Walt Jaschek, writer of copy, content and entertainment, is a 2018 inductee iinto the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame. As a highly imaginative creator, he's at your service. Now.
In 7th grade, I wrote a gushing fan letter to Stan Lee. The letter was subsequently published in its entirety in Captain America #107, November, 1968. A thrill. Here’s the cover, by Jack Kirby (another hero:)
But it got better. Stan deemed the letter worthy of a “No-Prize,” his inside-joke “award” for fans – an envelope with literally nothing inside. So when, a few weeks later, said envelope from Marvel arrived, my 12-year-old head hit the ceiling.
This is my way of saying… RIP Stan, entertainer extraordinaire, wizard of words and worlds, and an outsized influence on many, including me. I’m so happy you lived long enough to see your co-creations explode into every corner of pop culture. Thanks for the ride.
And thanks also for this little envelope: no prize I’ve gotten since surpasses.
“Congratulations,” it says. “This envelope contains a genuine Marvel Comics No-Prize which you have just won. Handle with Care.” I did, through the decades. That’s a pic I shot recently. The outer envelope (from 625 Madison Avenue, New York, 10022) has yellowed. The No-Prize itself… is mint.
“Journey Into Weirdness.” That’s the title of a comicbook pulp-adventure anthology Walt is writing and compiling for publication in 2019. Here’s the logo.
Below is the first feature completed for the anthology: a short, good-guys-versus-alien-monster adventure starring the Terranauts, a team of Earth-protecting explorers (created by my buddies Paul Daly and Don Secrease, as seen at HighAdventureComics.com.) The latest incarnation of the team, which evolves through various eras, is Terranauts: 2020. Here are the characters, designed and described by Don, followed by their first adventure, written by Walt. (Here’s the script.)
TERRANAUTS 2020
face
“THE CALL OF COLD DARK, PLACES”
Script: Walt Jaschek | Pencils, inks, colors: Don Secrease | Splash page pencils: Paul Daly | Splash page inks: Walt Jaschek | Based on characters created by Paul Daly and Don Secrease, and on loan with their permission.
P.S. Walt continues to develop features for the upcoming anthology…
…including his own, original characters. Watch for it in 2019. And remember the words of Hunter S. Thompson: “When the going gets weird… the weird get going.”
When I approached ace St. Louis illustrators Don Secrease and Bill Lux for help in bringing to life The Herobots and launching the characters in a coloring and games book, I was thinking of a bored 6-year-old boy. And myself.
It started with a specific 6-year-old boy. A crabby, impatient, hungry one. I don’t know his name. But he was part of a big crowd enduring a long wait in the lobby of a pancake restaurant with his mother. He was squirming, and I could tell he was desperate for some stimulation, any stimulation. His mother didn’t engage him; didn’t hand him a pencil and paper; or even her phone. (I guess I should be happy about that part.)
I felt the restless boredom radiate out of this young man, and I immediately I wished I had on me a coloring book young kids might like, about, oh, say, superhero robot action figures. I wished I could also hand him some crayons and tell him to “have at.” (With Mom’s permission, of course.) I even had a name bouncing around my mind: the HEROBOTS.
A few months later, after great work by Don and Bill, working from a script by me, we sent to the printers Herobots Coloring and Games Book #1. Here’s the front cover…
Here’s the back cover.
Here are a few pages from the story-to-color. The Herobots are actually action figures, you see, by day, living on the shelf of Sally’s Comics and Toys store.
The plot thickens.
And yes, there are also games!
The 48-page softcover is now available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but it’s the stack of hard copies I keep on me at busy pancake restaurants that I value most. Because these are the copies I can hand…
…to give random, bored 6-year olds. Bless them. Because I am one of them. Always. It’s why I create, I think. Or at least why I created this video preview of the first few pages of the book. Warning: the narration is by me. (Which you can turn off — just watch the captions!)
So, you ask, is the Herobots Coloring and Games book selling on Amazon and Barnes and Noble? We wouldn’t say it’s selling like, well, pancakes. But we don’t mind. It’s that moment of handing one to a bored kid — for free — that makes up for it.
Walt Jaschek and Don Secrease offer free, downloadable coloring pages of superhero robots: the stars of the Herobots Coloring and Games Book #1. Below, you’ll see the three Herobots — Props, Wheely and Fynn — along with their foes, TREX and the Terrobot. Want to download any and all for the young colorist in your life? Just drag the image to your desktop, click on it, and hit “print.”
