Comic Book Resources, also known as CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.

History[link]

Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC Comics's then-new miniseries of the same name.

In addition to having an active message board, Comic Book Resources also has weekly columns written by industry professionals that have included Warren Ellis, Erik Larsen, Steven Grant, Robert Kirkman, Gail Simone, Rich Johnston, Scott Shaw, Rob Worley, Rik Offenberger, Keith Giffen and Mark Millar. Other columns are published by comic-book historians and critics such as George Khoury and Timothy Callahan. Columns include "Comic Book Legends Revealed".

Comic Book Idol[link]

Comic Book Idol, also known as CBI, is an amateur comic book art competition created and hosted by award-winning comic writer J. Torres, and sponsored by Comic Book Resources and its participating advertisers. Deriving the idea from the singing contest American Idol, CBI is a five-week and five-round competition in which each contestant is asked to draw a script provided by guest judges in a period of one week. These invited comic book professionals will then comment on the artists’ work in each round. Fans will then determine which contestants will move on to subsequent rounds by voting in a weekly poll.^[1]

A number of winners and runners-up have gone on to work professionally in the comics industry:

• Patrick Scherberger won CBI1 and has since worked on a number of Marvel Comics titles like Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures: Hulk and GeNext.^[2][3]
• Jonathan Hickman was the runner-up in CBI1 but has gone on to work for Virgin Comics (Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper and Seven Brothers), Image Comics (Pax Romana, A Red Mass for Mars and Transhuman).^[4][5] and Marvel Comics (Fantastic Four, Astonishing Tales).
• Carlos Rodríguez won CBI2 and went on to work on Shadowhawk for Image and Batman and the Outsiders for DC Comics.^[6][7]
• Billy Penn also competed in CBI2 and has since done work on Savage Dragon.^[7][8]
• Joe Infurnari, another CBI2 contestant, has worked on a couple of titles from Oni Press, including Wasteland and Borrowed Time ^[7][9] as well as on the back-up feature of Jersey Gods with Mark Waid.
• Nick Pitarra competed in CBI3 and has gone on to do work for Marvel Comics, on books such as Astonishing Tales.

Critical assessment[link]

The University at Buffalo's research library described it as "the premiere comics-related site on the Web".^[10]

Awards[link]

• 1999: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website (professional)" Eagle Award
• 2000: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website (professional)" Eagle Award
• 2001: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website (professional)" Eagle Award ^[11]
• 2004: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award
• 2005: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award
• 2006: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award
• 2007: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics Related Website" Eagle Award
• 2008: Nominated for the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award ^[12]
• 2009: Won the "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" Eisner Award^[13]
• 2010: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award ^[14]
• 2011: Won the "Favourite Comics-Related Website" Eagle Award ^[15]
• 2011: Won the "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" Eisner Award^[16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Comic Book Resources on Twitter
• Comic Book Resources on Facebook

It has been suggested that American comic book be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2012.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (August 2010)

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A comic book or comicbook,^[1] also called comic paper or comic magazine (often shortened to simply comic or comics) is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog (usually in word balloons, emblematic of the comic book art form) as well as including brief descriptive prose. The first comic book appeared in the United States in 1933, reprinting the earlier newspaper comic strips, which established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term "comic book" arose because the first comic books reprinted humor comic strips. Despite their name, comic books are not necessarily humorous in tone; modern comic books tell stories in a variety of genres.

American comic books[link]

Rulah, Jungle Goddess No. 24 (March 1949): An example of a non-superhero jungle-girl character. Cover artist(s) unknown.

Adventures into Darkness: Horror stories

Since the introduction of the comic book format in 1933 with the publication of Famous Funnies, the United States has produced the most titles, with only the British comic and Japanese manga as close competitors in terms of quantity of titles, though manga has many more followers and dwarfs American comics in readership.^{[citation needed]}

Cultural historians divide the career of the comic book in the U.S. into several ages or historical eras:

• Proto-comic books and the Platinum Age
• Golden Age
• Silver Age
• Bronze Age
• Modern Age

Comic book historians continue to debate the exact boundaries of these eras, but they have come to an agreement, the terms for which originated in the fan press. Comics as a print medium have existed in America since the printing of The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck in 1842 in hardcover—making it the first known American prototype comic book. The introduction of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman in 1938 turned comic books into a major industry,^[2] and is the start of the Golden Age of comics. Historians have proposed several names for the Age before Superman, most commonly dubbing it the Platinum Age.^[3]

While the Platinum Age saw the first use of the term "comic book" (The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats (1897)), the first known full-color comic (The Blackberries (1901)), and the first monthly comic book (Comics Monthly (1922)), it was not until the Golden Age that the archetype of the superhero would originate.

