Thursday, November 12, 2009

Briefly Noted...

Ah! Jeffrey Trexler explains to me how it is that the photo of Shel Dorf accompanying his New York Times obit sports a copyright for DC Comics even though the photo contains no DC properties. I've been looking at the online obit. The one in the print newspaper — apparently, they still have those — has two photos, the other being a shot of Himon, a character Jack Kirby based on Shel and inserted into an issue of the Mister Miracle comic. That panel should display a DC copyright since it is a DC comic book. For the online obit, they omitted one photo but kept the caption that went with both photos. Thanks, Jeff. I knew there was an explanation.

• Posted at 11:16 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

I figured that when Lou Dobbs departed CNN (apparently not by choice), he was still dickering with Fox News for a job there. His spin on the day's events would fit right in, plus he'd have the added value to them of being able to denounce his old employers as commie news-slanters. But Joe Conason thinks it's not out of the question that Mr. Dobbs may have his eyes on the White House.

• Posted at 10:25 PM · LINK

Twice Together is Two

So what happened was that it was announced that Dame Edna Everage would return to Broadway in a one-man...er, one-woman...uh, one-person show. Dame Edna creates great pronoun trouble for those of us who write about him or her. The show was to be called It's All About Me.

But then it was also announced that Michael Feinstein would be returning to Broadway at about the same time in a one-performer show called All About Me.

Arguments supposedly flared about the similar titles. Claims and counter-claims were made. Broadway insiders got suspicious because both shows had announced opening dates in March but hadn't announced theaters...and there aren't that many theaters that might be available then.

Simple conclusion: It's a publicity stunt.

And sure enough, this morning on The Today Show, Mr. Feinstein announced that he and Dame Edna will open in a two-person show called All About Me on March 23. Which was apparently the plan all along.

Cute trick. I'm not sure I wouldn't prefer to see one or the other stretch out for the full evening but that could be quite a presentation. And they're off to a good start, publicity-wise.

• Posted at 4:05 PM · LINK

Wonderful WonderCon

Hotel reservations are now open for the 2010 WonderCon in San Francisco, which is being held April 2-4. Never mind that Sergio and I are Guests of Honor. We're always Guests of Honor. The big news is that Stan and Hunter Freberg are Guests of Honor, as well as other fine folks you'd enjoy hearing and meeting. Those of you who think the convention in San Diego is too damn big may find WonderCon to be the perfect size for you: Large enough that there's always something to see or do, small enough that you can cross the hall without needing to set your watch ahead or back an hour. Your attendance is recommended.

• Posted at 2:54 PM · LINK

Today's Political (sorta) Rant

Carrie Prejean, the ousted Miss California, has been making the rounds, getting a lot more airtime than any state-level beauty queen in history to complain that everyone's trying to silence her. She's one of a lot of people in the news lately who remind me of that line on the tape where now-ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich was saying, of the chance to appoint a U.S. Senator, something like "I've got this thing and I'm going to find some way to profit from it." And in a way, I have trouble faulting Ms. Prejean for what she's trying to do.

I think beauty pageants are shallow and bogus but I certainly understand why an attractive 21-year-old lady might see one as her best opportunity to make some money, attain some fame and maybe springboard to a lucrative career. And while I find her politics repugnant, I also see the sums of cash some are making by pandering to the Palin boosters and I get where she's coming from there, as well. If she'd done what a proper Miss California was supposed to do, no one would ever have heard of her. She wouldn't have a book coming out that a lot of right-wingers will buy. She wouldn't be receiving whatever offers and deals she's going to wring out of all this. Whether she winds up lecturing on the Bob Jones circuit or marketing sex tapes — not that there's a huge difference between those two options — she'll make more than if she'd just been a nice, non-controversial pageant winner appearing at boat shows.

Her appearance last night on Larry King Live was a two-way train wreck. She didn't want to answer questions and he, as usual, didn't know what to ask. Still, the spot served both their purposes. He got some tune-in. She sold some books. I don't see that there's much more happening there than that.

The one thing she said I could believe was sincere was that Sarah Palin is her role model. A former beauty contestant who's becoming rich and famous saying vapid, baseless things and firing up the rabid right? Yeah, sure. I can see where she gets it.

• Posted at 1:46 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Fred Kaplan on what Obama really has to decide with regard to Afghanistan.

• Posted at 1:37 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Daniel Larison writes about people who want to claim that Barack Obama doesn't love his country. Larison's a pretty solid Conservative but I find myself agreeing with him often and I agree with him on this. I also think that a lot of folks who profess to love America love it the way Ike Turner loved Tina.

• Posted at 12:44 PM · LINK

David Lloyd, R.I.P.

