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Here are the Top 10 most popular tweets by Drunk Hulk in 2011!

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Christian A. Dumais – spotkanie autorskie IFF WROCŁAW 2011

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 16, 2011 at 10:31 am

This Tuesday at 18:00, I’ll be standing in front of an audience reading some of my stories, talking about writing and Drunk Hulk, and answering questions in a hopefully coherent manner. This is one of many events hosted by the Centrum Sztuki Impart’s Interdisciplinary Fringe Festival.

I’m still working out exactly what I’m going to be reading and talking about, but I’ll be doing everything in my power to make it entertaining, and if I’m lucky, you’ll be laughing with me instead of at me.

For exact info, check out their Facebook Event page or their official website.

Here is some info in Polish:

Christian A. Dumais jest pisarzem amerykańskim, mieszkającym od ośmiu lat we Wrocławiu. Pisze powieści, krótkie opowiadania, artykuły do gazet i prace naukowe. Jego teksty ukazały się m.in. w magazynach GUD, Shock Totem i Ha!Art. Jako wykładowca na uniwersytecie specjalizuje się w literaturze i popkulturze amerykańskiej.

Dumais jest autorem zbioru opowiadań “Empty Rooms Lonely Countries”, w których m.in. dzieli się z czytelnikami swoimi doświadczeniami z życia w Polsce. Zbiór ten został wymieniony jako jeden w „pierwszej dziesiątce ulubionych książek wszechczasów” przez CrazedFanboy.

Christian A. Dumais jest również redaktorem i autorem pierwszego tomu “Cover Stories”, antologii opowiadań inspirowanych muzyką. New Mystics Reviews nazwał antologię, przyszłościową dla kształtu opowiadania.

Dumais jest także twórcą DRUNK HULKa, konta na Twitterze, które obecnie śledzi ponad 100 000 osób, co stawia go w gronie najpopularniejszych. DRUNK HULK jest regularnie umieszczany w rankingach najlepszych, najdziwaczniejszych, tudzież najzabawniejszych postaci Twittera.

Magazyn Time umieścił go w gronie “10 Najlepszych Satyrycznych Kont na Twitterze”, Huffington Post w “7 Najzabawniejszych Postaci Fikcyjnych na Twitterze”, a w TV.com znalazł się w rankingu “5 Kont na Twitterze, które zasługują na program telewizyjny” i w wielu innych.

Boing Boing napisał, że Christian “jest jednym z trzech lub czterech osób, które sprawiają, że na Twitterze może pojawić się coś w rodzaju sztuki”, a NPR’s Monkey See, że “Ludzie dostają dużo pieniędzy, żeby napisać komedię, które nie są w jednej dziesiątej tak zabawne jak @DRUNKHULK”.

And the same in English:

Christian A. Dumais is an American writer living in Wrocław. He has published fiction, journalism, and academic articles in several magazines and journals in various publications, including GUD, Shock Totem and Ha!Art. His first book, Empty Rooms Lonely Countries, a short story collection, was listed as one of the “top ten favorite books of all time” by Crazed Fanboy.

He also created Cover Stories, a euphictional anthology of 100 stories inspired by songs, which New Mystics Reviews said, “hints at the future of the short story.”

He is also the creator of Twitter’s Drunk Hulk, an internet sensation with over 100,000 followers. Drunk Hulk has been regularly namedropped in Time (one of the “Top 10 Satire Twitter Feeds”), Huffington Post (One of “The 7 Funniest Non-Human Twitter Users Right Now”), TV.com (one of “5 Twitter Feeds that Deserve TV Shows”) and dozens of other websites and publications.

With Drunk Hulk, Boing Boing said that Christian “is one of the three or four people who make it seem possible that Twitter can spawn something like art,” and NPR’s Monkey See said “People get paid a LOT of money to write comedy who are not one tenth as funny as Drunk Hulk.”

Christian is currently writing a novel.

Thanks. Hope to see you all there!

West Coast Wednesdays: West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #45

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 14, 2011 at 3:20 pm

West Coast Avengers, Vol. 2, Issue 45 (June 1989)

WEST COAST CREDITS!

Writer: John Byrne

Penciler: John Byrne

Inker: Mike Machlan

WEST COAST SUMMARY!

