Category Archives: To Be Filed

Everyone's theorizing why Mitt Romney won't release all his tax returns. The prevailing theory seems to be that there will be years in which he paid zero taxes and that this would be embarrassing for a guy who has zillions of dollars and is running on a platform that the rich should pay less.

Maybe that's what he's hiding. Maybe it's something else like claiming George Will as a dependent. Maybe he's afraid that reporters will scrutinize the papers, do a bit of research and discover that he made a half-billion somewhere he didn't report.

But maybe it's a lot simpler than any of that. Maybe he just wants to not hand the Obama camp a pile of papers figuring they'll find something in there they can spin as illegal or unethical or hypocritical. Political campaigns these days — Romney's along with everyone else's — are really good at ginning up scandal out of the slightest oddment. He may just feel "the less they have to work with, the better."

I came back from San Diego to discover that Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and a bunch of other Viacom-owned channels had been suddenly pruned from my DirecTV satellite feed. Viacom and DirecTV are both offering up videos and press releases that essentially all say "The other side took away your channels because they're greedy bastards and they want to make more money off this arrangement." Both sides are basically correct, though it appears that the Viacom side is fibbing a little, making it sound like DirecTV made the decision to take those channels off the air when the negotiations reached the nuclear level. Obviously, they hope angry DirecTV subscribers will put pressure on the satellite provider and cause them to accept a worse deal. Maybe so. One wonders how Viacom advertisers feel about their commercials running in a lot fewer homes.

Ultimately, this is just a battle of companies that rake in billions but want to rake in a little more. The most likely outcome is that it'll all be settled soon, that my rates will go up and each side will be satisfied it's making more $$$. In the meantime, the big winner is Jon Stewart who got a very funny segment out of the dispute…

Women In Animation is a non-profit organization established in 1994 to promote the advancement of women working in the art and industry of animation. On Sunday August 5, I will be teaching a class in doing voiceover work for cartoons…but never mind that. The big announcement is that it will be part of a special reception honoring June Foray, who does that kind of thing better than anyone. Click here for more details.

As usual, we played Quick Draw! to a packed house on Saturday morning at the con. I'll write a report from my perspective later this week but in the meantime, here's one attendee's report.

A reader named Devlin sent me a link to look at Awesome People Hanging Out Together. Search for the few in there with Groucho.

And Joel O'Brien sent me this link to view photos of William M. Gaines, publisher of E.C. Comics and MAD magazine.

We were supposed to start at 11:30 AM today but by at 11:23 with every seat in 6A filled but Rob Paulsen's, I decided to start the Cartoon Voices Panel early. It would give the audience more panel with less wait, plus it would make Rob feel ashamed that he was tardy and we started without him. For the record, he was there at 11:27 so he was not late.

Six talented people who make livings with their voices demonstrated their art/craft/whatever it is to a most appreciative audience. Standing at the podium watching faces, I could see the amazement as Dee Baker leaped from one inhuman voice to the next and the next and the next. Were those all coming out of that alleged human being? Apparently so.

I kvelled (a fine Yiddish word; go look it up) as Misty Lee — the newest pro on the dais — dazzled all with her enthusiasm, then proved she had the chops to match.

I enjoyed it as Fred Tatasciore turned himself vocally into The Incredible Hulk and the audience roared its delight. They'd have been even more impressed if they knew what a sweet teddy bear of a man this Tatasciore guy is. I mean, they could tell he was acting against type but didn't imagine how against.

I laughed as Gregg Berger demonstrated how to "die" in a videogame, something voice actors often have to do to excess. It's not uncommon for the game to contain a hundred different ways in which your character might die and the producers need you to record every scenario. So we had Gregg vocally plunge off a 2000 foot cliff for us. On the way down, he was hit by three arrows, the third of which was flaming so it set him on fire. He landed in a pit of razor-sharp spikes and then was eaten by rabid raccoons. Somehow, he managed to sound like that was exactly what was happening to him.

I really liked it when Audrey Wasilewski mentioned she was the lady in that Prego Spaghetti Sauce commercial that's on CBS more often than that little eye logo in the corner of the screen. The audience in unison gasped "Oh right, that's her!"

And when Rob Paulsen did Pinky and whichever Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle he is, the cheers were loud and long.

