CON: Thomas Jane rox!

There were several things about this year’s Comic Con that
truly stood out (although the actual movie content on the panels
wasn’t all that memorable) and one of them had to be the
evening of the 27th, upon our return to the hotel bar for some
"heading back to bed" drinks, and stumbling upon a few
celebs milling about, in particular one cool-looking mofo, shirt
buttoned down, drink-in-hand, cell in the other, just making his
way through the bar-crowd like a man on a mission. That man? Thomas
Jane!

While neither
myself, the Arrow, Jim Law, Johnny Moreno or Jenny really spoke
about him to the other, at some later point in the evening, we
each simultaneously came to be absolutely charmed by the man’s
rugged and all-around manliness, that we sat around talking about how
cool Thomas Jane really was (each of the boys will chime in
through this piece with their thoughts as well).

BOOGIE NIGHTS
was obviously one of the top dogs that we discussed, as his
rendition of Todd Parker just stood out in that movie, and with a
cast like in that film, that’s saying something! He was
awesome in DREAMCATCHER as well, even though the film didn’t fully
come together, he sure opened it up real nice. DEEP BLUE SEA was
another film we talked up, in which he went mano-a-sharko, as well
as his well placed comedic cameos in "Arrested
Development". And oh yeah, let’s not forget that he played
the lead character in a little film entitled THE PUNISHER!!
And even though that movie ultimately didn’t deliver as it could
have, almost everyone agreed that Jane was "the man" in
that shit and certainly looked, acted and was Frank
Castle!!

I
also hear that he was the shit in STANDER, but I haven’t seen that
one yet. Something to look forward to though. He was at this
year’s Comic Con with Frank Darabont and his starring role in THE
MIST, but also because he recently co-created a comic entitled
"Alien Pig Farm"
with JASON X screenwriter Todd Farmer, as well as Steve Niles and
Don Marquez and another one entitled "Bad
Planet". That’s right, he drinks, he acts, he creates
comic books and oh yeah…he f*ckin’ rocks!!

"I
have a new hero, and his name is Jane. From the moment he appeared
out of the hotel lobby and greeted his friends with "What the
f*ck?", I’ve been secretly following him around San Diego. I
grow a new piece of chest hair every second I’m around him due to
his manliness. When you can hold a series of conversations with a
man that range from the inventory of quality comic book stores to
"slapping that cock-sucker that touched my cigar across the
face" with the guy that played Todd Parker in BOOGIE NIGHTS
all in one drastically drunk night, you know you picked the right
bar. Here’s to you Tom, and thanks for not killing me." —
Jim Law

But as the
night drew to a close, and more of Jane’s buddies started mulling
about (folks like the awesome Tim Bradstreet and the equally
awesome Steven Niles), we all started to shudder with the thought
of leaving Jane behind, and never seeing him again. As we stumbled
toward our respective rooms, we discussed him a little more and
how that f*ckin’ cigar he was chomping on was the tits, how his
macho grumblings around the bar turned the place from a two-bit
hotel dive in which conventioneers try and impress the waitresses
for a night to a late night ‘boite’ in which a man can strut
about, spit on the floor, chug a few beers and feel the vigor of
his every day pain, and realized that we needed PROOF of
his existence among us that evening.

The always
resourceful (and 6’3" or some shit) Jim Law took it upon
himself to nab Jenny’s camera and race over to Jane’s side in an
attempt to get the man to pose for our sorry fanboy asses (we
wouldn’t dare to ask for a photo with him, but figured that
he might be cool enough to let us snap one of just he). Before he
left, I passed along some important information though: "If
you are able to get by his side, make sure that he knows that it’s
because we’re writing an article on him." Law nodded and
jetted off.

Two minutes
and several manly grunts later, as the Arrow, Moreno, Jenny and I
stood around the corner, afraid to see what Jane’s true-blue
buddies might do to Jimbone, who despite the hour (it must’ve been
past 2am by that point), probably had no business getting close to
the great man, Law came running back, hands in the air and with
"success" plastered all over his face. "I got it,
man…this guy is awesome!". We all rushed around his side of
the digital camera and what we saw next wasn’t the best picture
that he could get that night but…the BEST PICTURE that we got
the entire Comic Con!!! That’s right, folks…exclusively for
us here at JoBlo.com, the man, the myth, the f*ckin’ punisher,
dude…Thomas Jane!

