In comic book shops now! Many Happy Returns is a new comic anthology which resurrects comic book features of the past. I'm not saying "great comic book features of the past" because one of the ones in its first issue is a new Crossfire tale, written by Yours Truly and drawn by Dan Spiegle. Dan and I did Crossfire for many years in the eighties and we both get a lot of "Hey, any chance of you bringing that one back?" Well, that one's back for one eight-page story in this book, which also features William Messner-Loebs' Journey and Nat Gertler's Licensable Bear™ and more.
Many Happy Returns was made possible by Happy Harbor Comics, a chain of shops in and around Alberta, Canada. I thank them for giving Dan and me the chance to revisit our boy. I hope you enjoy it and I hope we have more opportunities to bring him back. Because we missed him.
Last November, I saw and very much enjoyed the Broadway version of Xanadu, which was adapted from the 1980 movie starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Here's a news story about this new production, which is still doing quite well from what I hear.
So this A.M., I get up at an ungodly hour to take someone to the airport. On the way back, I stop off for a bite o' breakfast at Pann's, a "Googie" style coffee shop located not far south of LAX. It's one of those places that you might frequent for the homey atmosphere or even for the architecture, but the food's pretty good, too.
Now, you may need to picture this. I'm sitting at the counter eating Something and Eggs, and two stools to my left, there's a man wearing blue sweats and he's talking. At first, I think he's talking to me but then I realize he has a Bluetooth® headset in the ear I can't see and he's talking to someone else.
And then a minute or three later, I notice that in a booth to my right, about ten feet away, a guy in a security guard uniform is sitting and eating and he also is talking on a Bluetooth® headset. It's an interesting contrast to the fifties' decor of Pann's: All these people sitting around, communicating via space-age contraptions.
And then a couple of minutes later, I realize the following: That the other party with whom the fellow in the blue sweats is conversing is the security guard in my right. They're talking to each other. In fact, just as I'm figuring this out and I'm still not completely certain, the gent to my left says, "Oh, you should have seen this cake...it was this big!" And he holds his hands up so that the security guard can see them and get some idea how big that cake was. Later, when the security guard has to leave, he comes over and shakes hands with Mr. Blue Sweats and then he walks out of the restaurant...and all this time, the conversation is continuing.
I'm not sure how I feel about this or even if it's necessary for me to have any reaction at all. I'm just hoping neither of them said, "Well, it's been nice having breakfast with you."
April 5, 2008
