ItsJustSomeRandomGuy and ‘Hi, I’m a Marvel… and I’m a DC’ at NYCC
It started out so innocently. Michael Agrusso made a silly video for his girlfriend. He thought it was too funny not to share, so he created a YouTube account with the username ItsJustSomeRandomGuy — just in case someone decided to sue. So began the Internet sensation "Hi, I’m a Marvel… And I’m a DC."
Fast-forward a bit and not only has he not been sued, but some of the companies he’s lampooned have featured him on their official sites. Next thing you know, he’s got his own panel at the New York Comic Con.
Agrusso began the Saturday panel with a confession: He forgot to buy his girlfriend and co-producer of the videos, ItsJustSomeRandomGal, an airline ticket. His girlfriend was kind enough to send her regards via YouTube, however.
The video side of Agrusso’s presentation continued with a DC-centric promotional film the New York Comic Con had commissioned that was created but not released on the Internet at the request of DC. Let’s just say Wonder Woman got hit on at the convention a lot.
The filmmaker then he announced that the series that grew out of his initial efforts, Marvel/DC Happy Hour, wll be launching its second season — with actual sets, special effects and bigger storylines. Same silly jokes, though. The first two-part episode of Season Two is posted after the jump:
A short Q&A session followed, during which Agrusso said he’s not really making any money from the videos because that opens up a legal can of worms. However, he’s received some payment for doing promos. "
In the future, the filmmaker would be open to doing ads for action figure companies and going outside the Marvel and DC lines. He wouldn’t comment if he’s been asked to write any comic books.
He also said all of his videos are done on Mac computers and that he does all the male characters’ voices himself.
As to why Iron Man is wearing his Thorbuster armor in all the videos, Agrusso said "it was the best-looking Iron Man figure at the used toy store I shop at." He didn’t even know that it was Thorbuster armor, but look for Iron Man to get an upgrade soon — probably once the movie-based figures hit clearance racks.
Agrusso added that Marvel/DC: Happy Hour is the future of his filmmaking efforts, as it could "get stale" if he revisited the "Hi, I’m a Marvel… And I’m a DC" format. His Green Goblin video blog, "Goblin Bloggin" will continue, though.
As to how the videos are made. Agrusso said, "If this was a movie, I’d be like a writer/director" — and voice actor, of course. ItsJustSomeRandomGal does everything else, including cinematography, creating props and costumes, he added, so she deserves a lot more credit than fans realize.
According to Agrusso, Batman and Spider-Man make a great, if unlikely, comic duo. He said that his Spider-Man is a bit of a geek, while Batman is everything Spidey aspires to be: cool, rich and driving cars. On the opposite end, Green Goblin and Lex Luthor have a similar dynamic.
Would ItsJustSomeRandomGuy ever leave YouTube to start his own site?
"I’d love to do the same thing with banner ads and get paid for this," said Agrusso, but if he makes a profit, it exposes him to legal issues.
You can find new videos from ItsJustSomeRandomGuy on his YouTube video channel.
