Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Who do you think has
the best head of hair in comics?
- Wolverine.
- Ridiculous.
- Come on.
- Why "ridiculous"?
- Who wears mutton chops?
- Look at how angry he is.
[Laughter]
I think, and I'm comfortable
enough to say this
You know, Thor is
definitely the sexiest
That long, flowing,
blonde mane.
Go on.
[Laughter]
Like that?
- No.
- Just like that?
It looks a lot different
in the comics.
[Laughter]
Somebody give him
a hammer.
[Growling]
sync by Loxforl
Hello, and welcome to another
episode of Comic Book Men
The only show that slides down
your batpole
and enters your batcave.
I'm your host,
Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
Okay, men,
what kind of money
did we make this week?
- How you doing?
- Good.
What can we do
for you today?
I'm looking for a
Howard the Duck number one.
- Number one?
- Number one.
Hey, Ming,
can you do me a quick favor?
Could you grab that
Howard the Duck number one?
- You like the duck?
- Oh, I love the duck.
It's the only one missing
from my collection right now.
So you have a complete run
of Howard the Duck, huh?
Got Howard the Duck,
got his first appearance
Adventure into Fear
with Man-Thing, #19.
Oh, yeah.
This is just the missing piece
of the puzzle here.
Do you remember the lawsuit
that Disney almost waged?
Because he looks
so much like Donald.
Do you think he looks like
Donald Duck?
Maybe not this panel,
But this one
He definitely does.
[Laughter]
Yeah, that one, right there.
That's part of the joke is
that he looks like Donald Duck,
but Donald Duck's,
like, dirty uncle
or something like that.
And how ironic
that decades later,
Disney owns Howard the Duck,
'cause they bought Marvel.
That's right, man.
So now Donald Duck
and Howard the Duck
could cross over.
Add Daffy
[Imitates explosion]
What the duck, man?
[Laughter]
Wait.
What was
the backstory again?
- He was from another dimension?
- Duck World.
Then he comes to our
dimension, and he gets trapped?
Trapped in a world
he never made.
And gets a woman way hotter
than you could ever get.
[Laughter]
- Beverly Switzler, yeah.
- Beverly Switzler.
That's right, yeah.
Remember the last issue
of number one?
- Mm-hmm.
- Shocked a young Bryan Johnson.
Howard seals the deal
with Beverly.
You see
her ample ***.
- They are naked.
- They showed that?
It wasn't Gerber
who did this
but another writer,
Bill Mantlo.
He made them consummate.
Do we have that one?
[Laughter]
All right, well,
give me $25
for a number one issue
of Howard the Duck.
Well, looking at it,
I mean, there's a little wear
and tear here at the top.
Right.
Couple things
along the spine here.
Okay, I mean,
if it was mint,
it wouldn't be $25, though,
my friend.
That's true.
Um, $16.
Duck you.
[Laughter]
Um, what what
Okay, throw me a number, then.
$20.
$20?
That's fair.
All right, my friend, 20 bucks.
- Okay, thank you.
- Thank you.
- Enjoy.
- Later, guys.
- What's with that face?
- What face?
I know you got something
on your mind spit it out.
He's thinking about how a duck
gets more than he does.
[Laughter]
Did you ever [Bleep]
a duck, ming?
[Laughter]
No.
[Laughter]
What would you value
a New Teen Titans Omnibus
volume 1 at?
I mean, you're not gonna find
one for less than $175 now.
That brings my grand total
up to $33,798.
- Wow, man.
- I took a bath.
- Was that pun intended?
- Yeah, pretty much.
Last year
New Jersey sustained
$30 billion in damage
from hurricane Sandy,
and unfortunately,
one of us got hit hard.
Mike, you were, like,
at the eye of the storm
where you live, right?
went right through my house.
A wave just pushed through
your house.
Right.
Yeah.
And kitchen's gone,
dining room's gone,
and I lost
my entire comic collection.
- Oh, man.
- It's
It's heartbreaking.
What's the one piece
you're like,
"If only I had known what was
gonna happen that night,
I would have took this
with me?"
The one thing it's not even
the most expensive thing.
It's the Teen Titans poster
from 1984.
The one with the
With the kind of
pastel-y looking colors?
- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah.
I've had it
since I was
- Wow.
- How do you go on?
You're such a ***.
[Laughs]
Ah
It's gonna be hard
to find another one, right?
Yeah.
It was my favorite Perez piece.
So what are you gonna do, man?
You think you'll rebuild,
or you think maybe at this part
of your life,
you just close the book on it
and move on?
Nah, are you kidding?
I'm gonna rebuild.
I'm gonna rebuild
better than ever.
We should sell bracelets
at the Stash
Like, "geek strong.
"
[Laughter]
Yeah.
You know what? We should.
Help people who aren't
as fortunate as me
to have this stuff
come back.
