Thursday, December 1, 2005

More Stamp Stuff

So I was thinking about how it was a shame that some comic book characters will never make it to postage stamp stature, and I decided to whip up three examples. I also wanted to note that my Alfred E. Neuman stamp prompted quite a few correspondents to make the same joke. Here's Kim "Howard" Johnson...

I don't think we'll see the Alfred E. stamp for at least three years. George W. Bush will quash it, thinking that someone is making fun of him...

Here's Jackson Togyer...

My understanding is that the Postal Service can't issue a stamp in honor of President Bush until he passes away.

Here's Rudy Panucci...

I hate to tell you this, but I don't think the Post Office could release the stamp that you proposed in one of your recent items. Usually a person has to be deceased for ten years before their image can be used on a stamp, although an exception can be made for a former president. However, our current president is still alive, and aside from that, I don't know why Time Warner would want to put him on a stamp, anyway. NewsCorp, I could see, but not Time Warner. So your idea of a stamp feature George W. Bush just isn't appropriate. Even with the price reversed.

Alfred E. Neuman? Oh, never mind.

And so on and so on. I don't see the physical resemblance but there is a certain similarity in the "What, me worry?" attitude.

• Posted at 4:19 PM · LINK

Today's Political Thought

Governor Bob Taft of Ohio has achieved something remarkable. If this poll is to be believed, he currently has an approval rating of 6.5% and no, I didn't misplace the decimal point. This bests former Illinois governor George Ryan who once notched a 7% approval rating.

Now, as it happens, this is not a poll I particularly trust but let's pretend for a minute it's accurate. That would have to be quite liberating for Mr. Taft. I mean, it's not like he's sitting there, fretting how to get his poll numbers up. It's over. The guy could go out and start selling methamphetamine to pre-schoolers and it wouldn't harm his popularity that much. The 6.5% probably represents people who profited over the governor's financial shenanigans and they're not going to abandon him over a little thing like that.

Do you realize how low 6.5% is? My state recalled a governor named Gray Davis when he hit 25%. That's almost four times as popular as Bob Taft.

I don't know what the current number is but a few years ago, 9% of all Americans told pollsters that either they or someone in their family had had contact with beings from outer space. If that's still the case then more people think they've met Martians than believe Bob Taft is a good governor. You know how bad this guy is doing? If he were to run for re-election, Alan Keyes could beat him.

Bob Taft is in his second term. There are people who voted for this man twice.

• Posted at 1:24 PM · LINK

Stamp Acts

Several folks have written to inform me that the Batman image on the forthcoming DC stamps is from a cover by Jim Lee and Scott Williams. And almost all who wrote wondered why I didn't mention that the Green Lantern image was by Neal Adams from the first of the famous Green Lantern-Green Arrow issues. I don't know why I didn't do that.

Also, Kurt Busiek informs me that the post office press release (which I hadn't seen) says the art on the Plastic Man stamp is by Dick Giordano. I'm pretty sure it's from that eighties style guide I mentioned, where most of the art was by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and/or Dick Giordano. Maybe that drawing was just Dick but at that size, it's hard to tell.

By the way: Last evening, I called Paul Norris, the co-creator of Aquaman, to say howdy and to tell him that his character's going to be on a stamp. Paul, who is now 91 or thereabouts, was quite pleased to hear the news.

Warner has had the connections/clout to get the WB characters (Bugs Bunny, et al) on stamps and now the DC heroes. How long do we think it'll be before we see this?

• Posted at 3:21 AM · LINK

Worse, Worser and Worst

Countdown with Keith Olbermann is MSNBC's highest-rated program. Admittedly, this is like being the classiest guest on The Jerry Springer Show but someday, someone at MSNBC will figure out that no one wants a news channel with no identity. Maybe, just maybe, they'll notice that what Olbermann's doing is working and try a little more of that.

I continue to be amused at Olbermann's occasional shots at his competitor, Bill O'Reilly. Yesterday, a batch of funny ones came in Countdown's daily selection of "The Worst Person in the World." Here's a link to a Windows Media Player file of the segment, courtesy of the website, Can O' Fun.

• Posted at 1:24 AM · LINK