‘But I Digress…’ Index

The But I Digress Subject Index

But I Digress, monthly (formerly weekly) Comics Buyer’s Guide column, by Peter David

Subject Index compiled by Corey W. Tacker

Columns indexed: CBG #871 (7/27/1990) – #1661 (1/2010) — Nineteen years and running!

Notes:

  • An asterisk (*) indicates a column that was reprinted in the first But I Digress compilation book (collecting selected columns from July 1990-July 1993). The number following the asterisk represents the column’s page number in the book. A caret (^) references a column collected in the second book, More Digressions (collecting columns from October 2000-February 2009), and its page number in that book.
  • “BID Radio Edition” refers to a column Peter wrote and read for a New York SF radio show on 12/25/1992.
  • Some columns are listed under more than one subject heading. If a particular column is available for online reading, you will find a link to that column.
  • CBG was a weekly publication through issue #1594 (6/4/2004). Beginning with #1595, the magazine became a monthly publication.
  • If you know of a BID column that has been reprinted online that’s not linked on this page, please let me know.
  • Also available: an Excel spreadsheet with a chronological listing of all these columns.

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Return to the main PAD Bibliography page

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List of categories:

1. Columns about the column and defenses of the column

2. Marvel Comics

3. DC Comics

4. Image Comics

5. Other comics and publishers

6. Comics in general

7. Heroes and villains

8. Comics professionals

9. The business side of the comics industry

10. In defense of comics (First Amendment issues, CCA, etc.)

11. Peter’s comics and other projects

12. The art and business of writing

13. “Useless Stories” and other fiction

14. Fictional roundtable discussions

15. The Vic Chalker Papers

16. Other fictional personas

17. Movie reviews (alpha by title)

18. Comics reviews (alpha by title)

19. Travelogues / convention experiences

20. Star Trek

21. Star Wars

22. Babylon 5 / Crusade

23. The Information Age (online experiences, etc.)

24. Family / personal stuff

25. Current events / politics

26. Remembrances: obituary columns (alpha by last name)

27. “The Most Awards” (formerly annual But I Digress awards presentations)

28. Christmas gift suggestions

29. The But I Digress mailbag (Peter prints and answers letters)

30. Top Ten Lists

31. Parody Song Lyrics

32. Mystery Sandman Theater 3000 and more (parodying comic book pages)

33. Guest columns

34. Barf bag artwork

35. Other guest artwork

36. Random, assorted thoughts

37. Miscellaneous columns


1. Columns about the column and defenses of the columnIssue # or BID book pg. #

The first column — 871, *11

Reflections on the first year of the column / freedom of expression — 923, *229

CBG’s new format / restating the column’s purposes — 963

But I Digress: a forum for Peter’s opinions — 1994 Annual

Restating the column’s purposes again; the column’s accomplishments — 1527

14 years of weekly BIDs come to an end: Was it worth it? — 1594, ^14

BID’s 15-year anniversary: looking back — 1606

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2. Marvel Comics(see also sections 9 and 11)

Hulk action figure: “I got a rock” 879, *17

X-Men (Chris Claremont quits) — 921, *111

Captain America screws up 936

Homosexuality in Alpha Flight (Northstar character) — 952, *73

Super-secret Marvel spin-control meeting — 968, *79

The political views of Incredible Hulk characters — 972

X-Men creative teams — 1014

Who created what? (The WACKO Theory) — 1020, *104

Marvel suppressing negative reviews? — 1029, 1032

The Spider-clone saga — 1072

“Xerox Hour” — 1091, 1095

Marvel’s comics: too much of a good thing? — 1995 Annual

The Leefeld Universe rumors — 1153

Marvel’s reprint glut — 1997 Annual

“The Marvelcrumb Tinies” — 1210

Marvel writers’ retreat / Heroes Return — 1215

Revisionist history in Captain America — 1228

The death of Gwen Stacy (Spider-Man) — 1277

Anti-Semitic slur in Wolverine #131 — 1301

The Hulk no longer “Incredible” — 1302

The X-Men: a metaphor for homosexuality — 1339

The Punisher — 1344

Hulk ‘99 Annual (John Byrne rewriting Hulk history) — 1348

“Marvel Classics Illustrated” (“what if,” rewriting classics) — 1348-1349

Marvel Marketing (Captain Marvel) — 1366

Joe Quesada replaces Bob Harras as Marvel editor-in-chief — 1401

Banning retailer reorders and the Slashback program — 1424

Marvel’s Silent Month — 1425

Slashback program, parts 2 and 3 (retailer opinions) — 1426-1427

Marvel and the “Neener Factor” (no reordering for retailers) — 1437

Marvel drops the CCA, doesn’t send writers free comics — 1439

The Hollywoodization of Marvel Comics — 1463, ^62

Peter challenges the price hike on Captain Marvel (open letter to Marvel) — 1480, ^157, 1482

Are “most retailers” against Marvel’s no-reorder policy? (BID retailer poll) — 1514, 1517

