Before The Cocoanuts was a movie starring The Marx Brothers, it was a Broadway show starring The Marx Brothers…and the stage musical still gets revived from time to time.  Next Thursday, a production of it opens at the Culbreth Theater, which is on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.  It's directed by my buddy Frank Ferrante and he's also in it playing the role originally played by Groucho Marx.  It's only there for eleven performances and if so many of them didn't coincide with Comic-Con, I might just hop on a plane and go catch one or more of them.  If you want to be there, here's the page where you can get a ticket or two.  I wish he'd do it closer to me at a time when I can go.

This might matter to your life if (a) you're attending Comic-Con in San Diego next week, (b) you're attending Preview Night on Wednesday and (c) you'll be driving down from the North on the 5 Freeway that day. If all three of those apply to you, read The Next Paragraph. If all three do not apply to you, skip The Next Paragraph and The One After.

The Next Paragraph: You might (might!) encounter a helluva traffic jam when you hit the Del Mar area. It's the opening day of the season at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, aka Del Mar Race Track. In years past, that has sometimes resulted in immense slowdowns and even full stops for long stretches of time on the 5…but sometimes, it does not. One year when it was backed up all the way to Oceanside, I took the 78 east there to the 15 south to the 163 south which took me right into downtown San Diego in a lot less time than staying on the 5, where I might still be.

The One After: But this might not be necessary and even if it is, Waze might be able to find you an even better route. Waze could probably find me a faster route from my office to the bathroom in my office and it would show me all the places in-between where I could stop and get a Subway® sandwich.

And in case you're curious, the San Diego Padres will not be at Petco Park next to the convention center while we're in town. They'll be in Philadelphia getting massacred by the Phillies. If they were in town, we could send over a band of cosplayers dressed as Muppet Babies to beat them.

Not much else to say about the con today. I have been warned that some streets in San Diego that are usually not closed during the con will be closed during the con but I don't know which ones. I just assume there will be no possible way to get into or out of the hotel where I'm staying. Even Waze may not save me there.

In the past here, I've raved about a show that the Jim Henson Company (the part of it not sold to Disney) puts on every once in a while in Los Angeles. It's called Puppet Up! and I wrote about it here. Basically, it's an improvised puppet show for adults that is very, very funny and usually very, very dirty. They do it whenever they feel like it from the fabled Chaplin Stage in Hollywood and they feel like doing it July 28 and 29 — three shows that are certain to sell out soon. If you want to be at one of them, buy some tickets soon. I'm taking friends to the 7 PM show on Saturday.

The IMDB folks put together a brief tribute to Steve Ditko. It's pretty accurate though I do not believe the oft-recounted story about Jack Kirby's version of Spider-Man being displaced by Ditko's because Jack's was "too heroic." I'm still trying to find the time to write something substantial here about Mr. Ditko and his amazing work.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy is a non-profit, non-partisan "think tank" that works on tax issues and identifies what this or that tax cut or hike means for the economy. They tend to get cited a lot by both Democrats and Republicans when either party can use the group's findings to support what they want to do.

As Kevin Drum notes, they recently analyzed the numbers on all the G.O.P. tax cuts since the year 2000 and concluded that most of the benefits went to the rich. Well, duh. Is there anyone reading this who couldn't have told them that without crunching any digits? But what's interesting is that as Drum notes…

ITEP figures that total taxes paid in 2018 are about $600 billion less than they would be if we had just left the tax code alone. That's nearly the entire federal deficit projected for this year.

Just to make sure you get that: Republican tax cuts since 2000 are responsible for nearly the entire federal deficit. Repeal them all and the budget would be almost balanced.

I would imagine that if you went to any Republican leader and said, "You've always said deficits are bad and we should have a balanced budget so what about this?", the answer would be something about how, yes, "Maybe the numbers do break down that way but these cuts will stimulate the economy and eventually, we'll have not only that balanced budget but a surplus!" And then that will never happen. Because no one ever cares about deficits when they're the ones running them up. My deficits are fine. It's your deficits that will destroy America.