The Silver Age of comic books is generally considered to date from the first successful revival of the dormant superhero form—the debut of Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino's Flash in Showcase No. 4 (September/October 1956).^[4][5] The Silver Age lasted through the late 1960s or early 1970s, during which time Marvel Comics revolutionized the medium with such naturalistic superheroes as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four and Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Spider-Man.

The precise beginnings of the Bronze and Copper Ages remain less well-defined. Suggested starting points for the Bronze Age of comics include Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith's Conan No. 1 (October 1970), Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' Green Lantern/Green Arrow No. 76 (April 1970), or Stan Lee and Gil Kane's The Amazing Spider-Man No. 96 (May 1971; the non-Comics Code issue). The start of the Copper Age (apprx. 1984-2000) has even more potential starting points, but is generally agreed to be the publication of Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's Watchmen by DC Comics in 1986, as well as the publication of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, written by Marv Wolfman with pencils by George Pérez. Another possible starting point is Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars, published in 1984.^{[citation needed]}

The Modern Age is generally accepted^{[by whom?]} as being from 2000 to the Present.^{[citation needed]}

A notable event in the history of the American comic book came with the psychiatrist Fredric Wertham's criticisms of the medium in his book Seduction of the Innocent (1954), which prompted the American Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency to investigate comic books. In response to attention from the government and from the media, the U.S. comic book industry set up the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the "Comics Code" in the same year.

Underground comic books[link]

In the late 1960s and early 1970s a surge of creativity emerged in what became known as underground comics. Published and distributed independently of the established comics industry, most of such comics reflected the youth counterculture and drug culture of the time. Many had an uninhibited, often irreverent style; their frank depictions of nudity, sex, profanity, and politics had no parallel outside their precursors, the pornographic and even more obscure "Tijuana bibles". Underground comics were almost never sold at news stands, but rather in such youth-oriented outlets as head shops and record stores, as well as by mail order.

Frank Stack's The Adventures of Jesus, published under the name Foolbert Sturgeon,^[6][7] has been credited as the first underground comic.^[6][7]

Alternative comics[link]

The rise of comic book specialty stores in the late 1970s created/paralleled a dedicated market for "independent" or "alternative comics" in the U.S. The first such comics included the anthology series Star Reach, published by comic book writer Mike Friedrich from 1974 to 1979, and Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, which continued sporadic publication into the 21st century and which Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini adapted into a 2003 film. Some independent comics continued in the tradition of underground comics, though their content was generally less explicit, and others resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned companies or by single artists. A few (notably RAW) were experimental attempts to bring comics closer to the status of fine art.

During the 1970s the "small press" culture grew and diversified. By the 1980s, several independent publishers, such as Pacific, Eclipse, First, Comico, and Fantagraphics had started releasing a wide range of styles and formats—from color superhero, detective, and science fiction comic books to black-and-white magazine-format stories of Latin American magical realism.

A number of small publishers in the 1990s changed the format and distribution of their comics to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The "minicomics" form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing, arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small press.

As of 2009^[update] small publishers regularly releasing titles include Avatar Comics, Hyperwerks, Raytoons, and Terminal Press, buoyed by such advances in printing technology as digital print-on-demand.

Graphic novels[link]

In 1964, Richard Kyle coined the term "graphic novel" to distinguish newly translated European works from genre-driven subject matter common in American comics. Precursors of the form existed by the 1920s, which saw a revival of the medieval woodcut tradition by Belgian Frans Masereel,^[8] American Lynd Ward and others. In 1950, St. John Publications produced the digest-sized, adult-oriented "picture novel" It Rhymes with Lust, a 128-page digest by pseudonymous writer "Drake Waller" (Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller), penciler Matt Baker and inker Ray Osrin, touted as "an original full-length novel" on its cover. In 1971, writer-artist Gil Kane and collaborators devised the paperback "comics novel" Blackmark. Will Eisner popularized the term "graphic novel" when he used it on the cover of the paperback edition of his work A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories in 1978.

Digital graphic novels[link]

Comic book collecting[link]

This section requires expansion.

