COMIC BOOK MEN: Q&A and Sneak Peak at Sixth Season [AMC, NYCC 2016]

Comic Book Men Panel Gives Sneak Peak into Sixth Season

Comic book fanatic and film director Kevin Smith kicked off New York Comic Con at the Main Stage in stellar fashion with standing ovation from the crowd. He thanked his entire team for the work done during this past season of Comic Book Men. Smith then showed the audience a sizzle reel giving us a peak into the new season. The reel gave us peaks at some of the new items that show up at The Secret Stash and some new guest stars like Stan Lee, Jon Romita Jr., and actor Tom Cavanagh. After the video, Smith brought out the rest of the cast including Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson, Mike Zapcic, and Ming Chen.

After the reel, Smith went straight into Q&As with the fans. One of the biggest questions asked was Smith’s thoughts on the recent slate of DC films. Smith explained that he loved Ben Affleck’s performance as Batman, perhaps even more so than Michael Keaton’s version. He also added that the films from DC would never be like Marvel and it’s not a bad thing. “They are never going to be Marvel movies… and as a long time fan of this shit I don’t care, you are either a DC guy or a Marvel guy and really DC isn’t ever going to do what Marvel does… but really, when I was a kid and wish they had all this shit… so for years we have wanted this and now we got it.” Regarding his thoughts on Batman v Superman, Smith replied that he does hope there would be a better version of it in the future. “I do hope that we get a better version of Batman versus Superman, you know, like maybe the version in my head.”

The next question that was asked was regarding Kevin and Flanagan’s Batman comic book series. With the New 52 line gone, Kevin said he approached DC on continuing his series and found out that he was allowed to continue the series on his own. Even famed comic book writer Jim Lee asked Smith when the next one will be. “What story do we want to tell? We have three issues but they told us to do whatever we want”, Smith said. One comic book that comes to Smith’s mind for inspiration is Swamp Thing Goes to Hell. “So we are going to go something in that direction. Maybe 12 issues. We will do something like that and have a hardcover book to show for it.”

With the topics of new projects, Flanagan and Johnson were asked if they would like to turn their comic book series Cryptozoic Man intro an animated series. Johnson said that it was something he hasn’t considered since introducing it in the second season of the AMC series. “Making Cryptozoid Man into an animated series? I mean, I don’t know. Stranger things have happened.” The guys were also asked about writing a sequel to their cult film Vulgar. Johnson replied, “We are writing another Vulgar, so you can expect that here soon.”

The guys also shared some funny stories from their youth. Kevin Smith told a story of a prank he pulled when he and Bryan were teenagers growing up in New Jersey. After spitting a condom and leaving it on the ATM machine, Smith said he was soon caught by the police and was given a warning. He said the experience helped him grow up into a man. Smith also promised a film graduate student a chance to get to work with him if Comic Book Men gets picked up for another season.

Closing the panel, Kevin left some encouraging words to those who want to start a podcast on their own. After being on a show for six seasons, Smith explained that he was able to generate the content he wanted to make just like his films. “Go out, record your podcast. It is easy as sh!t and you can put ads on it and earn money. You can work your way up. Anything is f*cking possible so long as you are stepping towards something.”

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