Bringing back Rawhide Kid as an openly gay character — 1524, 1543

Marvel retailer poll results (the “no-reorder, no overprint” policy) — 1533

Trouble (a musical response) — 1549, ^265

No Marvel display at the 2003 San Diego Comic-Con — 1553

Marvel downsizes the Epic imprint, Epic title Phantom Jack in limbo — 1568

What if Spider-Man were introduced today? (Griping about his new powers) — 1615, ^171

Debut of Spider-Man’s black costume — 1628, ^272

Catching an error on the cover of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #1 — 1628, ^272

“You Might be a Skrull If…” / Marvel Universe as metaphor — 1636

History of the Fantastic Four and PAD’s involvement with the characters — 1640

Spider-Man: “One More Day” — 1643, ^288

Who created Spider-Man? — 1661

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3. DC Comics

Superman: The American Myth — 981, *119

“The Death of Superman” — 985, *49, BID Radio Edition

Green Arrow gets a personality — 987

Marketing the death of Superman — 996, *52

The Return of Superman — 1004, *55

The Con Game (Catwoman female impersonator scandal) — 1027, *58

Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour — 1091

Superman as the incarnation of Nazism? — 1163

What if there had been computer boards in the Silver Age? — 1274

Supergirl’s history — 1300

Batman — 1308

Jason Todd’s death (the second Robin) — 1312

Hypertime — 1317

Lois Lane1322

How Green Arrow got his name — 1330

Lobo — 1344

Aquaman after Peter left — 1372

Aquaman’s cancellation — 1388

DC’s Crises: Crisis on Infinite Earths and Identity Crisis — 1600, ^283

PAD’s run on Young Justice — 1616, ^175

DC’s Final Crisisand other Crises— 1643, ^288

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4. Image Comics

Image’s beginning: “Holding back”? — 953, *64

When did Peter say he’d never work for Image? — 961, *68

The new age of wartists — 973, *208

Peter’s criticisms of Image — BID Radio Edition

Dave Sim writing for Spawn — 992, *70

Throwing “hot” comics into crowds — 1005, *171, 1015, *211

Peter sucking up to Image?!? — 1012

Late comics — 1029

Todd McFarlane and “The Great Debate” — 1043

Image’s handling of criticism — 1994 Annual

Image’s perception problem — 1083

That Wacky Image Tyke (T.W.I.T.) — 1103

Image vs. Itself — 1206

Image’s history and current situation — 1997 Annual

PAD/Image: feelings have cooled — 1230

A look back at Image — 1299

Spawn / Tony Twist libel lawsuit verdict — 1394, 1577

Does PAD hate image? — 1639

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5. Other comics and publishers

First Comics’ demise / Dreadstar — 906

Claypool Comics — 1031

WaRP / Elfquest — 1278, 1345, 1351

WildStorm — 1299

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — 1326

Wizard — 1372, 1438

Archie Comics — 1386, 1390

Chaos Comics (who killed it?) — 1505

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6. Comics in general

Death in comics — 872, *15, 880

Red Sonja — 879, *17

Mistakes in comics — 893

Females in comics — 894, *21

Guest appearances of characters in comics — 908, *23

Vulgarity in comics — 966, *95

Vanity Press / the extinction of publishers? — 980, *31

Review of 1992: the year in comics — BID Radio Edition

The BID poll entry form — 988

The BID poll results — 994-995, *159

The BID poll revisited — 1202-1203

The BID poll revisited again (10-year anniversary) — 1469-1473

“Ask the self-proclaimed experts” — 999, *168

Preview of CBG #2000 (comics in the year 2012) — 1000, *233

Shocking comic story revelations — 1072

Artists vs. writers again (John Kricfalusi) — 1088

Comics in TV and the movies (Mad About You, Crimson Tide, etc.) — 1126

Black and white comics — 1997 Annual

Depiction of women in comics — 1211

“Only half a million copies?!?” — 1266

“The illusion of change” — 1285

Memorable moments in comics history — 1292-1293

The history of comics — 1294

Comic series restarts — 1355

Comic previews spoiling the story — 1371

Responding to fan reactions — 1373

Change is good… or is it? — 1379

Change in comics for new readers (“Ultimate Marvel” line) — 1402-1403

Changing origins and continuity in comics (“stetcons”) — 1420

Getting the facts and details right in comics — 1422

The state of the industry in 1971 from a 15-year-old’s point of view — 1423

DC Versus Marvel miniseries — 1436

Marvel’s Silent Month and other creative challenges to comics creators — 1451

The Countdown Theory: predicting sales of comics — 1488, ^119

Portraying God in comics — 1497

Comics creators overstaying their welcome in the industry? — 1519, ^232

What people want in comics (point/counterpoint) — 1534, ^243

Trade paperback collections coming out too soon / serialization of comic storylines — 1556, ^114, 1560, ^116

Comics for “mature readers” (Fallen Angel) — 1557, ^261

Things comics pros can do with free comp copies they don’t want — 1566, ^302, 1575, ^308

“Slabbing” comics (CGC) — 1586, ^102

PAD proposes to stop numbering of comic book series or publish the TPBs first — 1590, ^99

