John Hodgman, Daily Show correspondent, and the human avatar of the PC–program bloat, video card upgrades and all–is also, it seems, one of the regular comic book reviewers for the New York Times Book Review section. Speaking of which, we were gabbing with someone about the NYTBR’s ethics rules, and you are not supposed to review a book if you have ever even MET the author. So our advice to cartoonists is to avoid John Hodgman at all costs!
In this Sunday’s section he reviewed Kim Deitch, Popeye, The Salon and Dungeon.
It should be surprise that Hodgman is a comics fan. He’s also contributed to a few episodes of This American Life, including “Invisible Man vs Hawkman” which can be listed to for free, along with the entire “Superpowers” episode. It’s a must listen!
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=178
Plus, in Hodgman’s infamous “700 Hobo Names” list from his best-seller The Areas Of My Expertise, one of those names is “Black Bolt, Leader of the Inhumans”. Hodgman used to be a literary agent, so one would hope he’s got some talent for identifying quality literature; evidently, the works of Lee & Kirby rank by his measure.
He’s also the Deranged Billionare from the recent TMBG Venues DVD