"Legal Eagle" Devin Stone goes through the Trump indictment for us. There are about eighty videos online where alleged legal authorities do this for us and at least as many articles. Still, I like the way Mr. Stone explains things and he does make a few points I hadn't heard in the two or three other explainers I read or heard.
But really all you need to know is that the indictment is very detailed and full of testimony from Trump, his aides and lawyers that builds a strong case against him. And you already know that but if you want to hear it from Counselor Stone, here he is. Or you can wait for the inevitable Randy Rainbow video which will say much the same thing but set to the melody of a great show tune…
Comic-Con is 36 days away. During those 36 days, please don't write or call to ask me if I can get you into the con, get a panel promoting your latest project on the convention schedule, tell you where to park, help you find a hotel room…anything of that nature. I hate disappointing anyone.
Many, many year ago I spent some lovely time with Carlotta Monti, an actress who proudly described herself as "the mistress of W.C. Fields." I wrote about that brief time here. In yet another of the many "Wish-I'd-Had-a-Tape-Recorder" moments of my life, she told me about living with that man at 2015 DeMille Drive, which is located sort of in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.
Wanna see the place? You can in the video below. A couple years ago, you could have bought it for $10,500,000 before someone else did…
Very busy today…but I took some time out to watch and read a few things about Mr. Trump's legal troubles. He sure has a lot of them and I don't think "You can't prosecute me because you didn't prosecute Hillary" is going to make them go away. And I have the feeling that the folks arguing that it's wrong to bring charges against a political opponent were a lot of the same people shouting "Lock her up! Lock her up!" about Ms. Clinton.
I don't want a lot of this stuff in my head and in my day but it's like a moth. It's not easy to keep it out or to get rid of it once it gets in.
The fine folks who run Comic-Con International today announced…
Barbara Friedlander, Sam Glanzman to Receive 2023 Bill Finger Award
Barbara Friedlander and Sam Glanzman have been selected to receive the 2023 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The selection, made by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by writer-historian Mark Evanier, was unanimous.
"Once again, we're excited to honor two folks who wrote great comic books that perhaps didn't receive the attention and recognition that their work deserved," Evanier noted. "Readers who only know from fictional superheroes should be aware of the excellent writing that has sometimes been found in comics about real-world romance and real-world war— two areas represented well by this year's recipients."
Barbara Friedlander and Sam Glanzman
Barbara Friedlander (now Barbara Friedlander-Bloomfield) began working for DC Comics at the age of 18 in 1963. She started in a clerical position but quickly graduated to editorial work and writing, mainly for the company's line of romance comics, which included Young Love, Young Romance, Heart Throbs, Secret Hearts, Falling in Love, Girls' Love Stories and Girls' Romances. All of these titles featured her stories, and she created several ongoing serials including "Three Girls: Their Lives & Loves" and "Reach for Happiness." She was also responsible for teen comics such as her creation Swing with Scooter and for many of the text and advice pages that ran in all these comics. Her scripts showed an insight into male/female relationships that one might not have expected from a writer that young. She left DC in 1970, but we are proud that she will be a Special Guest at the 2023 Comic-Con.
Sam Glanzman (1924–2017) had work in some of the earliest comic books ever published in America, getting his start in 1939 at Funnies, Inc., a "shop" that produced comic book material for several publishers. His brothers David and Lew were also comic book writers and artists, so it ran in the family. Sam's first work in print seems to have been text stories he wrote for Amazing-Man Comics, published by Hillman. Soon though, he was writing and drawing for Harvey Comics but his burgeoning career was interrupted by World War II, much of which he spent stationed by the Navy on the U.S.S. Stevens. Discharged in 1946, he did not return immediately to comics, working instead in manual labor. After several unsuccessful attempts, he returned to steady comic book work in 1958, working for Charlton Comics and later for Dell, mainly as an artist. In 1970, he began selling work to DC Comics, primarily for their war titles, and it was there that he wrote and drew an outstanding series of personal and autobiographical stories. The "U.S.S. Stevens" tales recalled his days stationed aboard that destroyer in vivid and realistic detail. It is mainly for these and other such autobiographical works that we honor him and will be pleased to present his Finger Award to his son and grandson at the ceremony.