The team isn’t thrilled by the arrival of its newest member – U.S. Agent – which leads to a dramatic departure of one of its founding members. Meanwhile, Pym has Vision up and running again, but his humanity is completely gone. Only Wonder Man has the power to make Vision whole again and…he won’t?

WEST COAST THOUGHTS!

Things kick off with Hawkeye telling the team how much he dislikes having the U.S. Agent around, with U.S. Agent standing right there in the room. He not only feels slighted as the leader of the team, but he doesn’t like taking orders from the stinking government. Mockingbird is the one to remind him that the team exists because the government sanctions it, which he doesn’t take too kindly to (interestingly enough, this has never been properly addressed in the book itself). When U.S. Agent flatly tells Hawkeye, “I’m now an Avenger. Period.” he takes a swing at the second-rate Captain America. After being thrown across the room and humiliated in front of his own team, Hawkeye storms out and quits.

Scarlet Witch hires a new governess for her children. And she manages to lose the twins in less than a minute.

Pym finally gets Vision up and running, but to Scarlet Witch’s dismay, she discovers that he’s unemotional and lifeless – LIKE A FRAKKING TOASTER! Pym explains to her that while they have his memories restored, there’s one vital element missing…

The dramatic climax of the issue hinges on a scene between Wanda and Simon. Since Pym can use Simon’s brain patterns to restore Vision completely, Wanda is shocked to discover that Simon has refused. She confronts him on the beach near the compound. Simon recaps his origin for Wanda, where we see through handy flashbacks how Simon’s brain patterns were used previously to give Vision his soul, only back then, Simon didn’t have a choice in the matter. And now, confronted with the ability to create the Vision again, he can’t do it because he chooses not to. It’s an interesting angle to explore, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense unless there’s more going on that we don’t know about yet. Naturally, Wanda takes it pretty hard, and not only slaps Simon across the face, but then proceeds to literally drop a mountain on him. Simon pulls himself out of the rubble and then flies up, releasing a scream “from his very soul” that can be heard as far away as San Francisco, until he reaches space and the vacuum turns him silent.

When Wanda returns to the compound, she discovers U.S. Agent screaming at Vision to put some clothes on. He complies by manipulating the molecular structure of his old shredded clothes and makes himself appear dressed. However, he refuses to keep the old Ethiopian flag colors he wore so proudly for years, and instead keeps a bleached look. “If I am to be called ‘The Vision,’ is it not logical for me to look the part?” he says, “Spectral…unearthly…”

The issue ends with Pym confirming that the Vision’s body is in fact not the same one used by the original Torch, which Wanda takes very badly. We don’t see this though, as he’s reflecting on this scene with Janet in the hallways of the compound. They stop in front of U.S. Agent’s room to hear him talking to somebody, and the readers get to see him having a conversation with framed photographs of his dead parents.

Nope, that’s not creepy at all.

WEST BOAST OR ROAST?

Boast. With emotions running high, there’s plenty of good material to work with here, which makes for a surprisingly strong issue. And no mandatory fight scenes!

WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!

U.S. Agent can’t handle the sexy!

Previously on West Coast Wednesdays…

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #1

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #2

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #4

Avengers Vol. 1, #250

Iron Man Annual #7

West Coast Avenger Vol. 2, #1

The Vision and Scarlet Witch #1

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #2

The Vision and Scarlet Witch #2

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #4

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #5

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #6

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #7

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #8

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #9

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #10

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #11

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #12

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #13

Avengers Annual #15

West Coast Avengers Annual #1

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #14

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #15

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #16

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #17

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #18

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #19

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #20

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #21

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #22

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #23

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #24

West Coast Avengers Annual #2

Avengers Annual #16

Silver Surfer #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #25

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #26

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #27

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #28

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #29

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #30

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #31

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #32

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #33

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #34

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #35

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #36

West Coast Avengers Annual #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #37

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #38

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #39

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #40

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #41

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #42

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #43

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #44

“A Lot Like the Ones Back in High School” Commentary

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 13, 2011 at 4:47 pm

You can read the short story I’m going to talk about here first.

While Empty Rooms Lonely Countries is listed to have 27 stories, there are actually 28. “A Lot Like the Ones Back in High School” is the book’s “ghost track”. While I like the idea of having a hidden story, I also made the decision to do this because this is the only story in the collection that is strictly fiction.

