I noticed the other day whilst looking through my traffic logs that last month there was a huge spike in people visiting here after looking for the keywords ’superhero day job’. It makes sense that they would find my site, I’ve occasionally spoken about Superheroes, once or twice and ‘day job’ is a given.
Now I’m all for giving the people what they want, well depending on what that is, obviously if you’re looking for a glowing report on where the Indiana Jones franchise has recently gone you’ve knocked on the wrong virtual door. You’re not even on the right virtual planet.
But a look at Superhero day jobs is certainly something I can do, more than happy to in fact.
So you’re not going to want to miss this, I mean we’re talking dry wit, we’re talking sarcasm, a sadly comprehensive knowledge of comic book characters and I may even draw some custom pictures for the posts.
I’ve just started redirecting the feed back into feedburner which I left for a long time but am back to because I want the stats and stuff and I figure now is as good a time as any to go on a subscriber drive.
So as an encouragement I am offering one of my marker drawings of any character of the winner’s choosing. Â All you have to do to be in the running to get your very own original marker drawing is to either:
subscribe to the feed and leave a comment advising you have done so
or if you already subscribe put a link in one of your own posts suggesting people subscribe to Quit Your Day Job (you should probably let me know via email or comment)
have someone mention your name in a comment as the person who gave them the heads up to visit and subscribe
On December 12th I will draw the name of the winner out of a hat or some other sort of available receptacle for example if there are few enough entries I may do it from a coffee mug - you probably don’t need to know that…
I will then draw the requested character in a similar style to my existing drawings and send it out before the end of the year.
You are welcome to enter a couple of times, say if you subscribe and then you post about it on your own site that will equal two entries, if you mention it and link to Quit Your Day Job three times - that’s three entries. Â If ten people subscribe and leave comments advising that you were the one who suggested they come then that’s… that’s pretty cool and I’ll probably send you a drawing anyway! Â At the very least though you’ll have ten entries.
So go forth and spread the word of the little green robot.
If you are in England and aren’t watching this then I have to ask what your problem is!?!?
Cousin Larry and I will sit down and have a watch of this and I’ll provide feedback - if it is only half as good as the ad promises then I’m already sold
It is the photo above that first drew my attention to the Matt Ogen documentary Confessions of a Superhero. Struck by the clash of the bright and iconic costume of Superman with miserable drab green reality, I first thought that it was a portrait amongst a series of photographs.
It could be a fair mistake to make as the film does rely very heavily on the imagery of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Hulk set against the backdrop of Hollywood. Not the glitzy, glamorous Hollywood that is sold to the world as a foundation stone of the American dream, but the stretch of broken dreams.
In fact Ogen’s photographs from the film were part of the 2007 Images of the Year by American Photo magazine.
The documentary provides snapshots of the lives of four ‘performers’ who dress up as comic book characters and pose with tourists for money on Hollywood Boulevard.
Superman (Christopher Dennis) is a former meth addict who is obsessed with the Man of Steel and has a passing resemblance to Christopher Reeve. He is the veteran of the group and gives advice to the others which includes the fact that Superheroes don’t smoke in public (to a less than convinced Ghost Rider who he himself was less than convincing). He claims to be the son of an actress though her family deny it. Something obviously has hurt this man in his past so much so that he escaped into Superman. One sequence has him talking about the death of Reeve as he holds back the tears, Reeve being his Superman of choice.
Batman (Maxwell Allen) has a much more than a passing resemblance for George Clooney, surprisingly so given the right angle. When I say that Superman has had something bad happen to him it is nothing like what I can only imagine has happened to Batman. The hurt and sadness is clear behind his cowled eyes, he is an angry man who talks of his violent past. If even half of what he says is true it is a miracle that he can deal with life on a day to day basis let alone put on the Batman suit. His wife is really interesting as she talks about him.
Wonder Woman (Jennifer Gehrt) sits alone in her sad little apartment and talks of her former life as a Prom queen. We get to watch her get married in Vegas and the eventual break down of her whirlwind marriage. She is going on auditions and claims that all she wants to do is act, even if she gets no great money from it, she is doing what she loves. Wonder Woman though doesn’t really speak about the character she is performing or even her life as a character.
The Hulk (Joe McQueen) sold his Super Nintendo to get a ticket to LA and follow his dream of acting. What he found was homelessness and a giant green costume that he occasionally passes out in due to the heat. The Hulk is possibly the most tragic of the four as he doesn’t appear to have any psychological problems and is acutely aware that he is pan handling but tells himself that it is performing.
The film is paced and steady. It is gorgeously shot as the film maker captures the odd world that these people inhabit. I find that there is no way that I can make fun of these people, they are tragic but seem to take the roles that they perform seriously if not naively.
This is a quiet, subtle film that has left me thinking. It has left me confused about how I feel about it but I know that it is beautiful.
*updated - I had the names turned around for Batman and the Hulk, something that Maxwell himself pointed out! Sorry guys! I’ve fixed it now.