That's awful, man.
His story is one
that a lot of people in Jersey
are going through,
and I think we should do
something for him,
maybe just kick-start
the quest to rebuild
You know, some jewel in
the crown maybe we could find.
I'm telling you right now
Cherish what you guys have
'Cause you never know
when it could be gone.
I feel like there should be,
like, an '80s hair band
here right now
with, like, a monster anthem.
[Laughs]
It was banned.
They took it off the shelves.
He does this motion.
Oh my God.
I got something here
I think is pretty interesting.
And I don't know
if you guys
I don't know if this is exactly
your thing or whatever,
but this is
the Rad Repeatin' Tarzan.
You've had this thing
for how long?
I've had this in my personal
collection for a long time.
Do you
Do you play with it?
Yeah, I mean
Well, there's one thing
that's very cool
about this.
Okay.
Impress me.
Right back here,
there's this.
He does this motion.
- Oh, my God.
- He does the standard
[Laughs]
It basically looks like
what you do at work
- all day long, ming.
- [Laughs]
Gives the motion that,
well, all men know
in times of silence
and solitude.
Now, as as a parent,
your kid gets that.
Do you feel the need to call
the company
or write into the company?
I'd be so delighted.
I'm like, "Thank God the doll
is teaching him to do it.
I never have to talk about it.
"
It was banned.
It was
They took it off
the shelves.
Not something
we normally carry here
Usually, you know,
comic books, superheroes.
Yeah, but, I mean, like,
Tarzan's, like,
one of the original
superheroes, right?
- Mm
- Yeah.
I'd call him one of
the original superheroes, sure.
In what way?
How is he super or a hero?
Well, he policed
the jungle.
He was like a jungle cop.
His parents were murdered.
He has no right
to police the jungle.
Nobody's asking him
to do it.
Do you even consider Tarzan,
like, a superhero?
- Without a doubt.
- Really?
I mean,
the Lord of the Jungle?
He can beat all the animals.
He can control
all the animals.
Why? You don't think
Tarzan's a superhero?
He never occurred
to me as a superhero
as much as like
a comic-strip character.
Was Tarzan essentially the
terrestrial version of Aquaman?
Pretty much, yeah.
He was Aquaman of the land
before Aquaman existed.
He didn't control
animals, though.
He wasn't like,
"boop, boop, boop, boop, boop,"
and suddenly a gorilla would
dance for him or something.
Oh, that'd be sweet.
[Laughter]
This is a talent
we all want.
I mean, really, what are you
trying to sell this thing for?
I think somewhere in the range
of $50 to $60,
- maybe $70.
- It never ceases to amaze me.
Too many people start
their negotiation
with, "Oh, you know,
$50, $60, $70.
"
Like, you've already
said $50,
so why bother saying
$60 or $70?
Granted, it was recalled
or banned,
but it's not one
of the more desirable
recalled/banned toys.
Honestly, I'd give you
- I-I couldn't do it for $10.
- All right.
I mean, that's as high
as I can go.
All right, you know,
I mean,
actually, talking about it
with you guys,
kind of made me realize
that I want to keep this
a little bit longer, and I'm not
gonna give it up for $10.
All right.
I mean, have fun with it.
Good luck with it.
Relish that hot dog.
See you later.
[Chuckles]
- See you guys.
- Are you out of your mind?
Yeah, seriously.
You shook hands
with a guy
who would bring something
like that in here?
Oh.
[Laughs]
Do we have any hand sanitizer
around here?
So any suggestions
to jump-start
Mike's collection again?
I know he's really broken up
about his Perez poster
The New Teen Titans,
the pastel one?
We can look for it.
It it's not really
super common,
but if we go out and we spend,
like, that kind of money,
maybe we can find something
even better.
Something better?
I think we can find a
character that is his favorite.
I know right off the bat
Simon Williams, Wonder Man.
Right.
Right.
We have that book, right?
Show Robert real quick.
Bride of Ultron.
But, you know,
that's a great character.
I've never heard
of such a thing.
There he is Wonder Man
in his Christmas color outfit.
That looks like
jingle belle.
[Laughs]
Look, there it is.
That's what I'm
talking about, man.
- Look at that costume.
- But you know what?
I've been doing
all these conventions,
talking to a lot
of artists.
I've actually developed
a friendship with George Perez.
George Perez, the artist?
Yeah,
he's a really decent guy.
I think there's
a great opportunity there,
where maybe we can get him to do
a Wonder Man for Mike.
Perfect.
Let's get it done.
Mr.
Perez?
Oh, my God, look at that, man.
That's amazing.
Favorite superhero sidekick.
The Falcon.
One of the greatest costumes.
I know he's slated to be
a major character
in the new
Captain America movie.
Could you imagine if they give
him the full plumage?
Aw, that'd be awesome.
It'd take all my money.
Take my kids' inheritance.