Victoria was talking now, the rest of them at the party listening with interest, standing there in Mark’s living room holding their drinks. There was music coming from a computer in the bedroom and the sound of Stephen mixing drinks in the kitchen. Victoria said, “It’s a lot like the ones back in high school, you know, the ones you have before an exam or something. Or before a big date with Tom March.” She grinned.

Laura sighed. “Tom March? I haven’t thought of him in years. God, he was beautiful.”

“A Lot Like the Ones Back in High School” is a fun little story. I’m fascinated by groups of friends like this one who stay in touch after high school and who have this kind of history. Having taught at a high school for a few years, it’s amazing how those four years have a profound impact on people’s lives, and in a lot of cases, what happens in that time stays with you.

Anyway, there’s a lot of history in this particular group, and I wanted to explore a part of that with a bit of a Barthelme-like twist.

Sadly, because the story is so short and makes its point by itself, there isn’t much else to say about this one outside of the fact that I had a lot of fun writing this one, and it was one of the first flash fiction stories I tackled.

Mike Dawson does Drunk Hulk!

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 8, 2011 at 10:33 am

I’m a huge fan of Mike Dawson’s work, from his early stuff like Cabaret and Gabagool! to his more recent efforts like Freddie & Me, a marvelous look at his experiences growing up with Freddie Mercury’s music, as well as a unique look at how memories work and our ability to turn those memories into stories.

Dawson’s latest book Troop 142, published by Secret Acres, looks equally remarkable:

Troop 142 follows a group of campers and counselors at a week-long scout retreat in the woods of New Jersey. It is a story as much about adults as it is adolescents, the blurred line between childhood and manhood, and the consequences of authoritative posturing. Dispensing with idyllic notions, Dawson describes the hilarious and brutal truths about boys and men, the hypocrisy of institutional morality and the resilience of Spam and the human spirit.

Dawson reminds me of the graphic novelist equivalent to Jim Crace in the sense that you never know what you’re going to get with each new book. Crace’s work varies so greatly from book to book that it’s almost impossible to judge him from a single work. There’re a lot of writers and artists who tend to circle the same themes (or, as Raymond Carver called them, obsessions) and ideas, but Dawson has been great about turning left when you expect him to go right. He is most certainly an artist that deserves your attention not only in terms of excellent storytelling and craftmanship, but also as an example of someone who is clearly pushing himself into new territory with every new project.

If you want to see what he’s capable of now for free, read Prospect Park Dusk, Prospect Park Dawn, a haunting short story about a working mother in Park Slope with an eerie twist.

Yesterday, Dawson posted a picture of Drunk Hulk on his website. I’m honored and thrilled he took the time draw the big green guy.

Click the picture below to see the whole image.

For your consideration…

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 8, 2011 at 9:52 am

“Exodus” Commentary

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 6, 2011 at 4:21 pm

“EXODUS”

Marianne and I were eating breakfast the morning after, just toast and orange juice. It was almost noon. We had about three hours of sleep between us. We weren’t tired though. We were outside in her backyard eating at the table by the pool.

This is another one of my favorite stories in terms of economy and my ability to communicate what I wanted to say. This story is a bit of a cheat, as it’s based on specific true events, but the ending is completely untrue. Originally, I wrote the story as it happened, but over the course of several drafts, I decided to swerve and create an ending with more dramatic weight. Plus, I wanted to write a Raymond Carver ending, one that ends at the climax without any need for a denouement. He pulled this off perfectly in his short story “Cathedral”, and it was a device I really wanted to explore.

I submitted this story to The New Yorker a long time ago – my only submission to the magazine – and though it was rejected, the editor gave me some wonderful feedback which was the next best thing to having the story accepted.

The scenery revealed itself in pieces, as I became more awake. It felt like I was watching a painting come alive. I imagined myself staring over a painter’s shoulder and he was highlighting the scene with the new colors he created during the night. He said he named his infant colors with the names of former lovers. He splashed Isabella on the trees to my left and he gave the yard a hint of Penelope. He said he wouldn’t reveal Tiffany and Zuella until sunset. He stretched out his mustache and asked, “Do you see it?” I said that I didn’t and he huffed.

