• I'm shocked to hear the Rite-Aid drug store chain is eliminating 400 jobs. I've been in dozens of Rite-Aid outlets and I would never have dreamed they had 400 employees.

No sooner am I back from one convention then I'm packing for another. March 29, 30 and 31, I'll be down at the Anaheim Convention Center for this year's WonderCon Anaheim…and so, if you have a lick of sense, will you. This is always an excellent gathering with plenty to see, plenty to do, plenty to buy and plenty of panels hosted by Yours Truly.

The whole schedule can be inspected at this link. Following is the list of what I'm doing…and you'll notice that there's one panel that I'm on but not moderating and that it's scheduled opposite another panel which I'm moderating in another room. I can't wait to see how I'm going to manage that either. Also, the listing below adds in the names of a few panelists who were confirmed too late to get into the online schedule. What's here is right.

Friday, 3/29/19 at 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM in Room 208
The Mark, Sergio and Probably Tom Show
The folks who bring you Groo the Wanderer explain why they haven't brought you Groo the Wanderer lately and they discuss when and where you will see the Mindless Mendicant again in your local comic shop. Join the award-winning team of WonderCon Special Guests Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés as they speak and answer questions about their work, together and apart in comics, plus the hardest-working man in comics — Tom Luth, who colors Groo — will be along to reveal what it's like to spend every waking minute of the day coloring crowd scenes.

Friday, 3/29/19 at 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM in Room 213AB
Bob Clampett's Beany & Cecil: A 70th Anniversary Celebration
On February 28, 1949, the great director of Warner Brothers cartoons, Bob Clampett, segued into television with the debut of Time for Beany, the first great kids show to also attract an adult audience. Originally a puppet show featuring the voices of the legendary Daws Butler and Stan Freberg, it won one of the first Emmy Awards and later became one of the most popular animated programs of all time. Bob's own kids, Ruth Clampett and Robert Clampett, Jr., present memories and rare video from this TV classic along with moderator Mark Evanier.

Friday, 3/29/19 at 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM in Room 208
What's the Point?
Why can't a banana just be a banana? Why can't stories simply be about what happens to characters, instead of needing to express some deeper meaning? To help hash this out, come see moderator Lee Nordling (two-time Eisner Award nominee), industry legend Marv Wolfman (after Stan Lee, the creator of more characters produced for film and TV than any other comics creator), writer-editor Barbara Randall Kesel (Star Wars, Hellboy, Alien: Genocide), and writer Mark Evanier (Garfield & Friends, Groo the Wanderer).

Friday, 3/29/19 at 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM in Room 300B
Writing for Animation
Have you ever wanted to write cartoons for a living? If so, you'll want to listen to a panel of folks who have actually done it and done a lot of it. Come and hear from Moderator Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show, Thundarr The Barbarian), John Semper (Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Static Shock), Julien Magnat (The Garfield Show, Ben 10) and Shaene M. Siders (Niko and the Sword of Life, Woody Woodpecker).

Saturday, 3/30/19 at 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM, in Room North 200B
Quick Draw!
By now, you've probably heard of this fast 'n' funny competition where some of the speediest cartoonists on the globe cross Sharpies in a test of who can draw the funniest idea in the least amount of time. Your Quick Draw Quizmaster Mark Evanier throws the challenges at Sergio Aragonés (MAD Magazine, Groo the Wanderer), Scott Shaw! (The Flintstones, The Simpsons) and Tom Richmond (MAD's Star Caricaturist). See which one emerges victorious. (Spoiler Alert: Usually, the big winner at these competitions is the audience.)

Saturday, 3/30/19 at 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM in Room North 200B
Cartoon Voices
Once again, your moderator Mark Evanier brings together a team of experts in the art of speaking for animated characters, interviews them and has them demonstrate what they do. The panel this time includes Jon Bailey (Transformers: Combiner Wars, Bumblebee), Phil LaMarr (Futurama, Samurai Jack), Alicyn Packard (Tom & Jerry, Poppy Cat), Rachel Butera (The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Jim Meskimen (Avengers Assemble!, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and maybe a surprise or two.

