I agree with Avedon Carol that we ought to have real ballots. We should also have standardized voting procedures so that folks in the poor neighborhoods don't vote on machines that are more likely to misread their ballots than those counted in wealthy terrains. I disagree slightly that receipts wouldn't be necessary if we had […]
…so I might as well report something about hotels for the Comic-Con. A friend of mine writes me that he has had to cancel his trip due to lack of an affordable place to stay. Says he, he had a reservation at a motel in Chula Vista, which is about fifteen minutes from the Convention […]
I don't have many details — only that he "died two weeks ago" — but I wanted to note the passing of Rudy Palais, one of comic art's most distinctive sylists. In his day, which was roughly from the beginning of comics into the sixties, he (and his brother Walter) worked for most of the […]
Posting will be light here the next few days as I haul my panel-moderating butt down to you-know-where. I'll try to put up reports on what's transpiring but can't be certain I won't be too busy/tired. Pre-convention fatigue set in last night around 11 PM, which is later than usual. There comes a time when […]
Continuing with our theme of news sources that tell us what they think we want to hear: I think Internet news polls are just about worthless. In fact, they're less than worthless. Not only do they attract the most passionate and unrepresentative voters (many of whom can figure out how to vote multiple times) but […]
I have a lot of running-around to do today so here's a link to the website for the Comic-Con International, where attendees will find all sorts of useful info, like maps of the shuttle bus routes and schedules for celebrity-type autographs. You'll also find the latest programming info, including last minute changes. And here, one […]
So about twenty minutes ago, I'm sitting here writing out notes for my Comic-Con programs when I hear (a) tires squealing, (b) the sound of something hitting something else and (c) a strange roaring sound. In that order. Out I run and I see that one block south of me, a car has smashed into […]
If you're going to San Diego, beware of people selling cheese in the streets. There's enough cheese inside the convention, anyway. (I cribbed this item from Heidi MacDonald's The Beat. If you read it regularly, you won't need me.) […]
I was also interested in this opinion piece by Thomas Frank. Frank has been making the rounds, advancing a theory that I believe is not without merit. It's that the Republican Party courts votes and wins elections by pounding the idea that they represent "traditional American values" — pro-gun, anti-abortion rights, anti-gay, protect the flag, […]
I was interested in this piece by Michael Kinsley on ways to make a military draft fair…or as fair as humanly possible. I tend to think conscription can never be fair and unless you have a war that America views as overwhelmingly necessary (like stopping Hitler), it can only lead to a military that is […]
I am of the opinion that an awful lot of the news coverage we receive — more than we sometimes think — is skewed not to advance any agenda but merely to tell some or all of us what we seem to want to hear. I don't think too many people really believe Fox News […]
This week's issue of Variety (the weekly version, not the daily) has a special section devoted to Stan Lee and another special section devoted to the Comic-Con in San Diego. I wrote the lead article in the latter part. The issue went on sale today and contains some interesting advertising. […]
This was not one of my "before the con" tasks but I can't help but wonder about it. Mennen Speedstick, I have learned, is "The Official Deodorant of the N.B.A." What is this supposed to mean to us? In what way is this supposed to make me more likely to choose Speedstick over any of […]
These are the days when some of us foolishly wonder if there's any way to postpone the Comic-Con International for a week or two. It's amazing how the con becomes a marker in our lives. For weeks now, I've been dividing all tasks into "before the con" and "after the con" categories. I must get […]
I don't think I've mentioned that this is out now. "This" is a fine new paperback from my friend Nat Gertler at About Comics. It's Volume One of The DNAgents, reprinting six issues of the comic book I did with Will Meugniot back in the eighties. It's about a bunch of just-birthed genetically-enhanced superheroes who, […]