The rarest^{[citation needed]} comic books include copies of the unreleased Motion Picture Funnies Weekly No. 1 from 1939. Eight copies, plus one without a cover, emerged in the estate of the deceased publisher in 1974. The "Pay Copy" of this book sold for $43,125 in a 2005 Heritage auction.^[9]

The most valuable American comics have combined rarity and quality with the first appearances of popular and enduring characters. Four comic books to have sold for over $1 million USD as of December 2010, including two examples of Action Comics No. 1, the first appearance of Superman,^[10][11] both sold privately through online dealer ComicConnect.com in 2010, and Detective Comics No. 27, the first appearance of Batman, via public auction.

Misprints, promotional comic-dealer incentive printings, and similar issues with extremely low distribution also generally have scarcity value. The rarest modern comic books include the original press run of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen No. 5, which DC executive Paul Levitz recalled and pulped due to the appearance of a vintage Victorian era advertisement for "Marvel Douche", which the publisher considered offensive;^[12] only 100 copies exist, most of which have been CGC graded. (See Recalled comics for more pulped, recalled, and erroneous comics.)

In 2000, a company named CGC began to "slab" comics, encasing them in a thick plastic and giving them a numeric grade.

European comics[link]

Franco-Belgian comics[link]

France and Belgium have a long tradition in comics and comic books, called BDs (an abbreviation of bande dessinées) in French and strips in Dutch. Belgian comic books originally written in Dutch show the influence of the Francophone "Franco-Belgian" comics, but have their own distinct style.

The name la bande dessinée derives from the original description of the art form as drawn strips (the phrase literally translates as "the drawn strip"), analogous to the sequence of images in a film strip. As in its English equivalent, the word "bande" can be applied to both film and comics. Significantly, the French-language term contains no indication of subject-matter, unlike the American terms "comics" and "funnies", which imply an art form not to be taken seriously. The distinction of comics as le neuvième art (literally, "the ninth art") is prevalent in French scholarship on the form, as is the concept of comics criticism and scholarship itself. Relative to the respective size of their populations, the innumerable authors in France and Belgium publish a high volume of comic books. In North America, the more serious Franco-Belgian comics are often seen as equivalent to graphic novels, but whether they are long or short, bound or in magazine format, in Europe there is no need for a more sophisticated term, as the art's name does not itself imply something frivolous.

In France, authors control the publication of most comics. The author works within a self-appointed time-frame, and it is common for readers to wait six months or as long as two years between installments. Most books first appear in print as a hardcover book, typically with 48, 56, or 64 pages.

British comics[link]

Originally the same size as a usual comic book in the U.S. (although lacking the glossy cover), the British comic has adopted a magazine size, with The Beano and The Dandy the last to adopt this size (in the 1980s). Although the British generally speak of "a comic" or of "a comic magazine", and they also historically spoke of "a comic paper". Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in a tabloid form.

Although Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884), the first comic published in Britain, was aimed at an adult market, publishers quickly targeted a younger market, which has led to most publications being for children and created an association in the public's mind of comics as somewhat juvenile.

Popular titles within the UK have included The Beano, The Dandy, The Eagle, 2000 AD, and Viz. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also been published within the UK, notably Oz and Escape Magazine.

The content of Action, another title aimed at children and launched in the mid-1970s, became the subject of discussion in the House of Commons. Although on a smaller scale than similar investigations in the U.S., such concerns led to a moderation of content published within British comics. Such moderation never became formalized to the extent of promulgating a code, nor did it last long.

The UK has also established a healthy market in the reprinting and repackaging of material, notably material originating in the U.S. The lack of reliable supplies of American comic books led to a variety of black-and-white reprints, including Marvel's monster comics of the 1950s, Fawcett's Captain Marvel, and other characters such as Sheena, Mandrake the Magician, and the Phantom. Several reprint companies were involved in repackaging American material for the British market, notably the importer and distributor Thorpe & Porter.

Marvel Comics established a UK office in 1972. DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics also opened offices in the 1990s. The repackaging of European material has occurred less frequently, although the Tintin and Asterix serials have been successfully translated and repackaged in softcover books.

At Christmas time, publishers repackage and commission material for comic annuals, printed and bound as hardcover A4-size books; Rupert supplies a famous example of the British comic annual. DC Thomson also repackages The Broons and Oor Wullie strips in softcover A4-size books for the holiday season.

On 19 March 2012, the British postal service, the Royal Mail, released a set of stamps depicting British comic-book characters and series.^[13] The collection featured The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Roy of the Rovers, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000 AD.