What fans say they want versus what they really need — 1595, ^329

Making fictional characters seem “real” and accessible — 1596, ^180

“Hollywood-ization” of comics (changes to characters, Marvel’s Ultimate line) — 1609

Comic character fans not caring about comics (ignoring the source material) — 1612, ^375

“Spoilers” ruining the fun of reading comics — 1619, ^357

Comics and comics movies then and now — 1642, ^76

Responding to Robert Kirkman’s comments on creator-owned vs. work-for-hire — 1647, ^90

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7. Heroes and villians

Fights between heroes and villains — 873, *132

Three- vs. one-dimensional characters — 892

What makes a really good villain — 946, *28

The ages of comics heroes — 956, *203

The Wild Weasel — 1019, *194

Whom do you trust — 1058

Homicidal heroes — 1070-1071

The Young Hero meets the Old Hero — 1116

Heroes in comics vs. the real world (Planet Comics case) — 1249

Why do we need villains — 1250

Heroes and villains—what’s the difference — 1329

The rules that govern super-heroes — 1433

What is the greatest super-hero film? — 1539-1540, ^70

What’s a hero? (and how fictional heroes have changed over time) — 1597, ^367

PAD’s favorite super-hero: Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man? — 1614

What makes a hero “iconic” — 1618, ^362

What makes a hero a super-hero (Who Wants to be a Super-Hero? TV show) — 1625, ^353

Don Quixote as the first super-hero / traits of super-heroes — 1637, ^348

Can female heroes lead? — 1651

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8. Comics professionals (alpha by last name)

Buscema, John — 1185

Busiek, Kurt — 1278, 1461, ^337, 1467, ^341

Byrne, John

— Reading BID causes him to vomit — 885, *215

— Dissing a title’s previous creators — 1246

— Eliminating coincidences — 1303, 1348-1349

— Does PAD hate him? — 1639

— Putting out quality work on a deadline (arguing with Erik Larsen about an old quote from Todd McFarlane) — 1657

Claremont, Chris — 921, *111, 1404

Colan, Gene — 1185

DeCarlo, Dan — 1386, 1390, 1427

Ellison, Harlan

— “What are you going to do? Arrest me for smoking?” — 971, *139

— “Friends of Ellison” — 1052, 1065

— Putting fans in their place — 1216

— …as “Hellison” — 1274

— “Guava Paste is PEOPLE!” — 1302, 1572, ^200, 1578, ^203

— …on a Babylon 5 trading card — 1314

Guest column on McFarlane/Twist verdict and “Tuckerisms” — 1398

— Harlan’s chat with an Internet shoplifter — 1428

— As Best Man at the O’Shea/David wedding — 1441, 1444

— “The Three High Verbals” (at M.I.T.) — 1459-1460, ^150

— Peter’s first encounter with Ellison — 1513

— Party at the Ellison house (Peter meets Ed Asner) — 1530

— Fans attacking Ellison’s critique of Superman/Aliens 2: God War — 1542

— Peter’s first encounter with — 1591, ^58, 1593, ^58

— Receives Damon Knight memorial Grand Master award at 2006 Nebulas — 1620, ^124

Falk, Lee — 1325

Gaiman, Neil

— Getting Tori Amos tickets, drawing the BID book cover, Neverwhere — 1353

— “Last Angel” tour — 1408

— “The Three High Verbals” (at M.I.T.) — 1459-1460, ^150

— Court battle with Todd McFarlane — 1511, ^141, 1526

Groth, Gary

— Did he fabricate a letter attributed to Peter? — 1060, 1126

— Peter gets a fax from Groth — 1206

Jemas, Bill

— www.billjemas.com — 1515

— Being removed from his Publisher position at Marvel — 1564, ^108

Kane, Gil — 1371

Keown, Dale — 1008

Kirby, Jack — 1059, 1316, 1482, 1661

Lee, Stan

— “The Stan Lee Roast” — 1258

— “Being Stan Lee” — 1362-1364

Who Wants to be a Super-Hero? TV show — 1625, ^353

— The day Stan remembers Peter’s name — 1627, ^268

— Who created Spider-Man? — 1661

Liefeld, Rob

— Giving credit where credit is due — 1033, 1040, 1078

— As a modern Ed Wood — 1195, 1997 Annual

— Protesting Shatterstar being gay — 1658

— Insulted by a fan at a con — 1659

Mantlo, Bill — 981, *119

McFarlane, Todd (see also section 4)

— After “The Great Debate” — 1043

— As Mr. “Thin” Lee DeSkyzed — 1047

Spawn / Tony Twist libel lawsuit verdict — 1394-1395, 1398, 1410, 1577

— Challenged to return to comics by Joe Quesada — 1414

— His “balls” in a sling (sued by Neil Gaiman) — 1508, 1511, ^141, 1526

— Does PAD hate him? — 1639

— The debate and baseball purchase dredged up again — 1657

Miller, Frank (criticising Wizard magazine) — 1438

Moore, Alan (Watchmen and his attitudes about film adaptations) — 1648

Mumy, Bill

— The Mumy fish tank tragedy — 1188

— …has a new album out — 1229

— Encountering an obsessed fan — 1253

— Guest column, his and Peter’s writing projects — 1350

— Appearing on the new Twilight Zone — 1527

Preist, Christopher (a.k.a. Jim Owsley) — 1506, ^185

Quesada, Joe (challenge to McFarlane) — 1414

Romita Sr., John — 1185

Rozanski, Chuck — 1022, *61

Schwartz, Julius (Julie)

