ItsJustSomeRandomGuy was the alias of Michael Agrusso, an American voice acting teacher, writer, and performer working and living in Los Angeles, California.[2] The channel is the source of the YouTube video parody series "Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC", which spoofs Apple's Get a Mac television commercials, known for their opening lines, "Hello, I'm a Mac..." "...And I'm a PC."

Michael Agrusso
ItsJustSomeRandomGuy creator Michael Agrusso at the 2012 New York Comic Con.
Other namesItsJustSomeRandomGuy
Occupation(s)Voice acting teacher, writer, performer
Known for"Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC"
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2007–2021
Genre(s)Satire, parody, commentary
Subscribers166 thousand[1]
Total views90.82 million[1]
100,000 subscribers

Last updated: August 26, 2024

Background

edit

In late February/early March 2007, Agrusso read the Internet news that the films based on the DC Comics characters The Flash and Wonder Woman both lost their directors due to creative differences with Warner Brothers on the same day. In contrast, several future films based on Marvel Comics characters were in production. He later saw a "Get a Mac" commercial, which inspired him to parody the contrasting levels of success between Marvel and DC film productions.[2]

Marvel/DC parodies

edit

Agrusso first wrote the scripts for four videos, using two characters, Spider-Man (Marvel) and Superman (DC), as their companies' representatives. After posting two videos in March 2007, Agrusso posted six more videos in the subsequent months.

In the summer of 2008, five superhero movie blockbusters opened: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hancock, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and The Dark Knight. In response, Agrusso created a second "Hi, I'm a Marvel" series, this time with Iron Man (Marvel), the Hulk (Marvel), Batman (DC) and Hellboy (Dark Horse) instead of Spider-Man and Superman.[3] The series spanned the summer as the new superhero movies opened.

In February 2009, Agrusso was again hired by the New York Comic Con organization to make promotional videos for their event.

Reception and popularity

edit

As of January 14, 2024, 166 thousand YouTube users were subscribed to the channel and its videos had been viewed more than 90.6 million times;[4] the channel's first video has been viewed over 5.3 million times. An official press release by New York Comic Con via Comic Book Resources called Agrusso "a genuine Internet superstar."[5] In July 2008, q4music.com ranked one of the channel's videos as one of the top ten YouTube videos of the month.[6]

The channel primarily discusses comic book films from the two major comic book companies (Marvel and DC) using humor. Agrusso writes, performs, and shoots his videos at home.[2][7]

In 2012, Agrusso voiced Superman in an episode of the popular web series, Death Battle, by ScrewAttack, and also helped promote the video with his own skits. It was the most highly requested episode in which Superman would fight Goku from Dragon Ball Z, and has received 38 million views to this day. Agrusso reprised his role for a second episode in 2015.

He uploaded his last video on Apr 14, 2021, and has been inactive ever since.[8]

Music

edit

Agrusso uses GarageBand program on his computer to create much of the background music for his videos. He has composed a few pieces of music:

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "About ItsJustSomeRandomGuy". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b c Lichman, John (2008-07-11), "Look Out! Here Comes JustSomeRandomGuy (and Gal!)", Stream, retrieved 2008-07-11
  3. ^ Marvel vs. DC 2.0
  4. ^ "ItsJustSomeRandomGuy's Channel". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  5. ^ CBR News Team, Editor (2008-02-29), "ItsJustSomeRandomGuy producing promotional videos for the New York Comic Con", Comic Book Resources, retrieved 2008-07-11 {{citation}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Barnes, Anthony (2008-07-31), "Clips of the Month", The Q Daily, archived from the original on 2008-08-18, retrieved 2008-08-11
  7. ^ Beamer, Wayne (2007-05-10), "The Secret Origin of the 'I'm a Marvel… and I'm a DC' parody", Newsarama, archived from the original on 2007-07-13, retrieved 2008-07-11
  8. ^ "History of the MDCU Part 8: Hellos and Goodbyes, w/Guest GodzillaMendoza (Marvel/DC Parody/Review)". Youtube.
edit