Italian comics[link]

In Italy, comics (known in Italian as fumetti) made their debut as humor strips at the end of the 19th century, and later evolved into adventure stories inspired by those coming from the U.S.^{[citation needed]} After World War II, however, artists like Hugo Pratt and Guido Crepax exposed Italian comics to an international audience. "Author" comics^{[clarification needed]} contain often strong erotic contents. Popular comic books such as Diabolik or the Bonelli line—namely Tex Willer or Dylan Dog—remain best-sellers.

Mainstream comics are usually published on a monthly basis, in a black-and-white digest size format, with approximately 100 to 132 pages. Collections of classic material for the most famous characters, usually with more than 200 pages, are also common. Author comics are published in the French BD format, with an example being Pratt's Corto Maltese.

Italian cartoonists show the influence of comics from other countries, including France, Belgium, Spain, and Argentina. Italy is also famous for being one of the foremost producers of Walt Disney comic stories outside the U.S. Donald Duck's superhero alter ego, Paperinik, known in English as Superduck, was created in Italy.

Japanese comics[link]

This article may not properly summarize the main article. Specific concerns can be found on the Talk page. Please improve this article if you can.

The first comic books in Japan appeared during the 18th century in the form of woodblock-printed booklets containing short stories drawn from folk tales, legends, and historical accounts, told in a simple visual-verbal idiom. Known as "red books" (赤本, akahon^?), "black books" (黒本, kurobon^?), and "blue books" (青本, aohon^?), these were written primarily for less literate readers. However, with the publication in 1775 of Koikawa Harumachi's comic book Master Flashgold's Splendiferous Dream (金々先生栄花の夢, Kinkin sensei eiga no yume^?), an adult form of comic book originated, which required greater literacy and cultural sophistication. This was known as the kibyōshi (黄表紙^?, lit. yellow cover). Published in thousands (possibly^{[original research?]} tens of thousands) of copies, the kibyōshi may have been the earliest fully realized comic book for adults in world literary history. Approximately 2,000 titles remain extant.

Modern comic books in Japan developed from a mixture of these earlier comic books and of woodblock prints ukiyo-e (浮世絵^?) with Western styles of drawing. They took their current^[update] form shortly after World War II. They are usually published in black-and-white, except for the covers, which are usually printed in four colors, although occasionally, the first few pages may also be printed in full color. The term manga means "random (or whimsical) pictures", and first came into common usage in the late 18th century with the publication of such works as Santō Kyōden's picturebook Shiji no yukikai (四時交加^?) (1798) and Aikawa Minwa's Comic Sketches of a Hundred Women (1798).

Development of this form occurred as a result of Japan's attempts to modernize itself^{[citation needed]}, a desire awakened by trade with the U.S.^{[citation needed]} Western artists were brought over to teach their students such concepts as line, form, and color; things which had not been regarded as conceptually important in ukiyo-e, as the idea behind the picture was of paramount importance. Manga at this time was referred to as Ponchi-e (Punch-picture) and, like its British counterpart Punch magazine, mainly depicted humor and political satire in short one- or four-picture format.

Dr. Osamu Tezuka (1928–1989), widely acknowledged^{[by whom?]} as the father of narrative manga, further developed this form. Seeing an animated war propaganda film titled Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors (桃太郎 海の神兵, Momotarō Umi no Shinpei^?) inspired Tezuka to become a comic artist. He introduced episodic storytelling and character development in comic format, in which each story is part of larger story arc. The only text in Tezuka's comics was the characters' dialogue and this further lent his comics a cinematic quality. Inspired by the work of Walt Disney, Tezuka also adopted a style of drawing facial features in which a character's eyes, nose, and mouth are drawn in an extremely exaggerated manner. This style created immediately recognizable expressions using very few lines, and the simplicity of this style allowed Tezuka to be prolific. Tezuka's work generated new interest in the ukiyo-e tradition, in which the image is a representation of an idea, rather than a depiction of reality.

Though a close equivalent to the American comic book, manga has historically held a more important place in Japanese culture than comics have in American culture. Japanese society shows a wide respect for manga, both as an art form and as a form of popular literature. Many manga become television shows or short films. As with its American counterpart, some manga has been criticized for its sexuality and violence, although in the absence of official or even industry restrictions on content, artists have freely created manga for every age group and for every topic.