They all read a script — the same script the Saturday panel had read — with totally different interpretations, totally different voices and just as many laughs but in different places and for different reasons. It was all brilliantly funny and afterwards, people complimented me — the guy who hadn't said a word throughout — on how wonderful it was.

Can't beat that. I'll write about more panels in the days to come.

Still laptopping so this'll be brief. Or maybe not…

It's such an odd, not-unsatisfying sensation to feel Comic-Con drawing to a close each year. The pace of life suddenly slows like someone dialed it down and you wanna go, "No! Not yet! How about if we go for another hour?" But at the same time, you know it's got to end and by 5 PM this afternoon, everyone was ready for it and most had ended it for themselves already by going home.

At five sharp, a thunderous voice announced over the P.A. system that the hall was closed and a large cheer and ovation erupted. Were we cheering that it was over? Of course not, you silly. We were cheering that we'd done it again; that all of us, by making whatever silly contributions we made including sheer attendance, had created this extraordinary event one more time.

Last night, I spoke at a dinner celebrating the earlier days of the con and especially the life of one of its founders, the late Richard Alf. I said there that I loved those days when the total convention attendance was about what we had in the room yesterday for Quick Draw! But I also love these days. I can complain about people who stop dead in the middle of aisles to do photo-ops and videos, or about the folks with microphones who annoy the hell out of all who venture near them. I can also overlook them or write them off as a necessary downside to the tremendous creative energy in that hall.

The number one complaint that gets voiced to me, though no one ever phrases it this way, is that there's too much good stuff and you can't do it all. You can't get into everything you want to see. You can't navigate the entire hall. You can't find everything or everyone you want to find.

I am well aware that as a guest-of-honor and the moderator of umpteen panels per year, my convention experience is not like everyone else's…but that's almost the point. No one's convention experience is quite like anyone else's and if yours wasn't tailor-made for you, you may just need to do a better job of tailoring next time.

There was a time years ago when I did not realize this and I could feel my enthusiasm for the con atrophying. I learned to reconfigure my attitude about the event and to stop doing things just because I felt I was supposed to do them. In my case, the errors included viewing the con as a tool to aid my career rather than to vacation from it,
sitting behind a table for long stretches to sign things I'd worked on and wandering the hall every single minute I wasn't parked somewhere for a "signing." One of the reasons I do all them panels is because I want to be there but to have something to actually do.

But that's just me. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just me.

An attendee came up to me as I was hiking from Panel #14 to Panel #15. It was his first convention. Not just his first Comic-Con International. His first convention, period. He was having a great time, he said, and he asked me if cons were all like this. I said no. Most have their merits but only this one is like this one.

What's more: At that very moment, tens of thousands of people on the premises were experiencing completely different conventions — ones that would bore him or me — and each was having a totally distinctive Very Good Time. I think what I enjoy best about the con is just being around so many people who are so damned happy to be there. I hope you were one of them this year…and if not, that you'll be one soon.

I have five panels today. In addition to the four I'm hosting which are listed on my official schedule, I'll also be a panelist for part of (probably the last part of) the Boom Studios "All Ages" panel (about comics for all ages), which is in Room 24ABC at 1 PM.

So as you might imagine, you're not going to get a lot of blog posts out of me today; not until the con's closed and I go into glad it's over/can't wait for the next one mode. Like a kid on Christmas morn, I have presents to open but already a certain sadness that it'll all be over soon.

When I have time to write about yesterday, I'll tell you how much fun the 70's panel was; how funny cartoonist Keith Knight and Surprise Guest Fake Stan Lee were on Quick Draw!, how funny the Cartoon Voices panel was; how the 3,000 people attending it stood and cheered when I brought on Surprise Guest Stan Freberg; how the Ray Bradbury Tribute was such an unexpectedly moving ceremony; and how last night, I actually managed to walk from one end of a block to the other in the Gaslamp District. I have much to tell and will be sacrificing chronological order to do so.

Here's one moment I forgot to mention before. Wednesday when Carolyn and I were motoring down the 405 to S.D., we stopped at a lovely little rest area near Camp Pendleton. As I was striding urgently towards the men's room, two guys called out to me, "When's your first panel?" I pointed to my destination and told them, "It's just about to start in here. Better hurry. There are still a couple of seats left!"

