We interrupt our current programming for…well, this.
So those of you with long memories may recall this now decades-old photo, taken by old pal Sean, of me standing in my previous place of employment, back when my hair was naturally that color (and unnaturally parted to the side), reading The Smurfs:
…and perhaps you recall when, for my 40th birthday, Bully, the Little Photo-Manipulating Bull, offered up this slightly-altered image on his site:
Well, get ready to add another variation of this photo to your “Pictures of Mike” collection, which I know you have, because several people have pointed me to a Gilbert Gottfried Facebook fan page where this pic was presented:
Hey, come on now, I clearly don’t need to learn how to have a Giant-Size Man-Thing as I’m obviously holding…a copy…right…OH WAIT I GET IT.
Anyway, I’m pleased to see in the comments there someone, like, immediately identifying me, and someone else there saying “I’d rather have a Swamp Thing,” and I agree wholeheartedly…so here you go, friend! There’s also someone in those comments who briefly describes a meeting with Jim Shooter and getting him to sign a copy of Man-Thing Vol. 2 #1 (said signed copy pictured there as well).
Anyway, as I told one of my Twitter pals when he informed me of this “new” picture…I knew the job was dangerous when I took it! And by “job” I mean “writing a comics blog and putting pictures of myself on it,” which is by no real definition a job, but, y’know, close enough. And frankly, the original Smurfs version is only a tad less embarrassing.
The true horror here is that there’s a Gilbert Gottfried fan site, am I right?
I don’t get it!
Giant-Size
Man-Thing!
because it’s a big comic book, you see?