Top 10 Celebrity Comic Book Geeks

POSTED BY Charlie Schneider, 30 April 2008

There's no denying it, this is the age of the comic book geek. Each year, San Diego Comic Con is bigger than the last. We're regularly treated to big-budget film adaptations of many of our favorite comics. And, more and more, celebrities are exposed for the comic book geeks that they are.

Because we're very scientific here at Pulp Secret, in order to be classified as celebrity comic book geeks, candidates must either love comics, have their own comic, or have contributed in a substantial way to the comic book community.

And now,

10. Brian Posehn



Even if you don't know who Brian Posehn is, you've almost definitely seen him on television. Most famously, Posehn has had recurring roles on HBO's Mr. Show, on Comedy Central's Comedians of Comedy and on NBC's Just Shoot Me as Kevin Liotta, the mailroom guy. Posehn has also added his vocal talents to Bungie Studios' Halo 2 in which he voiced several grunts and marines.

Comic Book Geekery:
Posehn appeared as a preist in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. He's a Comic Con regular and he also co-wrote a comic book titled The Last Christmas, a post-apocalyptic Santa story loaded with gore and violence, published by Image Comics.


The Last Christmas

In 2000, he shot a pilot with Patton Oswalt for Comedy Central called Super Nerds, a sitcom based inside a comic book shop. Unfortunately, Comedy Central passed on the pilot. Watch Super Nerds here while you can.

And if you need more proof, here's Brian Posehn talking comic books:




9. Bill Hader



You probably recognize Bill Hader as a current cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live. On the big screen, Hader has had high profile roles in Superbad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, both produced by Judd Apatow.

Comic Book Geekery:
Hader introduced acclaimed comic book writer Neil Gaiman at the 2008 NY Comic Con. During his introduction, Hader confessed that he had a copy of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere in his back pocket during his first interview with Lorne Michaels at Saturday Night Live.

Hader claims that Superbad writer/producer Seth Rogen hired him for the part of the policeman after discovering their shared love of Gaiman's Sandman titles. Hader also admitted that he's pitched several Gaiman-inspired SNL sketches including Vincent Price's Neverwhere and Al Pacino as Sandman, niether of which got greenlighted.

Here's Bill on Pulp Secret doing an impersonation of a Taun Taun from Star Wars. Geek!



8. Patton Oswalt



You may know Patton Oswalt from his many Comedy Central Stand-Up shows or his long-time role as Spence on King of Queens. Most recently and famously he voiced Remy, the starring rat in Pixar's Ratatouille.

Comic Book Geekery:
Patton's got a pretty impressive pull list every week and is an avid comic book reader. He also wrote JLA: Welcome to the Working Week and a backup story in Batman #600 for DC Comics. Patton Oswalt co-starred in that Comedy Central Super Nerds pilot with Brian Posehn, too!



7. Samuel L. Jackson



Pulp Fiction, Mace Windu, Snakes on a Plane, Jurassic Park, need we go on?

Comic Book Geekery:
Sam Jackson will be appearing in one of the biggest comic book movies of 2008: Will Eisner's The Spirit and is rumored to be cast in the role of Nick Fury in an upcoming, unnamed Marvel superhero movie. Marvel Comics also created Ultimate Nick Fury after the likeness of Jackson's image.


Ultimate Nick Fury

One of Jackson's most critically acclaimed recent projects is his work on Funimation's Afro Samurai, an anime mini-series based on the popular Japanese manga title. Jackson's not only the voice of the title character, he also co-produced the anime series, which has reportedly been picked up for a 2008 season on Spike TV.



6. Guillermo Del Toro



Del Toro brings classic characters and award winning stories to the big screen. He directed the hit films Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. He's also slated to direct The Hobbit based on the Tolkien book.

Comic Book Geekery:
Guillermo Del Toro has a love of all things comics. He directed the upcoming Hellboy 2 movie based on Mike Mignola's Hellboy comics. Most know about his major motion picture releases but he's also been eyeballing a feature adaptation for his favorite superhero, Marvel's Dr. Strange. News has it that this project would produce a geeky team-up with Neil Gaiman (see Bill Hader's entry).



5. Joss Whedon



Joss Whedon is known mostly for his ability to create TV series with cult followings and iconic characters: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly.

Comic Book Geekery:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (dubbed Season 8), Angel and Serenity (based on Firefly) have all made successful leaps from TV to comic books, all published through Dark Horse. Whedon has also penned several major mainstream comic books including Marvel's Runaways, Identity Crisis, and is currently writing on Astonishing X-Men.


Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8

In 2007 Whedon released an online free comic titled Sugarshock! in partnership with Dark Horse Comics on Myspace. Add friend yes/no?



4. Rosario Dawson



Star of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, roles in He Got Game, Kevin Smith's Clerks II and Men in Black II.

Comic Book Geekery:
Rosario Dawson says that she's been a fan of comics her whole life. Not only has she actively pursued some pretty iconic comic book roles in Sin City and Sin City 2, she also created her own comic book: Occult Crimes Taskforce. How's that for giving back to the comic book community?