Manga magazines—also known as "anthologies", or colloquially, "phone books"^{[citation needed]}—often run several series concurrently, with approximately 20 to 40 pages allocated to each series per issue. These magazines are usually printed^{[by whom?]} on low-quality newsprint and range from 200 to more than 850 pages each. Manga magazines also contain one-shot comics and a variety of four-panel yonkoma (equivalent to comic strips). Manga series may continue for many years if they are successful, with stories often collected and reprinted in book-sized volumes called tankōbon (単行本^?, lit. stand-alone book), the equivalent of the American trade paperbacks. These volumes use higher-quality paper and are useful to readers who want to be brought up to date with a series, or to readers who find the cost of the weekly or monthly publications to be prohibitive. Deluxe versions are printed as commemorative or collectible editions. Conversely, old manga titles are also reprinted using lower-quality paper and sold for 120 ¥ (approximately $1 USD) each.

Doujinshi[link]

Doujinshi (同人誌^?, lit. fan magazine), fan-made Japanese comics operate in a far larger market in Japan than the American "underground comics" market; the largest doujinshi fair, Comic Market, attracts 500,000 visitors twice a year.

See also[link]

Comics portal

• Cartoon
• Comics Studies
• Comics vocabulary
• Webcomic
• Digital comics

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Kern, Adam L. (18 December 2006). Manga from the Floating World: Comic book Culture and the Kibyôshi of Edo Japan. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-02266-9. 
• Inge, M. Thomas (1979). "Comics as Culture". Journal of Popular Culture 12 (631). 
• Martin, Tim (2 April 2009). "How Comic Books Became Part of the Literary Establishment". Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5094231/How-Comic-Books-became-part-of-the-literary-establishment.html. 

External links[link]

• Grand Comics Database
• The Comic Book Database
• Comic book Reference Bibliographic Datafile
• Sequart Research & Literacy Organization
• Comic Book Resources
• The Comics Ninja
• Comic Art Collection at the University of Missouri
• The Comics Journal
• The Comics Reporter

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Seth Meyers
Meyers at the Time 100 Gala, May 4, 2010.
Birth name	Seth Adam Meyers
Born	(1973-12-28) December 28, 1973 (age 38) Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Medium	Television, film
Nationality	American
Years active	2001–present
Genres	Satire/political satire/news satire, improvisational comedy, sketch comedy
Subject(s)	American politics, American culture, current events, pop culture, mass media/news media
Notable works and roles	Weekend Update anchor on Saturday Night Live

Seth Adam Meyers (born December 28, 1973) is an American actor and comedian. He currently serves as head writer for Saturday Night Live and hosts its news parody segment Weekend Update.

Early life[link]

Meyers was born in Evanston, Illinois,^[1] the son of Hilary Claire (née Olson), a middle school French teacher, and Laurence Meyers, Jr.^[2][3] He attended Manchester High School West in Manchester, New Hampshire. He went on to graduate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he was a member of the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta. Meyers is the older brother of Josh Meyers, who was best known as a cast member of MADtv.

Career[link]

Before SNL, Meyers got his improv comedy start as a member of the Northwestern University improv sketch group Mee-Ow, created by Paul Warshauer and Josh Lazar. He continued his career at ImprovOlympic with the group Preponderate as well as overseas as a cast member of Boom Chicago, an English language improv troupe based in Amsterdam,^[4] where his brother was also a cast member.^[5]

Meyers appeared with Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem in the 2008 3D film Journey to the Center of the Earth. He also makes a cameo in the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist as a drunk man who mistakes the main character's Yugo for a taxi. Meyers is currently writing and will star in a movie called Key Party. He also starred in the 2004 comedy See This Movie with John Cho.^[6][7] In July 2008, Meyers directed the web series The Line on Crackle.^[8] Meyers has hosted the Webby Awards twice, in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, Meyers hosted the Microsoft Company Meeting at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA.^[9] Meyers hosted the 2010 and 2011 ESPY Awards on ESPN.^[10] In 2011, Seth Meyers was the keynote speaker at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner on April 30; during his introductory remarks, he made a joke about Osama bin Laden's actions while in hiding,^[11] unaware that US intelligence had found bin Laden and he would be dead within hours.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

