An Interview with Walt Flanagan: The Original Comic Book Man

For longtime subscribers to the cult of Kevin Smith, watching his reality series Comic Book Men has been a pretty surreal experience. For years he’d said that Randal from Clerks and Brodie from Mallrats were based on his friends Bryan Johnson and Walt Flanagan respectively. But it wasn’t until now that we could see them in the flesh and realize that yep, that’s 100% true. Sure, they’re older now and don’t speak quite like Kevin Smith characters. But between Comic Book Men and their podcast Tell Em Steve Dave, all of the mannerisms, expressions, obsessions, and attitudes of the beloved indie comedy icons have slid out of Walt n’ Bry.