Jubilation June: Barry Nugent!

I've decided that I'm going to celebrate June by celebrating friends. Each day I will tell you a bit about a friend that I love and why they are so awesome. It could be that they are awesome just because they are awesome. I think you'll think the same. No rhyme or reason to which friends I pick. No order. Just random picks. If I leave someone out, it means we broke up and I'd like my pants back.

Time for a little hot Nuge action! Wait...that's not how I wanted to start this one. Let's try that again. Time to give props to my good pal Barry Nugent! That's better. That's us up there in London last May. Another UK pal of mine. I seem to have a lot of those. You'd think I'm an Anglophile who's been there several times and wants to live there or something. Anyway, Barry and I meeting is very similar to another previous Jubilation June honoree Dave Monteith. They are partners on the podcast Geek Syndicate and we all met on those comic forums back in 2006. While Dave and I are like brothers because we are eerily similar, Barry and I are brothers because we have a lot in common and have a similar outlook on things. Not everything, but quite a bit. That first trip to the UK in 2008 at Bristol Comic Expo was a blast. Everyone took me in and showed me a great time. Barry was right there as well. He's not as extroverted as I am but that didn't stop us from throwing back many whiskeys and talking til the wee hours. We've since become fast friends and he's even visited NYC. Just a great guy in so many ways. Continue on to find out more! 

• That first night at Bristol Expo in 2008, only a few of us stayed up til the wee hours. (Even though my UK pals kept bragging about their drinking prowess, mind.) At one point, some non-convention going jackasses in the hotel were picking on a friend of ours. Barry and Dave immediately jumped to his defense. I was on the other side of the room and heard shouting and ran over to get their back. Calmer heads prevailed and we continued drinking. And, it was a nice bonding experience for the 3 of us. They knew I always had their back and something told me, they'd always have mine. 
• He and Dave started up their Geek Syndicate podcast back in 2006. And since then, it grew into this huge network for geeky news, reviews, interviews and the like and have several different podcasts under the GS banner. I like to kid that they are the UK version of my podcast Comic News Insider. But in reality, they have grown into this awesome network of geeky goodness! 
• Upon my trip over in 2010, I was trying to squeeze in as much as I could. One of my favorite UK comedians was playing in a town called Milton Keynes. I looked at a map of the UK to see whom I might know that lived near there and saw that Barry was the closest by little over a 1/2 hour. I asked if it would be possible to stay with him that night after the concert and if there was a late bus I could take to him. Instead, he offered to have him and his partner Sue come pick me up and take me back to stay for the night. And I got a great brekkie the next morning too! 
• He's been a writer most of his life. His first book Paladin was published in 1999. And he then went the self-publishing route with his next work, Fallen Heroes, back in 2004. A great pulp adventure tale! It eventually got stocked in Waterstones (the UK's biggest bookstore chain). In 2011, the Kindle version was released and soon became a #1 bestseller on Amazon. 
• After the success of Fallen Heroes, a comic book adaptation was a natural next step. Barry let his baby out of his hands and supervised it all with other writers/artists adapting his work. The comic has been very successful as well with more to come. 
• Once, I caught him at a bad moment and caused a regretful knee jerk reaction with an email I sent. Within minutes, he sent another email profusely apologizing. Just shows you what a stand up guy he is and goes out of his way to reassure you his true intentions. Which are always honorable. He is always pleasant when we chat or communicate because he's just that darn nice of a guy. 
• For awhile, we had gotten into the habit of instant messaging a few times a week. Either Skype or Facebook. Usually early in the morning for me as I'm still up from the night before. They were great talks about comics, movies, TV and other nerdy things. Or often, just personal talks about our lives and what was happening at the moment. The man has given me some great advice in the past and is always someone I look forward to chatting with especially if I need some of his sage-like wisdom. He's really smart, sensible and honest and doesn't just tell me what I want to hear. Sometimes I need a little tough love and he's that good of a pal that he'll tell it to me straight. We don't IM as often but still do on occasion. Always look forward to it! 
• He has a great sense of humor. While Dave and I were alike in many ways, I think Barry and I are alike when it comes to the silly side of podcasting. I like to sing songs, play characters, do voices and such on my podcast. He does the same. From Santa (a perennial favorite) to Aquaman to just being "The Nuge"...it's all entertaining and funny stuff! 
• He's a big whiskey drinker like I am. And we've definitely thrown quite a few back together. Always nice to drink with someone who can appreciate the good stuff. 
• In 2011, he made a quick jaunt over to NYC for a few days. And it just so happened to coincide with my birthday. I was so excited that he was able to attend. Not just for me, but for him as well. He knows I have a lot of friends in the comic book business and he got to finally meet a couple that he's wanted to for some time now. While that trip was all about he and Sue having a blast, I was happy he made time to come meet up with me a few times for drinks, coffee and eats. 

Alas, as you read, we live across the pond from one another and have only been in the same place about 5 or 6 times since 2008. And every time we hang, it's awesome. He's just a solid person whom I consider a great friend. I know we'd definitely hang more if we were in the same city. Late nights of discussing the latest X-Men comics or sci-fi shows over whiskey would be a normal thing, I bet. I know we'll definitely do that soon one day. Even if it's only for a night. I'll have the whiskey ready, bud. 

After many whiskeys at Bristol Expo in 2008.

Post-Kapow Con in London last May with mutual pals Dave Monteith and Jonathan Ross. 

At my birthday party here in NYC back in December 2011. 

At Bristol Comic Expo in 2008 with Dave. 

Also at my birthday in December 2011 with my other pal John Cassaday that Barry finally got to meet.