Meyers joined the SNL cast in 2001.^[5] In 2005, he was promoted to writing supervisor,^{[citation needed]} and in January 2006 he became co-head writer, sharing the role with Tina Fey and Andrew Steele.^[12] In 2004, he auditioned to co-anchor "Weekend Update" with Fey, but lost out to Amy Poehler.^[13] With Fey's departure, Meyers became head writer for the 2006–2007 season and also took on the role of Weekend Update co-anchor with Amy Poehler.^[14][15] Since Poehler left the show during the 2008–2009 season, Meyers has anchored solo. In fall 2009, Meyers co-anchored two episodes of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday with Poehler.^{[citation needed]}

During the 2008 United States presidential election,^[16] while appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman, former SNL cast member Fey credited Meyers with writing the sketches involving Fey's impression of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

On SNL, Meyers has impersonated such figures as John Kerry,^[5] Michael Caine, Anderson Cooper, Carrot Top, Prince Charles, Ryan Seacrest, Sean Penn,^[5] Stone Phillips,^[5] Tobey Maguire, Peyton Manning, Ben Curtis (also known as the Dell Dude), Ty Pennington, Bill Cowher, Brian Williams, Nicollette Sheridan, Wade Robson, Donald Trump, Jr., Tom Cruise, and Kevin Federline. His recurring characters include Zach Ricky, host of the kids' hidden camera show "Pranksters"; Nerod, the receptionist in the recurring sketch "Appalachian Emergency Room"; David Zinger, a scientist who often insults his fellow workers; DJ Johnathan Feinstein, the DJ on the webcam show "Jarett's Room"; Dan Needler, half of a married couple "that should be divorced," (opposite Amy Poehler); William Fitzpatrick, from the Irish talk show "Top o' the Morning," and Boston Powers (one of the comedians in the "Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy" series). In the season 29 episode hosted by Lindsay Lohan, he did an impression of Ron Weasley in a parody of Harry Potter.

Meyers supported and picketed during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. When interviewed he said, "We all know how lucky we are to have the jobs we have. We're not asking for much. You have to change the rules because people are watching TV in a different way."^[17] Even so, he mentioned in interviews that he regretted missing much of the presidential election primary season.^[18][19]

Meyers is currently the longest tenured Saturday Night Live cast member, having been a member since Season 27.

Other pursuits[link]

Meyers won the third season of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown and donated the $100,000 prize to the Boston-based Jimmy Fund.^[20][21] In 2008, Meyers donated over $4,000 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.^[22] Meyers and SNL castmate Bill Hader penned a Spider-Man one-shot entitled "The Short Halloween". It was illustrated by Kevin Maguire and came out May 29, 2009, to positive reviews. Meyers, along with Mike Shoemaker of SNL, created an animated half-hour series "The Awesomes" that was picked up by MTV and will be produced by Lorne Michaels's production company, Broadway Video.^[23] He was also a guest speaker at the 2011 White House Press Correspondents Dinner.

Personal life[link]

Meyers is an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, the Pittsburgh Steelers (his father being a Pittsburgh native), and West Ham United in the English Premier League.^[24][25] He is the older brother of actor Josh Meyers.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seth Meyers

• Seth Meyers at the Internet Movie Database
• Seth Meyers on Twitter
• Seth Meyers on National Public Radio in 2008
• Official SNL cast biography
• Live from New York: It’s Sunday Afternoon! conversation with Fred Armisen, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, and Kristen Wiig at The New Yorker Festival, October 2010

Bill Hader
Hader at the Adventureland premiere in 2009
Birth name	William Hader
Born	(1978-06-07) June 7, 1978 (age 34) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Nationality	American
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Maggie Carey (2006-present; 1 child)
Notable works and roles	Saturday Night Live, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Doogal, Adventureland

William "Bill" Hader (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for his supporting roles in comedy films such as Superbad, Hot Rod, Tropic Thunder, Adventureland, Paul, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Early life[link]

Hader was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Sherri and Bill Hader.^[1] He has two sisters, Katie and Kara.^[1] Hader attended Patrick Henry Elementary School, Edison Junior High, and Cascia Hall Preparatory School,^[2][3] before attending The Art Institute of Phoenix and Scottsdale Community College.^[4]

Early career[link]

Hader's comedic aspirations eventually led him to Los Angeles where he joined the Second City, a comedy troupe that has been a training ground for many SNL cast members since the 1970s. He performed at iO West in Los Angeles. During his time at Second City and iO West, Hader worked as a production assistant on the DVD Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy and Collateral Damage, as well as an assistant on VH1's The Surreal Life.

