Thursday, February 5, 2004

Virus Help

If you get the MyDoom com computer virus (or any of around 36 of the most popular viruses currently making the rounds), your system can probably be saved by the free Avert Stinger program offered by the McAfee people. It's no substitute for real virus protection but if you catch something, this utility should be able to remove it. Here's the link.

• Posted at 11:55 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

And here's Michael Kinsley's latest column, which is about how Democrats seem to be fumbling about to find the candidate who is least likely to appeal to Democrats. Well, that's not it exactly. Read it and you'll understand.

• Posted at 12:47 PM · LINK

Gay Marriage

We're all about to get quite weary of hashing and rehashing the issue of gay marriage. It probably is not, like guns and abortion and where to get the best pizza, one of those ceaseless arguments. That is, it has a resolution but right now, none of those arguing it in the public arena are looking for a solution or compromise; they want to keep it going until they win in full. Many are also eager to use it as a tool to win some election and/or unseat some incumbent.

There actually is a quickie solution, though almost no one will go for it. Last July, Michael Kinsley offered this concept that would work great if everyone really wanted to hurry and put the issue behind us. But among those who argue such things in legislatures and the press, no one really does. It's too tempting a battleground to, on the one hand, argue for less government intervention into bedrooms and the other, fight against what some see as a perilous decline of the family unit. There are also, of course, homosexuals and homophobes and never the twain shall meet.

I think gay marriage is inevitable in this country and like certain past issues of civil rights, its opponents will come to be ashamed of what may now seem to them as a principled stance. But I also think it's going to take a while. We're still at the stage when most candidates (and I include both Bush and Kerry in this) look like their carefully-worded positions come out of focus groups and polling, not their respective hearts. There are votes to be harvested so we have to listen to what I consider a bogus argument that gay marriage somehow undermines straight marriage. It certainly doesn't speak well for straight marriage that it can be harmed if the two guys down the street, who are already committed to one another, add an extra level of stability to that commitment and get a better insurance plan.

Amidst all the debate, public opinion will swing back and forth. At some point, the pendulum will swing far enough in favor of gay marriage that it will become the law of the land in most states...and nothing catastrophic will occur. Straight marriages will not suffer irreparable damage. God will not smite us all or send locusts to devour our crops. A lot of people who are currently in the middle on the issue but leaning against gay rights will realize it's not that big a deal if we acknowledge what already exists and give those folks a little more dignity and a few less legal obstacles to happiness. Suddenly, all those leaners will lean the other way and that will take all the steam out of the "anti" side, and we can move on to some other silly battle that also needn't be fought.

That's how I think it will end, but it's going to take a while, especially if the drive to amend the Constitution picks up enough momentum. Right now, there are too many people incensed on the issue, if only because they see it as a symbol of many things they don't like in this world. And there are too many parties who think they can manipulate those incensed people for political advantage. Some of us will be sick of the arguments before the year is out, some before the month is out. I figure I'm good for about another ten days of it. Two weeks, tops.

• Posted at 11:36 AM · LINK

Cheaper Review

Scott Shaw! makes no claim to being an unbiased reviewer of the new book by his pal, Floyd Norman. But he comes to all the same conclusions that I came to when I reviewed the same book by my pal, Floyd Norman.

• Posted at 1:05 AM · LINK

Creator Wrongs

An author-publisher named Clifford Meth is involved in a campaign to convince Marvel Comics, either out of decency or to avoid rotten publicity, to pay royalties to artist Dave Cockrum. Dave and writer Len Wein revamped the old, cancelled X-Men property into the new, wildly profitable X-Men franchise. Now, Dave is ill and unable to work and this article details how Meth and artist Neal Adams are disagreeing on some aspects of the situation — though both agree Dave should receive large checks. (So do I. If I can't get quite as militant about this as they are, it's because I've been through this with too many creators who were in a comparable or worse situation. I may just have exhausted my passion for such crusades.)

The article makes some solid points but when it references Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, it gets some facts wrong. One is the spelling of "Shuster." Search the Internet for comic websites that pay tribute to the creators of Superman and you'll find an amazing array with one or both names misspelled. Then, Siegel and Shuster did not approach National Periodicals with Superman. They submitted it to a syndicate operation that had a division that also printed comic books. That division showed it to DC Comics (it was not yet National Periodicals) and DC approached Jerry and Joe. This may seem like a minor distinction but in the current legal battle over Superman's copyright, this little detail matters a lot.

Also: The settlement Siegel and Shuster received on their Superboy lawsuit was not huge, even for that period, and it is just plain wrong to say that "neither Siegel nor Shuster were able to get work in the industry again." They both had plenty of work in the years that followed. Siegel wrote at one time or another for almost every comic company that was in business, including a return to DC where he authored some wonderful Superman stories between 1959 and 1965. Shuster got art jobs as long as his eyesight held up, which was sadly not for long. I think what happened to both those men was horrible but they certainly got work in the industry after the lawsuit was settled in '48.

Meth's recounting of Neal Adams' crusade to establish credits and a pension for Siegel and Shuster is correct but incomplete. Neal did wonderful, heroic things but so did other folks. Jerry Robinson, for example, was heavily involved in the final negotiations. (I don't mean to take anything away from Neal. Just trying to set the record straight.)

As for Dave Cockrum's situation...Dave's a helluva great guy and a tremendous talent. His contributions to the X-Men have led to zillions of dollars in toy sales alone, without even getting into comic book sales and movies and DVDs and other sources of income based on his designs. I am skeptical that Marvel will create the precedent of cutting him in, but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong.

• Posted at 12:50 AM · LINK