Brian J. Shoopman

I really don't care whether or not the first ones I mention come across as corny, cliché or trendy, because, plain and simple, they truly are, without exception, the greatest heroes I’ve been fortunate enough to have in my life:

God, my mom and my dad (wish you were still with us, pop).

Our heroes are supposed to inspire us and have qualities we admire and I can't think of 3 better examples, simple as that.



Add to the list a mixture of fiction and real life:

Batman-

I've been all about The Bat ever since I bought my first copy of Detective Comics #438 in 1973. I liked the TV show too as a kid although I wince now at the campy aspects of it, but I was 3 when it was on and, dammit, Adam West just has this charming character and class about him. But it was the comic that showed me what a bad ass Batman could really be.

Superman? I've always liked him as well and admired his characteristics of nobility and optimism. I still revere him as THE superhero of all superheroes (and Christopher Reeve really tapped into that and was a fine, fine human being who is sadly missed), but there was just always something about The Dark Knight that just clicked and stayed with me more over the years.

I was so happy "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" got it right. (And the animated series from the 90’s was awesome as well-I’m indebted to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini.)



Brandon Lee-

He has influenced me quite a bit ever since I saw The Crow at a preview screening (even won a promo t-shirt that I wore til it fell apart). I had seen Rapid Fire as well and enjoyed that, but The Crow really had a beautiful, haunting quality that got deep inside of me. It's really sad it was the end of his career instead of one of the high points as it should have been.



Kevin Smith-

I owned a comic book shop for 9 years from 1994 to 2003 (still have the majority of my stock from it including my Incredible Hulk #1 and Batman#17).

A former friend dropped by one day and was going on and on about how I should check out these two movies by this Smith guy he thought I’d really enjoy because they dealt with cultural references and comic books, had some great witty dialogue and humor and plenty of dick and fart jokes thrown in as well (If Kevin Smith was more highbrow would they be Dickens and fart jokes? *ahem* sorry…annnnywaaaayyy….).

I’d remembered wanting to check out Clerks after seeing a positive review of it on Siskel & Ebert at the time of it’s theatrical release and recalled Roger Ebert talking about the MPAA wanting to originally slap it with an NC-17 because of the language (to which I remember giving a very NC-17 response that I won’t print here on my mostly PG-13 page) but I still had yet to see it.

And Mallrats was all over the back of the very products I sold and was coming out on video soon so I kept checking at the video store and when both were available I rented them and have been a ViewAskrewup ever since.

I've never met Mr. Smith in person yet, but I did get to hang out with Jay and Walt and Bryan and some of the rest of the View Askew Crew at Wizard World Chicago a few years back. They were all super cool and I think there's something to the saying that you're known by the company you keep.

I realize impressions of a celebrity may or may not reflect how they are in real life, but everything I've seen to date pretty much confirms that Kevin "The Star" is, more or less, Kevin "The Person" and that even though he's in the business of bullshit, when it comes to himself it's what you see is what you get.

I can't say for sure what he’s really like as of this writing, but I suspect I'll get to meet him at some point, either at Wizard World or, with any fortune, in a professional capacity as I’ve embarked on my own journey into film making And when I do I’ll find out for myself (I know, I know I got the comic store/filmmaker thing reversed, but this is my path not his lol).

Oh, by the way, he writes a pretty frickin’ mean comic too. Who knew I could like Green Arrow that much?



Neil Gaiman-

Wow can this guy write or what?

In 1993 I’d been away from collecting or reading comics for the most part for a few years but a friend gave me the quick and dirty on what I’d missed in the time I’d been absent and I suddenly found myself eager to jump right back in.

And, thankfully, one of the first books I discovered at that time was Neil Gaiman’s amazing Sandman series.

As I began to read it I felt as if I had just ran into a friend I’d not seen since high school and found myself in awe at how much they’d matured in our time apart. I had no idea a comic book could have the level of depth, maturity, and sheer quality that Mr. Gaiman and his talented associates including Dave McKean, Sam Kieth, Chris Bachalo, Mike Dringenberg, Vince Locke, Charles Vess, and others brought to the series.

I was hooked without a doubt and not only did I want to read and collect the books, I wanted to have my own store. I even drew on The Sandman for the name of my shop, The Realm of Dreams Comics, as I felt that would be an indicator of the level of quality I personally appreciated and I wished to share with my customers and fellow collectors. I’d hoped to have Mr. Gaiman do a guest signing at some point, but unfortunately that was not to be.

Not surprisingly, Neil has since moved beyond the field of comics into novels, film and television; stretching his creative reach rather than a full departure from his previous venture.



Major Richard Winters and the Men of Easy Company-

Anyone not familiar with them or why I say that should really take the time to watch Band of Brothers. A truly amazing series about some truly amazing men.



I suppose my list could easily go on and on but I can’t forget anyone who, on a daily basis, puts their life at risk for me and you such as those serving in our military, and our community firemen and policemen (Come home safe Tim and James – We’ve got some City of Heroes catching up to do.).