[edit] Saturday Night Live

Bill Hader was "discovered" by Megan Mullally of Will & Grace while working with the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe "Animals from the Future." Mullally brought him to the attention of SNL producer Lorne Michaels. Hader was hired as a "featured player" and made his debut on the show on October 1, 2005. His first role was as a psychologist giving his views about life and death during the emergency landing of JetBlue Airways Flight 292. Hader is known for his impressions of famous people, such as Vincent Price in the Variety Vault sketches, Al Pacino, Brian Grazer, Rick Perry, John Malkovich, James Carville, Julian Assange, Eliot Spitzer, Alan Alda and Charlie Sheen.

Hader recently finished his 7th season on SNL.

Recurring characters[link]

• Stefon, Weekend Update's flamboyant New York City Correspondent, whose recommendations consist solely of bizarre nightclubs involving nightmarish characters. He is in love with Seth Meyers. Writer John Mulaney often changes some jokes to the sketch right before it airs and many of the lines catch Hader off guard, leading him to burst into laughter.
• Usually the game show host in game show sketches.
• Vinny Vedecci, the Italian talk-show host who chain-smokes, insults his crew (Fred Armisen and Will Forte, later replaced by Paul Brittain), has a son (Bobby Moynihan), and speaks little English, even though his guests (played by the guest hosts as themselves) are English speakers.
• Greg the Alien, the co-host of a sports talk show who appears to be an alien despite co-host Randy Dukes (Kenan Thompson's) constant claims that Greg is not an alien.
• Nitro, in the SNL Digital Short Laser Cats
• One of the four guys (the others being Will Forte [later replaced by Andy Samberg], Jason Sudeikis and the host) who reveal crazy aspects about themselves while singing a song in the Song Memories sketches
• Lindsey Buckingham, from the skit "What's Up with That?"
• One half of the "2 Gay Guys from New Jersey." Is the only one whose real name was revealed. His real name is Tony DiNato.
• DJ Frontal Assault on Deep House Dish
• Danny, a guy who has the mutant "Kuato" (played by Andy Samberg) living in his stomach
• Mr. Triggs, the father of an ugly, socially inept girl named Stacia (played by Kristen Wiig)
• Jerry, a sleazy businessman who works with Carl (Will Forte). Both are often drunk and insulting to their co-workers
• One of the "Scared Straight" kids, three young trouble-makers (along with Andy Samberg and Bobby Moynihan) who are lectured by convict Lorenzo McIntosh (played by Kenan Thompson) and a fellow inmate played by the host
• Dwayne Vogelcheck: the brother in Kissing Family (his parents are played by Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen) where another sibling, usually played by the celebrity host, brings a friend or girlfriend home to their overly affectionate family
• Brady Trunk: co-host of "Hollywood Dish", with Kristen Wiig
• Herb Welch: a senile, on-the-scene news reporter who keeps hitting his interviewees in the face with his microphone.
• One of the Merryville Brothers robots (along with Taran Killam; the third member has been played by Jim Carrey and Justin Timberlake)
• Leonard, the production assistant on advice shows produced by Roger Brush (Fred Armisen)
• Lyle Round, host of the 1960s game show, "Secret Word." He often gets annoyed with his celebrity contestants, particularly Mindy Gracin (Kristen Wiig)
• Vince Blight, the host for the game show, "What's That Name?" On the Alec Baldwin/Radiohead episode, Blight was the host of a game show called "Who's On Top?" and on the episode hosted by Anna Faris (with musical guest Drake), Blight hosted a Lifetime-based game show called "What's Wrong With Tanya?"

Impersonations[link]

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Bill Hader has said that he performed impersonations of teachers and friends when he was growing up, but did not do impersonations of famous people until his Saturday Night Live audition.^[5] His Al Pacino impersonation came after watching the actor's Emmy acceptance speech for Angels in America. Hader's Vincent Price impersonation came from his love of Price's Edgar Allan Poe films, such as The Fall of the House of Usher. His Peter O'Toole impersonation came partly from O'Toole in My Favorite Year and Jack Lemmon's drunken Prince Hapnick from The Great Race and Cher from Burlesque.

Another one of Hader's impersonations from Saturday Night Live is his impersonation of former governor Eliot Spitzer. Hader has also impersonated Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino from MTV's Jersey Shore, Pearl Jam's frontman Eddie Vedder, Dave Matthews, John Boehner, Ben Mankiewicz, John Mayer, Conan O'Brien, Alan Alda, Dr. Oz, Rick Perry, Charlie Sheen, political strategist James Carville, Clint Eastwood and Tim Burton.