Hey, it's not bad for a Rest Stop joke. Off to Panel Land…

From last Monday night's screening of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at the Academy. That's the wonderful Marvin Kaplan telling how he's worked with only two geniuses. Hey, I've worked with Marvin…

When I go a whole day without posting here, it either means I'm having lots of problems, lots of fun or some combination of the two. Yesterday, it was problems for an hour or two, then fun the rest of the day. My real Comic-Con kind of kicked in with the Tribute Panel in memory of Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon, which I thought went about as well as one of those things can. There were some very funny anecdotes and — better still — some very insightful ones. I'll try to summarize the latter in a post some day soon when I'm not on the laptop and getting ready to go do four more panels including the labor-intensive Quick Draw!

The room seems just as full as it ever is but somehow quieter to me this time. Maybe I've just learned to walk the more civilized aisles. I do notice that a lot of people seem unclear on the concept of what an "aisle" is for. (Hint: It has something to do with letting others get by.)

Went to the Eisners last night…and I was going to present and flee because they're sometimes very long. But the folks in charge did a good job streamlining the proceedings so I stuck around until I had to go meet folks for a late dinner. I don't know what the ceremony finally clocked in at but I suspect they shaved at least a half-hour off the usual running time. Kudos, as Mr. Eisner used to say to people.

Earlier in the day, we had a packed house to hear Herb Trimpe and Stan Goldberg talk about the early days of Marvel and there was a panel called "Siegel, Shuster and Finger" with Larry Tye and Marc Tyler Nobleman, who've authored books on Superman and Bill Finger, respectively. I'll try to write more about all these when I'm at a real keyboard.

Thursday night, I was walking past the Marriott and there were two very lovely ladies wearing very little clothing passing out free passes to a local stripping emporium. They were calling out, "Anyone like naked girls?," and two men who were walking near me and holding hands yelled back in unison, "No!" Doesn't read like much here but the timing was very funny.

Gotta post this much and get over there. Back whenever.

The drive down to San Diego yesterday was brutal. It was more like stacked parking than a freeway out there and my GPS lady kept telling me, "Slow traffic. Slow traffic." Yeah, like I couldn't have figured that out from my speedometer telling me I was racing along at a quarter-mile per hour…and that was in the car pool lane. I often say that Comic-Con is the just about the most fun you can have in this world. Note please that I'm only talking about Comic-Con itself when I say that, not about the ride to or fro.

For that matter, just about every trip I've taken anywhere on any freeway this year has been like that. I thought the economy was in trouble. How are all these people able to afford gasoline?

I didn't have much of a convention today, having to tend to some personal matters and arrangements for weekend panels. But I did do three panels. One was to celebrate 100 years of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Another was the annual Sergio-Mark Show with Sergio Aragonés, Stan Sakai and Tom Luth. How is it that I get my name in the title while Stan and Tom don't? Simple: I write the descriptions for the programming schedule while Stan and Tom don't. Then there was the Two Editors panel.

I was supposed to interview Sid Jacobson (who was the editor for years at Harvey Comics) and Victor Gorelick (who has been the editor for years at Archie Comics). That was a great idea for a panel and it would have been even better if the person who was supposed to tell Sid about the panel had told Sid about the panel. Literally fifteen minutes before it was to commence, when I was sitting on the Sergio/me panel, I received an e-mail from Sid in Los Angeles telling he he'd just heard there was a panel with him sometime during the con and wanted to know when it was.

So…next year at Comic-Con, I will interview Sid Jacobson with or without Victor Gorelick. This year, we had the One Editor(s) panel with just Victor, a hard-working gent who's one of the main reasons Archie and His Pals have been going so strong so long. Victor started at the bottom there — doing art corrections or as he put it, "removing Katy Keene's cleavage and Veronica's navel just to satisfy the Comics Code." He eventually became editor-in-chief of the line and I'm trying to think of anyone else who ever managed that ascent. There may well be one but no names spring to mind. Anyway, I enjoyed my chat with Victor and the audience seemed to but I still wish Sid had been with us.

