Police investigate alleged abuse of Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee

Los Angeles police are investigating reports of abuse against Marvel Comics writer Stan Lee.

The investigation was revealed in a restraining order granted on Wednesday against a man who has been acting as Mr Lee’s business manager and personal adviser.

The restraining order says the former adviser, Keya Morgan, has inserted himself into the life of the 95-year-old – who is behind famous strips including Spider-Man and The Hulk.

It accuses Morgan of taking advantage of Mr Lee’s impaired hearing, vision and judgment, moving him from his longtime family home and preventing family and associates from contacting him.

Morgan was arrested on Monday for allegedly filing a false police report by calling 911 saying burglars were in his house when in fact authorities were conducting a welfare check on Mr Lee.

“I have a very dear friend I take care of who is 95 and um, uh, three unidentified people have gone inside this house and locked the door and locked his security out and I’m very, very scared that they’re harming him,” Morgan said on the 911 call made on May 30, according to a transcript filed with the restraining order.

Attempts to reach Morgan on Wednesday were not immediately successful.

Morgan’s arrest and ouster is the latest and most dramatic move in the fight that has emerged over Lee’s business and estimated 50 million dollar fortune since his wife of 69 years Joan died in July.

Police have been investigating reports of elder abuse against Lee since at least February, and had issued an emergency order keeping Morgan from Lee even before Wednesday’s order was issued.

Lee has for decades been revered as a comic book giant for his central role in creating the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man and other major Marvel characters.

In more recent years he has become a grandfatherly figure over the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with his comical cameos in each film beloved by fans.

Morgan is a memorabilia dealer and Marilyn Monroe expert who befriended Lee’s daughter and only child JC Lee, and since February has increasingly taken personal control of Lee’s life and household, Lee’s lawyer Tom Lallas said in the restraining order request.

Detectives said in the reports that in interviews Lee acknowledged that Morgan had helped him, but would frequently forget his name when talking about him.

The reports said they had twice done welfare checks on Lee, on February 23 and again on May 30, when Morgan was not home. Morgan returned and was denied entry.

After his 911 call reporting burglars, he again called 911 to say a security guard was being threatening and aggressive.

Morgan was released on Monday after his arrest. He is already serving two years of probation for making criminal threats in an unrelated dispute, and he has been summoned back to court to determine whether he has violated the probation.

A day before the arrest, Lee appeared in a video posted to his Twitter account declaring that Morgan was his only partner and representative, and anyone claiming otherwise was lying.

“Anybody else who claims to be my rep is just making that story up,” Lee says.

Morgan shared the video on his own Twitter account, whose bio calls him, “Co-creator with Stan Lee.”