— A tribute — 890, *109, 1580

— A review of his autobiography Man of Two Worlds — 1392

— His funeral, memorial service, and The Julius Schwartz Visiting Speaker Fund — 1581, 1587, ^143

Shooter, Jim — BID Radio Edition, 1022, *61

Shuster, Joe — 981, *119

Sim, Dave

— Writing Spawn = selling out — 992, *70

— The Dave Sim Anecdote That Even Dave Doesn’t Know — 1171

— “Parting Shot” guest column — 1181

— Sim’s “Tangent” essay in Cerebus #265 — 1434

— A look back at Cerebus — 1570, ^380

Simonson, Louise (Jones) — 1628, ^272

Swan, Curt — 1185

Thompson, Maggie — 1481, ^136

Trimpe, Herb — 1369

Valentino, Jim — 1230

Wein, Len — 1655

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9. The business side of the comics industry

The Big Two vs. independents — 906

The industry going downhill — 1992 Annual

Barron’s article on Marvel: “due for a fall” — BID Radio Edition, 957, *76

Ron Perelman and Marvel Entertainment — 1013

Comics distribution — 1030, 1049

Capital City Distribution dilemmas / Marvel Mart — 1056, 1067

More distribution woes (Marvel/Comics Unlimited) — 1080

“Comic Wars” allegory — 1106-1108

Marvel’s self-distribution / Ron Perelman — 1115

Boycotting Marvel — 1121

More Marvel woes — 1126

More Perelman / Diamond / Capital City stuff — 1135

Even more on Marvel and distribution — 1996 Annual

Steve Geppi / Diamond — 1188

Even more Marvel woes — 1204

“The Book of Gen-X-is” allegory — 1213

“Marvelmanic” allegory — 1306-1307

Marvel overpaid freelancers — 1315

DC hires editor “to do quality material and have fun” — 1324

Cancelling comics series too early — 1337

Marvel Marketing (Captain Marvel) — 1366

Marvel cheapness — 1381

Marvel moving away from comics — 1385

Marvel and the “Neener Factor” (no reordering for retailers) — 1437

Marvel vs. DC (Joe Quesada and the “I.Q. Test”) — 1450

Class-action lawsuit against Marvel about its trade terms — 1495

Marketing Captain Marvel and Supergirl — 1509, ^163

Retailers trading comics over the internet — 1515

Returnable comics — 1527

Should comics have listed cover prices? (Many retail items do not) / Borders books — 1562, ^111

DC being the “nice guy” to Marvel’s “bad guy”/retailer orders (“Bill Jemas was right.”) — 1563, ^105

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10. In defense of comics (First Amendment issues, CCA, etc.)

Peter’s opinion of the Comics Code Authority — 986, *34

Self magazine article rebuttal — 1068, 1078

Self magazine poll on investigating comics — 1085

Seduction of the Innocent book analysis — 1085-1087

Banning comics (Verotika #4, Spawn #30) — 1142

The Planet Comics trial / CBLDF — 1147, 1150, 1152, 1158, 1161, 1165, 1166, 1177, 1249

Banned books — 1165

Thoughts on the First Amendment — 1172

Elfquest under fire — 1345, 1351

Comics Code conflicts — 1347

Censorship battles — 1354

CBLDF fundraising / Dallas, TX comic store under fire — 1417

What the CBLDF does / public perception of the CBLDF — 1432, 1452

CBLDF/Dallas comic store cont’d. / Judd Winick on Donahue — 1504

Dallas: Castillo’s case not heard by Supreme Court; shouting “fire!” in crowded theater — 1554, ^258

First Amendment rights and science fiction (text of speech at Philcon 2003) — 1573

Supporting the CBLDF/censors imposing their beliefs on others — 1583, ^256

Heritage of censorship vs. heritage of artistic creation: which will last? — 1604, ^252

Freedom of expression as a comics writer / Don Imus’ firing — 1632, ^247

The demise of scans_daily — 1654-1655

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11. Peter’s comics and other projects (see also section 19)