Dawson in Comic Book Form

And, as of Comic Con 2007, Occult Crimes Taskforce is currently in development as a feature film. If that's not enough, Rosario Dawson's uncle is comic book artist Gus Vasquez (The Armory Wars, Deadpool, JLA, Green Lantern, Spiderman).



3. Jerry Seinfeld



Stand-up comedian. Emmy Award-winning Co-creator and star of Seinfeld. Most recently voiced the main character in the animated feature, Bee Movie.

Comic Book Geekery:
Jerry Seinfeld's comic book geekery is derived from one source alone: Superman. Jerry was the first modern prime-time star who openly associated himself with a high-profile superhero. Jerry's love affair with The Man of Steel has paved the way for present day celebrities to come out of the comic book closet. Comic book pride!

Seinfeld, which ran for 9 seasons, was chock-full of comic book references, both hidden and not-so hidden thanks to Jerry Seinfeld. You can check out an exhaustive list of Seinfeld's comic book easter eggs here.

After his final bow on Seinfeld, Jerry teamed up with an animated Superman in several high-profile commercials for American Express. The superhero concept for the commercial was Jerry's and he specifically asked for Superman to be drawn in the style of DC Comics artist Curt Swan.


Superman and Seinfeld



2. Kevin Smith



Master of the View Askewniverse. Acclaimed writer and director of Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Clerks II, and Chasing Amy.

Comic Book Geekery:
Kevin Smith who is "Silent Bob" in his films, has always been a huge comic book fan. The universe of characters from Smith's movies not only live on in numerous comic book titles, they also have a permanent home in Smith's two comic book stores. Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, founded and owned by Kevin Smith, stock all manner of merchandise related to Smith's films along with a wide selection of comic books. The store also has an online counterpart for those of us who can't make it to either the Red Bank, NJ or Los Angeles, CA locations.

If that's not comic book nerd activism, we don't know what is. Smith also penned many great comics, albeit with controversial results on Green Arrow, Daredevil and Spiderman/Black Cat.


Kevin Smith Takes on Green Arrow

Kevin Smith also named his daughter Harleen Quinzel after the comic book character Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series.

Add to that Smith's work on the Superman Movie and you've got yourself a pretty well-rounded celebrity comic book geek.



1. Nicolas Cage



SonNephew of Francis Ford Coppola. Academy Award Winner. Starring roles in Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, National Treasure, The Rock, Raising Arizona and more.

Comic Book Geekery:
It's fair to say that Nicolas Cage is the biggest comic book geek (fanatic might be a better word) among all A-list celebrities. There are so many reasons that Cage appears on this list, he deserves his own top 10 list. Here are just a few reasons he tops our list. Nicolas Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola and changed his name to Nicolas Cage, inspired by Marvel Comics' Luke Cage.Cage named his son Kal-el after Superman's birth name (which was a more controversial choice than Kevin Smith's Harley Quinn).Cage recently appeared as the title character in Ghost Rider, a film based on the Marvel Comics character.


Cage in Ghost Rider

Nicolas Cage has always been a notorious collector of everything imaginable (not just comic books). However, his comic book collection was rumored to be one of the most valuable collections ever owned by a celebrity (let alone by any single person). We're talking multiple #1s of the most famous comic book characters including Batman and Superman. The sale of his collection was said to be the highest reported amount for a comic book auction, with a total value of 5.2 million dollars.

Cage also developed his own comic book with his son Weston Cage: Voodoo Child published by Virgin Comics.





Even though they didn't quite make the cut, these guys deserve some recognition for their comic book contributions.

Ron Perlman



In the 80s, Perlman starred in the TV series, Beauty and the Beast as Vincent. But if you paint his face red, he's instantly recognizable as Hellboy. Perlman is set to reprise that role in Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy 2.


Perlman as Hellboy

Comic Book Geekery:
Perlman has spent more time in creature makeup than almost any other comic book actor, which includes his Hellboy and Blade 2 roles. He's also good friends with Dark Horse Comics publisher, Mike Richardson and is somewhat partial to Frank Miller stories.


Comic Book Guy



The sarcastic comic book geek from The Simpsons.

Comic Book Geekery:
Sure he might be a fictional character, but we defy you to come up with a more influential and visible comic book geek in present day, mainstream media. Comic Book Guy or "Jeff Albertson" as Simpson's creators have revealed, is the creation of Matt Groening and actor Hank Azaria. Groening and The Simpsons cast/crew have used Comic Book Guy to poke fun at the old forum trolls of the alt.net era of the internet who would often use CBG's catch phrase "Worst Episode Ever" to blast the show in its early years.

Joss Whedon, hellboy 2, kevin smith, Samuel L. Jackson, Comic Book Guy, Matt Groening, Jerry Seinfeld, Rosario Dawson, Celebrity Comic Book Nerds, Patton Oswalt