Category Archives: Uncategorized

Here's a list of fifteen words in other languages that have no English equivalent.

Perhaps we should just be grateful for the distraction. At a time when our country's economy is such that burning the nation down for the insurance money is starting to be a viable option, folks are talking instead of the ouster of Jerry Lewis from a telethon…and not just any telethon. This was a telethon most of them didn't watch…or if they did, it was so they could chortle at how awful it was or to see Jerry start crying or lashing out at his enemies. This would be a much smaller discussion if we restricted it to those who tuned in, respected the effort for what it was and actually sent in money.

I see all these online petitions and rallying cries to reinstate Jer where he rightly belongs: On our sets on Labor Day weekend, tuxedo-clad in Vegas and introducing Tony Orlando. None that I have seen have mentioned or seemed to care about the real reason the telethon exists. Yes, it's a tradition. Yes, it's often enormously entertaining on at least some level. Yes, Jerry is a legend and pretty much the last relic of a certain generation of performer. All that is great…but the purpose of the telethon is to raise the operating capital for a cause that, and Jerry would be the first and last one to tell you this, does a lot of good for a lot of people. It's not about amusing us from afar as we roast weiners and burgers. It's not about giving Norm Crosby a chance to make his annual appearance on TV. It's not even about upholding custom or honoring Jerry for The Nutty Professor. It's about buying wheelchairs and maybe, someday, finding a cure.

Not that it's really my business but I'm curious about what it was that drove the MDA folks to conclude they couldn't do that as well with Jerry Lewis front and center. I suspect it has something to do with him becoming an even looser cannon than he ever was; of him saying things that seem borderline misogynistic or homophobic; of reports of him alienating crew members as well as big corporate donors. A big money-gathering feature of the telethon was always for the heads of companies to get their on-camera moments with Jerry as they presented large checks. Did anyone notice that in the last few years, those moments largely went away? That the large checks were being presented off-camera or with hosts other than Lewis?

I worked on one telethon years ago. One thing I learned is that its organizers were total and complete slaves to a number. They absolutely, positively had to raise X dollars and all other considerations had to be subordinated to that need. If they didn't reach X, portions of the charity's agenda would be dismantled and a lot of sick kids wouldn't get their leg braces or medical treatment.

Was it a viable option for them to stay the course and keep Jerry hosting? I don't know but I can certainly imagine a scenario where it was not…where the MDA execs reluctantly concluded that if they were going to keep corporate donors giving and going to keep meeting their annual operating nut, they were going to have to reinvent the telethon. They've cut it to six hours. They obviously tried to work out some sort of reduced presence and passing-of-the-torch moment with Jerry. Maybe they were premature or insensitive in how they tried to move him aside…

…but supposing they're right. I mean, just supposing. And maybe the problem isn't that they don't appreciate Jerry for past efforts but that he wants it done his way or not at all. Even those of us who love Jerry in some or all manners are aware of his volatility, his unconcealed anger at those he believes have wronged him, his tendency to just say whatever pops into his mind without the kind of regulator that most other public figures have to filter their verbal output. Perhaps the folks in the MDA offices made the wrong call…but if it was the right call insofar as their fund-raising is concerned, how do you ease out a legend without creating the kind of backlash we're now seeing? More specifically, how do you ease out Jerry Lewis if he doesn't want to go?

An interview with one of the cleverest men alive, Buck Henry.

Tomorrow night in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles, you have a chance to see top-flight improv by state-of-the-art improvisers. The Spolin Players, who are kind of the New York Yankees of making it up as they go along, are performing at 8 PM at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre Cafe at 2106 Hyperion Ave. Further details and a link to purchase tickets can be found here.

Who the hell are the Spolin Players? Well, at the moment, they're Donna Dubain, Danny Mann, John Mariano, Anna Mathias, Gail Matthius, David McCharen, Edie McClurg, Pat Musick, Jonathan Schmock and Jim Staahl, with Fred Kaz at the piano. If you know anything at all about improv comedy, you're already impressed. If you don't know about improv comedy, you'll have to go to Silverlake to be impressed.

Each year, I have a darn good time at WonderCon, a convention staged in San Francisco by most of the same people who run the big Comic-Con in San Diego. It's kind of like Comic-Con Lite with a bit more emphasis on comics as they're conventionally (no pun intended) defined and less — but some — on movies and TV. It drew a little under 40,000 people for its 2011 incarnation, held earlier this year.