The books of David Peters (Photon, Psi-Man) — 883

Violent death in comics (The Incredible Hulk #380) — 910, *25

Wolverine: Rahne of Terra936

Writing novelizations — 950

Peter quits X-Factor — 1007, *82

Future Imperfect: Rick’s chachkas contest announcement — 1010

Rick’s chachkas contest results — 1026

Web of Spider-Man: “Cult of Love” — 1017

Sachs and Violens / Soulsearchers and Company — 1031

Stereotypes in Peter’s comics (Jews / Gays / Hispanics / Asians) — 1044

Sachs and Violens statue, comics, and cards — 1061

Sachs and Violens: pornography? — 1071

The Incredible Hulk #416: disagreeing with Bob Ingersoll — 1083

Continuity problems with Aquaman Annual #1 — 1134

Weird, Twisted, Reasonably True Comic Book Stories (Amazing Spidey #289) — 1169

Space Cases in Weekly Variety — 1173

Spider-Man 2099 #44 — 1178

Peters works with comics legends — 1185

The Phantom miniseries — 1187, 1325

The Incredible Hulk cancelled? — 1206

Space Cases — 1224

The Incredible Hulk: Peter’s magnum opus — 1244

Leaving The Incredible Hulk — 1272

Peter’s final issue of the Hulk / new Hulk writer — 1280

Peter’s “creative differences” in his comics — 1283

Space Ghost movie scripts — 1318

The Wedding of Popeye and Olive — 1319

Reflections on Peter’s Hulk run — 1321

Young Justice and Supergirl nominated for awards — 1330

Writing for the Punisher and Lobo — 1344

Peter’s run-ins with the Comics Code Authority — 1347

Young Justice #15 / Gun control — 1370

Young Justice #11/ Fan reactions — 1373

DC Versus Marvel — 1436

Sir Apropos of Nothing review — 1444

Peter’s run on Aquaman — 1453

Peter informs the misinformed — 1477, ^188

Voting for the next leader of Young Justice — 1478

Peter’s media tie-ins aren’t garbage — 1479, ^240

Writing Wolverine: Blood Hungry — 1484

Peter’s Spider-Man novelization — 1490

Chaos Comics’ The Haunted — 1505

The Spider-Man titles — 1506, ^185

Supergirl — 1509, ^163

Peter’s run on The Incredible Hulk — 1510

Peter’s run on Supergirl (“behind the scenes”) — 1522, ^167

Peter’s research for his first unpublished novel, meets “The Amazing Randi” — 1528

The last issues of Young Justice and Supergirl; Captain Marvel, Fallen Angel — 1536

Marketing Fallen Angel (Dangerous Curves) — 1538, ^333

Captain Marvel vol. 4 #14 — 1545

Fallen Angel labelled for “mature readers” — 1557, ^261

Spider-Man: The Other crossover — 1610

Looking back on PAD’s Young Justice run — 1616, ^175

Ending of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #7 spoiled by internet postings — 1619, ^357

Novelizing The Incredible Hulk movie — 1645, ^81

She-Hulk — 1651

Peter wrote an unpublished Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves comics adaptation — 1655

Peters comics that didnt turn out as well as hed hoped, or werent received well by fans — 1656

Homosexuality in Peter’s comics (X-Factor #45) — 1658

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12. The art and business of writing

Why writers are scum — 874, *85

Tricks of the trade — 905, *88

Where writers get ideas — 911, *90

Creative people must “mutate” — 918

The power of words — 931, *92

Writing movie adapatations — 950

Foul language in comics — 966, *95

Breaking in to comics — 976, *97, 1993 Annual, 1400

Breaking in to comics, part 2 (response to letter) — 1009, *100

The WACKO theory — 1020, *104

Writer’s rights — 1475, ^344

The double standard for writers (Akiva Goldsman, Max Allan Collins) — 1502, ^238

There are few truly original story ideas anymore (fans claiming stories are ripoffs) — 1527

Suspension of disbelief — 1528

Keeping a series fresh and interesting (Buffy, Hulk) — 1544, ^229

Making fictional characters seem “real” and accessible — 1596, ^180

How to develop a story’s structure — 1599, ^225

Is it a rip-off/plagiarism or is it a valid new spin on an old concept? — 1602, ^221

Hollywood writers’ strike: who has the power? — 1638, ^94

Responding to Robert Kirkman’s comments on creator-owned vs. work-for-hire — 1647, ^90

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13. “Useless Stories” and other fiction (short stories unless otherwise noted)

“Quantum Beast” — 885886, *215

“Portrait of Life” (The Little Mermaid unused comic plot) — 937, *221

“The Return of the Blasters” with James Fry (unused comic plot) — 965, *223

X-Factor #89 unedited script fragment — 1010

The Last Avengers Story (comic plot) — 1034-1039

L.A. Law unused script subplot by Alan Brennert — 1063-1064

“Comic Wars” — 1106-1108

What Rough Beast, Chapter 9 (unedited novel excerpt) — 1113

“TheYoung Hero” — 1116

The Big Green Guy Movie (Hulk movie treatment; also in #1617) — 1140-1141, ^384

“The Cape Dripped Red” — 1154-1156, 1159-1160

Space Cases: “Same Old, Same Old” unused script — 1189-1191

“The Book of Gen-X-is” — 1213

Star Wars: “Skippy the Jedi Droid” — 1219

“Seinfeld, P.I.” — 1281

Star Trek: New Frontier: Fire on High unedited novel excerpt — 1284

Babylon 5: “Gut Reactions” unfilmed script fragment — 1284

“The TruBatman Show” — 1286-1288

“Marvelmanic” — 1306-1307

“Shoeicide” (one-act play) — 1323

“Being Stan Lee” — 1362-1364

“How the Grynch Stole Fandom” — 1418

Sir Apropos of Nothing, Chapter 1 — 1446-1449

“The Legend of Maggie Thompson” — 1481, ^136

Mystery Trekkie Theater 3000: “Beat the Klingon Geeks” — 1499

“Complaint” (Lord of the Rings parody) — 1584, ^394

PAD’s unused Hulk movie treatment (also in #1140-1141) — 1617, ^384

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1: “Leah” backup story script — 1634, ^42

