Category Archives: Uncategorized

I was spectacularly unimpressed with Howard Dean last night on Mr. Leno's program. Politicians go on a show like that, well aware that they need to be glib and funny and human, and I suppose he did that part okay. But they also need to be able to get a tad serious there for a time and slip in one or two genuine points about what's wrong with our nation and how they have a real plan on how to rectify it. And I'm afraid Dr. Dean didn't make that leap. Even when he tried to get to issues, he sounded lightweight and (worse) generic. Years ago, I wrote a piece about political humor that said a presidential candidate couldn't be considered a serious contender unless political cartoonists like Paul Conrad could draw the guy. Now, the benchmark may be that you have to be able to imagine Saturday Night Live finding a cast member who can "do" him. If not, the person may be too nondescript and lacking in charisma to get elected, and that's been my view of Howard Dean, so far.

Meanwhile, Joshua Micah Marshall has conducted this interesting interview with General Wesley Clark. I don't know yet if he's the man but if he can sound this informed and interesting in front of an audience, maybe. Just maybe.

Since I'm recommending books by liberals today, I also wanted to mention the new collection of Paul Krugman essays, The Great Unraveling. If you don't want to spring for it, I can basically summarize it with the words, "Just about everything the Bush administration is doing is going to bite us all on the ass." Naturally, Mr. Krugman goes into a little more detail than that, as befits a professor of Economics at Princeton. I ordinarily have little patience with predictions that the sky is falling but I find Krugman usually has pretty sound logic behind his doom 'n' gloom forecasts and he manages to avoid most of the personal crap. He will either come to be viewed as the sagest prophet of our time or this book will be ruthlessly mocked for its needless hysteria. Either way, I'm glad I have a copy and if you want to have one, here's our Amazon link. (Full disclosure: My copy was sent to me, free and unsolicited, by someone who works for its publisher and follows this site. But I would still be recommending it even if I'd paid good money for it.)

You remember him: The guy who drew the comic panel, The Far Side. Here's what he's been doing. And here's where you can order the upcoming two-volume set, The Complete Far Side, which features every damned one of his cartoons. It's almost a hundred bucks for 1,250 pages. Someone else will have to figure out what that works out to per cow joke.

They're saying Gray Davis can't be saved and Arnold can't be stopped. That's not how I'm voting but I don't care enough about Davis or Bustamante to get worked up over it. I cannot understand anyone's enthusiasm for Schwarzenegger, especially that of folks who have moralized in the past against so many things that he represents. Seems to me all he stands for is a G.O.P. victory, so his backers have managed to kid themselves into thinking he's even vaguely qualified. If I were an extreme Republican, I'd be pissed at him for beating Tom McClintock and if I were a moderate Republican, I'd be mad that he sandbagged Richard Riordan out of the race. Both of them have experience, an understanding of the issues and a set of core beliefs more compatible with their party.

But hey, Arnold looks like he's going to win. And that's all that matters, isn't it?

So far, my biggest disappointment about this whole election is that Larry Flynt hasn't made any trouble. I was looking forward to him giving interviews and trying to crash the debates. I don't even understand why he threw his hat in the ring if he wasn't going to unleash sex scandals and throw mud.

Ah, well. This recall will be over soon and we can all turn our attention to the next one.

I was wrong. More "fixes" need to be performed on the design here. I found out it reads fine in about 90% of all browsers but does weird things in, for example, the one Marv Wolfman has. So I'll be experimenting the next day or three to find the template format that pleases the most people. I'll let you know when I either solve the problem or give up. Anyway, forgive any odd things you see turning up on this site for the next few days.

William Saletan on the ban on "Partial-Birth Abortions," and what it means.

This is a dangerous thing to say…but I think I've finished installing the new "look" for this site and gotten out all visible bugs. If you see something that looks like it's not supposed to be the way it is, please drop me a note.

Also over at The New York Times is this article which explains that Joe Simon has settled his lawsuit with Marvel Comics over the ownership of Captain America. (Here's the same article via Google News for those of you who fear registration.)

This is not a surprising development to anyone who's been following the case. Most lawsuits of this type are settled out of court and even most of those that do have genuine verdicts are appealed and reversed and re-appealed until they're settled and both sides have something they can spin as a victory. Simon lost the first battle, won the second and now they've written him a check that I presume makes him happy, while Marvel gets to keep Cap in their stable.

This was always the way this one was destined to end. Still, it's been fascinating to see how it's been debated in the message boards and newsgroups of the Internet. Joe has alternately been cheered-on and condemned, the latter sentiment coming from fans who openly trembled at the notion that Joe might establish ownership of Captain America and wrest the character out of the Marvel Universe. I can't find one of his messages at the moment but about a year ago, there was one fellow posting and e-mailing me to express his horror at the notion that the intricate mythos of Marvel might be ruptured. I think he even went so far as to suggest that out of respect for the 9/11 victims, Simon should drop his suit because not only does the world need Captain America more than ever, they need him in The Avengers. I don't think the guy was kidding, nor were others who were less hysterical but still felt that their precious continuity was more important than creators' rights.