The Bill Finger Award was created in 2005 at the instigation of the great comic book artist and cartoonist Jerry Robinson. It was his way of preserving the memory of his friend and colleague, the late Bill Finger. Evanier explains, "At the time, Mr. Finger rarely received credit as co-creator of Batman and of the entire, voluminous mythos and supporting cast that surrounded the Caped Crusader. Gloriously, the name of Bill Finger now appears on Batman movies and comic books. That doesn't stop us from continuing to hand out awards bearing his name to other writers who, in the opinion of the committee, have not received sufficient reward or attention for what they have contributed to comics."
In addition to Evanier, the selection committee consists of Charles Kochman (executive editor at Harry N. Abrams, book publisher), comic book writer Kurt Busiek, artist/historian Jim Amash, cartoonist Scott Shaw!, and writer/editor Marv Wolfman.
The major sponsor for the 2023 awards is DC Comics; supporting sponsors are Heritage Auctions and Maggie Thompson.
The Finger Award falls under the auspices of Comic-Con International: San Diego and is administered by Jackie Estrada. The awards will be presented during the Eisner Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con International on Friday, July 21.
Additional information on the Finger Award can be found on this page.
If you love reading about animation history (especially Disney history), you must know the name of Jim Korkis. My longtime buddy Jim has devoted most of his life to researching and writing about cartoons and comics and all the related stuff that you and I love…and with darn near no regard for money. He's been the kind of guy who, when someone wanted to pay him for his writing would say, "It's not necessary…just send me whatever you want whenever you can." His many books on these beloved topics have not brought him much in the way of dollars.
He could use some now as he is seriously not well. This GoFundMe page set up by one of his friends will tell you the sad details. I'm just going to tell you that Jim is a great guy who has given the world so much by recording and reporting history. If you can, send him whatever you want but don't wait until whenever you can. He can use it now. I do not post these often but I'm posting this because it's Jim.
The Tony Awards telecast is safely ensconced on my TiVo and I'll watch it when I have more time than I have tonight. In the meantime, here's the number they performed from the revival of Sweeney Todd…
A friend of mine told me today that what convinced him that Donald Trump is in a heap o' trouble is that Bill Barr is making the rounds of the newschat shows saying that Trump is "toast." That's not a good sign but I think a worse one for Trump is that Alan Dershowitz thinks Donald isn't in very much trouble.
And no, I don't trust either man. But Bill Barr was Trump's attorney general and was in the bag for him so much that it's tough to tar him as a Trump-hating Liberal.
Yes, I'm paying more attention to this stuff than I wanted to pay. A lot of that comes from the same impulse I have to watch televised police pursuits.
I just realized the Tony Awards are on tonight. I saw some fleeting mention of them somewhere on the Internet as I surfed by and, sure enough, tonight's the night. I guess I have too many other things to think about lately to have looked forward to the telecast as I usually do.
Not having left my state this past year (or even the last few years), I have seen none of the nominated shows and I'm still in no mood to get on a plane. Let's see if tonight's telecast makes me think I should. My TiVo is set to welcome it…and by the way, I still have a TiVo. I had one of the first ones and I'll have one of the last ones. My cable provider has changed three or four times in the last decade or two and every time, they try to get me to switch to their proprietary Digital Video Recorder even to the point of (a) telling me they can no longer support my Tivo and/or (b) sending me their DVR against my wishes.
Not my current model.
When they've sent me one of theirs — which Spectrum has now done three times — I usually try the thing out, decide it's not as good as what I have and stick with TiVo. (Over twenty years ago, a salesguy for DirecTV told me that he had learned TiVo was going out of business and I had no choice but to switch to their device. I think the guy is now one of Trump's lawyers.)
Anyway, mine still works and it'll be recording the Tonys tonight. It'll be happy to do that since it can't record John Oliver these days.
His sister is reporting the passing of cartoonist Joshua Quagmire (real name: Richard Lester) at the age of 71. "Joshua" was the creator of the underground comic Cutey Bunny and a frequent presence at comic conventions since — I'm guessing here — the early eighties. He published six issues of Cutey Bunny around that time and seemed to always have copies for sale after that along with posters and prints and artwork of his character.
And that's almost all I know about him other than that he was firmly devoted to being a cartoonist his way, doing his work his way, only occasionally allowing his lady rabbit to appear in someone else's publication. I once recommended him for a cartooning job but it wouldn't have been him drawing his characters and it would have meant having someone as editor/boss over him so he politely passed. Oh — and I know I found his work quite entertaining, as did many others.