I didn't get around much of the hall today but the parts I visited seemed peaceful and well-peopled without being crowded. To read some of the press accounts, the convention was abuzz with excitement about this new movie or that new TV show. My sense has always been that 90% of the convention is never abuzz with excitement about any new anything. That's just the construction of press agents and of the entertainment reporters who think "reporting" is a term for the retransmission of press releases.

There have been a few articles lately that said that some of the major movie studios are scaling back their presence at Comic-Con; that they've been disappointed that being a hit at the convention is not translating into huge box office grosses upon release. I suspect those studios are guilty of buying their own bullfeathers. Current special effects artistry being what it is, it's not hard to take any movie that's heavy in such visuals and edit an exciting sizzle reel. Bring it, a couple of star names and some freebee handouts to Comic-Con and you too can get a reaction you can sell as "the hit of Comic-Con." That has its value but it's not going to ward off disaster when the film comes out and people decide it should be shown at poison control centers to induce vomiting.

That's it from Comic-Con Nation for now. Tomorrow kicks off me with a tribute panel for Joe Simon and Jerry Robinson. Miss those guys already.

I'll be at Comic-Con from Wednesday night when it opens through Sunday afternoon when it closes…and if you wanna know where in it I'll be or which panels you should attend, here's a link to my schedule. The full programming schedule and anything else you should need to know about the gathering can probably be found on the convention website.

Posting here will, of course, be sporadic…and mainly about the con. This post is "sticky," meaning that it will stay in the first position until after the con while newer postings appear below it. They'll probably be me saying what a great time I'm having. If you can't make it this year, start planning for '13.

Readers of this site know of my love for the movie, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. As I always say, I don't think it's anywhere near the best movie ever made but it's my favorite.

Monday night at the Motion Picture Academy, they had a screening of a restored print preceded by a panel discussion of folks who'd worked on it including cast members Jonathan Winters, Mickey Rooney, Stan Freberg, Carl Reiner and Marvin Kaplan. Billy Crystal was the surprise Master of Ceremonies. It was within walking distance of my home and I'd been invited by Freberg to be his guest and to hang out with him and the panelists backstage before.

And I didn't go.

I decided, perhaps wrongly in hindsight, that it was just one too many things to do before Comic-Con and I needed to stay here and get them done. If you're at the con and you see a big guy repeatedly kicking himself, that will be me.

But I heard it was great and several folks who were there told me that the movie went over extraordinarily well with that crowd and with the high quality of the print shown. Wish I could give you a first-hand report. I can however link to a few videos of the event and will over the next few days. Here's Mr. Crystal with his opening intro, which oddly enough does not end with him breaking into song and singing, "It's a wonderful night for Oscar…"

As you may have heard, a 53-year-old woman was killed outside the Convention Center in San Diego yesterday. She was a Twilight fan who was there early to "camp out" and secure a good seat for an event there on Thursday. Details are here.

Yesterday, someone who's never been to Comic-Con asked me why anyone would camp out for several days to attend something like that. Your speculation is as good as mine. I would imagine that for some, the little "adventure" of being in line for several days with others of like mania is as much fun as getting a good seat and feeling closer to this series and its stars and makers. I can't think of anything that is likely ever to be offered in my world that would make me think it was worth it to wait in line half that long.

But one year I did find myself briefly among folks who had staked out spots along the route of the Rose Parade in Pasadena a few days before it commenced. It was like a big party out there and I could see that for some, that was at least as much fun as the parade would be. A few perhaps were seeking that feeling that they had achieved something special, some moment of privilege, by having the best seats to watch the floats go by.

Comic-Con does bestow on some people the opportunity to get close to and perhaps even touch something they love and/or feel is important. A lot of folks come away with an important memory or memento…or maybe just bragging rights that they got to "meet" (for three seconds) a star of their favorite movie or TV show. I had a friend in high school whose life was changed — for the better, I suspect — when he got to briefly visit the set of Star Trek and procure autographs from several cast members. He loved that show in one of those ways that those of us who never cared about that show will never understand and somehow felt empowered in life by his little field trip. Being around what he perceived as greatness had some sort of positive impact on him.