One message really hit a tender spot with me when it suggested Simon was being "greedy." This is one of the greater loads of dung that is frequently dumped on creative talents; that it's somehow undignified or ignoble for a writer or artist or even actor to fight for money. It's fine for a publisher or studio to finagle every possible nickel out of every situation. After all, they're businessmen. But creative folks, we're told by many (among them, those who want to keep all the money for themselves) are supposed to have a less altruistic raison d'être. They're supposed to put everything ahead of the paycheck. Having seen a lot of creators royally screwed by that argument — and even getting reamed myself a few times because of it — I was glad to see Joe Simon not retreat from a battle. Neither, of course, does Captain America.

Interesting op-ed columns in The New York Times from their liberal columnist, Paul Krugman, and their new conservative columnist, David Brooks. Krugman's is about how the reconstruction of Iraq is making a lot of Bush's friends richer. Brooks writes about how a lot of folks are getting irrational in their hatred of George W. Bush, much as others did when the name of Clinton was (and still is) invoked.

Incidentally: Some people write me that they don't like articles (like the above) linked to websites that require registration. The N.Y. Times site is free and doesn't seem to ever lead to unwanted e-mail. Nevertheless, if that kind of thing worries you, there's an easy answer that I've mentioned before: Get yourself a junk mail address. There are dozens of sites out there that will give you a free e-mail address at their domain. (Hotmail is the most popular. The e-mail sign-up process over at Comic Book Resources is quick and painless.) This will give you a separate e-mail address you can give any time any site asks you to register.

Also, New York Times articles sometimes turn up on Google News. So there's another way to get them if you don't want to register.

I'm on a couple of mailing lists for Las Vegas news. I just got one that said the Bellagio Hotel there is discontinuing their $100,000 chips in mid-October. If I have any lying around, I need to go cash them in before then.

Forgive me if posting here is light for the next day or so. I have to go check under the sofa cushions and in my loose change jar.

Several of you have informed me that TV Land ran the "Turkeys Away" episode of WKRP in Cincinnati as part of their Friday night tribute to Gordon Jump. Let's all watch for it to be scheduled again.

For those of you interested in the matter of the show's soundtrack alterations, here's a link to a web article that explains it in greater detail than I did. As a few of you have noted, this has also been done with a few songs in sketches on Saturday Night Live reruns.

One of the great things about doing comic books (and I really do think it makes for better comics) is that you often collaborate with friends. Almost all of my happy experiences in the field have been when the artist was someone I could go to lunch with and have a good time, talking about all sorts of stuff. A perfect example is my pal, Will Meugniot (pronounced "Mineo") with whom I did a lot of comics, most notably The DNAgents. Here's a link to a recent interview with the guy.

Dave Sikula, a good friend of this site, sends the following about the late Donald O'Connor…

Just a note about Mr. O'Connor. I don't know if you saw Bring Back Birdie in its blessedly-brief run, but I was lucky enough to be at the first preview, when the actor's nightmare came true, and everything that could go wrong did. It was a horrifying spectacle, and I wouldn't trade the memory of that night for the world. (My favorite part, among many, was a punk number by a band called Filth. For 1981 Broadway, it was pretty hardcore punk. The number ended and was met with about ten people, out of a full house applauding, and one guy booing loudly. Ah, good times.)

Anyway, O'Connor's big number in the show was called "Middle-Aged Blues." In it, he lamented getting older, since he didn't feel all that much older. At one point in the number, he goes over to the proscenium and looks it up and down, feels it, and looks for all the world like he's going to try the run up the wall from Singin' in the Rain. The crowd, desperate for any entertainment by this point, goes bananas. O'Connor backs away, and goes on with the song. He sings the next verse and does the same thing; over to the proscenium, looks it over, sizes up the possibilities. Crowd goes even wilder.

Finally, he reaches what is obviously the climax of the song, starts over to the proscenium…and walks off stage. End of number.

That encapsulates Bring Back Birdie (along with the number about jogging, and Chita Rivera's big number than consisted of a guy pushing her around on a push broom) better than anything.

Never saw Bring Back Birdie, the short-lived sequel to Bye Bye, Birdie. I do recall a friend of mine calling me from a pay phone in the lobby during intermission of one performance. He said, "It's another one of those shows that is about one-fifth as entertaining as if they'd just let the stars do their nightclub acts." He felt that way about the revival of Hellzapoppin' with Jerry Lewis and a few others that don't come to mind at the moment.

Would you like to own the tuxedo or cocktail dress that some big TV star wore to the Emmys or Golden Globes? Would you just like to know their sizes? (Conan O'Brien takes a 42 long) Many are up for bids over on eBay.

Here's a link to a short piece over at the L.A. Times on the offering of the Silent Movie Theatre. (Thanks to about eleven of you who sent it.)