Yearly Archives: 2003

This is the war in Iraq we're asking about. Here's the current dollar figure. And of course, there's also the little matter of Americans dying.

Paul Dini's comely Christmas chorine, Jingle Belle, goes to the Comic-Con. Right here.

The current issue of Locus, the science fiction news magazine, is a special issue guest-edited by master illustrator Charles Vess. The topic is graphic novels, and there's an interview with Alan Moore, articles by Neil Gaiman, Richard Pini, Harlan Ellison and others, plus other fun stuff. Here's a link to a page that will tell you the full contents and if you navigate around, you can probably find a way to order a copy. I've been around fandom long enough to recall a time when science-fiction fans acted as if they were way up on the food chain compared to us funnybook fanciers.

Back then, Locus would rather have ceased publication than write about the comic book field, and now they've gone and done this very nice issue about graphic novels. How far we've come.

A 74-year-old woman was wandering through a Detroit casino one day when she found a nickel in an unattended slot machine. She attempted to play it but casino employees rushed up and surrounded the woman. She was questioned and photographed. Then they confiscated both the nickel and a meal ticket she was holding, plus they ejected her from the casino and warned her that she'd be arrested if she ever returned. She sued the casino and a mediator suggested settling her claim for $17,000. The casino rejected this amount as exorbitant and allowed her suit to continue. Guess the end of this story.

Whatever happened to Monti Rock the Third?

A very talented gent named Craig McCracken created the animated series known as The Powerpuff Girls, which is seen constantly on Cartoon Network and everywhere else. Another very talented gent named Genndy Tartakovsky created the ones known as Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, which are also seen often on Cartoon Network. Why am I telling you this? Because — jerk that I am — I got them confused in my newly-released book, Wertham Was Right. As Kenneth Plume (of IGN FilmForce) just called to my attention, I wrote on page 56, "Powerpuff Girls is the vision of a terrific artist named Genndy Tartakovsky."

It doesn't invalidate the point I was trying to make, which was that the best cartoons are done by strong-willed, distinctive creators, but it's still incorrect. I plugged in the name of the wrong strong-willed, distinctive creator, and I can't blame it on the head of the C.I.A. Nor can I claim that the British are still standing by this statement. It's no one's fault but my own. Genndy did work on The Powerpuff Girls but it was created by Craig, and next time I'm out at Cartoon Network, I'll give them both copies of the book with my sincere apologies and invite them to kick me in some appropriate spot. (If you'd like to order a copy in spite of this, click here. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't.)

There's something very dislikable about Bill Maher but boy, he writes a funny, on-target commentary.

Now that it looks like there'll be a recall election (or maybe an UNelection) regarding California guv Gray Davis, folks are starting to realize how ambiguous and screwy the whole recall process is. Here's an article in The Sacramento Bee that outlines some of the possible scenarios, none of which sounds like healthy democracy to me.

Come to think of it, I should mention that The Sacramento Bee is all over this story. If you're interested in the recall and what it means, that's the website to visit.

As mentioned, Harlan Ellison is fighting a legal battle to curtail Internet piracy of copyrights. If you'd care to donate to the cause, this page will tell you more about it and take your loot.

The beard comes off tomorrow on Live With Regis and Kelly. The infamous Bruce Vilanch is going into the touring company of the musical of Hairspray, assuming the role originated on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein. That means playing in drag, so he's shaving the trademark facial hair and doing so on TV. Based on the many times I've seen him in local performances (cabarets, benefits, etc.) I have to assume Bruce will be terrific in the role. That is, assuming it doesn't work like Samson and his strength doesn't disappear after he is shorn.

I hope he wins some sort of award for it…but I can't imagine who they'll call in to write a witty acceptance speech for him.

Now on sale from DC Comics is a lovely paperbound collection containing around 192 pages (approximately half) of Jack Kirby's run as writer-artist of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen. It's in color and despite the fact that most of Jack's drawings of Superman and Jimmy Olsen were inappropriately retouched, the power of his imagination is still quite evident. Jack was not wild about doing this particular book but he had the kind of work ethic that made it hard to say no to the folks issuing your paycheck. So he gave it his all and did the impossible: People actually cared for a time about a comic that fandom had routinely ignored and/or mocked. I'm not sure if they were good Jimmy Olsen comics but I think they were good comics, if you follow the distinction

They really showed that Kirby could be brilliant even when woefully misassigned. I did the foreword to this book, and Steve Rude turned a leftover Kirby cover sketch into a great new cover. But the reason to buy it is Kirby. Amazon doesn't have them in yet but they're out and if you pre-order here, they should send you one in a couple of days.

And here's a report on the panel we had at the convention all about Dr. Fredric Wertham and Seduction of the Innocent.

Here's a report on my interview with Sal Buscema at the Comic-Con International.

Michael Kinsley on Tony Blair and humility in politics. Or maybe it's just humiliation.

William Woolfolk was one of the best writers in the Golden Age of Comics. He worked at various times on all the major characters but his most notable work was on Blackhawk, Plastic Man and Captain Marvel. He eventually left comics and began writing novels and TV shows, including one of the best programs ever produced, The Defenders starring E.G. Marshall. Sure wish TV Land or some other cable channel would start running those.

Here's a link to a too-brief newspaper obit about Mr. Woolfolk. And here's a link to his website, where you can learn more about this extraordinary talent. I had the honor of meeting him at last year's Comic-Con International in San Diego and having him on our Golden Age Panel and he struck me as a charming man, a dedicated writer and someone I wished I'd gotten to know better.