I'm Now A Comic Book Villain

We always pull for the good guys, the superheros.

We want Right to punch Wrong square in the face, and we like it when the super villain is outsmarted by the dashing and handsome hero.

But, come on, the bad guys are cooler. Clearly, local comic book creator Aaron Hazouri understands how cool I am and realizes that I could only be a bad guy.

Check out those muscles, right?
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Here's a shot of Aaron at work in his home studio:

We spent an hour or so together after his day shift at an insurance company ended. He put together a couple of drawerings of his comic book series TOASTER GUY!!!!

Here's the story I did with Aaron


Here's a slide show of some of Aaron's characters


The 32-year-old Jax native has had the idea for this comic book since he was 13. And this year he gave out a big ole "What Tha Heck" and put the story in motion.

Anyone here ever "crowdfunded"?? Something that several local businesses and artists have tried on several websites... basically a would-be business owner pitches his idea over a web page and donors give money.

The money is not a loan, doesn't have to be paid back.

This is how Aaron got Toaster Guy's bread buttered. Here's a video he made explaining his project:

Most sites allow the business owner to give a reward of some kind to the donor. Hazouri, for instance, gave each of his donors a copy of the comic book, tshirts, and other art.

Hazouri used a site called Kickstarter, but there are others.

Check out Aaron's work: www.toasterguy.com
And here's the kickstarter url: http://www.kickstarter.com/ 

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Now, shifting gears, I've got to give credit where credit is due.

My hero in the reporting world is a guy named Boyd Huppert.

I literally watch every story he does, and of course... he did a story about Kickstarter. I loved how he did it that I thought I should do a story about it right here in Jacksonville. So I visited the site and found Aaron, who was an awesome character for the story... just an all around interesting guy.

Boyd's story was better written, shot and edited than what I put together... click this link for a look, I confess I'm copying at places.

Just for kicks... here's another link to my story with Aaron that aired on First Coast News at 5:30pm. 

Typical super villain, always trying to steal someone's thunder. Sorry Mr. Huppert (Or am I?)

Also, I'm always looking for fun, interesting people to do stories about. Email me lewisturner@firstcoastnews.com with your ideas, I'll be sure to give you credit!

Talk soon,
Lewis