Graduating from Binghamton University was a very important landmark in my life. When I was in high school and told one of my teachers about my goal of attending Binghamton for school she rolled her eyes and snidely replied “Binghamton is a school for students who can’t afford Harvard and need a SUNY alternative.” I am not sure if one sentence had ever enraged me the way her response did.
With just a few words she managed to inform me that I wasn’t worth of a school with the prestige that Binghamton had built for itself. Thankfully, that just motivated me to prove her wrong. Now, some years later, I have two glorious diplomas as proof that I was worthy of the education that I desired.
One of my favorite parts of that college is the magnetic force it has to attract motivated individuals who blossom after graduation. Art Speigelman (Pulitzer Prize Winning cartoonist of Maus and creator of RAW magazine), Marc Lawrence (film writer of Miss Congeniality and Director of Two Weeks Notice), Andrew Bergman (film writer of Fletch and director of Striptease ), Lee Ronaldo (the guitarist of Sonic Youth), and an endless amount of others all reside on the alumni list of Binghamton University. This past week an alumni I was unaware was bought to my attention.
Joe Kelly is a comic writer and television writer who I can not get enough of. He is perhaps best known for starting the company Man Of Action along with a few other comic creators which has been used to spawn both Ben 10 and Generator Rex, world renowned cartoons shown on cartoon network. Personally, I’m a huge fan of his comic book work which included defining the character of Deadpool in his first long running series. Through the character of Deadpool he managed to create a series in which video game and pop culture homage and parody sparked endless laughs and in a superhero world where everyone was taking themselves a bit too seriously it was much needed.
He later blew up in the comics world and had award winning runs on Amazing Spider-Man, Superman, and his remarkable creator owned comic I Kill Giants (if there is one comics you read in a lifetime it should be that one). In each series he attributes a different part of his personality to create something new, exciting, and extremely entertaining.
I was delighted to see that Binghamton wrote an article about him in their most recent alumni magazine. You can check it out here! Nothing puts me in a better mood that knowing that I studied at an institution that churned out people I truly respect.
With that said, it is time for me to up my productivity and await the alumni reporter who is surely searching me out.
Stay Proud,
Ryan Zlomek