TigerheartChapter 1 (condensed) — 1641

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14. Fictional roundtable discussions

Disney heroines — 998, *187

Disney villains — 1175-1176

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15. The Vic Chalker Papers

Chalk Board — 913, *37

“Men in Comics” panel — 930, *40

Wrathocon II panel (response to “Name Withheld”) — 935, *42

“Comic Art Versus Real Art” panel — 949, *45

Super-secret Marvel spin-control meeting — 968, *79

Vic guest-hosts Larry King Live — 1047

Interview with Ruth Bader-Batten — 1237

Vic reviews the previews of Superman Returns, Spider-Man 3, and Ghost Rider — 1621

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16. Other fictional personas

Christmas gift suggestions from comic characters — 891, *19

“Ask the self-proclaimed experts” — 999, *168

Interview with Flagman creator Gabriel Jones — 1000, *233

Michelle Weizel: “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” — 1019, *194

Phyllida Archer-Dowd on Mulan — 1291

Phyllida Archer-Dowd on Teletubbies — 1320

A Major Comics Publisher’s private conference — 1315

Paul Armstrong Dudikoff on toys — 1327

Geoff Neubee (Vic Chalker’s cousin) on Supergirl — 1389

“A Report from the Red Carpet: Gollum and Dobby — 1523, ^401

Porky Pig has a d-d-d-d-d-d-disturbing d-d-d-d-dream — 1588, ^391

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17. Movie reviews (alpha by title)

10 Things I Hate About You — 1328

The Addams Family — 947

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen — 902

A.I. — 1445

Aladdin — 997

Alien3971, *139

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me — 1338

Batman Returns (review of movie trailer) — 967

Batman Returns — 974

Batman Forever — 1130

Batman and Robin — 1235

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm — 1054

Battlefield: Earth — 1387

Beauty and the Beast — 943

Blade — 1297

Borat — 1652

Casper — 1127

Catch Me if You Can — 1525

Chicken Run — 1392

Comic Book: The Movie — 1579

Comic Book Villains — 1525

Cool World — 979

The Crow — 1073

Darkman — 881, *135

Daredevil (Peter reviews it without bothering to watch it first) — 1529

Daredevil (the real review) — 1531

Doc Savage, The Man of Bronze — 1513

Dumb and Dumber — 1109

Edward Scissorhands — 896, *137

Ed Wood — 1096

Fantastic Four — 1610

The Flintstones — 1077

Galaxy Quest — 1367

Ghost World (guest column by Gwen! David) — 1454

Godzilla — 1282

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone — 1466

Hellboy — 1589

Hero — 989, *142

Hidalgo1585

Hook — 947, 1576

Hudson Hawk — 1387

Hulk — 1548, 1645, ^81

The Incredible Hulk — 1645, ^81

Independence Day — 1186

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — 1650, ^66

The Iron Giant — 1346

Jingle All the Way — 1205

Judge Dredd — 1133

Jurassic Park — 1028

The King and I (animated version) — 1328

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — 1444

The Last Action Hero — 1387

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen — 1552

The Little Mermaid — 938

Lost in Space — 1275

The Lost World: Jurassic Park — 1233

Mars Attacks — 1208

The Mask — 1084

Men in Black — 1238

Men in Black II — 1498

Mission: Impossible — 1179

Mission: Impossible 2 — 1388

The Muppets in 3-D — 917

My Super Ex-Girlfriend — 1623, ^85

Mystery Men — 1346

Peter Pan (2003) — 1576

The Phantom — 1187

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl — 1553

Popeye — 902

The Powerpuff Girls Movie — 1498

Prisoners of the Sun — 925

Return to Oz — 873, *132, 880

Road to Perdition — 1501

The Rocketeer — 920

The Shadow — 1081

Showgirls — 1387

Signs — 1503

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs — 1032

The Sixth Sense — 1415

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow — 1598, ^195

South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut — 1342

Spawn — 1241

Spider-Man — 1489

The Spirit — 1652

Spirited Away — 1512

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn — 902

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — 945

Star Trek Generations — 1101

Star Trek: First Contact — 1205

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace — 1334, 1337, 1650, ^66

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones — 1491

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope Special Edition — 1217

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (movie and TV show) — 1650, ^66

Superman — 903, 1540, ^70, 1622

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace — 903

Superman Returns — 1622

Tank Girl — 1119

Terminator 2: Judgment Day — 929, 1550

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines — 1550

Timecop — 1093

Trekkies — 1335

Unbreakable — 1415

William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet — 1205

The Wizard of Oz — 873, *132, 880

X-Men — 1396

X2: X-Men United — 1541

.