Comic-Con International convenes a week from today in San Diego. Preview Night used to be a not-as-crowded, more leisurely stroll about the convention hall but now there's nothing particularly leisurely between the time you cross the San Diego City Limits and the time you pass out of them. I find I don't mind the crazed, something-every-second pace as long as I expect it going in and I remember I can leave.

I'm getting a little weary of the complaint, "It isn't about comics anymore." Yeah, people make more fuss about the Avengers movies than they do about the Avengers comic books. That's the way it is, people. Everywhere, including the executive suites at Marvel Entertainment, there's more interest in the movies than the comic books, That doesn't mean there isn't plenty around about the comic books…and if you can't find it, that doesn't mean it ain't there.

Check out the programming schedule and count the number of events that are about comics. Just try to visit every dealer in that hall who's selling comic books.

Take a look at the list of people the convention chooses to invite as Special Guests. Huge movie and TV stars will be at the convention but that's because exhibitors brought them there. The con invites mainly people who work in comic books, comic strips, animation and print fantasy. And in fact, they're revising their rules as to who qualifies for a free professional badge to give more weight to folks who work in comics and animation.

Yeah, it's about a lot of stuff that only tenuously connects to comic books…but you don't have to go to the Indigo Ballroom on Saturday afternoon for the TV Guide panel with the hottest stars on the hottest shows on television. Come over to Room 5AB and watch as Trina Robbins and I interview the lady who ghostwrote Wonder Woman in the forties. Could there be an event more about comic books than that?

We may be about to see a strike by members of SAG-AFTRA who provide voices for animated projects for streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.  Here are some more of the details.

Whenever we see one of these show-biz labor actions, I invariably get e-mails asking me to explain to the best of my ability, what's going on, what's the central issue, who's in the right, etc.  The answer is almost always pretty simple: It's about money.  One side wants more than they're getting.  The other side wants to pay as little as they can for the same reasons that when you go shopping for a new car, you want to find the cheapest possible price.

Sometimes, people clutter these disputes with phony "issues" like when the Writers Guild was demanding a piece of the profits when our work was sold for home video.  The producers did not refuse us saying, "No, we just want to keep as much of that money for ourselves and not share."  The CEOs did not say, "Hey, if I can get away without giving you guys any part of that loot, I can get a multi-million dollar bonus and buy a bigger condo in Hawaii!"  Instead, they said things like this…

While we respect the vital contributions of the writers, they are obviously unaware of the uncertainty of this new, unexplored means of revenue.  Rather than risk destroying the nascent home video market by loading it down with burdensome costs, we prefer to wait and see if there even are revenues to share.  This is not the time to be demanding a share of a pie that might never exist.  As it is, it may never be more than a way for us to recoup some of the massive and increasing deficits we now encounter on traditional film and television production.  If it turns out that home video does provide new profits and even a market for expanded production, we will certainly be open to some adjustment to share that revenue with not just the writers but all the hard-working members of our industry.

That of course translates to "I want that bigger condo in Hawaii."  That's pretty much what all these disputes are about.

General rule of thumb: Any time an employer or a politician for that matter says, "Now is not the time to do what you want," they mean "No time is or will ever be the right time."

I am, of course, on the side of the actors.  And if you're someone who dreams of someday being one of them, you should be.  Right now, doing voice work for that kind of material does not generate a living wage.  That has to change.

Please do not write me to ask if I will…

1. Get you into Comic-Con, get you a hotel room at Comic-Con, put you on a panel at Comic-Con, get you some exclusive item and/or a copy of the souvenir book for Comic-Con or supply you with a recording of any of my panels at Comic-Con.
2. Post on my blog what is roughly the equivalent of an ad for your new book, website, convention, comic or other project.
3. Read your work and then give you a critique and/or help you get it to someone who will purchase it.
4. Answer questions when the answers are readily available but you somehow think writing to me is easier than using Google.
5. Help you with "research" on an article you're writing when the questions are so expansive and will require such long answers that I'd basically be writing your article for you.  And lastly…
6. Betray confidences or otherwise tell you things that you have no right to know about.

Thank you.

