If you read comics for long enough and pay attention, you’ll begin to notice that writers and artists love to work tons of references into their work. Subtle references, clever references, inside jokes, bizarre gags and obscure imagery that are often a treat for eagle-eyed and perceptive readers. Sometimes it’s as simple as a song lyric worked into a line of dialogue or a portrait of a writer as an “extra” in a scene, other times it may be as overt as an editor’s head showing up on a pike on a battlefield in front of a conquering army—just ask Philip Simon or Patrick Thorpe, they’ve both been decapitated in comics before! References like these in comic books are the easter eggs that über nerds like me love. I’d be lying if I said that I never hoped my career as an editor would lead to some obscure nod to yours truly.
And now, thanks to artist Evan “Doc” Shaner, I’ve officially been referenced in a comic book!
Check out this page from Nate Cosby and Shaner’s Buddy Cops from the pages of Dark Horse Presents #16…
If you didn’t see it, give that first panel another glance…
Yep, that pizza place in the background is a direct reference to my tumblr blog, Pizza-Party!
Long story short, as the assistant editor on DHP, I had the pleasure of working with Cosby and Shaner on their hilarious sci-fi, buddy cop comedy comic. I’ve never met Nate in person and only briefly met Evan at Emerald City Comicon, but as we’re all on twitter and tumblr, we’ve had time to goof around a bit online outside of the professional emails we exchanged about Buddy Cops. Nate and Evan had been turning in their finest Buddy Cops work—in my humble opinion—as they set about wrapping the final chapter of their three-part DHP stint, when Evan sent along the colored pages… and my name on that pizza place immediately jumped out at me! Unable to control my giddiness, I quickly wrote Evan a profanity-laced—excitement profanity, mind you—”thank you” email. I was thrilled. Getting referenced in a comic book: cross that off the ol’ funny book bucket list!
Dark Horse Presents #16 is on sale now. There are, at least, two other semi-covert references in the 8-page final chapter of Buddy Cops, so keep an eye out!
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that’s awesome Jim! At first, I thought “is he supposed to be the pregnant guy?” but then i scrolled down… LOL. Next issue, i guess they’ll have to decapitate you or something