[Laughter]
All right, Ming.
What about you, man?
I always liked Speedy,
Green Arrow's sidekick.
- Ooh, controversial choice.
- Ooh, yeah.
Speedy, of course,
is the sidekick
who at one point is depicted
right on the cover
of a comic book
using the old "H.
"
- Is that right?
- So why would you want that?
[Laughter]
I want a sidekick
that has a lot
of emotional problems,
baggage with drug abuse.
I can't even save this guy,
let alone the city.
[Laughter]
Looking to sell
something today.
It's not exactly a comic.
It's something
a little different.
- It's Power Records.
- Oh, my gosh.
This may have been
the greatest value
in comic-book history.
For $1.
50, you got the reprint
of the original,
but thrown in there was
a gorgeous 45 vinyl record
that literally was
the only way
for a comic book
to come to life in the '70s.
If you try to explain this
to a kid who grew up watching,
like, the new
Avengers movie
Like, "There was a time
when we listened to comics"
You know, they'd think
you were bafflingly old.
But this was treating
a comic book very seriously
by bringing it to life
with voice actors,
doing it very heroically
and over the top,
sound effects, music.
It was better
than anything
that was on TV
at that point.
There was legitimacy
in some weird way.
You know, you'd go
into a record store,
and you could hold your head up
and be like,
"I'll have
a Spider-Man, please.
"
And then you get outside,
and the kids buying Kiss
beat you up.
[Laughter]
You know
what that means?
Revolutions per minute.
You're losing me
with this technical jargon.
[Laughter]
And it's called a record, so
[Laughter]
[Sighs]
- Yes.
- Thank you.
[Laughter]
What were some
of your favorite albums
that you'd you know,
you'd fight your friends over,
or you'd close the door, like,
"Ma, we're listening to records.
- Don't bug us"?
- We're dancing.
[Laughter]
The first album
I ever bought,
like, for myself was
Talking Heads,
but the first record
that I ever had
one of these listening parties
you're talking about was
They did a Star Wars reading
on a picture disc.
Yeah, I mean, I can remember
having friends come over,
and we would put
our Kiss albums on
and try to mimic Kiss
and the poses
that they were on on the front
of the album covers.
- I mean
- Then we'd really kiss.
[Laughter]
What are you talking about?
You were there.
[Laughter]
What are you looking
to get for 'em?
I know these are not near
mint, so why don't we try $120?
A little high, considering
the condition of 'em.
They still look great.
I mean, they are in nice shape.
But there are some stains.
There's some dog ears.
I was thinking
along the lines, maybe
- 50 bucks for all three?
- $50?
I mean, I'm not even sure
If I put 'em on, you know,
am I gonna need
to stack a penny
on my arm
of my record player
because there's so many skips?
Um, can you do
maybe $70?
I'd give you $60,
an even $20 for Spider-Man,
$20 for Cap,
and $20 for Superman.
And then
we'll all put in, right?
We'll all pitch in,
all threesies.
We'll all go out, and we'll buy
ourselves a record player.
Actually, you and I will.
He'll kick in the penny
for the
[Laughter]
Sounds fair.
- Huh, you'd do that?
- Um
- I can do $60.
- All right, deal?
- Deal.
- All right, good.
[Whispering]
There he is.
[Normal voice]
Hello?
Mr.
Perez?
- Oh, hi.
- Hi.
Rob Bruce sent us over.
We're the guys from the Stash.
- Yes, yes, yes.
- How are you doing?
It's great to meet you.
My name is Ming.
- Bryan.
- Hi, Bryan.
- How are you?
- This is Walt.
I am a ginormous fan,
going way, way back.
Oh, thank you.
George Perez
is one of the greatest
living comic-book artists
of all time
Teen Titans,
Infinity Gauntlet.
Fantastic Four,
The Avengers.
Justice League.
The list goes on and on.
There's no character
he really hasn't drawn.
So, coming face-to-face
with him,
what was it like, man?
Did you have dry pants
or what?
Oh, no.
[Laughter]
I see a lot of your artwork
around here.
Oh, my God,
Crisis on Infinite Earths
number seven, the cover.
One thing that's funny about
that particular cover,
as iconic as it has become,
for me,
it was just being able
to draw all the characters
in the background.
There were over 500 characters
in there,
and I lament to this day
that one charact
who should have been in there
was not in there
Hal Jordan's Green Lantern.
Another little bit
of trivia.
Getting to the point
that you're here
Yes, why we're here.
A co-worker of ours and
a great friend, Mike Zapcic
- And a huge fan of yours.
- Yeah.
Just as big a fan
as I am
He lost almost
his entire collection.
He had a poster of yours,
the New Teen Titans poster?
That was one
of his prized possessions.
He had kept it
throughout his childhood.
He had framed it,
but he lost it in Sandy.
