Okay, I just posted my list. Click on the above banner (or here) to see a handy-dandy schedule of the primo events of the Comic-Con International in San Diego. You really don't need to be anyplace else.

The schedules are up for Comic-Con programming on Friday and Saturday. Go…see which panels you want to see are opposite other panels you want to see.

I'll have the full list of mine up later today. Maybe.

Back at the computer after a refreshing three hours of sleep, I find myself reading articles like this one about the "status of forces" negotiations between the U.S. and Iraq. Looks like Bush supporters are going to have to start arguing that setting up a "time horizon for troop withdrawal" (which is wanted) is not the same thing as setting timetables to bring U.S. forces home (which Bush and McCain have always equated with craven surrender). Hey, whatever gets us outta there is fine with me.

Another stumbing block seems to be — and I quote from the above-linked article — "the legal immunity of U.S. troops and Defense Department personnel from Iraqi prosecution for any alleged crime." Isn't this how the FISA law was handled? You do what you want and then you ram through retroactive immunity? After they leave office, Bush and Cheney are planning to begin robbing liquor stores and then having that made legal.

Remember the good ol' days when our government was either so virtuous or so competent at not getting caught that it didn't need retroactive immunity for anything it had done?

I'm up at another ungodly hour, working on something. On my TiVo as I write, I'm watching a lecture by Vincent Bugliosi, who has a new book out called The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. In it, he calls for some courageous prosecutor to come forth — or better still, for Vince Bugliosi to be appointed a Special Prosecutor — and to put Bush on trial. The lecture was on CSPAN2 earlier this morning and it reruns today (Sunday) at 3 PM Eastern, which is Noon on my coast.

I have no idea what to make of this. Bugliosi (who I've met and spoken with, mostly about his book on the Kennedy assassination) can be a very annoying man. He sweats profusely and rarely strays too far from the topic of what a superb prosecutor and smart person he believes himself to be. This is not to say he's wrong. I thought his writings on the JFK case, the O.J. Simpson case, the Clinton-Lewinsky matter and the Bush-Gore Supreme Court were generally on-target and occasionally brilliant. This time out, he seems to be pursuing his case from an utterly impractical angle…one that's unlikely to accomplish anything more than sell a lot of books. I usually purchase whatever Bugliosi publishes but this time, I think I'm taking a pass.

An interesting aside. One of the folks who asks a question of Bugliosi in the Q-and-A section is Steve Rohde, an attorney who's been a major champion of the First Amendment. He's a courageous man who has done much good for Freedom of Speech in this country…and he was the main lawyer who represented Jack Kirby in his famous dispute with Marvel Comics over the ownership of his original artwork.

Dick Cavett, a guy I've always admired in any number of ways, has been a chronic sufferer of capital-D Depression for some time. As he got the problem under some control, he went public with his story in a series of fascinating, touching talk show appearances that I'm sure helped a lot of people…including many who had much tinier, manageable versions of the ailment he had in spades. One interview I recall — on Larry King Live, I believe — included a caller who practically begged Cavett to give the names of the medications that had helped him. Cavett wisely refused and then respectfully lectured the caller that he (she?) had to find a doctor caring and learned enough to prescribe what could be effective in his (her?) specific case. He said something to the effect of, "What worked for me might not work for you. In fact, it might make things worse. What you need to do is address the problem on a basic level. Asking what I took so that you might find some way to get your hands on it shows that you're missing the whole point."

Recently, Mr. Cavett wrote this column for The New York Times in which he talked a little about his problem, then followed it with this column in which he said more. They're a little self-congratulatory and he does manage to name-drop three of his Big Four — Olivier, Brando and Woody Allen — in them. (Apparently, Kate Hepburn said nothing even vaguely relevant on the topic.) But I think Cavett's so bright and useful that I forgive him his occasional excesses and I suggest you give his pieces a quick read…or a deeper one if the topic looms large in your life. And don't skip over the comments from his readers which are very much a part of his little lecture.

When I see some of the amateurs and inept provocateurs who manage to get an hour of cable time, at least for a few ratings periods, I wonder why no one has offered Dick Cavett one of those time slots. Maybe he wouldn't want it but nothing the man ever did on television was not worth watching. The last time he had such a show, much of his old roster of guests was still available and he did shows with them that were interesting…but pale, anticlimactic versions of earlier, better conversations. Now, almost all of those folks are gone and I think it would be interesting to drop the guy into a new world of talking heads and see what happened. It might be exciting but even if it wasn't, he couldn't get lower numbers than Tucker Carlson or Glenn Beck.

Lorenzo Semple Jr. developed the Batman TV show (the one starring Adam West) and was its key writer. In this article, he remembers how it all happened.

Two points of note. One is that he seems to recall that his pilot script, which featured The Joker, was the first one aired. Actually, the first episode that aired featured The Riddler and the second week featured The Penguin. It wasn't until the third week that The Joker showed his white face…and that script was credited to Robert Dozier, son of Exec Producer William Dozier. So something is wrong in his recollection.