Broadway star Laura Osnes, who was in Bandstand there, stars in a series of concerts under the title "Broadway Princess Party," in which actresses sing all those songs about how rough you have it when you're royalty. Here she is singing "My Own Little Corner" from Cinderella, after which she is joined on stage by Corey Cott and Jeremy Jordan to perform Mr. Sondheim's song "Agony" from Into the Woods. You'll like this…

Weather predictions nine days out are always a bit fragile but right now, the National Weather Service is predicting that for the days of the con, San Diego will be having highs around 75° and lows around 70°, whereas the AccuWeather (private) service is saying highs around 80° and lows around 70°. So if you plan on highs around 78° and lows around 70°, you should be real close.

Those are temps for the entire city. Down by the water where the convention is, we usually have temps that are 5° lower unless you're in the middle of a crowd (add 10°) or you foolishly venture into the videogame areas of the convention hall where much of you will melt, starting with your ears.

And for those of you who keep campaigning to move the convention to Las Vegas, it will be at least 106° there. Which is one of about nineteen reasons why I think such a move will never happen. Nor should it, Dear God.

This is the time of the year when I start telling friends, "Don't worry! I'm getting them to postpone Comic-Con for a few weeks because none of us are ready for it!" It's also about the time when I get a call or e-mail from someone who wants my help in getting a panel or other event added to the schedule.

That schedule has been locked for weeks. More than a hundred thousand copies have been printed of it and it's been posted on the website…but someone just decided that their current project needs the kind of promotion you get when you squeeze in a panel that nobody can possibly hear about. And yes, this morning I got just such an e-mail: "We really need to do a panel about this at the con. Is there any way you can use your influence with the convention to make it happen?" Answer: No. I'm just working on these…

Thursday, July 19 • 10:30AM – 11:30AM in Room 4
SPOTLIGHT ON MAGGIE THOMPSON:
CELEBRATING THE COMIC BUYER'S GUIDE
Maggie Thompson (30-year co-editor of Comics Buyer's Guide) and CBG contributors Mark Evanier (writer, editor, entertainment expert, and News from ME blogger) and Scott Brick (actor, writer, and award-winning audiobook narrator) revisit three decades of comics newsgathering.

Thursday, July 19 • 3:30PM – 4:30PM in Room 8
THE MARK, SERGIO, STAN AND MAYBE TOM SHOW
It's another panel where the award-winning team of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier (Comic-Con special guests) discuss their work together, especially on the long-running comic Groo The Wanderer. They'll be joined by their letterer (and the creator of the also long-running Usagi Yojimbo) Stan Sakai, and they may be joined by the colorist for both, the hardest-working man in comics, Tom Luth. They'll be telling you all about the upcoming crossover mini-series in which Groo meets…well, come to the panel and find out who.

Friday, July 20 • 10:00AM – 11:30AM in Room 8
THAT 70'S PANEL
The seventies were a time of change for comics: Veteran creators were melding with new talent and new kinds of comics were emerging. Here's a discussion of those changing times with Marv Wolfman (Tomb of Dracula), Steve Leialoha (Warlock), Rick Hoberg (Star Wars), Richard Pini and Wendy Pini (Elfquest), moderator Mark Evanier (Scooby Doo), and others.

Friday, July 20 • 12:30PM – 1:30PM in Room 8
THE POGO PANEL
Walt Kelly was one of the greatest cartoonists of all time, and his work is fast coming back into print and receiving a new recognition. Here's a discussion of that work and the man who created it with historian Maggie Thompson, comic expert R. C. Harvey, film critic Leonard Maltin, co-editor at Fantagraphics Books Eric Reynolds, and your moderator, co-editor with Eric of Pogo: The Complete Newspaper Strips, Mark Evanier. Plus, a display of Walt Kelly artwork you've never seen before!

Friday, July 20 • 2:30PM – 3:30PM in Room 8
TARZAN, BARSOOM AND JOE JUSKO: The Adventure Continues
Jim Sullos (president, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.), Cathy Wilbanks (vice president of operations, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.), writer Mark Evanier (Groo vs. Tarzan), and award-winning artist Joe Jusko discuss new projects featuring Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, and others in novels, comics, games, and more. Moderated by Scott Tracy Griffin (director of special projects, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.).