Want more Herobots action? Take a look at the Herobots Coloring and Games Book, for young readers, on sale on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.
Oh, creatives! Don’t fall on that sword over your favorite idea. Certainly don’t pull pistols! “How to Kill a Pitch” is a cautionary comedy video Walt Jaschek wrote on this subject, directed by Angie Lawling, shot by Chris Lawling, produced by Mercury Films. All in good fun: it’s movie blood. Client not loving your latest idea? There’s another one, you know. Come up with it and live, damn it!
Spoiler: look for a cameo by Walt himself in the final scene, amid the “agency in waiting.” Full credits on IMDB.
Bonus: For those who like to read this sort of thing, here’s…
“How to Kill a Pitch”: The Shooting Script by Walt Jaschek
Characters:
Jon / Creative Director – Agency Jeanette / Account Director – Agency Bernard / Chief Marketing Officer – Client Brooke / Marketing Manager – Client Ethan / Office Assistant – Client
Extras: The next agency in line to present / 3 people, non-speaking, cameo
BLACK SCREEN
Fade in title: How to Kill a Pitch
Fade up sound of a small group laughing. Title fades out and the laughter bridges across the CUT TO:
INT – CLIENT CONFERENCE ROOM
Jon and Jeanette are wrapping up a presentation to clients Bernard and Brooke. It’s obviously gone well. The laughter is dying down. Jon puts the last of a series of foam core boards face down on a stack.
JON: And with that final, funny scene, this spot serves as climax to a completely integrated, cross-platform marketing campaign that is “locked and loaded.” Let’s pull that trigger.
JEANETTE: And from a strategy perspective, it is right on strategy. Right. On.
BERNARD: Well, Jon, Jeanette: this is fantastic work. Wonderful. A home run. Hilarious, memorable, unforgettable, really. I was totally entertained every second.
Brooke is agreeing with her boss via a series of verbal cues: “Right, Uh-huh, it is, yes.” The agency people are beaming. Bernard, though, has one more card to play.
BERNARD: But…
Uh-oh. The agency people trade glances. It’s the “but.” The client’s demeanor changes to a concerned scowl.
BERNARD: I worry. Is it TOO entertaining? TOO engaging? If we go on the air with something this noticeable, this excellent, will the spot wear out faster? Will people get tired of it? Will we have set a standard of being “excellent” that we’ll have to meet each time?
He gives the word “excellent” air quotes, of course.
Jon and Marcy are completely drained by this exasperating reaction, which they’ve obviously heard before. It’s just too much.
JON (to Jeanette): Will you just kill me now?
JEANETTE: I’m sorry?
JON: Will you kill me? Right now? Here? On the spot.
Jeanette considers this with sobriety.
JEANETTE: Well, hmmm, yes. Yes, I will. But only if you kill me simultaneously.
JON: Simultaneously?
JEANETTE: Yes.
JON: That’s a deal.
JEANETTE: Let’s do it.
JON: I’m in.
Jon pulls a pistol from his sock. Jeanette pulls a pistol from a Coach handbag.
The clients seem to be bemused by this. But sure enough, the CD and AE point the guns at each other. Creative director counts down: “3… 2…. 1…. now.”
Reaction shot of the clients as the creative director and account executive shoot each other in the heads. BLAM! BLAM! The clients get a little splattered blood on them. We see the bodies of the CD and AE slump to the floor.
But the clients aren’t really disturbed. Brooke turns to Bernard with a studied earnestness.
BROOKE: I don’t think he knew how to answer your question.
Bernard nods. This is the right response from his subordinate. The onus is on the agency, which obviously flaked out.
KER-CHUNK! The client assistant, Ethan, opens the door to the conference room.
ETHAN THE ASSISTANT: Shall I send in the next agency?
Bernard and Brooke straighten, gather papers. Brooke smiles up at Ethan.
BERNARD: Certainly.
BROOKE: Yes, please do.
CUT TO: EXTERIOR HALLWAY
Ethan, holding the smile, turn and looks down the hallway.
REVERSE ANGLE – HALLWAY – ETHAN’S POINT OF VIEW
A group of anxious, smiling people from the next agency, all holding their presentation materials, looking to Ethan for the “come hither” signal.
REVERSE ANGLE – Back to Ethan
With a small hand gesture, he beckons the next agency to advance.
CUT TO BLACK
CREDITS SEQUENCE
Quick single-screen credit cuts and scroll over a lively, jaunty “Ragtime” tune.
“See?,” the music seems to say. “It was all in good fun.”
The plot thickens. 