And we thought,
"What if we got the guy
"who did the poster
to maybe do a piece,
"an original piece,
a one-of-a-kind
to, like, kind of kick-start
his collection?"
I mean, I'm not just
blowing smoke here.
Simon Williams, Wonder Man,
is his favorite character
just because of the way
you drew it.
- That's it.
- That's the one, right?
If you think he'd like
an original drawing
of the character,
I would love to do do it.
He obviously knew
the devastation
that a lot of people
in New Jersey
got hit with
with Sandy,
and he was more than happy
to do it.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
Oh, my God.
Look at that, man.
That's Simon Williams.
- Come to life.
- Thank you so much.
- It's gonna be fabulous.
- Okay.
- See you guys later.
- Thank you.
That's amazing.
Hello.
I'm looking
for a gentleman named Michael.
You're George Perez.
Holy crap.
There's a sex act they call
"the Chewbacca.
"
Does it involve having
to sound like Chewbacca?
At one point, yeah.
Let me hear
your best Chewbacca.
Why? 'Cause I'm gonna go
and do this now?
You've been doing it you just
didn't know what it was called.
[Laughter]
Aw
[Coughs]
[Laughter]
Hold on.
Hold on.
Aw!
[Laughter]
I can't do it.
I don't think that that's it.
- That's my best one.
- What about you, Mike?
Can you do a Chewbacca?
Rah, aw.
[Laughter]
That's pee-wee Herman
doing Chewbacca.
Rah!
[Laughter]
I liked yours, man.
You got yours down.
[Rolls tongue]
Just get your tongue roll going.
[Rolls tongue poorly, gags]
[Laughter]
Like that?
Yeah, exactly.
That's what
you got to do tonight
when you when you go
in the bedroom.
Just stand in the door
all seductively,
give 'em your best
wookiee call.
Ah.
Yeah, there you go.
That'll get her motor going.
[Laughter]
[Indistinct chatter]
Hello.
I'm looking
for a gentleman named Michael.
That would be me.
Michael, I heard
that you actually had
a bit of a loss
because of hurricane Sandy.
And the main
You're George Perez.
- Holy crap.
- Yeah, this is my wife, Carol.
- Nice to meet you.
- Pleasure's all mine.
One of the things
I wanted to do at least
was to help you
on the road back.
They said this happened to be
one of your favorite characters.
Oh, my God.
Yes, Wonder Man.
Found out
from your dear friends here.
No kidding.
You guys did this?
I think
it's absolutely great.
- Oh, my God.
- And I hope it does help.
Look at that.
"To Michael.
To a new beginning.
"
Awesome.
Thank you
for the sentiment.
Guys, thank you
so much.
I'm not normally
Wear my emotions on my sleeve,
but I got to tell you,
I got a little misty.
You're gonna make me cry
right now.
Oh, my God,
that's so adorable.
These guys went and
I mean, who thinks to do
something like that, you know?
It was guys,
I can't thank you enough.
I mean, you're the best pals
a guy could have.
We're almost Super Friends.
- You are Super Friends.
- Oh
You are
all three of you, and Rob Bruce.
While all this
was going on,
I stole a couple CDs
out of George's car.
[Laughter]
He was distracted.
And one other thing
we wanted to do,
and this one's actually
my wife's idea.
A little something
for your shop.
I don't know if you know
George is famous for his shirts.
Which my wife makes.
She makes all my shirts.
Carol makes all my shirts.
There was a really
particularly famous one
The lamb chop shirt.
[Laughs]
I thought you might like
to put it
on your wall in the store.
Oh, hell, yeah, man.
- Would you sign it for us?
- Oh, sure.
Here we go.
All my detail
I have to take my glasses off.
That's awesome.
Imagine how many panels,
how many characters he drew
wearing this shirt.
- Huh?
- Well
We'll hang it
from the rafters
like a retired
hockey Jersey.
And now that your friends
have managed to make you
into a nice, whimpering
little kid again,
my work here is done.
Thank you just doesn't seem
like enough.
Well, believe me, thank you
is more than enough.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.
- Take care.
- See you later.
It couldn't
have went better.
I couldn't imagine
meeting someone
that I idolized so much
being more nice
or more warm to me
than George Perez was
that afternoon.
As great as an artist
as George Perez is,
I may say
he's a better human being.
There it is, kids.
They say never meet
your heroes, man,
but in this instance,
not only can you meet 'em,
you can depend
on 'em, man.
And they could really come in
and rescue you
just when you need it the most,
just like a true superhero.
It would have been cooler
if he got there
before the storm hit,
but George Perez hero.
We're closing the book
on another episode, kids.
Sorry about that.
For Comic Book Men,
I'm Kevin Smith.
- Bryan Johnson.
- Walt Flanagan.
- Mike Zapcic.
- Ming Chen.
Friendship is magic, kids.
Good night.