Unca Cheeks the Toy Wonder's Silver Age Comics Web Site!
. . . or: "Sure, most of my friends are complete and utter whack jobs. Why. . . what's it to ya. . . ?"
I've got this friend.
My friend's name is Pat; Patrick J. Nestor, Jr., to be precise, if you're a creditor; a process server; or that one woman from the Free Clinic who keeps phoning at all hours and pleading with me to "just burn anything he might have touched, the last time he visited your home, all right? Guest towels... pillow cases... the family dog, even. Just douse 'em all in kerosene; light a match; and run, f'chrissakes!"
My Friend Pat is many things, to many people. To his wife and children
(breeding laws being notoriously less stringent, up New Jersey way), he
is a faithful and loving provider; to those of us who know him, from his
online shenanigans as the irrepressible "RocketeerZ" -- and founder of
that venerable online organization, The AOLeague -- he is the quick-witted
cyber-equivalent of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; and to pop singer
Michael Jackson, he is known, simply, as "... the guy who can get
you anything you... ummmm... need. IF you know what I mean.
Heh-heh-heh." 
Most importantly, however -- for the purposes of those scouring this site, at any rate -- he is the co-creator of The Gecko.
Which none of you have actually read, yet.
Dammit.
The reason you haven't actually read an issue of THE GECKO yet, is: Diamond (the company which enjoys a virtual stranglehold on the lion's share of comics shop distribution in this country) refuses to carry said comic.
As a matter of fact: Diamond has rejected THE GECKO twice. Which is -- by rough estimate -- at least two times more than they've bounced such eminently worthwhile comics fare as, say (giving my order form for this month a quick, cursory once-over) EVIL ERNIE; DRACULINA XXX; or KISS: THE PSYCHO-CIRCUS. (All of these, I'm certain, high-minded and worthwhile additions to the comics canon, overall.)
Because it's a book by two "unknowns."
Because it's a humor book by two "unknowns."
Because it's a black-and-white humor book by two "unknowns."
... which -- if said "standards" had been applied with an equivalent lack of foresight and entrepreneurial acumen, over the past decade or two -- would only have denied us, in turn, the likes of Dave Sim's CEREBUS; Jeff Smith's BONE; Donna Barr's THE DESERT PEACH; Martin Wagner's HEPCATS; Terry Moore's STRANGERS IN PARADISE; Peter Bagge's HATE...
... well. So. You see, then.
Pat (and his unindicted co-conspirator, Michael Brown) are -- needless to say -- dispirited; depressed; and disgusted, in roughly equal measure, by the situation, entire.
This, of course, is where you all come in.
Now: I don't have any samples of interior pages from THE GECKO to show you all, at present -- mainly because My Pal, the Bonehead, hasn't e-mailed me anything for site posting purposes, as of this writing, other than the promotional poster gracing the top of this page -- but: you've all been lolling about on the sofa and scarfing up all the good cookies hereabouts long enough, by now, to know what I find Falling-Down Funny, and what I don't.
I give you all my most solemn, no-foolin'-around-here pledge, as a gentleman
and a plush toy: Pat and Mike know "funny."
These two lovable, cloth-eared gits are giving serious consideration, at present, to simply circumventing the humorless, willfully obdurate Diamond distribution machine altogether, and bringing unbridled joy and rapture to the fannish multitudes by handling said distribution themselves, via direct mail.
This serves as evidence, I think, of two things:
1.) Pat and Mike share an unwavering, adamantine belief that you all really would rupture yourselves laughing at THE GECKO, if only you had the opportunity to do so; and --
2.) Pat and Mike are -- singly, and in the altogether --
hopelessly deranged half-wits. God love 'em.
Pat's e-mail address is: RocketeerZ@aol.com.
Note that I'm not allowed to "hawk" merchandise on this site, by the articles of the good folks over at SimpleNet. Note, too, that I am not doing so, in any wise or particular.
Note, too, however: were Pat to maybe start... oh, I dunno... keeping a list of folks who wouldn't mind ponying up the requisite couple of bucks, American, in exchange for one whale of a rollicking good time, comics-
wise...
... well: that's certainly something well and truly beyond my
control... right?
In the meantime: as soon as this page goes up... I'm going to e-mail the li'l goober, just as fast as these hopelessly arthritic fingers can fly their way over the keyboard.
Maybe we can all just... y'know... shame the little poindexter into coughing up a few representative page "scans," for inclusion on this site.
Tell him you know "all about that... thing involving the Lindbergh baby; the several pounds of over-cooked pasta; and the trampoline."
He usually folds quicker'n a cheap lawn chair whenever anyone mentions
that one.
THIS JUST IN: Below are several black-and-white
samplings from the totally magnifique first issue of Pat and Mike's
THE GECKO (#1). Finally.
Pat sent me the scans in what I can only assume is marked, on his 'puter,
as THE GODZILLA-SIZED
SETTING... so: I hope these aren't too, y'know,
mammoth for anyone's monitor to handle, out there.
Here's Page Sixteen:
... aannnnnnnd: Page Seventeen.
When not under house arrest, with those little electronic "ankle" thingies attached to their legs, Pat and Mike (respectively) can be reached at the following e-mail addresses:
Pat (writer): RocketeerZ@aol.com
Mike (artist): Brownadder@aol.com
Help keep these guys off the streets (and away from our children's school
playgrounds). Tell 'em you want a GECKO, already.
A few quick passes of the mandatory "legal mumbo-jumbo"
magic wand, here: all likenesses, images and logos of the comics character(s)
on this page are the sole copyright and/or trademark of Patrick J.
Nestor, Jr. and/or Michael Brown. Both of these guys
are way, waaaaaaaayy bigger'n you. Don't even think
about doing it.
"MORE COMIC BOOKS," YOU SAY...?
The DC Comics Sub-Directory
The Marvel Comics Sub-Directory
The Miscellaneous Comics Sub-Directory
The "Gotta Find That DC Character" Menu
The "Gotta Find That Marvel/Miscellaneous
Character" Menu