Newsflash!
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of MTV’s Jersey Shore fame and his family are coming to a comic book shop near you, courtesy of Wizard World Inc.
The company has signed a publishing, development and appearance deal with the Sorrentinos to appear in their own comic book.
Wizard’s putting professional writers and artists on the series, which will feature Mike Sorrentino, his siblings Marc, Frank and Melissa, and their mother Linda. The Sorrentinos will appear at Wizard World conventions promoting their characters and greeting fans, touring North America at the company’s various venues.
Sorrentino expressed excitement on behalf of himself and his company, MPS Entertainment.
“MPS Entertainment and I are thrilled and excited about our new business relationship with Wizard World. I grew up reading comic books and now I get a chance to star in my own. I can’t wait for everyone to see what we are working on,” said Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino.
And Wizard echoed the sentiments. “Wizard World is excited to partner with one of pop culture’s greatest stars. Mike ‘The Situation’ and his family will broaden our relationships with celebrities to new areas that leverage our access to the media, the fans, and especially our ability to bring comic book characters to life,” said John Macaluso, CEO, Wizard World.
And now that all that traditional news report type stuff is out of the way, I must say…whoa!
Who would’ve thought that Mr. Sorrentino read comics, much less wanted to star in one? And who would’ve thought that Wizard would help him make one… about himself?
It’s too early to tell what these storylines will entail, but will they be the kinds of adventures that Situation, Jersey Shore, and MTV fans will pick up a comic for? And… do many of those fans even read comic books in the first place?
Let’s hope Wizard did their homework before they chose the Situation to carry a comic. This is the same guy who was booed from a stage after giving offensive jokes and who was televised slapping (or lightly tapping) a woman on the face for not wanting to leave a club at the same time he wanted to go. He’s not the best role model to glamorize, and even if he was, how much do existing comic book fans–folks who are used to superhero tales and sophisticated indie material–care about the four-color adventures of a reality TV star who hasn’t had any connection to the kinds of stories they already love?
The Sorrentino family deal could be harbinger of more projects like it. Wizard World’s CEO Macaluso said that the family would broaden Wizard’s “relationships with celebrities to new areas that leverage our access to the media.” The desire to broaden celebrity relationships probably means the company’s looking for more famous people to launch more comic book and appearance deals with.
And who knows? Maybe other companies will follow suit. The day we can pick up Donald Trump vs. Galactus and Civil War: The Kardashians vs. the Hiltons could be coming.
What a situation that would be, indeed.
Take one hopelessly inept wizard and add an insane knight who’s taken one too many blows to the head, one undead cleric, one standoffish elf, one talking sword and mix together with a generous helping of shenanigans that can only come from so ragtag a group pursuing the same quest together, and you have the perfect recipe for a laugh-out-loud romp set in a fantasy world. 
