Mayhemsdvariant
The Daily News talks to Tyrese Gibson, whose MAYHEM comic goes on sale today:

Gibson has been trolling the Internet, reading the harshest criticism and vowing to convince naysayers that he isn’t some celebrity dilettante dabbling in a get-rich-quick scheme.

He gets so worked up during his interview with The News that he refers to his hero, a tortured soul looking to torture the drug- dealing mob boss that wronged him, in the first person several times.

He’s not just trying to woo existing comic fans, either. Gibson says he is serious about getting the word out to fans of his movies that have never set foot in a comic store that there’s a larger world of pop culture that they’ve been missing.


The big event is at LA’s Meltdown, where Gibson will perform a signing and a concert tonight for wristband holders. Let us know how it went!

1 COMMENT

  1. I was behind the Popgun table on Image Island for a lot of the first 3 days of SDCC and I can attest that Tyrese was balls-to-the-wall promoting MAYHEM non-stop virtually the entire time. The downside was dealing with the large crowd in front of his table – the upside was that he was spreading the love to other Image books (including Popgun) while he was there. He’s the real deal.

  2. does anyone have any kind of review up for this book?
    i’m not going to buy it (not my cup of tea) but i’d like to hear that he’s actually got the goods to back up all the noise.

  3. @ Brian, I was right next to you and next to Tyresse for all 4 days.

    It was madness. The cement pillar acted as a natural buffer for me, so I did very well at the show… however, the pushy crowds and standing on top of tables was a bit… extreme. But good for him and I’m glad he’s excited for Mayhem, and I’m glad to hear he supported you (I overheard some of his condolences in regard to the people blocking your table). I don’t know if that was extended to Greg Horn who you switched with, but in any event it all ended well and I hope he makes a success.

    (I don’t want to be labeled a “Hater” by his followers, haha!)

    That said… I think us folks at the Image island learned a few things. While I support Tyrese, his book and his effort to promote comics.. I will not be sitting next to him in the future. Haha!

    Side Note:
    Speaking of tables, those “islands” should be formed in an oval, or something because the corners on the square formation leave little room where the tables connect.

    Extra Side Note:
    @ Jacob, I’d also like to read a couple of reviews (beyond the 4 pages I’ve seen online).

  4. @ Alexa, I’m not sure what Brian Hibbs would say.
    Selling and promoting a book at San Diego is not like selling the book at Brian’s store. Further that, Brian Hibbs doesn’t go to many conventions and he doesn’t exhibit at conventions, either. I’ve talked directly to him about that and he is 100% against setting up his store at shows. That said, he might have been walking around SDCC and saw Tyrese’s crowds — which could inspire him to order more copies for his store. But Brian serves his customers not San Diego. Simply put, if people in his location wanted Mayhem they’d be asking for it. According to him… nobody in his area is asking. What can he do?

  5. Hasn’t anybody else noticed that Image is “homaging” (stealing) classic cover ideas over the last 5 years? That cover is drawn to look like Kirby drew it, and it’s the classic Marvel look from decades ago. Doesn’t Image have enough creativity, or is it just so much easier to “borrow” someone else’s work?

    I mean, if you can’t do something in an original style, why bother?
    _______________________________________________

    Hibbs has said he is ordering enough to cover pre-orders and maybe a couple more for the shelf.

  6. i saw the hype at table at comic-con. and tyrese seemed genuinely enthusiastic about it. kudos to him for the promotional skills. sucks for fellow tablers around him im sure. but hopefully, he spread enough love. :) i meant to pick the book up at the show, but didnt. got it at my LCS yesterday and one of the cashiers joked that i was part of the “movement”. saying that’s what they were calling it. not a comic, but a movement! :) he also said many people kept calling to see if they ordered enough (suspecting it was PR folks) and then said how it wasnt really selling. guess we’ll see how well it does come next week.

  7. @ Jimmie – When we were moved next to the MAYHEM mayhem on Friday we decided to make lemonade out of lemons and did our best to embrace it. We loved being sandwiched between you guys and the Allreds on Wed-Thu, but luckily D.J. wound up doubling our Popgun sales goal for the Con (and Greg Horn looked like he was getting good flow in his new location) so I think it was a win-win-win for the most part.

    But, yeah, for future “nerdlebrity” appearances, there should probably be a little extra planning to contain the crowds (especially on Friday when Tyrese kept promising Jim Lee was going to show up to finish a Mayhem illustration – and he kept promising – and nobody in his crowd was moving – and it was like our own “Waiting For Guffman” moment).

    @ Alan – if it means anything to you, Tyrese was referring to it as a special “Tribute to Jack Kirby” cover while he was promoting it.

  8. So here we sit, the day after Mayhem Day, and how many of those copies that we ordered still remain, even after all those phone calls and MySpace and FaceBook messages?

    All of them.

    Tyrese’s fans like to talk, but so far, none of them have put their money where their mouth is.

  9. Ugh… personally I thought the Mayhem crews “promotional skills” at SDCC were very off putting.

    I felt like I was being yelled at by a carnival barker.

    The hailstorm of Twitter/Facebook/etc. updates didn’t help either.

    I don’t know I can bring myself to actually buy this book feeling like it’s just had it’s way with me in a prison shower.