Barry Dutter likes to call himself "America's Most Beloved Pop Culture
Writer." He calls himself this because nobody else will! Born in December,
1974, in a small town in suburban New Jersey, Dutter has been writing
professionally since the age of 18.
His first job was working as a freelance journalist covering the comic
book industry. Among the publications he wrote for were The Comics Buyer's
Guide, Comics Scene, Amazing Heroes, pretty much any mag with the word
"comics" in the title.
In the early 1990's, he began writing for Marvel Age, which was the
official fan magazine for Marvel Comics. "My goal with Marvel Age was to get
the word 'pulse-pounding'' in every single issue, and I'm proud to say I
succeeded!" This led to a staff position at Marvel Comics. This enabled him
to finally write stories featuring the Marvel Super-heroes, which Dutter
describes as "the only job I ever wanted since I was nine years old!"
Among the super-heroes Dutter wrote for Marvel were Spider-Man, the
X-Men, Nick Fury, Captain America, and the Hulk. He also had a lengthy stint
on Marvel's Ren & Stimpy comic book. In the mid-90's, Dutter left staff at
Marvel to pursue his freelance career. It was around this time that saw the
publication of his first book, Everything I Really Need To Know I Learned
From Television, with the brilliant artist Rick Parker. He also began doing
some work for MAD Magazine and Simpsons Comics.
In 1996, Dutter left the wilds of New Jersey, and moved to sunny
Florida, where he first performed as a stand-up comic. He also began working
as a film extra. Dutter notes, "I've appeared in virtually every movie
that's been filmed in South Florida from 1996 on." This includes such hits
as WILD THINGS, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, and DONNIE BRASCO.
Also a role as a TV news reporter in the Burt Reynolds/Richard Dreyfuss
flick, THE CREW, which was released in August, 2000.
1997 saw the release of Dutter's second book, HOW TO BE A HOLLYWOOD
SUPERSTAR, illustrated by the late Rich Hoover. Dutter calls Rich Hoover
"one of the greatest caricaturists who ever lived - and very funny, to boot.
The cartoon world is definitely an emptier place for his passing."
1998 brought book #3, THE SHY GUY'S GUIDE TO DATING, which Dutter
likes to call, "My first book with no pictures in it!" Book #4, another
cartoon compendium called IN A PERFECT WORLD, will supposedly be released
sometime this year by CCC Publications. This book features the talents of
Steve Kurth, an artist who was discovered in a nationwide talent search.
Early in 2000, Dutter joined the staff for CRACKED, the international
humor magazine, which he had contributed to as a freelancer since 1996. By
the end of the year, he had been promoted to Editor-In-Chief of the mag.
In 2002, he worked for AMI,
American Media International, the company that was infected with ANTHRAX and
had it headquarters shut down. He wrote articles about Big Foot and
UFO's for the humor newspaper, the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS, but the stories he
made up that tabloid weren't half as wild as the stuff that was happening
there in real life. He has also written some pocket-sized Trivia
Books which can be found in the checkout aisle of K-Mart, Target, and most
major supermarkets.
In June 2003 he can
be seen in the AMERICAN IDOL movie, J2K: FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY.
In addition to being an editor, Dutter also served as head writer for
CRACKED, writing at least half of each 48-page issue!
As far as future plans, Dutter has several more books in development,
as well as movie screenplays.
He says, "I intend to continue writing self-help books, dishing out
relationship advice even though I know nothing about relationships!" He also
plans to finally sell a screenplay to Hollywood! Dutter concluded, "Since I
am America's Favorite Pop Culture Writer, there's no limit to what I can
do!"
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