Jackman/Wolverine Free Comic Book Day PSA: The story behind the story

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about how Concord California retailer Joe Field came up with the idea for Free Comic Book Day, a great promotional tool for the industry since 2002. I also wrote about the watershed event (IMHO) of Wolverine Hugh Jackman standing in front of a camera in Malibu California and talking about Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) and how great comic books are. 

This SATURDAY is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Don't forget!

Yesterday’s post also included a brief discussion about the huge amount of wasted time and wasted discussion that went into the pursuit of getting a high visibility celebrity to endorse comic books. More than one organization was formed, meetings held and organizations ultimately abandoned, all in the pursuit of an endorsement from a popular movie or music star.

When Joe Field said of the Wolverine PSA that he had waited 25 years for it to happen, he also revealed another secret that I had not heard before. Joe said, “We had three of the four actors from the Fantastic Four movie a couple of years ago, they recorded a Free Comic Book Day PSA, but something happened with the studio and the deal fell apart.”

Vixen, Quiz Question Answers and Black Widow in the shower

BACK TO BASICS … OR UPSETING MR. HEINTJES AGAIN.

What with the trifecta of nicotine withdrawal, calorie counting and excess exercise, I’ve been ignoring my responsibilities to my fanatic fan base. I’ve not made myself available as the stunning font of knowledge through the regular program we (how many of me are there?) like to call “Ask The Dwo.” Okay … okay … everyone stop laughing.

The reason that this upsets my longtime friend Tom Heintjes is two-fold. First he’s responsible for my DWO nickname (yeah, you pronounce it like it was a word … you say du-woh … it doesn’t rhyme with “two”) so he thinks he retains some control over its use. Second he disapproves of “the Dwo,” it is his opinion that my nickname should be “dwo” without the “the.”

Now that I’ve completely bored everyone who stopped by to read about funny books, let me say this to Mr. Heintjes. Get Over It.

None of this changes the goal of this humble program. Ask me a question. Any question. I’ll attempt to answer it. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like the answer. So put on your thinking caps. And if you’re stumped for ideas, you can always check out the BACKGROUND page for ideas. I’ve got an answering “Ask The DWO” post coming up next week.

MARVEL’s Black Widow, Thundra, Deathlok and more Gene Colan Project

SEND THE BLOODHOUNDS HOME … OR OUT FOR STEAK

Strap in. I’m back. If you need an explanation, that’s fine. But be careful what you ask for. I’m going to do this is the dreaded ask yourself a question and answer it format that is so annoying when you see someone do it live. It may even be more annoying when you see it in print.

Dave Olbrich (me) San Diego 2009

Am I glad that I quit smoking? Yes, of course I am.

Was it easy? No, it wasn’t easy. I used comfort food to make up the lack of nicotine, but I did it cold turkey. And I gained about 18 pounds. 

Am I glad that I started Weight Watchers about three weeks ago? Yes, I’ve lost 12 of the 18 pounds that I gained, but it completely wrecked me in ways that I didn’t expect. My mood has been really REALLY crappy. It is now very difficult to work in my office where I enjoyed my cigarettes and chocolate. 

What am I doing to turn things around? Exercise seems to help a little, releasing much needed endorphins. Time used for exercise also leaves less time for this fanatical blog.

Jack Kirby vs Gene Colan … really?

Really … JACK KIRBY vs GENE COLAN in some kind of legendary “silver agey” comic book artist smackdown … really … well not really. But it is an interesting thought, you have to admit. If you want to get directly to the controversy (or non-controversy if you actually apply any critical thought to it), you’ll just have to scroll down a little bit.

But first, a tiny bit of unnecessary and probably unwanted non-comics stuff…

I’M NOT TAKING MY GLOVES OR MUZZLE OFF … BUT …

If you know me in any small way, you can probably guess where I come down politically. This is not a political blog. This is also not a personal blog, a music blog or a journalistic blog. That said, don’t be surprised if I talk briefly about my life, my daughter, Jim Croce, The Kentucky Headhunters, The Dan Band, or my degree in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

I don’t really see this as a left/right, blue/red issue, but an issue regarding journalistic integrity, but you be the judge.

That said, I thought that this was a piece of information worth passing along … doing my small piece of the effort. I don’t have any plans to bore you with this kind of polarizing material very often. So if you want to pitch in and help, click the picture at the right (it is a link) … and if you’ve come for a funny book fix instead … just scroll down and away you go.

Seth Rogen, Green Hornet, Lorna Dane & The Herculoids …yeek!

Is Seth Rogen the GREEN HORNET?

Before we get into the meat of today’s post, I’ve got a couple of things that I want to share.

First, am I the only one whose teeth begin to itch when imagining a Green Hornet movie featuring Seth Rogen as both screenwriter and lead actor? I’m not going off all “scorched earth/Scarlett Johansson” here. When I imagine the screenplay Rogen and his buddies might write, my teeth itch. When I picture Rogen in the mask and hat, standing next to Kato, my teeth itch.

I’m holding my breath a little bit on this one. The action scenes in Pineapple Express showed a great deal of promise, but can they fit into a Green Hornet context? Are there any other fanatics feeling the same way?