If you're interested in the number crunching and fine details of the WGA contract, this weblog post by Cynthia Littleton over at Variety will give you much to chew on. I'm not sure I understand all the deal points but the more I understand, the better the contract seems to me.
And hey, I just noticed. You see that photo that adorns the article? The picture of writers standing outside the Shrine Auditorium before the vote? If you click on it and enlarge it, you can see me over on the right wearing a brown jacket. No big deal, I know...but I thought it was novel to see one photo from a strike meeting that didn't have Marv Wolfman in it.
I'm told that after I left the Writers Guild meeting last night, there was at least one member who got up at a microphone and, in an effort to stop a ship that had long since sailed, argued that the deal was not good enough to accept. That case can always be made, of course, and everyone knew that there were areas in which the offer was flawed. We do not negotiate with philanthropists, after all. Our reps face off with huge conglomerates who send out their emissaries with orders to not yield a single cent more than absolutely necessary. At times, it gets insulting how maniacal they are; how men and women who boast of the billions that their companies gross can be so muleheaded about denying you every possible dime. But it should not be surprising in this day and age.
Those who expect something much, much better than what the WGA achieved are destined to always be at the mike, insisting that the deal should be better. They're not wrong, at least in theory. Where they're often wrong is in that pesky "real world" part of the equation. And really, what's significant and quite unprecedented is that there were so few of them in this strike. I never thought I'd witness such togetherness in the Writers Guild of America.
Long ago, I observed the following: That when an author gets that first copy of his new book (or comic book or any publication) from the printer or publisher, he or she can open it to any random page and find a typo. There may turn out to be only one in the entire volume but there'll be one on the first page you look at. Every time. What's more, your immediate reaction will be to stare stupidly at it and think, wrongly, "There's a way to fix that."
Guess why I bring this up. Yesterday, I received a finished, bound, printed copy of Kirby: King of Comics, a new book from Harry N. Abrams Publishing all about the great Jack Kirby and his artistry. I opened the FedEx box, removed a plastic wrapper, opened to a page in the middle and there it was...a word that should have been italicized but wasn't. If you purchase this book, you may never notice it. But as its author, it was my solemn duty to not only notice it but to spot it the second I opened the thing.
Anyway, the book finally exists and I'll play humble here and not tell you how proud I am of it. I wish I'd had more pages because Jack is such a vast and important subject, and I know I've already angered a few folks by telling them that their favorite Kirby creation got either short shrift or no shrift at all. A much longer, detailed biography of the man will follow in a couple of years and will probably err in the other direction, telling you more than you want to know.
Some of you have been asking me if there's going to be a special edition of some kind with fancier binding or more pages or anything of the sort that might make you want to hold off on purchasing this one. There was talk of that and there may still be, but at the moment, the answer is no. The only current reason you might have for waiting is because the Second Printing will probably fix that italicized word...and then I'll open a copy of that printing and find another typo. That's how it works, people.
Also, many of you have asked me when copies will be available. Amazon sent all pre-orders an e-mail saying it wouldn't be able to ship until mid-March. As far as I know, they'll have copies well before that. The page on which they sell the book currently says it came out February 1 and ships in 2-4 weeks. The February 1 is wrong but the 2-4 weeks is probably accurate and 2-3 would be more accurate. I've been assured there will be copies aplenty at the WonderCon in San Francisco, which commences February 22.
Hope you like it. Hope you buy it. If you haven't ordered yet and wish to, click on the banner above...or here, I'll save you scrolling back. You can also click here. We are nothing if not accommodating.
Several folks have e-mailed to tell me that the offending live-blogger was a gentleman who, along with being a WGA member (and therefore allowed into the meeting) is also an L.A. Times staffer who was posting to the paper's strike-themed weblog. I kinda figured as much. There were a number of reporters outside who were angry that they were not able to get inside and report from inside the event, and I'm sure it didn't seem fair to let one guy have a jump on everyone else. In any case, I apologize again for premature posting.
February 11, 2008