"When I first saw Thomas Jane do his thing in
DEEP BLUE SEA, I f*ckin’ loved him right off the bat. Charismatic, focused, intense
and with talent to spare… what a great f*ckin’ actor, I thought. I went on to seek out pretty much every film he had acted in at the time and my respect for the man and his work grew even stronger. Then, he tackled
THE PUNISHER and his gripping rendition of Frank Castle blew me away (he was easily the best thing in that
ho- hum film). So at this point, I didn’t think I could groove to Tom Jane more that
I already did but apparently… I thought wrong!

I just met Jane at
this year’s Comic Con and he was in full “party mode", chest hairs proudly displayed via an open shirt and
with a stogie lodged in his mouth. I RESPECT THAT! Especially when taking into account that we live in an age of waxed chests, mascara abusing dudes and pixie dust. Topple on top of that the passionate way in which he spoke to us about his new comic book
("Alien Pig Farm"!!!) and you had an Arrow sold! Sold on what? Sold on Thomas Jane being one the greatest
men (and I stress the word MAN) to ever walk God’s used- to- be- green earth. KNEEL BEFORE JANE!"
— John Fallon aka the Arrow

As an epilogue, my favorite part
of this entire story for me was Jim explaining how this picture
actually went down. So he was somehow able to get close enough to
Jane to ask, "Sorry dude, I know you’re busy and all, having
a good time, but can I get a quick picture of you?" Jane
apparently winced and wasn’t entirely convinced (and who could
blame him!!), although he knew that he should listen further as
this tall bald mofo in front of him certainly meant business. And
business it was, as Jim continued: "We want to write an
article about you on JoBlo.com." Jane suddenly lit up:
"An article on me?!" Jim replied, "Yeah, on
JoBlo.com." At this point, Jane jumped around and said,
"JoBlo.com, that’s awesome…let’s do it!", and the pose
you see above is that very next moment. Priceless.

By the way, in doing a little
research for this article, I read some of his "trivia"
on IMDB, and if
you didn’t think he was cool enough already, here a few more
reasons to bookmark this actor into your ‘favorites’ category:

• Is married to Patricia
  Arquette a.k.a. Alabama Worley!!

• Is a fan of the alternative
  band The White Stripes

• Is the former son-in-law of
  Rutger Hauer!

• While filming a fight scene
  in THE PUNISHER, accidentally stabbed Kevin Nash, the wrestler

• Is half-Irish, a quarter
  Italian and a quarter German. F*ckin’ aye.

• Thomas Jane always signs
  autographs!!!!

"It’s true that we stole a cab from Thomas Jane. If we had known what kind of man we were stealing from, we probably would’ve backed down. Seeing Thomas Jane raging around the hotel bar, drink in hand,
chomping on a cigar while yelling out for someone — who shall
remain nameless — was probably the greatest moment of The Con, if not my
life!! At one point, Thomas Jane pulled out a crinkled five dollar bill saying,
"Five bucks for anyone that can kick the man who shall remain
nameless’s ass!” I say put Thomas Jane on Mount Rushmore and watch how the former presidents slowly melt away into the earth. We never did find out who
the nameless man was, but he better hope that God finds him before Thomas Jane does."
— Johnny Moreno

Tim Bradstreet, Steven Niles, Thomas Jane

I mean, c’mon already…let’s
champion this male specimen as the next Chuck Norris or something
— although with a thousand times greater talent in the field of
acting, of course! Finally, let me leave you with a quote from the
man himself taken from the IMDB. I believe that it says a lot
about Thomas Jane, a lot that we all from JoBlo.com saw and felt
that evening and continue to feel to this day: this is a man’s
man.

Here’s a dude with rugged good
looks (okay, that’s Jenny’s contribution to this piece), a
rough-and-tumble build (again…Jenny), a chemistry that just
oozes for people to want him around and an attitude that spills
beer, cigar and man-sweat all over anyone in his vicinity, and as
that man, and the great actor that he is, we anoint him as…our "Man
of the Year" at this year’s San Diego Comic Con.
Congratulations, Tom and just keep being the man you are, my
friend!

"I
don’t go to work to ‘have fun’. I turn up, say my lines, collect
my check, and then go home to my wife and kid. I ain’t there to
stick around and laugh and cut up with people, and I ain’t there
to giggle and play jokes and pull people’s underwear down and
stuff."

HOLY
SHIT, he’s got a cool website too!