Josh here to tell you guys about my Hero Worship Experience at
Comic Con ’07.
For starters, we met with the creator of Sam and Max (S&M), Steve Purcell! He was still setting up his booth when we saw him and was kind enough to chat for a short while, autograph a sketch book and take a picture.
Steve has a great ongoing S&M
adventure comic online at the
Telltalegames website. Telltalegames has been making since last year a new computer game of S&M, and it is being released in a series of episodes like a cartoon show. Speaking of which, S&M the animated series will finally be released on DVD, based on the original comic book series.
S&M was created by Purcell back in the 80’s. After that time Steve went to join
Lucas Arts as a head artist and with them created a great computer game based on his characters called “Sam and Max Hit the Road.” Steve will also have a republication of the S&M comics in one book at some point in the fall!
Just across the isle from Steve was
Doug TenNapel,
who is most famous for creating the video game and cartoon series of “Earth Worm Jim!”
Doug, for several years now, has been creating a series of graphic novels such as “Creature Tec.” His latest novel “Back Cherry” was released at Comic Con and so I of course asked for a copy and had it signed!
As Doug was handing it to me he spoke in a low cautionary voice warning me that this is his first rated R story. I tried to assure him that my friends and I are not easily offended by such material, but he still seemed concerned. Dough is a Christian and incorporates his beliefs into just about everything he creates which is why he was so concerned about his readers. I have not yet had the chance to read through “Black Cherry” but so far Doug has done a great job in all his works so I’m sure I’m going to enjoy it.
My next hero visit was with the great and shiny
Rob Scrab!
Rob is a real Renaissance Man who got his start with a cult hit comic book series call “Scud: The Disposable Assassin.”
The series came to a sudden end and left many fans upset that there was no real completion. Rob got into comedy and joined an improv. group for a while called “The Dead Alewives” who are most famous for their “
Dungeons and Dragons” sketch. (“Where are the Cheetos?” is Rob’s voice!) After sometime Rob came to LA and made a big hit online short film called (please pardon the wording) “
Robot Bastard” (RB). It’s a fun action packed flick with a creative production design made of cardboard and other junk. Following this Rob somehow co-wrote an animated film based on an idea of his titled “Monster House.”
These days Rob is a writer/director of a Comedy Central series called “
The Sarah Silverman Program” and he is finally creating the last chapter of his Scud comics series!
WHEW! Rob is also good friends with Doug Tennaple and has worked with Joel Hogson (former host of
Mystery Science Theater 3000 or MST3K) who helped him create effects for RB. Aside from Joel, Rob has also worked with a few other famous MST3K members, which leads to my next set of heroes. (CAUTION: I have provided some links to Rob Scrab’s website and other related sites but be warned there is material that you may find offensive.)
Right there on the coast of sunny San Diego, Katie and I had a fun little chat with Minnesotan comedy hero,
Michael J. Nelson!
(Sadly we did not have a camera with us.) Mike, as some of you may know, is the other former host of
Mystery Science Theater 3000, my favorite TV series of all time! Katie loves MST3K as well but she is more of a fan of Mike, so both of us were thrilled to meet him. At the time we saw him there was no one else around, so it was a kind of intimate relaxing environment. After hosting MST3K for many years Mike has gone on to write books and worked on other various comedy projects. Recently Mike move to San Diego and created a great online project called
Rifftrax. Basically what they do is create a series of audio commentary tracks for various films in the style of MST3K. But it is up to the viewer to provide the movie either by renting it or purchasing it. The audio track can easily sync up with the film and HIGHKEEBA! you’ve got a comedy track! Mike has also teamed up with
Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) and Bill Corbertt (Crow T. Robot & Brain Guy) who are two other members of MST3K, to create
The Film Crew. It’s basically the same idea as MST3K only it’s just these three “nuts” and no silhouettes at the bottom of the screen. This time they are making fun of Public Domain films which means no headaches in keeping the rights to a film, a big problem with the MST3K series. We got to see The Film Crew at a panel presenting their latest project to a large crowd of excited fans.
It was the most fun I have ever had at a panel in Comic Con! These guys are better live then on TV! I hope they come back next year because the crowd was eating them up!
I can’t end this post without thanking my dear friend Matt Wilson. We have been attending Comic Con together for many years and this time he treated us like royalty. Thank you Wilson!!! Well, there you have it. My nerdum is all worn out. Till next year!
I guess that wraps up our fifteen mintues of pseudo fame!
I guess that wraps up our fifteen mintues of pseudo fame!