The great comedy writer David Lloyd has left us. It is my loss (and the reason I can't write much here about him) that in my entire life in the TV business, I probably spent less than three minutes in the company of David Lloyd. It was in the office over at Cheers and all I really remember is that he walked in and you knew that everyone in the room loved and respected the guy. Fortunately, Ken Levine knew him well enough to write the kind of piece that should be written...so I'll just add that he was a great writer and I think he wrote even better scripts than "Chuckles Bites the Dust." That is meant only as a compliment.

• Posted at 3:21 AM · LINK

More on Shel

Obit for Shel Dorf in the New York Times. I don't understand why the accompanying photo has a copyright line for DC Comics, either.

• Posted at 3:08 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Another one of them Craig Ferguson openings. More than a few of you have written in to note that Mr. Ferguson is working with the ingenuity (and pert near the budget) of the late Soupy Sales. This is so.

And if anyone from the Late Late Show happens upon this blog, I have a suggestion for a future musical opening. Check out a copy of an old rock 'n' roll tune by Brook Benton called "Hit Record." I can already see you guys working your magic with that one.

• Posted at 12:35 AM · LINK

From the E-Mailbag...

Gregory Johnston writes to ask...

I've read the pieces you've written about Shel Dorf. I never met Mr. Dorf but I'm grateful to him for the role he played in starting the convention that I try to attend whenever I can afford the trip. I was saddened to read that he became as you put it, estranged from the con. You said that attempts were made to get him involved or to receive a pension and I wonder if you could explain about those attempts and tell us what went wrong and what you would have liked to see happen.

I'm not going to get too deep into specifics on this because the situation was complicated and I'm not sure I know all the details well enough to chronicle them; nor is some of it really anybody's business. You'll just have to take my word — for whatever you think that may be worth — that the convention tried to rectify matters and that I wish Shel had been more amenable. He could be very obstinate. We were pals for close to forty years and during that time, we had arguments and disagreements, and we were even involved in a couple of business-type deals, unrelated to the con, that I thought he badly mishandled. Perhaps you have someone in your life you consider a friend even though you don't think they manage their lives properly. I have a number of them in mine.

Some of Shel's problems with the con flowed from the fact that Comic-Con International is a non-profit organization, a fact I probably should have mentioned in my writings about him. That means the con is governed by strict rules about how it handles its money and how it must account for every nickel. I think a lot of people presume that its operators all take home huge salaries and bonuses but that is not the case. Many are volunteers and the ones who are paid do not receive high wages. Yeah, the con takes in millions. It also costs millions to put on each year.

As a guy who does a lot of things at and with the con, I have been known to make suggestions. Some, they take. Some, they mull and decide (probably wisely) were rotten ideas. And often, someone there explains to me why my idea isn't practical or legal or — usually — why it would cost a helluva lot more money than I think it would. I have found the con staff to be knowledgeable and eager to please within the confines of what is possible. When they tell me my idea isn't, I accept that and figure they're almost certainly right. When someone told Shel an idea or demand wasn't feasible, he got angry. In a day or so here, I'll be linking to a must-read piece by his friend, R.C. Harvey, about the man. Bob Harvey knew Shel as well as anyone and also tried to breach the impasse he came to in his life with the convention. Bob and I encountered exactly the same problems.

The convention is a huge, complex beast that is somehow tamed on an annual basis. I was impressed the other night to see human beings do the impossible at Cirque du Soleil and I continue to be impressed with the Comic-Con International in much the same way. Knowing what I do about the problems and obstacles and legal complications and the egos and needs of guests and exhibitors, I am amazed they pull it off each year. (And please, don't write me with your complaints about things you don't like about the con. There are things I don't like about the con, too...and even if all our complaints are valid, it's still astounding how much goes right.)

What's more, the con is run for love far more than money. A convention committee member complained to me today that what I wrote about Shel had made it sound like he was the only one with any passion or love of the art forms in that hall. I don't think I said that...but if anyone took that away from anything I wrote, let me correct that impression. I've been dealing with various permutations of the convention committee since '70 and have yet to meet a person who didn't love comics and/or science-fiction. That's one of the reasons I think the convention works as well as it does.

Getting back to Shel and his estrangement: I think there was a role for him in the con in his later years. I do not quite understand why he didn't accept it. And that's about as much on this topic as I feel like writing tonight.

I will add a possible correction: I said Shel's last appearance at the con was 2001. That's the last time I saw him there, and I think he told me that was the last time he ventured into one. Others have since told me they saw him there, albeit briefly, in later years. Whatever, the point is that he went from being the point man and figurehead of the con to being a fellow who made cameo appearances and felt distanced from it all. That's very sad but I'm happy to see him getting recognition for what he did contribute, and I stand by what I wrote here: Those of us who care about comics are forever in his debt.

• Posted at 12:34 AM · LINK