Friday, June 10, 2005

Verdict Watch

I am occasionally amused/fascinated by the spectacle of news people having to fill time with nothing to say. They don't say a lot when they do have something to say but it's even worse when, for example, a high-speed chase is entering its second hour and all the known information could be summarized in about five minutes. Drawing it out and pretending to have new angles and perspectives is something of an art — one many of us dabbled in back in school when we had to write a 1000 word essay on some topic where we knew one measly fact.

The last few days, I've been peeking in on Court TV's "Verdict Watch" and, boy, those people are good at talking for hours and saying nothing. The situation around the Michael Jackson case has changed little since the case went to the jury a week ago. You could list every significant development in under two minutes: The jury sent out a note, contents unknown. Michael dropped by a hospital again. His lawyer said that he has not authorized anyone to speak for the family despite the (until yesterday) constant presence on the news of Jesse Jackson and/or some woman named Ramona Bain as spokespersons. And that's about it. I just watched ten minutes of speculation on whether a long deliberation bodes well or ill for the defense. Each "analyst" says it can mean anything...and then itemized all the different things it could mean.

As I write this, the "Jury Clock" is at 27 hours, 24 minutes and change...and Gloria Allred has joined the throng of Talking Heads who don't know anything but won't let that stop them. An awful lot of sentences begin with, "If Michael Jackson is convicted..."

This morning, the Court TV analysts were trying to suggest that Friday is often "Verdict Day" in a trial and that while nothing had been announced, there was something in the air. Now, passing 1:00 PM, they seem to be talking more about how this jury is so diligent that they could take a lot longer.

A little while ago, one gent explained that they'd tried and failed to get a glimpse of how the jurors were dressed this morning, operating on the premise that a well-dressed jury is one that expects it might be giving interviews later in the day. But of course, no one saw the jurors when they arrived for today's deliberations. I think it would have been great if they'd all marched in this morning dressed as various barnyard animals. It wouldn't have meant anything to the case but it would have given the trial analysts plenty to talk about. ("I once covered a case where they were all dressed in cow costumes and that jury voted to acquit...")

• Posted at 1:01 PM · LINK

John Albano

I finally have enough info to post about John Albano, the veteran comic book writer and cartoonist who passed away last Monday in an Orlando hospital near his home in Altamonte Springs, Florida. His sister-in-law says the cause of death was a heart attack followed by a stroke. He was 82 years old.

Albano had a long, varied career that included stints as an editor for The National Enquirer (for seven years) and magazine cartoons for an array of clients, including Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post. Comic book fans know him best for his time at DC in the seventies where he wrote for Joe Orlando's ghost comics (House of Mystery, etc.), Plop!, Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Swing with Scooter,, the revival of Leave It to Binky, and many others. He won the A.C.B.A. (Academy of Comic Book Arts) award for Best Humor Writer in 1972.

His most famous work probably was when he co-created — with artist Tony DeZuniga — the long-running western character, Jonah Hex, who originally appeared in All-Star Western in 1972. Albano wrote the first eleven tales of the scarred gunfighter when a dispute arose over the film rights to his co-creation. A lawsuit was settled with Albano receiving money but his relationship with DC Comics was effectlvely destroyed, and others wrote Jonah Hex for years after.

Albano also worked for the short-lived Atlas comic line of the seventies (Phoenix, Planet of Vampires, etc.) and for Gold Key comics on Underdog, Heckle & Jeckle and other comics produced out of the firm's New York office. He wrote for National Lampoon, authored some children's books and did a lot of work for Archie Comics beginning around 1984. He was writing for Archie as recently as a year ago, and had recently been devoting himself to the script for an off-Broadway play.

My thanks to his friend Michael Browning for gathering information and the photo. I don't think I ever crossed paths with John but if I had, I would have told him how much I enjoyed his work.

• Posted at 8:52 AM · LINK