Sunday, 3/31/19 at 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM in Room 300B
Cover Story
Some say the most important part of any comic book is the cover. If that's so, we need to talk more about cover designs…and talk we will with these acclaimed cover creators: Greg Capullo (Batman, Spawn), Tim Sale (Batman: The Long Halloween, Superman For All Seasons) and Jen Bartel (Blackbird, Black Panther). Your moderator as usual is Mark Evanier.

Sunday, 3/31/19 at 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM in Room 211
Jack Kirby Tribute
Every year at every con, Mark Evanier moderates a panel about the man many call the most important creative talent ever in comics. Discussing the late, great Jack Kirby this year will be former Kirby assistant Steve Sherman, Tom King (Mister Miracle, Batman), Tom Kraft from the The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center, John Morrow (publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector) and Paul S. Levine, attorney for the Rosalind Kirby Trust.

Badges and hotel rooms for WonderCon are still available, though I wouldn't count on both of those things being true for very long. If you wanna be a part of it, all the info you need is on the con website along with lots more useful information about the event. I should be around all three days but as is my custom, I refuse to let them give me a table or to sit behind one for very long. See you there if you're there!

Hal Blaine died the other day at the age of 90. He was a featured member of "The Wrecking Crew," that group of studio musicians who played on everyone's records or in sessions for motion picture scores and TV themes. Blaine was a drummer and to many, he was The Drummer.

Here's a montage of songs where his artful percussion skills were heard. This doubtlessly represents way less than 1% of all he did but perhaps you'll recognize a tune or two. Thanks to Shelly Goldstein for suggesting this…

It's being kinda announced that soon there will be an announcement of another revival of The Music Man, this one to star Hugh Jackman. Boy, I want to see that. Hope they don't change the ending and have Marian the Librarian run away from him.

You may have heard that a battle is raging between the Writers Guild of America and many of the agencies that represent their members. This article by Steven Zeitchik does a good job of explaining the issue but if you're too lazy to click, here's the one-line summary: A lot of agencies that are supposed to get jobs for their clients are less interested in doing that then they are in putting together deals where the agency assumes a producer's role and collects on the entire revenues of the show or movie.

There is no question that this goes on. It has as long as I've been in the field which is since around 1975 and it was not new then. It's one of those things that wasn't a big issue when only a few agencies were doing it but it's become so prevalent now that it's creating problems. I have no opinion on what can or should be done about it.

There are writers who have done very well being part of packages. Your agent represents your interests but also represents the project on which you work…most of the stars and/or producers and/or directors, etc. That can be fine up to a point, that point being when your interests diverge with those of the others involved in the venture. Your agent can't really fight for you against his other clients, some of whom make way more money for him than you do.

I haven't had an agent in something like fifteen or twenty years. My old one, who was terrific, got out of the business and I was working too steadily to get around to finding someone else. I've had a couple of good lawyers who could handle what I needed. Every now and then, I meet an agent and we talk about representation but I haven't found quite what I'm not-that-actively looking for.

About ten or twelve years ago, I was talking with a producer who was then talking to the Academy of Motion Pictures about producing the Oscar telecast. We got to discussing the show and how it might be improved and I guess he was impressed with some of my thoughts and also with my general knowledge of films. He said, "If I do the show — and it's possible but not probable I will — I'd like to have you aboard as one of the writers." I thought that might be nice.

A week or three later, someone else was announced as the producer and I got a call from the guy who was now not going to fill that position. He said, "Have your agent call them and tell them I was going to hire you." Well, I didn't have an agent but a few days later, I met with one who had called and asked me to come in and talk about him maybe representing me. (By the way, I always find this kind of meeting very enlightening. I've learned an awful lot about show business by talking with people who wanted to represent me but with whom I would never in a million years sign.)

The agent talked to me about his wonderful client list of not only writers but also directors and producers, and how he had a cooperative arrangement with a leading actors agency that repped some very big stars. The modus operandi he was touting was that I would bring him spec screenplays I'd written and also properties (like comic books) that I controlled and he would put together packages involving a director client of his, a producer client of his, stars from the actors' agency and perhaps other personnel. Then he would sell the whole project to a studio or network or someone with himself as an Executive Producer. I had seen this business model before many times.