I assume someone knew him well but to most of us, he was a man of mystery. I couldn't even find a photo of him to run with this obit. I have no idea how well his cartooning supported him and what else he might have been doing if/when it didn't. He seemed proud of his work and proud of his independence. Sorry to hear we won't be seeing him at Comic-Con this year…or anywhere anyplace. Condolences to his friends and family and bunnies.
Back in 2004 on his CBS show, David Letterman got himself into a little scuffle with CNN and the White House of George W. Bush. I admired the hell out of Dave when he was on NBC, in particular for his skill at connecting with his audience and finding humor in places where no one else could. In one interview once, he said something about how it was an exciting challenge on his program when something went wrong and he had to figure out a way to build something out of the wreckage. When you're doing five shows a week for decades, that's a wonderful survival skill to have.
Later, I lost a certain amount of respect for the guy due to his bad sportsmanship at (a) not getting The Tonight Show and (b) later getting soundly beaten in the ratings by The Tonight Show. And I felt he stayed on his CBS series long after he should have shut it down and found something else to do. But this video, I think, shows Dave at his best, building something not so much out of wreckage as of a situation that no one else could have made that funny…
So how secret were those secret documents Donald Trump was hoarding? Fred Kaplan, who knows all about this kind of thing, is just the man to answer that question.
Comic-Con International convenes in San Diego in 40 days. The Writers Guild (the WGA) is on strike. The Actors' union may go on strike. How might these strikes affect the con? The show biz news site Deadline has an article up that says, among other things…
The most immediate place where a possible SAG-AFTRA strike will be felt is at San Diego Comic-Con, which runs July 19-23. Already, the WGA strike is preventing TV creators from heading there and sitting on panels. The prospect of a starless geek fest would gut a conference that annually attracts 135,000 attendees and which fully returned to an in-person event only last year after a two-year Covid hiatus. Many studios and networks are in a wait-and-see-mode as to how they'll trumpet shows and movies. Some such as HBO are skipping because there aren't any immediate fanboy series on the horizon. At the bare minimum, a filmmaker or producer can venture down to Hall H with footage in hand to show off.
A Comic-Con spokesperson tells Deadline: "With regard to the strike and its possible effects on Comic-Con, we tend to refrain from speculation or forecasting. I will say, our hope is for a speedy resolution that will prove beneficial to all parties and allow everyone to continue the work they love. Until then, we continue to diligently work on our summer event in the hopes of making it as fun, educational, and celebratory as in years past."
Okay, first off: SAG-AFTRA may not strike or a strike could easily be settled by July 19. I'm not sure if a strike matters if the studios are opting out of presenting at Comic-Con for the promotional value. So maybe there could be very few appearances at the con by superstars of TV and the movies. So what? The badges are sold. They'll be used. Some of the folks who camp out in Hall H for most of the con might just wander over to other parts of the building and discover other things that merit their attention. A few of them might even go into the Exhibit Hall and buy stuff.
And no one who is disappointed that their favorite celebs aren't there this time is going to hold it against the convention. Nor will they hesitate to buy badges next year when all this will (presumably) be long-settled.
Remember: 135,000+ people flock to Comic-Con each year. Hall H only holds 6,000 of them and the other big rooms wherein Hollywood panels take place hold less. That may be the only part of the whole shebang that interests Deadline but the sheer numbers tell you that most people who go to Comic-Con don't go to those presentations. The star-fueled promotions make headlines but the con is and always has been about so much more than just the hyping of new movies and new TV shows.
I know it doesn't feel that way because that's all the press cares about. But we shouldn't let that spoil our fun.
Remember too that if there is a SAG-AFTRA strike, it will be about the contract that doesn't cover animation or videogames. There will be no strike this summer in those areas. There may be some WGA-covered projects that won't have actors at the con to promote the product but there will be plenty of cartoons 'n' games that are unaffected. I may be missing something but I don't see the problem with maybe not having stellar media celebrities on the premises this one time. I even think the con would remain at capacity if they left and never came back.
I've linked you several times in the past to videos of William Shatner's deathless interpretation of "Rocket Man" at the 1978 Science Film Awards but those videos kept disappearing off YouTube and, anyway, it's been a while and a better video is now available. Here then is the much parodied performance of that Elton John classic. The gent introducing it is Bernie Taupin, who wrote the lyrics…
And here's what's probably the best of the parodies…
