So Iron Man comes out on DVD tomorrow and – having watched the movie and some of the extras courtesy of the advance copy I received – I have to say it was a pretty good weekend.

If you’re thinking about buying the movie tomorrow (and why wouldn’t you), don’t be cheap and get the regular wide screen edition. Pony up the extra dough and buy the 2-disc edition. There are nearly 4 HOURS of extras in this thing and they are totally worth it. I’m serious. I’ve never been so happy watching DVD extras. These guys did it exactly right and they show you A LOT of behind-the-scenes stuff that really demonstrates the care and thought they put into things. Great stuff.

There will be a full-blown review of the DVD and all of its extra’s on the site tomorrow. So be sure to come back and check it out then.

Moving along, I spoke a little bit last week about how my declaration of love for all things Iron Man has netted me some pretty cool schwag from fans of the comic. I thought now would be a good opportunity to share with you some of the good will I’ve been lucky enough to receive.

A little earlier in the year, a fan by the name of Will sent me this screen printed poster promoting the release of Iron Man at the Alamo theater in Austin, Texas when I blogged about it on the site. He was also kind enough to send me a complete set of Iron Man collectors cups from 7-11 (including the hollowed out helmet cup for Slushees) as well as some homemade chocolate chip cookies. I love this poster. As you can see, I have it framed and it sits above my desk. I look at it everyday.

Another poster I have in my office is one given to me by a fan at Wizard World Chicago. And darn it if I can’t remember his name right now! Sorry, man! He’s a good kid. He comes to visit me every year. I think I remember him saying that his Dad sells original Pogo artwork, if I’m remembering that correctly.

Anyway, when he’s not helping his Dad at cons, he works at a movie theater and he was able to grab me this authentic Iron Man teaser poster.

He also managed to grab me a t-shirt and a hat – I think from the San Diego ComiCon? I don’t have pictures, but the hat has the movie’s logo on it and the shirt is really cool. It has the glowing outline of the mini arc reactor inside Tony Stark’s chest – the one you can see through his wife beaters, and whatnot. Anyway, what’s really cool about it is that when you turn off the lights, the link in the shirt glows. It’s a great shirt. Really nice of him to give that to me.

Speaking of shirts, I got this shirt from a reader named Ben.

Yeah, so I’m sucking in the gut a little. So what?

Ben wrote me more than a few months ago telling me that he worked at Hot Topic and there was a really cool Iron Man wallet that he wanted to send me. I thought that was pretty cool that he wanted to send something to me, but was something he was planning on spending his own money on, so I told him "Thanks, but no thanks." I was more than appreciative that he was thinking of me, but I don’t want people spending their own money on me unless they’re buying one of my books or shirts, y’know? The fact that he’s reading the comic and the blog… that’s thanks enough.

Anyway, a few weeks after that, Ben writes me and says, "We have this cool Iron Man shirt. It’s on sale. I’m sending it to you. No ‘if’s, and’s or but’s’." Again, I said, "I appreciate it. But I want you to keep your money." He wrote back insisting that I give him my address so he can send the shirt to me. So I relented. Because I figure at this point it’s more rude to keep turning him down. The shirt came in the mail a few days later and viola! I’m wearing it.

Actually, a photo and a mention was the only thing Ben asked for in exchange for his kind gesture. A favor I’m more than willing to return. I really dig this shirt a lot. As you can see, it pretty much has every armor Tony Stark has ever worn in the comics. Cami actually likes it a lot as well.

Okay, time for the big finish.

I don’t mean to marginalize any of the gifts that these generous fans have sent me. That they’ve sent me anything it all is above and beyond the call of duty and I am completely honored that anyone would spend the time or effort to acknowledge my interest in Iron Man in this way.

But, well… What a reader named Albert did is beyond crazy…

What you are looking it is a roughly 9′ tall theater standee courtesy of Albert who is the General Manager of a movie theater in New Hampshire. Albert shipped this beast (disassembled, mind you) completely at his own expense and seeking nothing in exchange but the knowledge that a hard-core Iron Man fan like myself would receive great enjoyment from it.

Albert, you have no idea.

I’ve been in communication with Albert since he sent it and he said that they would have just thrown out the standee after Iron Man left the theater. I was, like, “Seriously?” Because I used to work at a movie theater and I was always asking my mangers if I could take home any of the old posters or standees that we had in our lobby after we were through with them. I guess I must have been pretty low on a the totem pole because they always told me that those things went to the employees with seniority. Then again, my boss was a jerk. Sounds like Albert is a pretty cool boss in comparison!

Okay, as you can see, this thing is crazy big. There isn’t a room in my house large enough to store it. So I put it together this weekend in the garage and took some photos of it. I’m considering taking some video of it, too. If you guys want to see more snapshots, let me know and I’ll post them. Maybe to YouTube or Flickr or something. Who knows.

Anyway, this thing is huge and when I first received it, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with it. Originally, I thought I would set it up once, take the pictures for posterity, disassemble it and maybe sell it on cragislist. I consulted Albert about it citing the lack of room in my house and he said that was find since (as mentioned before) they were going to throw it out anyway.

But now that I have the thing put together and standing up in the garage… I really wan to keep it.

The garage isn’t the ideal place for it, though. Especially if it rains or come winter when the cars bring in a bunch of snow and grime. It’d be a shame for this thing to get all mushy and ruined. Or, potentially dinged up from the car door hitting it. Because, really, there’s not much room for it in the garage, either.

I’ll have to strategist a little bit to keep it around. But, so far, Cami’s on my side for keeping it. The darn thing is just so… impressive. It’ll be a kick to show it to friends and family.

At any rate, that’s some of the amazing generosity people have shown me in enabling my Iron Man fetish. Shame on all of you! I’m a man in my 30’s! I should be reading The Wall Street Journal, or something!

Naaaahhh!!!

Seriously, if these guys know how happy they’ve made me by sending this stuff, they’d be a little disconcerted. I’m like that hyperactive 10 year old in your family that is a ball of nerves on Christmas Eve because he’s anticipating getting some new Pokemon game, or something, the next day. And when he gets it, he tears all around the house screaming and knocking over lamps. That’s me. There is no “off” switch for this.

I hope you guys don’t think I’m wagging this stuff in your face or trying to brag, or anything. I just want to give these guys their due and show them a little respect and recognition for being so utterly cool.

I talk a lot about how I have the coolest fans in webcomics. This just proves it.

That’s all for now. I might try to be back later with more updates. Until then, take it easy and be sure to check the site tomorrow for my review of the Iron Man DVD!

Later!