One key attraction of WonderCon is its location. It's been held, lo these many years, at the Moscone Center in the heart of that city by the bay. It's a great facility and it's surrounded by places to go, places to eat, things to do, etc. I'd go to WonderCon if it was held in the middle of nowhere but the fact that it's held in the middle of somewhere is a terrific bonus. So here's the problem.

As explained here, the Moscone Center is undergoing a two-year $55-million renovation. As I understand it, the place is not going to close down. There will be conventions there…just fewer of them during that period. At one point, WonderCon was told there would be no room for them in 2012. (Most convention centers book conventions years down the line. For some reason, the Moscone Center doesn't do that. WonderCon has usually been unable to secure playdates more than a year in advance.)

I've heard nothing official about the problem lately. The WonderCon folks began investigating other venues that might be large enough and the rumor spread that they were heading for Anaheim or San Jose. Then last I heard, the Moscone Center was willing to find space for them…but not enough. The dickering continues and I sure hope the affair gets to stay where it's been.

What intrigues me about this is the contrast to the awesome might of the Comic-Con. One of the reasons I believe Comic-Con will not leave San Diego for a long, long time (if ever) is that it is so gosh-darn important to the economy of that city. Back when Comic-Con began, San Diego was a nice place to visit but conventions did not flock there, Hyatt and Marriott did not build there, there were few restaurants of any note, etc. Vast portions of the town were bars and sex shops catering to sailors on shore leave. The biggest — just about the only — tourist attraction was the zoo…and while it's always been a great zoo, it didn't draw that many outta-towners since there are, after all, other zoos. The rise of the Comic-Con turned the entire city around.

The San Diego agency that deals in such matters might play hardball with the Comic-Con over money, leading to those occasional rumblings that the con's moving to L.A., the con's moving to Vegas, etc. Those negotiations are just negotiations…like Democrats and Republicans dancing over who's going to get what before they go ahead and raise the debt ceiling. Neither party wants to risk blowing up what they've got by not making a deal. In the Comic-Con bickering, both sides want to make a deal. The city needs the convention more than the convention needs the city…but they do need each other. On the other hand, WonderCon is not as vital to San Francisco. The Moscone Center was willing to let it get away…and slow to realize that if it went to Anaheim for one year, it might get to like it there and never come back.

Based on no recent inside info, I have a hunch WonderCon will get what it needs to stay in S.F. for 2012. If the Moscone Center sends it packing, I have a feeling they'll regret it. I know I will.

A few quickies. This one is from Ted Herrmann…

I also am a long-time Jerry Lewis follower — how can you not be? — and I was a little sad at the abrupt wording of the statement. We love him for what he's always been — a brilliant performer who often morphs into a train wreck much to our delight — and I really don't care what his part in this fiasco is — he should've been given a proper send-off for all he's done. Whatever comes out in the wash, I'm on Team Jerry!

I kinda feel that way…but I also have the feeling that the blow-up was because Jerry wouldn't let them give him a proper send-off. I also have the feeling we haven't heard the last of this.

Ray Arthur wrote to ask…

What are your memories of working for Dick Clark Productions? And, if you worked directly with Dick Clark…good/bad memories?

I worked a lot with Dick over a brief period, including producing a show that he hosted but which was not done through his company. If you can set aside a fierce determination to pay everyone as little as possible, my memories of him are all good. I liked the man and I really admired his professionalism and work ethic. He worked like a madman yet still managed to be utterly accessible. If you just walked up to him and said, say, "Little Richard," he'd drop everything that was droppable and tell you ten minutes of Little Richard anecdotes. Or Elvis. Or Ray Charles or anyone. He had, of course, worked with everybody and he had real sharp insights into every aspect of show business.

Great sense of humor. Very little ego. Always on time for everything. Very respectful of the talents and expertise of others. Worked like a dog. Easy to get along with. I can tell you hours of stories of producers, execs and stars who were maniacs and a-holes. I have only good stories about Dick Clark. That is, if you could get past the underlying fear that he wouldn't make every possible dime on every project.

Finally, this from Joel Williamson…

I see we're coming up on what would have been the 100th birthday of Lucille Ball. I assume you met her and have some great stories, right?

You assume wrong. I have a couple of friends who worked with her or knew her well but I never had what I hope would have been the pleasure. My pal Jim Brochu was a close pal of hers late in her life and a couple of times when he was going over to her place to play Backgammon with her, he invited me to tag along. But I was busy all those times, I didn't know how to play Backgammon…and to tell the truth, I didn't love Lucy as much as a lot of other folks do. With me, it was more a matter of respecting the body of work than of being a huge fan of the lady.