Saturday, July 21 • 11:45AM – 1:00AM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
Come early and grab a seat for the most talked-about panel at Comic-Con, at least among its participants! Three lightning-fast cartoonists duel to the death right before your eyes armed with nothing but Sharpies, drawing pads, overhead projectors, and their own lethal senses of humor. Your Quick Draw Quizzzzmaster Mark Evanier throws the challenges at Sergio Aragonés (MAD, Groo the Wanderer), Scott Shaw! (The Simpsons, The Flintstones) and the new kid in the dais, Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha). See why people think it's the fastest, funniest panel of the whole danged convention!

Saturday, July 21 • 1:00PM – 2:30PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Once more, moderator Mark Evanier brings six top cartoon voice actors together to talk about their work, demonstrate their craft, and perform a script with insufficient prep time. This time out, the lineup includes J.P. Karliak (The Boss Baby: Back in Business, The New Looney Tunes), Julie Nathanson (Skylanders, Avengers Assemble), John Mariano (Animaniacs, Hey Arnold!), Kari Wahlgren (Bunnicula, Bunsen Is a Beast), Roger L. Jackson (The Powerpuff Girls, Ghostface), Matthew Mercer (Thundercats, Marvel's Spider-Man), and maybe a surprise or two.

Saturday, July 21 • 3:30PM – 4:30PM in Room 5AB
CHAPTERS AND PANELS: BLIZZARD PUBLISHING
See how Blizzard's many worlds are crafted into compelling art and narrative through an array of books and comics. Some of the industry's best authors discuss how they bring to life compelling stories that expand and widen the universe of Blizzard's games, told through the lens of some of gaming's most unique characters. Panelists will highlight recent releases, hint at what may be yet to come, and perhaps unveil a surprise or two. Moderated by Blizzard Publishing senior editor Cate Gary. Panelists include Christie Golden, Jody Houser, Mark Evanier, and Steve Danuser.

Saturday, July 21 • 4:30PM – 5:30PM in Room 5AB
WONDER WOMAN IN THE 1940's
Everyone knows William Marston as the writer-creator of Wonder Woman, but many of the classic Wonder Woman stories of the forties were co-written or wholly written by his uncredited and previously unknown assistant, Joye Hummel. Today, her name is Joye Murchison Kelly and she is this year's in-person recipient of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. In this special, historic event, she makes her first appearance ever on a comic convention panel, where she'll be interviewed by historians Trina Robbins and Mark Evanier. You don't to miss what may be your one-and-only chance to hear her speak about writing the adventures of the Amazon Princess, helping create the mythology of Wonder Woman, and working in Dr. Marston's office alongside him and Wonder Woman artist Harry G. Peter.

Sunday, July 22 • 10:00AM – 11:15AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
As is done every year, fans gather to salute the man some called "The King of the Comics" and its most imaginative artist and creator. Discussing the life and work of Jack Kirby this year are animation producer Larry Houston, illustrator/historian Arlen Schumer, Rand Hoppe of the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center, attorney Paul S. Levine, a few surprises, and your moderator, Kirby biographer and assistant Mark Evanier.

Sunday, July 22 • 11:45AM – 1:15PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
Animation voice director Mark Evanier gathers another stageful of the top actors who speak for animated characters to demonstrate their skills. Appearing will be Elle Newlands (Adventure Time, Final Fantasy), Kiff Vandenheuvel (Star Wars Forces of Destiny, World of Warcraft), Vanessa Marshall (Star Wars Rebels, Young Justice), André Sogliuzzo (Transformers: Robots in Disguise, World of Warcraft) and Dino Andrade (World of Warcraft, Batman: Arkham Asylum). There will also be a few surprises, and the actors will destroy a much-loved fairy tale with a live, unrehearsed reading.

Sunday, July 22 • 2:00PM – 3:00PM in Room 25ABC
COVER STORY
More and more, the cover of a comic book exists both to sell the product and as a standalone work of art. What goes into designing a cover and what constitutes a good one? Those are the questions that your moderator Mark Evanier will put to this dais of gifted cover artists: William Stout, Joëlle Jones, Veronica Fish, Matt Taylor, and Joe Jusko. They'll analyze and discuss some of the covers they've done in this informative session of "shop talk."

