. Comic fans might even be able to spot a sly reference to Lee's toupee habits in the pages of Jack Kirby's Mister Miracle. Kirby created a thin pastiche of Stan Lee named Funky Flashman who was almost completely bald and needed to wear a toupee and false beard combo.
Ultimately, it's undeniable that Stan Lee's antics helped shape Marvel comics into the global powerhouse that it is today. Still, it's hard not to hear a story like this and think that maybe Stan Lee went a little overboard in keeping up appearances for Marvel Comics.