I've had people tell me that the mere act of attending Comic-Con does a little of that for them; that it inspires them to be around so much creativity and excitement. Whatever you think of the materials on display, they are generally all birthed out of someone's desire to create. I can certainly enjoy that. I don't know how many times an aspiring artist has shown me their portfolio and while I don't much care for the art, I like the artist and their enthusiasm and passion. It just feels good to be around and I think I go to the con for the energy as much as any other benefit. I'm guessing those who sleep outside a convention center for four days to get into a Twilight panel probably are getting their own kind of similar fix from it.

Packing to go places used to be a pain and unpacking — putting everything back where it belongs — was even worse. That's before I learned the most obvious trick in the world: Have two of many things you use. I have little kits that duplicate all my hygiene and bathroom necessities and I just stick the appropriate ones into the suitcase and I'm half-packed.

I got the idea once when I read an article about Bob Hope. It said he had already-packed suitcases, several of them, in his home. If someone called and said, "We need you to come make a speech in Guam as soon as possible," Rapid Robert could have just grabbed one of those suitcases and been out the door in sixty seconds. I can't quite match that but since I devised my little kits, I can pack in about ten minutes. Then the trick on the other end is to stay as packed as possible at the other location. I once travelled with a lady friend who, upon arrival in Vegas, had to take every single item out of her suitcase and put it in the closet or in a drawer, and then lay out all of her grooming aids in the bathroom. We were there two days and she spent most of the first day unpacking and all of the second, packing.

I think I've run out of Comic-Con tips. Let's see: Don't stress, don't be shocked at the crowds or long lines, go outside for fresh air, study the programming schedule in advance, don't try to see and do everything, wear the most comfortable shoes you own, bring money…

Yeah, that's about it.

I'm getting e-mails asking me where and when I'll be signing. The answer is anywhere and whenever you approach me if I'm not late to host a panel or something. Sitting behind a table and signing my comics (or co-signing those I do with Sergio) is among my least favorite things to do in life. I don't mind signing reasonable quantities of stuff one bit but I do mind formalizing it and sitting there for an hour or three just for that purpose. If and when you see me at a table, autograph pen at the ready, it's because a publisher with whom I'm working cajoled me into doing that. None of them did this year.

Our best thoughts go out to Paul Levitz, who won't be seen at the con this year due to a family emergency. Paul was to be on several of my panels and his presence and wise words will be missed. And no, you can't have his hotel room.

At some point during the con, I may feel outraged enough to write a blistering takedown of the scumbags at a certain video game company. They "bought out" my favorite San Diego restaurant for the duration of the convention, filling it full of their products and promotions, rendering me unable to get a meal there until Sunday night. They may be fine people with wonderful games but some things, you just can't forgive.

I have a habit at conventions I will try again and fail to break: I read folks' name badges. I don't care who you are. If you talk to me, I will glance at your name badge. I have known Sergio Aragonés since about 1969 and he is my closest male friend in the world. When I see him at a con, my eyes immediately dart to his name badge and a little voice goes off in my head that says, "Yep, that's Sergio." I don't know why I do this but don't be offended if it looks like I forgot who you are. If I ever take my mother to the con, I will keep checking out her name badge as if I'm constantly verifying it's her.

Oh, one other tip: There are certain booths at the convention — mainly in the videogame areas but others, as well — that make a deliberate, premeditated effort to clog the aisles. They want to have the display that everyone is always crowding around so they can say, "God, our booth was jammed. Everyone wanted to get in to see our products." To this end, they have women in scanty costumes and/or celebrities and/or lots of giveaways and prizes. The purpose of that bait is to clog the aisles. Often, they have a guy with a microphone. The reason that person is there with the microphone is to intentionally try and keep a crowd in the aisles. They do not want you passing their booth. They want the aisles jammed so that you can't get through easily.

Want to get around the room easily? Avoid those aisles. It's not difficult if you understand the game, look on ahead of where you're going and be quick to switch to alternate routes.

I know there are some people who are tempted to start at one end of the con and just walk up and down each aisle in sequence. That's fine if you want to try it, though I doubt you'll finish the trek. Just understand that there are folks there plotting to not let you walk easily past their tables. Don't play their game and then moan that the convention is so crowded you couldn't get around. It's like deliberately jumping into the quicksand pit and then complaining you can't see your lower half anymore.

That's all I have for now. See some of you in San Diego!