Also: The way Semple tells it, he makes it sound as if ABC forced Batman on Bill Dozier as a project he neither initiated nor wanted to do. Dozier used to tell the story of how he came across a Batman comic book in an airport gift shop and that's how he got the idea to do the show. I seem to recall that in one telling, Dozier even described the issue in question well enough that guys like me could identify it was Batman #171 — which featured The Riddler and which contained story elements that turned up in Semple's script for the first episode aired.

I'm pretty sure Semple's right about all the other stuff but those two matters have me a little puzzled.

Even as we speak, programming is being finalized for the Comic-Con International. They've posted the schedule of panels 'n' such for Thursday and for Sunday. Friday and Saturday should follow in a day or so. I'll have up the list of my seventeen (17? Is the man crazy?) panels shortly.

I'm going to defer to Stan Sakai to report what I did last night. It was a tribute to our late friend, Dave Stevens. There will be another one at the Comic-Con International…on Sunday morning, July 27 at 11 AM in room 7AB. This immediately follows the annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel in the same room at 10 AM. We don't have a large enough room for either and we don't have nearly enough time to say everything that needs to be said. So get there early.

Time for this year's announcement…

Comic-Con International, the largest comic book and popular arts event in the United States, is proud to announce that Archie Goodwin and Larry Lieber have been selected to receive the 2008 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The choice was made unanimously by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by writer and historian Mark Evanier.

The Bill Finger Award was instituted in 2005 under the supervision of comic book legend Jerry Robinson. The awards committee is charged each year with selecting two recipients, one living and one deceased. "With all the writers who seem worthy of this award, you'd think it would be an impossible decision," Evanier explains. "But this year, two names just jumped off the list of candidates. Much like the late Bill Finger, Larry Lieber and Archie Goodwin did important, groundbreaking work in our field that has not received the recognition it deserves. We're hoping to rectify that a little with these awards."

Archie Goodwin did his first work in comics (mystery stories for Harvey, along with assisting Leonard Starr with the newspaper strip On Stage) in the late 1950s. From 1964 to 1967, he produced a body of acclaimed work as writer/editor of Creepy and Eerie, then moved on to work as both a writer and editor for DC Comics and Marvel, writing memorable scripts for Batman, Iron Man, Star Wars, Manhunter and many others. He also wrote several newspaper strips, including Star Wars, Secret Agent X-9 and Captain Kate. Goodwin passed away in 1998.

Larry Lieber began working in 1950 at the company now known as Marvel, doing artwork under the editorship of his brother, Stan Lee. In the late 1950s, he and Stan comprised the entire writing staff for the company, and Larry's work on monster comics (including the acclaimed "Fin Fang Foom") helped lay the groundwork for the Marvel superhero line of the sixties. For that line, Larry scripted the first stories of Thor and Iron Man and many early tales of The Human Torch. He is currently the illustrator of the Spider-Man newspaper strip.

The Bill Finger Award honors the memory of William Finger (1914-1974), who was the first and, some say, most important writer of Batman. Many have called him the "unsung hero" of the character and have hailed his work not only on that iconic figure but on dozens of others, primarily for DC Comics.

In addition to Evanier, the selection committee consists of Charles Kochman (executive editor at Harry N. Abrams), comics and animation writer Paul Dini, writer Tony Isabella, and writer/editor Marv Wolfman. The 2008 awards are part of Comic-Con International with DC Comics as the major sponsor, along with supporting sponsors Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG) and Heritage Auctions.

The Bill Finger Award will be presented during the 2008 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con on Friday, July 25. Additional information on the Finger Award can be found on this page.

Nothing really to add to the press release except to say it was a quick decision. It's a pleasure to be able to turn the spotlight on two such fine gentlemen. And of course, it's sad that Archie's award has to be posthumous. We lost a lot when we lost that guy.

You get a lot of really stupid messages when you have a blog like this one. Here's one from someone who signs himself "Yoda Bear," and it wouldn't surprise me if that's his real name…

I saw the YouTube clip of that convention panel where you pretended to phone Chuck McCann, the voice of the Cocoa Puffs bird. How stupid were the people at that convention? I recognized the voice you had on the end as a RECORDING of an old Cocoa Puffs commercial. Did they not realize you'd just set up an accomplice with a tape? No wonder you believe Barack Obama's b.s. You must think some people are so stupid they'll believe anything. Sadly, you may be right.

I was amazed how many people at that convention asked me afterwards if that was really Chuck McCann on the phone. Yes, it was really Chuck McCann on the phone. If anyone would like to bet that it wasn't, I'll take all bets up to one million dollars…and we can settle it on Saturday, July 26 at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. At 12:30 PM in room 6CDEF, I'll be co-hosting a panel of Cartoon Voice Artists and one of them will be — in person! — Chuck McCann. I'm sure Chuck will be glad to verify that it was him, live on the phone that evening. Put your money where your mouth is, as they say.

(That panel will also feature Jason Marsden, Wally Wingert, Alicyn Packard, Phil LaMarr and one other person I'm waiting to hear from. There will also be a panel on Sunday with six other voice actors, plus my friend Earl Kress and I are hosting a panel on the business side of doing cartoon voices — how to break in, how to prepare a demo, how to get an agent, etc. That's also on Sunday. The whole schedule should be available in a day or three.)