Comics to Write Comics
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009Those who follow my blog and Twitter know that I am both a comic book artist and stand-up comedian. So when I learned that comedian Scott Aukerman is putting together a comics anthology with stories written by stand up comedians, I just had to learn more.
Scott Aukerman is the host of Comedy Death Ray at the UCB Theater and the podcast radio show of the same name. My impression of him is that people love him and he’s a comedian’s comedian. He’s always doing things to help other comedians get their names out there and is always creating opportunities for comedians to be part of something. His radio show gives airtime to comedians to plug upcoming shows and appearances, as well as just have fun cracking jokes and finding new fans.
The comic book anthology is another outlet for comedians to tell stories that they wouldn’t be able to do onstage. Some comedians involved are Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garofalo, Fred Armisen of SNL, BJ Novak of The Office, and vocal long-time comics fans Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn. There are some big name talented comic artists attached that have not yet been announced.
So what does this mean? It means that comics are going to be funny again! Its not that he doesn’t enjoy comics with superhero action and mythology, he just knows that comedy is lost in this generation of dark and dramatic stories. We were treated to one Amazing Spider-man one-shot earlier this year written by Seth Meyers and Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live, but it was still a action-oriented book told with a sitcom-y feel. Aukerman really wants to tell self-contained comedic stories and bring funny back to funnybooks.