Sunday, July 22 • 3:00PM – 4:30PM in Room 25ABC
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
Interested in how one breaks into a career providing voices for animated cartoons? This annual panel seeks to debunk some of the myths and the occasional con jobs that wanna-bes are subjected to and often harmed by. It's a panel with people who actually work in the field and this year, it includes agent Jeff Danis (president of DPN Talent), actors Eliza Jane Schneider and Gregg Berger, and your moderator, voice director Mark Evanier. Warning: This panel is not designed for entertainment, but for enlightenment. There are hard facts you need to know about the industry and that's what this panel will try to provide.

As always, everything above is subject to change. Some of these panels will fill up (especially the Saturday morn Quick Draw!/Cartoon Voices I double feature) so get there early. At other times, I will be roaming aimlessly about the Exhibit Hall and unless I'm racing to a panel, I am not too busy to stop and chat. Please do not hand me money as a "tip" for this blog. If you are so moved, give it to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which is at Booth 1918. Thank you.

Here's the Sunday Programming Schedule. If you're a regular attendee at my Sunday Cartoon Voices panel, please note that it has moved from 11:30 to Noon. Gonna be a good one this year with some special surprise guests not mentioned in the listing.

Also: Someone told me that the Amtrak train to San Diego — the Pacific Surfliner — is filling up. If you were thinking of taking the train down there and back and you don't book soon, you're going to need to think of another mode of conveyance…like skateboarding or teleportation.

I will post the whole list of my panels and tell you a little more about them when I get two scripts done.

The power failure in my neighborhood — it lasted over 24 hours — kept me mostly off the Internet for much of Friday and Saturday. Now, being behinder (is that a word?) in my work will keep me at minimal presence here for much of Sunday and probably Monday. I also have to read all these messages from people who think I have some magical way to secure hotel rooms in San Diego during Comic-Con. I do not. Sorry. No help. Try somewhere else. Not me.

At the moment, I think I owe you three things. One is an add-on to a recent post about the TV show, That Was the Week That Was. Turns out that the episodes from the U.S. version of that show are not quite as totally lost as I've been told.

I also need to write what may turn out to be a pretty long post about Steve Ditko, whose passing now seems sufficiently confirmed. I loved the man's work up to a point and it still may be "Too Soon!" to write about that point. I had, like many folks who met him, some awkward moments trying to deal with his unique ways of treating (or not treating) others. When I can, I'll try to tell you what I mean. 'Til then, there are plenty of eulogies and remembrances of the man and I'll just direct you now to what my friend Joe Brancatelli wrote about him.

And I still have a couple of Harlan Ellison stories to relate. In the case of both men, I didn't respect everything about them but I respected more than enough to salute them…and it takes unhurried writing to thread that difficult needle. It takes time…and electricity.

Yesterday while I waited for my power to come back on, the good folks at Comic-Con posted the Saturday Programming Schedule. Go over it and note what you want to see there. The double feature of Quick Draw! and Cartoon Voices I. both hosted by Yours Truly, should be on the list.

Another thing worth studying: The schedule and map of shuttle bus routes is available on the con website. Even if you know (or don't need to know) how to get from your hotel to the convention and back, those shuttles can be very handy just getting around the city. A lot of streets will be blocked off during the convention but not where the shuttles go.

I got a message from someone asking me for my booth number at the con so he can come get things signed by me. I don't have a booth number because I don't have a booth. I don't sell anything at conventions and the few times a con has made me sit at a designated booth or table, I was bored out of my cranium.

A fellow writer of funnybooks once told me that he gets a special tingle each time he's requested to sign his name. This is a feeling I have yet to experience and in an odd way, I'm proud of that. If you want something signed, fine. Unless it's a promissory note or a confession to a felony, I'll be glad to oblige. But I am not going to construct my convention around the presumption that anyone wants my scrawl.

I'm actually very easy to find at the convention since I'm on so many panels. A search of the schedule tells you where I'll be at those times and I have been known to hover near the absolute epicenter of the convention hall which, of course, is Sergio Aragonés' booth, I-07. I'm also hard to miss when I roam the hall. I'm the one not dressed as a Klingon, a zombie, The Joker, Harley Quinn, a barbarian, a Star Wars stormtrooper or Stan Lee.

Our friend John Fugelsang talks on his radio show with a Trump supporter…