I mentioned to him about how maybe I'd like to write on the Academy Awards and I told him what I just told you. Then I asked, "Could you make the call and maybe get me set up there?" And I swear to you, he replied —

"Why in the world would I do something like that?"

So there's a perfect example of why the W.G.A. and the agencies are feuding. How it will end, I have no idea.

I was always a fan of this music video by Eytan and The Embassy…

…so I really liked this parody version by someone — maybe even some of the same people involved in the original…

Nancy Pelosi says she is not interested in impeaching Donald Trump. Maybe she means that or maybe it's just political strategy…an area in which she has a fair amount of expertise.

You might decide to say that now because you're not going to do it until we hear from Robert Mueller and maybe some of the agencies and states that are investigating Trump. If their reports aren't devastating, you're probably not going to impeach even over what's already quite provable. And if further reports are devastating…well, you'll seem more reasonable and a tad less political if you then say, "Well, as you know, early in March, I went on record as not supporting impeachment but all these new revelations make it a necessity."

Or you might just think it would serve Democrats better to run against Trump in 2020 as opposed to certain scandal-free alternatives who might emerge were he to be removed from office. In any case, Pelosi sure won't lose any support she has now if she changes her position later.

Friends keep asking me if I think Trump oughta be impeached. I have two answers, one being that if he is, it shouldn't be now. It should wait until more comes out. I don't believe even his most vociferous supporters would bet there won't be more scandals or that none of the current ones will stick. I also think that those supporters would have been screaming for impeachment for some time now if a Democratic president had half the accusations that have engulfed Mr. Trump.

My favorite place in Los Angeles to consume beef — Wolfgang's Steakhouse on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills — closed as of last night. Its owner Wolfgang Zwiener operates many other Wolfgang's Steakhouses in many other cities and says he's searching for another spot in town here. I'm skeptical because in the past when a favorite eatery of mine closed and its proprietors said they'd reopen soon in another location, that never happened. We can only hope this time will be an exception.

One bright spot, though: Nate N' Al's Delicatessen will move into that piece of real estate. Nate N' Al's is located on the other side of the same block and they have to vacate their spot of many, many years because the building's being demo'ed soon. So there will at least be a great restaurant at Wolfgang's old address. It'll just be one serving the best potato salad in Los Angeles instead of one with the best Porterhouse steaks.

Meanwhile, there's a battle going on to save Tom Bergin's, an 83-year-old Irish pub/restaurant in my neighborhood. I don't care a lot about this one because I don't drink, don't like being around drinkers and because — thanks to Tom Bergin's and one other nearby Irish pub — we could usually expect one real nasty traffic accident in the area every St. Patrick's Day. The food at Tom Bergin's (which I did partake of a few times) was innocuous and I think they closed that part of the operation.

What makes this interesting is that fans of the establishment are fighting to have the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission declare it a historic cultural monument which must not be razed or significantly altered. You know, like the statue of Jubilation T. Cornpone in the center square in Dogpatch.

Many people are fighting for Tom Bergin's to be so designated. Who's against it? The owners of Tom Bergin's.

I'm all for preserving history most of the time but sometimes, it just doesn't seem practical. Tom Bergin's closed a few years ago and it reopened when the current owners acquired it to save it because they loved it. They couldn't make a go of it and now they want to unload the business and expect it will be much harder to do so — i.e., they'll get less money — if it has historic cultural monument status.

It seems to me like a business which a lot of people loved but not enough to go there often and spend money. That's the way to preserve a business: Go there and spend money. Of course, I tried that with Wolfgang's and there apparently weren't enough of us.

I refer to a lot of people on this blog as my friends…and they are. I have a lot of friends, which is an easy thing to have when you like almost everyone you meet. But one of my best friends is a fine writer named Alan Brennert. Alan has written a lot of comics and a lot of television and he's currently putting most of his skills to fine use as a novelist. His most recent one — which I admit I haven't read yet — is called Daughter of Moloka'i and nothing Alan's written has been any less than magnificent.