Marianne saw me frowning, but she kept eating her toast in silence. She looked like a gypsy, pretty and mystical, especially the way her hair floated around her, like she belonged with elves. I’m sure I looked like a bum. I didn’t bring a change of clothes and my shirt was wrinkled.

“I’m dying,” I said.

She smiled, as if to say, that’s nice.

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are.” She said it solemnly; her grin said otherwise.

This story was eventually published in Third Wednesday and later in my short story collection Empty Rooms Lonely Countries.

Scenes from a home…

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 5, 2011 at 3:33 pm

This is my office door, with a TARDIS and some Space Invaders lurking in the background…

And this is a shot of what’s next to our front door…

You’re now leaving the American Sector.

Meet me at the Interdisciplinary Fringe Festival in Wroclaw

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on September 1, 2011 at 11:56 am

Not sure of the exact date and time yet, but I’ll be a guest at the Interdisciplinary Fringe Festival here in Wroclaw between September 14, 2011 to October 7, 2011.

I’ll be reading some of my short fiction, as well as a chapter from my new book, and then doing a Q&A where I’ll discuss anything from fiction to Drunk Hulk to whatever. Should be a lot of fun.

West Coast Wednesdays: West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #43

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on August 31, 2011 at 3:17 pm

West Coast Avengers, Vol. 2, Issue 43 (April 1989)

WEST COAST CREDITS!

Writer: John Byrne

Penciler: John Byrne

Inker: Mike Machlan

WEST COAST SUMMARY!

Mockingbird explains her betrayal and gives the team the info they need to spring into action and rescue the Vision. But will Scarlet Witch like what she finds?

WEST COAST THOUGHTS!

Mockingbird tells her side of the story regarding her role in the Vision’s disappearance. It turns out she was depressed and lost after what went down between her and Hawkeye. She was approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. to help create a contingency plan in the event that Vision were ever to snap and seize control of America’s nuclear arsenal (as he did a while back). It was all supposed to be theoretical, but after giving them all of the info they needed, Mockingbird discovers that things are not as they seemed. When she quits, she’s taken captive and put into what she believes to be a KGB maximum security cell. It was the Russians all along! After a few weeks, she makes her escape and returns to the West Coast compound to warn the team, but, as we already know, she’s too late.

Naturally, the team isn’t thrilled with Mockingbird helping people to kidnap and detain an Avenger. Hawkeye isn’t shy about making his anger known.

Byrne makes a misstep in reconciling the previous issue’s cliffhanger with Mockingbird saying she betrayed the team to this issue’s explanation of her being duped. It’s even directly addressed by Scarlet Witch, in which Mockingbird answers, “I was…upset. Embarrassed. I’ve been played for a fool. And when I came in on all of you — I realized I was too late — realized it was all my fault… Well, maybe it was something about seeing Hawkeye again. Seems like he’s always had the power to make me say the wrong thing…like ‘I do.’” Not only does this feel like a weak excuse to justify the transition, it’s also unnecessarily harsh. And while Hawkeye had been written by Englehart to be one dimensional in terms of why they’re separated, this feels like the pendulum swinging way too far in the other direction.

It seems that Pym is back to accidentally referring to Janet as “darling” at inopportune moments. For the second issue in the row, Byrne has disregarded the storyline with Hank’s previous wife. Interesting.

The team jumps in the quinjet and heads back to the base from where Mockingbird escaped. There are two scenes regarding Hawkeye’s inability to effectively lead the team; once when Janet tells Hank what to do, and another time when Hank takes charge. Hawkeye even notes it mentally (“I was in charge again for about half a second there.”). Anyway, the team gets into the base and splits up. Wanda and Bobbi discover a technician wandering the hall and Bobbi threatens to kill him with one of the 57 ways she’s been trained to unless he gives them the location of Vision.

Wasp infiltrates a cell block in the base and makes a startling discovering which isn’t shown. The governess who is watching Scarlet Witch’s twins is frightened by something which isn’t shown. And the issue ends with Wanda and Bobbi finding Vision, only he’s been completely taken apart in an excellent two-page ending. That’s three cliffhangers to spring from for next issue. Not bad.

Also worth noting is how the issue continues the brief history of the Vision told through flashbacks that ran through the previous issue, because no WCA book would be complete without some good old fashion exposition.