When I watch old I Love Lucy episodes as I occasionally do, I find myself watching for Desi Arnaz and William Frawley…and also for the writing, which I think has always been underestimated. When I watch her later shows, it's usually for Gale Gordon and/or the guest stars. I just never really liked her screen character, I guess. Maybe I'd have more affection for the lady if I'd taken Jim up on one of those invites and met the real person. [CORRECTION, YEARS LATER: I dunno why I gave that answer. I did meet Lucy once…briefly. I told the story over at this post.]

Voice actress Cia Court writes about the Cartoon Voices panel we had on Saturday at Comic-Con.

Ten buildings shaped like what they sell. Don't you wish all architecture was this fun?

So they're now saying Jerry Lewis will not appear at all on the MDA Telethon on September 4. The plan was for him to appear at the end and sing his signature "You'll Never Walk Alone" and now that's off. It would not surprise me if it came back. It would also not surprise me if Jerry went on other shows and denounced the telethon he helmed for so many years. After a lifetime of following Jerry Lewis on and off stage, just about nothing would surprise me.

Hello. I'm back…and while I appreciate all the e-mails asking if I'm all right and if my mother's all right, the brief hiatus here was just because I was overwhelmed with deadlines. I'm okay. My mother's about as okay as she's going to get at her age. (I did have to take her to the hospital yesterday but they didn't keep her; just sent her home with medication. The most interesting thing that happened while we were there, by the way, was that I got to meet Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, the charismatic/energetic director of Chabad of California who hosts their annual telethon. We had a nice, brief conversation and I refrained from asking him to dance with me in the hospital corridors. I am not joking when I say that I'm sure he would have if I'd asked.)

I don't have much to say about the big debt ceiling compromise. If you scan the web, you can find every possible interpretation: Obama surrendered. Obama triumphed. Obama outfoxed them. They outfoxed him. We'll see how shrewd he was in six months. We'll see how foolish he was in six months. He wins any time Republicans wind up taking less than 100% of what they demand. I dunno. I just know that no one in this whole debate impressed me with their maturity and few even looked like they were pushing for what would be best for most Americans.

I'm still winding down from Comic-Con 2011 and digesting what a good time I had there. I'll write more about it but I hardly know where to start. I enjoyed all my panels and not because they were my panels. I enjoyed seeing people I've known for years and meeting folks I didn't know but who knew me from this blog.

I enjoyed the pace. I couldn't live that way all the time but four days a year, it's enormously invigorating to have so much happening so fast. When folks complain to me that there's so much going on in that building, my reaction is like they went to Sea World and didn't like that the place was full of fish.

And when they moan that there isn't enough at the Comic-Con that's about comics, I have three responses, all of which I think are valid…

1. Yes, there was. But it's like anything else at that convention: You have to look for it. It won't come to you.
2. Depends on your definition of comics. If you just mean those cheap little pamphlets on mediocre paper stock, maybe not. But a Green Lantern movie is comics. An animated Batman direct-to-DVD is comics. An X-Men PlayStation game is comics. A twenty-foot-high replica of Stan Lee in Lego blocks, when they get around to building one and they will, will be comics. Comics are those pamphlets but they were always other things like animation and pulps and old radio, and now they've become movies and videogames and downloads, as well.
3. And if you want to cling to a definition of comics as print media….hey, did you see the DC and Marvel booths? They weren't about comics, either. In fact, I wonder how many people at either firm would even say these days that they work for a comic book publisher.

I want to write more about the con when I have time. I want to write about a couple of lives that I think I saw changed for the better by folks' attendance of that convention. I want to write about how I ran into Sid Krofft in a hallway, recognized him from the back…and then noticed that he was standing next to H.R. Pufnstuf. I want to write about how funny Robert Ben Garant and Tom Lennon were in the portion of the Eisner Awards they hosted, which was the only part I got to see. I want to write about the wit and charm of Jonathan Ross on our Jack Kirby panel…actually, about the wit and charm of all the folks who appeared on all my panels. I want to write about the convention's amazing crew and skill at crowd control.

There's lots of stuff I want to write about. I'll try to cover most of it before memberships and hotel rooms sell out for next year's con. That oughta give me at least three weeks.

Nice to see that Obama and the leaders in Congress have hammered out a bill to raise the debt ceiling…an exercise which is kinda like me deciding I'm actually going to pay my American Express bill for all that stuff I already bought.

It's also nice that the deal was structured such that both sides will be able to simultaneously claim that they scored an enormous victory and that they got screwed. I love it when politicians play the victory card with one hand and the victim card with the other.

