"Tribute" ("Hancock")
While the general population of the United States celebrates July 4th with fireworks, outdoor picnics, and roaring orchestrated music (most of the time conducted under John Williams), my friend Tony usually has other plans. Oh, he'll enjoy the destruction of many lit Black Cats and when Ray Charles comes on gushing upon sweet America he won't switch the channel. But there's one thing that he looks forward to more than anything else and that's "Big Willie Weekend".
No, that's not a phallac joke. It's what fans of Will Smith call the 4th of the July weekend, which 99.9% of the time is when a new Will Smith movie debuts in the theaters. It started back in 1996 with "Independence Day" and it has continued more or less ever since. Yeah, one day a studio executive thought Smith had the perfect face for July 4th. I don't quite understand how someone could come up with that either but it's been proven bankable. Boy, has it ever!
Speaking of faces, I originally drew Will Smith's in each panels. But when everything was said and done, I figured there's only one way Will Smith could look and that's using a photo of the man himself. It's cornball and a cheap way out, but I think it heightens the joke that he says "Oh, hell no!" in every one of his movies. And of course once I did that I had to add in Joe Pantoliano for "Bad Boys 2".
For all the poking fun I did with this, the bottom line is Will Smith is one of the most talented actors around. I have no quams about any of his movies (yes, even "The Legend of Baggy Golf Pants"). And besides if I didn't have respect for the man, I wouldn't have made him the focus of a picture that incorporates six different movies into it. - Jake