The book’s dramatic jump in quality is making it extremely hard for me to find something to make fun of. Come on, Byrne! Work with me here.

WEST BOAST OR ROAST?

Boast. A bit of a step down from the previous issue, but still miles above where the book’s regularly been for years.

WEST COAST SCENE (OF THE WEEK)!

Hawkeye is not interested in your apologies.

Previously on West Coast Wednesdays…

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #1

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #2

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1, #4

Avengers Vol. 1, #250

Iron Man Annual #7

West Coast Avenger Vol. 2, #1

The Vision and Scarlet Witch #1

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #2

The Vision and Scarlet Witch #2

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #4

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #5

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #6

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #7

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #8

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #9

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #10

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #11

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #12

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #13

Avengers Annual #15

West Coast Avengers Annual #1

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #14

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #15

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #16

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #17

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #18

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #19

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #20

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #21

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #22

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #23

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #24

West Coast Avengers Annual #2

Avengers Annual #16

Silver Surfer #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #25

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #26

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #27

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #28

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #29

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #30

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #31

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #32

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #33

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #34

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #35

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #36

West Coast Avengers Annual #3

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #37

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #38

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #39

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #40

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #41

West Coast Avengers Vol. 2, #42

“Here’s to You and the Stars Above” Commentary

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Posted by Christian A. Dumais on August 30, 2011 at 4:59 pm

To read the story I’ll be talking about today, click here.

The title is a lyric from the Walkmen’s “Postcards from Tiny Islands”. This is one of the first songs I gravitated towards when I was listening to “You & Me” for the first time. There is a haunting quality to the lyrics and there is a love story – or the remains of one – moving through the song. Despite my love for the song, this was one of the last stories I tackled with the Cover Stories project.

If you look at all of my stories in Cover Stories, you’ll notice that “Here’s to You and the Stars Above” is part of a thematic trilogy – along with “Tomorrow the Sun Will be Brighter” and “A Hundred Fireflies Outside” – with each story breaking down some of the motifs and stereotypes that come with specific genres. This story is meant to be a Romance, whereas the other two are the Mismatched Buddy Cop and Slasher Horror, respectively.

With that in mind, I wanted to create the ultimate love story, but more importantly, highlight the fact that every one of us, when we’re in love, is experiencing the most amazing, planet-shattering love story that puts to shame everyone else’s; how it fills up our lives and makes everyone else an extra in our own movie.

And so I thought about two lovers reuniting, one who traveled through space and the other through time, to find one another again. I wanted this story to feel like two magnets struggling not to connect, but knowing it was inevitable. This is Romeo reuniting with Juliet, Odysseus finding Penelope, Sam hooking up with Diane…this is every lover who ever lived, but as the camera zooms in closer and closer, they become like everybody else, just “two drunks kissing”.

The part I’m most proud of is the story’s climax, when they kiss:

He kissed her then, a kiss as inevitable as autumn and as hard as winter. He pulled her body into his and pressed his lips against hers like a near-drown victim fighting for air. He could feel the gravity of their past and the weight of the universe around them. His eyes were open at first, staring into her eyes, and when he closed them, he took the blue with him. Their lips moved, their teeth crashed, and their tongues came together like hurricanes. This was the kind of kiss that could wake the dead, the kind that could create whole new worlds, the kind heard around the world. Time and space stopped like it did and would every moment they touched. They were the beginning and ending of every love story ever told.

Even I had to chuckle a bit when I wrote what comes next.

Also of interest, I usually have “actors” in my head when I’m writing a story, and this is the first story where the “actress” kept changing in my head depending on the moment, but the “actor” remained the same. Even though this is probably one of those details only writers would like, I thought it was worth mentioning.

A few other things worth noting:

- My comparison of Russia never wanting to end like Texas stems from my unresolved issues with the size of Texas, and has come up in way too many other stories I’ve written over the years.

- I love the idea of falling in love and trying to capture that lightning in a bottle, and her approach to doing this was something that stems from an overactive imagination and growing up watching Doctor Who. I also love how he experiences the memories of this while she explains it to him.

- One of a few mentions of Poland from my stories in Cover Stories.

All in all, I’m really happy with the way this story turned out. I also like how “Postcards from Tiny Islands” works as a nice soundtrack to the piece. In fact, it’s impossible for me to read the story without hearing the song mentally.