Friday, July 07, 2006

Who Wants To Be A Superhero? I Do!

I can finally tell the world about The Project I was working on. The Sci-Fi Channel will be launching a new show later in July called "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?", created by Stan Lee (the guy who invented Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, and most of the legion of Marvel super-heroes). And I, lowly, mild-mannered artist Jeff Hebert, got tapped to do a "HeroMachine" style applet for their web site!

You can see the page here -- http://www.scifi.com/superhero/game/. That's whats been keeping me so busy this month.

I enjoyed getting to extend the HeroMachine concept into a really cool space, but the best part of all was ...

I GOT TO WORK WITH STAN-FREAKIN'-LEE!!

To the non-comic-book-afficionado, this might be hard to explain, so let me see if I can put it into perspective. This would be like someone who likes playing football getting invited to work in Joe Montana's training camp.

Or a cook getting to spend some quality time in Emeril's kitchen.

Or an Oprah fan getting invited onto her show.

He's that big.

OK, so I didn't actually get to meet Stan Lee, or talk directly to him ... or e-mail him ... but still, it's his show, that counts, right?! I grew up reading this guy's stories and loving his characters, and now I get to work on something he's involved in. It's a pretty awesome feeling.

Anyway, the long toil is finally done and I plan on relaxing this weekend. It'll be the first day off in five or six weeks -- I'd come to work at my day job all day, drive home, spend a (very little) time with Annie and the animals, then trudge up to the office to work on this til midnight. Weekends were the same.

So now it's time to relax and revel in the sense of accomplishment. I hope Stan doesn't get mad when he finds out I am spending my new freedom by going to see Superman and not some Marvel super-hero movie ...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too cool! I have NO idea who Stan Lee is but that doesn't matter. This has definitely been a BIG DEAL for you and that is what counts.
Bring back the Superman dental extrusion statue-it's awesome!
Congrats & enjoy the chill time.

Anonymous said...

Jeff that is AWESOME!
I know how excited you are to be on a project with the great Stan Lee. I'm really proud of you.
I went to the site - it looked and worked great (no surprise).
By the way, will Donna & I be getting any royalty money for letting you use our body forms?

David M said...

I think the question on all of our minds is, "Can you get us on the show?"

I love where this dream has taken you. Who could have imagined it all those years ago when you quit Dell and started on this HeroMachine journey. Awesome! Go, Jeff, Go!

Anonymous said...

That's incredible Uncle Jeff! I'm sure Stan Lee will see your work and absolutely insist on meeting you!

Anonymous said...

I DID IT! I made my first super-heroine with the sci-fi heromachine...now if I can just learn to play the games!
Pretty cool stuff, Jeff.
http://www.scifi.com/superhero/game/?txtName=DIANTHA&varLoadString=FFFFFF,d,FFFFFF,b,DC0028,o,FF66FF,e,FFFFFF,0,724D21,h,FF0000,j,C7B299,f,CC6600,p,000000,d,FFFFFF,0,FF0099,f,696901,e,660099,c,724D21,f,62077C,d

Denise said...

JEFF YOU ARE HANDS DOWN, NO CONTEST, GET OUTTA TOWN THE MOST TALENTED ARTIST AROUND!! No joke, Jeff -- I went to the site, and I had a blast for the last 30 minutes!! I know who Stan Lee is, and you're right, it's like having Oprah come out and shake my hand! And Stan Lee -- my God, the man's an icon! An archetype!! There's not another guy like him in the industry!!! The site is just awesome! Awesome!! I can see some similarities with Hero Machine -- the best is here but you've got tons of tricks up your sleeve over at Heromachine!! But I'd have to digress with Jimmy Mac here and say you used MY body style for the gal in the site!! Just kidding!! Way to follow your dream, Jeff, but as great as this is, I have a feeling there are bigger mountains out there for you! Your talent knows no bounds!! AWESOME!!!!!!!

The Cow Whisperer said...

So...I'm confused....why is it such a big deal to work with Bruce Lee's brother?

Just kidding. Way to go. I created a hot chick with a cape, tight shirt, baseball glove, and chocolate donut. Then I gave it to my six year old and told him it's his mother's secret identity.

Jeff Hebert said...

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. It was a good feeling to have it out there, that's for sure, and your support has been fantastic. If I'd been able to get online from home any time since Thursday night, I'd have said thank you earlier. But since I couldn't -- THANK YOU!

And Russell, where do you think I got the inspiration for that particular getup? I don't think your wife's identity is as "secret" as you'd like to think ...