18. Comics reviews (alpha by title)

Action Comics Millennium Edition (1st appearance Supergirl) — 1389

Age of Bronze: The Story of the Trojan War — 1324

Bone (from the point-of-view of a censor) — 1180

Cerebus — 1570, ^380

The Crossovers — 1537

The Fantastic Four (from the point-of-view of a censor) — 1180

For Better or For Worse (comic strip) — 1392

Incredible Hulk (Bruce Jones’ run on…) — 1547

Knights of the Dinner Table — 1613, ^371

My Monkey’s Name is Jennifer — 1392

Newspaper strips: Peanuts, Liberty Meadows, Mallard Filmore, Zits, Boondocks, For Better or for Worse — 1476

Our Cancer Year — 1094

Player vs. Player (PvP) — 1613, ^371

Sandman — 1139

Spider-Man: Chapter One — 1303

A Touch of Silver — 1230, 1276

Ultimate Hulk Annual — 1652

Zzz — 1369

.

19. Travelogues / convention experiences

1990 San Diego Comic-Con (Peter meets Weird Al Yankovic; “Street Poet Hulk”) — 877-878

“Toxic Waste Syndome” / Cons in general — 901, *146

1991 New York Creation Con / Long Island AIDS Benefit Con — 904

1991 Wonder Con — 914

Los Angeles / Star Trek VI set visit / Howling Mad movie meeting — 915, *174, 916

Chicago Comic Book and Science Fiction Expo (a cancelled con) — 919

Boycotting the Creation Convention — 942

Convention hotel horror stories — 951, *149

Peter’s spring 1992 convention schedule — 955

1992 Glasgow Comic Art Convention — 960, 962

Peter’s convention artwork story — 970, *153

Pro/Con (“There are no comic-book conventions”) — 978, *156

1992 Los Angeles / San Diego Comic-Con trip — 982

L.A. / S.D.C.C. part 2 (“Do Artists Need Writers” panel) / Eisner Awards — 983, *177

L.A. / S.D.C.C. part 3 — 984

Book signing in Austin, TX vs. New York — 987

Kansas City Comic Convention (comic sculptures) — 993

Great Eastern Con / Throwing “hot” comics into crowds — 1005, *171

Casting for the Trancers movies — 1011, *180, 1012

In Romania for Trancers IV and V, parts 1 and 2 — 1023-1024

In Romania, part 3 (crippled children) — 1025, *182

The Con Game (Catwoman female impersonator scandal) — 1027, *58

Trancers IV screening — 1041

Thoughts on the David/McFarlane “Great Debate” — 1043

In Romania for Oblivion I and II — 1045-1046

In Los Angeles for Babylon 5: “Soul Mates” — 1097-1099

In Montreal for Space Cases — 1124-1125, 1129

20th Anniversary Chicago Comic Con — 1132

1995 San Diego Comic Con — 1136

In Ireland for Irecon V — 1143-1144

In Montreal again — 1151

Peter in the makeup chair for Space Cases — 1157

Defense Con in Oklahoma City — 1177

In London for Wolf 359 (ST / B5 Con) — 1182-1184

Salon Internacional del Comic in Spain — 1199-1201

1997 Heroes Convention — 1234

1997 summer conventions — 1242

Dragon*Con 1995 (“The Stan Lee Roast”) — 1258

At Jim Henson Studios (the Muppet Museum) — 1262

WonderCon / Harvey Awards — 1278

The Wrap Party Convention (UK) — 1296

MECYF ‘98 (Mexico City) — 1310, 1313

Dragon*Con 1999 — 1341

Mad Media convention / airplane trip — 1352

Fantabaires convention (Buenos Aires, Argentina) — 1359-1361

I-Con (Long Island) — 1380

Pittsburgh ComiCon — 1384

2000 San Diego Comic Con — 1396-1397

2000 Canadian National Comic Book Expo — 1404

Making appearances at comic stores (Lansing, Michigan) — 1410

Chattacon in Chattanooga, TN (Peter serves drinks) — 1421

2001 MegaCon (Florida) — 1429-1430

Dragon*Con 2001 — 1457

David, Ellison, and Gaiman at MIT (“The Three High Verbals”) — 1459-1460, ^150

Fan rudeness to comics professionals — 1461, ^337, 1467, ^341

The Nexus Con in Berlin, Germany — 1464-1465

What do conventions owe creators? — 1496

Shore Leave 2002 — 1499

San Diego ComicCon 2002 — 1508

Discon II, Peter’s first major SF convention in 1974 — 1513

2003 Pasadena Creation Convention, talking to movie producers in L.A. — 1529-1530

AggieCon — 1535, ^205

Wizard World convention (Philadelphia) — 1545

Miscellaneous convention memories from over the years 1561, ^208, 1567, ^211, 1569, ^213, 1572, ^200

Farpoint 2004 and the disturbing costume competition — 1582, ^192

San Diego ComicCon 2004 — 1598, ^195

Nebula awards ceremony 2006 (Harlan Ellison receives Grand Master award) — 1620, ^124

2007 New York Comic-Con (meeting Stephen Colbert and Stephen King) — 1630

Toy Fair 2009 — 1653

Convention Season 2009: San Diego and Dragon*Con — 1660

.

