SAN DIEGO — It's no secret that [artist id="1102"]Michael Jackson[/artist] was a comic book fan — just take a look at some of the items from his personal collection. But what many people don't realize is that the recently deceased pop icon was almost a comic book publisher too.

Last month, MTV's comic book movie blog Splash Page recalled how close Jackson came to buying Marvel Comics in the late 1990s alongside Stan Lee, the famous co-creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, Fantastic Four and countless other superheroes.

During last weekend's Comic-Con, Lee said the relationship he developed with Jackson over the course of their business dealings extended well beyond professional courtesy. In fact, as various videos popping up around the Internet lately seem to attest, it wouldn't be out of line to call Jackson a fan of Lee and his creations.

"We had met a number of times," Lee told MTV News. "In fact, [Jackson] came to my house once with his son, and I remember my wife took care of his son for about an hour while Michael and I were talking.

"He was quite a good father," he added. "He was very solicitous, and he cared very much for the boy."

While their plan to buy Marvel never progressed past "the discussion phase," Lee said, the pair grew fairly close. At one point, Lee even made a trip to Jackson's home to discuss, of all things, Spider-Man.

"I had been to his place in Neverland," Lee said. "He wanted to do Spider-Man. I'm not sure whether he just wanted to produce it or wanted to play the role. ... Our conversation never got that far along.

"He thought I'd be the one who could get him the rights [to make a Spider-Man movie], and I told him I couldn't," Lee continued. "He would have to go to the Marvel company. But we did become friendly ... and he was a great guy."

For breaking comic book movie news, columns and more — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.com.