Mark McDermott’s Portfolio

Here you’ll find some samples of my creativity. Feel free to browse!
Artwork:
Writing:
Popular Culture Scholarship:
“Hamlet will return in Thunderball”:
Historical Precedents of Riffing” .pdf

From: In the Peanut Gallery with Mystery Science Theatre 3000:
Essays on Film, Fandom, Technology and the Culture of Riffing
edited by Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba
Copyright © 2011 Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba; McFarland & Co., Publishers

PDF's are from my submitted files, composed to match the editors' changes. The layout and fonts of the published book are matched as closely as possible.

“He Strikes Like Thun-n-n-nder-r-r-r-BALL-L-L-L-L-L!”
The Place of the James Bond Theme Song .pdf

From: James Bond in World and Popular Culture: The Films are Not Enough 2nd Ed., Rev.
edited by Robert G. Weiner, B. Lynn Whitfield and Jack Becker
Copyright © 2011 Robert G. Weiner, B. Lynn Whitfield, Jack Becker and contributors; Cambridge Scholars Publishing

I don't have a copy of the book yet, so the PDF is of the Word file I submitted, which will be different than the published version. The Amazon link above does let you “Look Inside the Book” and search my name for a few pages as published.

“The Invaders and the All-Star Squadron” and “History of the Marvel Zombies and Colonel America Among the Marvel Zombies” .pdf

From: Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays
edited by Robert G.Weiner
Copyright © 2009 Robert G. Weiner; McFarland & Co., Publishers

The Menace of Fans to the Franchise .pdf

From: Finding the Force of the Star Wars Franchise: Fans, Merchandise, & Critics
edited by Matthew Wilhelm Kapell & John S. Lawrence
Copyright © 2006 Peter Lang Pub Inc
Encyclopedia Articles:
Steve Dahl .pdf  text
Dr. Demento .pdf  text
The Flintstones .pdf  text
The Jetsons .pdf  text
Marvel Comics .pdf  text
Ren & Stimpy .pdf  text
Rocky & Bullwinkle .pdf  text
Scooby-Doo .pdf text
Jack Tramiel .pdf  text
Wolfman Jack .pdf  text
Steve Wozniak .pdf  text
Yogi Bear .pdf  text

From: The Guide to United States Popular Culture
edited by Ray B. Browne & Pat Browne
Copyright 2001 © Bowling Green State University Popular Press
(more samples on the way)

These are some of the dozen or so articles I wrote for this massive tome, in Acrobat PDF format for easy viewing the way they appeared in print.

Newspaper “Advertorial:”
“Answering the Call”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, Jan 5, 2003 .pdf (58K)
“Complex Economy Keeps Financial Advisors in Demand”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, Feb 2, 2003 .pdf (52K)
“Branching out: Expansions offer entry to banking careers” 
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, Mar. 2, 2003 .pdf (74K)
“Flexibility key to placement in tight education market”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, June 1, 2003 .pdf (44K)
“Quick-service restaurants offer tasty careers”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, July 27, 2003 .pdf (50K)
“Opportunities abound for local drivers of all types”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, August 17, 2003 .pdf (62K)
“Demand returning for skilled temp workers”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, September 21, 2003 .pdf (61K)
“Now’s the time to start looking for holiday jobs”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, October 5, 2003 .pdf (49K)
“Association helps women excel in insurance industry”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, November 9, 2003 .pdf (43K)
“Software know-how key for accounting careers”
Chicago Tribune CareerBuilder section, January 25, 2004 .pdf (64K)
Copyright © 2003-2004 Chicago Tribune

“Advertorial” is written in support of various advertising sections. It is usually handled by freelancers with no ties to the newspaper’s Editorial department. All material presented here is copyrighted to the sources in which they appeared. It is presented here as a “writing sample” by the author, who makes no other claim to further ownership.

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