Hader is known^[where?] for his uncanny impression of Dateline NBC 's Keith Morrison, parodying his reporting style of being overly interested in horrific tales of tragedy and/or murder, and asking inane questions. After discovering that Morrison works at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where both Dateline and Saturday Night Live are filmed, Hader half-jestingly said on the March 30, 2009, episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that he lived in fear of getting into the same elevator as Morrison at 30 Rock.

In December 2010, he portrayed Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, who interrupts the broadcast from a British prison. In this sketch he hacks commercials for companies that are apologizing about WikiLeaks (such as MasterCard) and informs America about his status. He also performed a parody of TMZ with Assange playing the role of Harvey Levin.

Film roles[link]

He first appeared alongside Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon in You, Me and Dupree. Since then he's had a wide range of roles such as Katherine Heigl's editor at E! in Knocked Up, the acid-taking mechanic Dave in Hot Rod (alongside SNL castmate Andy Samberg), a recumbent biker in The Brothers Solomon (which featured SNL castmate Will Forte in one of the film's co-leading roles) and, most famously, as Officer Slater in the Judd Apatow produced Superbad. His role in Superbad helped boost his public awareness and allowed him to appear on mainstream programs like Total Request Live, The Tonight Show, and MTV's Video Music Awards.

Hader appeared in two other Apatow projects: Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express (with Seth Rogen). He appeared alongside Ben Stiller, Brandon T. Jackson, Jack Black, Robert Downey, Jr., Matthew McConaughey, Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel, Tom Cruise, and Nick Nolte in Tropic Thunder.

He teamed back up with Superbad director Greg Mottola for the film Adventureland. He also appears in Mottola's feature Paul.

In addition to these films, Hader has made several short films, including Back in the Day, Sounds Good to Me: Remastering the Sting, and The Jeannie Tate Show with SNL writer Liz Cackowski and wife Maggie Carey.

Hader makes a small appearance in the 2009 film Year One with Jack Black and Michael Cera.

Hader lent his voice to the critically acclaimed^[6] 2009 Sony Pictures Animation film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, playing the lead role of Flint Lockwood. He voiced a gazelle in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Hader appeared in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian as Major General George Armstrong Custer.

He provided a voiceover in the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He portrayed The Voice, the disembodied voice that pops up during certain moments of the film's video game-inspired fight scenes.

Hader has written a slasher film to be produced by Judd Apatow,^[7] which he will star in if the film is produced.^[8]

In April 2009, Hader was a part of Vanity Fair's list of "Comedy's New Legends".^[9]

Other work[link]

Hader was a creative consultant on the 12th season of South Park. He was a producer on the 13th season, which premiered March 11, 2009.^[10] Hader is among the series producers to win the 2009 Emmy Award for Best Animated Series. He also appeared on the commentary recorded for the 2009 Blu-ray edition of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, and the Comedy Central special "South Park: 6 Days to Air", a documentary filmed during production of the 2011 South Park episode HumancentiPad.

Hader won a Peabody Award for his participation in Saturday Night Live Political Satire, 2008

Hader voiced an array of different characters on the second season of the Adult Swim show Xavier: Renegade Angel.

Hader and SNL castmate Seth Meyers penned a Spider-Man one-shot, "The Short Halloween," the title of which is a reference to the Batman story arc "The Long Halloween." It was drawn by Kevin Maguire and came out May 29, 2009, to positive reviews.

Jackson Publick announced on his blog that Hader will be the new voice for Professor Impossible on the fourth season of The Venture Brothers The part was originated by Stephen Colbert.

In the game Grand Theft Auto IV he played Wilson Taylor Sr (On in-game radio show: Pacemaker)

Hader appeared on Tim and Eric Awesome Show impersonating the recurring character James Quall on the episode "Jazz."

In July 2008, Hader starred in, and co-wrote with Simon Rich, the web series The Line on Crackle.^[11]

Hader lent his voice to the audiobook of Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates.

Hader voiced the Pod in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "IAMAPOD" as well as Hitler in the episode "Der Inflatable Fuhrer."

Hader played Kevin, Matt Damon's co-pilot, in the live episode of 30 Rock, recorded October 14, 2010.

Hader is hosting the 2011 season of Essentials, Jr. on Turner Classic Movies.

Personal life[link]

This section requires expansion.

In 2006, Hader married writer-director Maggie Carey.^[12] They have a daughter named Hannah Kathryn, born October 6, 2009.

Filmography[link]