Of course, there's still the minor technicality of two chambers of Congress actually voting to pass the damned bill but I'm sure that's just a formality. I can't imagine any Congressperson or Senator trying to score cheap political points by getting up and vowing to block passage if the terms aren't substantially improved for their side.

One-time Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill used to say there were two kinds of opposition voiced when a crucial bill had to be voted upon. One was the genuine belief that the bill was bad and that it had to be blocked for the good of America…and there was a chance, albeit slim, of actually doing that. Then there was the kind where the rep knows it's going to pass and probably wants it to…but can't resist the opportunity to grab attention and impress certain constituents that he was in there, swinging and fighting for them 'til the bitter end. I'm sure we won't see any opposition of either kind tomorrow…he said, sarcastically.

Back to my own deadline…

Remember Record Clubs like Columbia House? For that matter, remember Records?

Anyway, here's how operations like Columbia House made money.

One of my favorite folks in the comic book field is the fine illustrator Brent Anderson. He just sent me this and it's obviously important enough to pull me away from deadlines to post it here…

You've probably heard, but I wanted to ask your help.

My car was broken into at the San Diego Zoo on Monday July 25th, 2011 and about 190 pages of original art in four 11×17 display portfolios were stolen. About 50 random pages from Astro City Vols. 1 & 2 & Local Heroes and about 50 random pages from Astro City: The Dark Age Books 1 (#s 1-4), 2 (#s 1-4) & 3 (#s 1-4).

Also stolen: Green Lantern: Legacy pp. 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, 18, 20, 21, 24, 30-36, 38-40, 42-46, 48, 51-57, 60 & 67-70; Green Lantern Silver Age Special (approx. 4 pages); Green Lantern/Plastic Man Team-Up Special (approx. 8 pages); and approx. 48 random pages from Rising Stars #s 15-24.

I don't believe it was anyone from the convention who stole my artwork. I believe it was an opportunistic smash-and-grab by someone looking for money or jewelry, not comics art. (They stole all of our dirty clothes and toiletries! Probably for the luggage.) They actually left behind three of the 11×17 Itoya Portfolios which were right next to the slipcase. If they'd wanted the art, they would have taken those, too. The thieves didn't know what was in the zippered slip case containing the four they took. I think they just wanted the case and a secure place to see what was in it.

The more light we shed on the stolen art the more unsellable it becomes to the thieves. Unfortunately, the more unsellable, the more likely it is to be disposed of. An anonymous drop-off of the art in some place it might be discovered by a knowledgeable person is the best outcome, or in finding it at a flea market where the thief made a quick, cheap sale just to get rid of it. I've asked of anyone living in the greater San Diego area who enjoys frequenting flea markets, garage and rummage sales, to visit as many of them as they can this coming weekend and on into the end of summer. The sooner people search the better. All the art was in mylar sleeves and each book holds 48 pages.

Spread the word to all your contacts, particularly to comic art sellers and those who shop on eBay and Craigslist. If you see any of these pages surface, call Christopher Tews (619-744-9521) or the San Diego Police Department Central Division (619-744-9500) and tell them you have a lead on case #11-029140. Then send me a FB message or email me.

Thank you, friend. Together we may just get the art back!

That sucks…but I guess all we can do is spread the word. I've omitted Brent's e-mail address because posting it on a weblog is a great way to get tons of Nigerian scam messages…but if you need it, drop me a line and I'll send it to you. No one deserves to have this kind of thing happen to him but especially not one of comics' nicest guys and greatest talents.

I'm posting the can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup partly to let you know that I'm too busy to post much here the next few days but really to address those of you who are e-mailing me with questions to which you expect a reply. I'll get to them when I can but it may be a while as the volume is quite formidable. I'm sorry but I have this silly thing in my life called Paying Work and it occasionally, dagnab it, gets in the way of the important stuff like blogging.

I'd also add that for some reason, I'm getting an awful lot of mail lately from folks who are asking questions without bothering to take the two minutes it would take them to search this blog first. If they did, they'd realize I already wrote about whatever it is they're asking me to write directly to them about.

I will be back here at full strength around Tuesday and there will be but bits 'n' pieces posted the next few days. I just won't be at my usual pace and I won't be getting back to you on that e-mail you sent me, quite as fast as you might like. Thank you for your understanding…that is, assuming you understand.

Here's what Jerry Lewis is up to, these days. He doesn't sound too thrilled with his reduced/retired role in the upcoming Muscular Dystrophy telethon and makes it sound like he's not going quietly, if at all. No mention of the Broadway musical of The Nutty Professor. Thanks to Craig Robin for the link.