Behind the Scenes at "Three Days of the Fanboy"

This article and photogallery originally was posted at the WCG Comics website in July 2001 and was moved/archived to this blog (with some light editing and updates) in March 2020.

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In April and May 1994, the WCG Theatre Players gathered at Sam and Dan Studios in North Hollywood, CA to record the thrilling Rob Hanes Adventures audioshow, "Three Days of the Fanboy."

Produced, written and directed by WCG friend Bob Westal, the audiotape was performed by the troupe, many of whom have acting experience. Below are some behind-the-scenes photos of the recording sessions.

At right is the cover for the CD jewel case after the recording was digitized. It was originally distributed and sold on audio cassette.

Pictured at left are the principal cast and crew members of the radio show in the recording studio.

From left to right are Bob Westal, Scott Brick, Terry Delegeane, and David Gordy. We have all known each other since our college days at UCLA.

Bob, a UCLA film school alum, served as writer and director. I initially mentioned the idea of an audioshow half as a joke, but it was Bob who ran with it.

Here's ace cast member Scott Brick in a faux publicity photo. Scott played the Narrator and one of the show's leads, Fanboy Johnson McFeely.

A UCLA theatre major with stage and film experience, Scott's performance set the standard for the recording—he is also a big fan of old-time radio (particularly Jack Benny), which won him the role as Narrator Bob Westal after the table read, despite the fact the role was initially written by Bob for himself!

Scott's also a proud comic-book fan himself, and back in the day freelanced as an industry journalist for Wizard and the Comic Buyer's Guide, where he wrote one of the tabloid's most celebrated stories, "Who Killed Gwen Stacy?" (CBG #1277 / May 8, 1999).

While I wouldn't suggest that this gig furthered Scott's career, he does now actually professionally record books on tape—also an avid book reader, Scott later parlayed his skills and talent into a respected and successful career as a distinguished audiobook narrator with more than (to date) 800 audiobooks under his belt. He is an inductee of the Audible.com Narrator Hall of Fame.

At left is the inimitable Terry Delegeane, who did the voice of Rob Hanes and other characters, including most of the celebrity impersonations.

Terry, too, has strong theater experience. Although a fellow English major with me at UCLA, he appeared in numerous plays at UCLA and, since then, numerous community theater productions, including musicals.

Terry has served as managing editor at Bongo Comics (publisher of Matt Groening's Simpsons Comics), and I am to blame for getting him involved in a life of comics—after I introduced him to Howard Chaykin's American Flagg!, he's never looked back.

Another publicity shot of the principal cast: Terry, David Gordy and Scott Brick.

It was fun being in a recording studio—although fully equipped, the studio was actually a converted garage in North Hollywood, with a soundproofed recording room and separate engineering booth.

Postproduction was also a fun and educational experience, as the music and sound effects were added later, after recording the voices. The recording engineer, Scott Kolden, who owned the recording studio and was a child actor, musician and sound engineer, was an enthusiastic collaborator, partly because it was a nice departure from the music bands that made up the majority of his clientele.

Here's my own publicity shot—not being an actor at all, I had the dubious honor of playing myself. We probably should have cast Scott instead!

Pictured at right and below was the final packaging—an audiocassette with a bonus mini-comic. It debuted at the 1995 San Diego Comic-Con—we even had an audiocassette player that looked like an old-time radio playing the show on a loop throughout the show (fortunately, nobody annoyed and, in fact, many dug it).

In 2007, thanks to my brother, the show was digitized and is now available in CD format.

The cover art for the CD, colored for the release, is pictured at the top of this post.