Recently as part of a book tour, he sat for a long interview about the new book, his earlier books and all the other things he's done. His interviewer was George R.R. Martin who's a pretty good interviewer — a field he might explore since obviously, that Game of Thrones thing of his doesn't have any kind of following. The chat runs 72 minutes and will teach you a lot about writing. If it motivates you to obtain a copy of Alan's new novel, here's a link to order…

Made it back without too much traffic. I wound up doing ten panels at the San Diego Comic Fest. That includes a very nice memorial for our friend Batton Lash. When it was my turn, I made the point that we didn't really have to get up and talk about what a great guy he was because everyone in the room already knew that. Still, there were some wise perceptions and insights…and a whole lotta affection.

Among the folks I spent time with down there: Mike Royer, Allen Bellman, Steve Rude, Buzz Dixon, Scott Shaw!, Jackie Estrada, Bob Foster, Trina Robbins, Steve Leialoha, Arlen Schumer, Pete Von Sholly, Dave Clark, Phil Geiger, Mike Friedrich, Lee Marrs, Gene Henderson, Mike Towry, Matt Dunford, Dennis Mallonee, Barbara Kesel, Chris Ryall, Tony Benedict, Stan Sakai, Tom Luth, William Stout, Shannon Wheeler, Robert Clampett Jr., Ruth Clampett and who am I leaving out? Many names.

A point I should make before I go to sleep: If you're upset that comic conventions are too crowded and don't have enough about comics, there's a simple solution to that: Go to smaller conventions. There are plenty of them out there and they'd love to have you. And now I'm going to post a video and then go to sleep. Nighty-night.

We've — and I speak for many — been having a fine time here at the San Diego Comic Fest. I still love the big gathering in this town every July but a low-key variation with time to talk and time to sleep is also a delight. By the time Sergio and I drive home this evening, I'll have done ten panels in three days and filled the remainder of the con with great conversations, many of them with friends I've known well over half my life.

I got one person mad at me. It was a gent I didn't know who wanted a number of books I've worked on signed…and one that I had nothing to do with. I told him "I didn't work on this. I didn't even read it" but he insisted I write my name on its cover and as I did, I said, "This must be how Donald Trump feels when he signs those Bibles." Wrong guy to say that in front of.

The crowd here is older and I'd wager there's been more discussion in the building about Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko than about anyone who got into doing comic books this century. Later today, I do the second of two panels on Bob Clampett, a talented gent whose work is well overdue for a round of re-examination and appreciation. And we had a nice panel/memorial yesterday for our late friend Batton Lash.

Just got a text to join some friends for breakfast so I'm going to go clean-up and pack-up and then go eat-up. I'll try to post more about this event later but first I'm going to go enjoy the rest of it. Bye now.

Another sad bit of news. John Boni was a very fine writer, producer, stand-up comic and even an actor. Taking the last of these first, he was a fine musical comedy performer working off-Broadway, most notably with a long-running role in the longer-running show, The Fantasticks.

In television, his credits included Three's Company, Facts of Life, 227, General Hospital, All My Children and he won an Emmy for his work on The Electric Company. You may be especially impressed that he was one of the main writers of Fernwood Tonight and America Tonight — you may remember those shows with Martin Mull and Fred Willard — and that he co-created When Things Were Rotten along with Norman Stiles and Mel Brooks. I also recall some very clever pieces he wrote for National Lampoon in its golden days.

He was not only a talented man, he was a nice man…the kind who was liked by everyone. I hadn't seen him in a while and I missed him. Now I guess I'm going to have to go on missing him forever. It's sad to lose a guy like that.

I'm not sure if Johnny Thompson (aka "The Great Tomsoni") was the most beloved figure in the magic community or the most knowledgeable but he was at least one of those. A most respected performer, much of his career in recent years had been consulting with Penn & Teller and serving as one of the judges on their show, Penn & Teller Fool Us. If the program was a contest to see if anyone could fool Johnny, no one would ever win.

I was honored to see him perform on several occasions and to talk with him about his art 'n' craft. There are magicians who are very skilled at trickery and there are those who are very funny in performance. Johnny was one of those rare ones who was both…and an absolute joy to meet.

Hey, it's Rapmaster Cookie Monster!

Mark Joseph Stern makes a pretty good case that those of us who don't like Daylight Saving Time are wrong as to what we don't like. He says what we don't like is Standard Time. I think he's right.