20. Star Trek

Humor in Trek882, *123

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn versus Star Trek: The Next Generation902

Creation Convention / Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Alone904

On the set of Star Trek VI915, *174

Quitting the Star Trek comic book — 927

Star Trek: The Original Series episode commentaries — 927928

Star Trek: The Original Series as a visually striking series — 936

Star Trek after Gene Roddenberry’s death — 941, *125

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country review — 945

Star Trek movie comic book adaptations — 950

Peter screens unedited footage of Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Relics” — 982

Peter hawks Star Trek merchandise on QVC — 1003, *127

Imzadi: anti-Semitic? — 1044

Political correctness in Star Trek: The Next Generation — 1047

Star Trek Generations review — 1101

Differences between The Original Series and The Next Generation — 1102

Peter writing a Trek movie? No chance in hëll — 1104

Garak isn’t in this column — 1143

The Trekkie Whitewater juror — 1168, 1170

Star Trek Annual #3 (comic book) — 1185

Star Trek: First Contact review — 1205

Star Trek: First Contact letter and commentary — 1209

The passing of Mark Lenard — 1205

The aliens of Star Trek — 1208

Star Trek knock-offs — 1239

Star Trek: the myth — 1240

Mystery Trekkie Theater 3000 — 1242

Predictions for the next season of Star Trek: Voyager by Diane Kornf — 1245

Star Trek: TNG Technical Manual oddities / Peter’s Trek novels — 1265

Star Trek: New Frontier Book Six: Fire on High unedited novel excerpt — 1284

The Doomsday Machine and the Nexus — 1298

Who created Spock — 1308

Recording voices for the Vulcan’s Heart book-on-tape — 1334

Trekkies movie review — 1335

Star Trek: New Frontier hardcover: The Exeter crew — 1380

Shore Leave 2002 convention 1499

“Today is a good day to die!” (Peter encounters fans in Klingon costumes) 1569, ^213

Jimmy Doohan in ill health / Keith DeCandido is the “2nd coming” of PAD? 1593, ^58

George Takei’s Friars Club Roast and his same-sex wedding / Nichelle Nichols 1649, ^128

.

21. Star Wars

“Comic Wars” parody — 1106-1108

Special Edition movie review, merchandising — 1217

Plot holes in Star Wars — 1218

“Skippy the Jedi Droid” — 1219

MSTing Star Wars — 1223

Return of the Jedi Special Edition change — 1224

Return of the Jedi comic released early, Lucasfilm unhappy — 1290

The Phantom Menace novelization marketing — 1330

Random thoughts on Star Wars — 1331

Star Wars: Dennis the Phantom Menace — 1333

Peter’s The Phantom Menace journal — 1334

“Darth Maul’s Lament” by Jeff Morris — 1337

Luke Skywalker’s body (in art and action figures) — 1357-1358

Episode II: Attack of the Clones review — 1491

Looking back on The Phantom Menace — 1606

PAD is introduced to Mark Hamill — 1649, ^128

Star Wars: The Clone Wars and whatever happened to George Lucas? — 1650, ^66

.

22. Babylon 5 / Crusade

On the set of Babylon 5: “Soul Mates” — 1097-1099

In L.A. for Babylon 5: “There All the Honor Lies” — 1110

The Adventures of Joltin’ Joe Straczynski — 1132

Wolf 359 Convention — 1182

“The Bear Story” — 1207

“The Bear Story” retold — 1243

AOL’s B5 chat room — 1222

Babylon 5 overview — 1264

Londo Mollari’s obsession with “The Hokey Pokey” — 1268

Segment from unfilmed B5 script, “Gut Reactions” — 1284

Crusade: a “Special Limited Series” — 1337

Peter David: co-creator of Crusade?!? — 1430

Writing for B5: excerpt from PAD’s introduction in B5: Other Voices scriptbook — 1646

.

23. The Information Age (online experiences, etc.)

Starting out online / the Usenet — 875

Fan/pro interaction on the Internet — 1197

AOL busy signals — 1211

On AOL. Finally. (proving his identity) — 1212

Interacting with fans online / “loner’s sydrome” — 1221-1222

Live AOL chats — 1252

Everything I Need to Know I Learned from the Internet — 1405

Internet piracy / Napster / H. Ellison’s KICK Internet Piracy Campaign — 1428, 1431, 1451

Starting up www.peterdavid.net — 1493, 1538, ^333

Interacting with fans online / the early days of the Usenet / Henry Vogel — 1631, ^312, 1633, ^316

Peter blamed for the demise of scans_daily — 1654-1655

Internet rubberneckers: inciting pointless debates online 1657

.

24. Family / personal stuff

Peter feels old — 889, *227

Peter needs sleep / Peter’s comics hobby — 900

Birth announcement: Ariel Leela David — 933

Peter gets bronchitis — 939-940

Peter’s childhood friend Keith — 969, *206

Peter meets Stephen King — 987

Peter’s kid’s Halloween costumes — 993

Peter’s appearance on QVC — 1003, *127

Peter and Myra at Mardi Gras — 1012

“Destruction” personified: 2-year-old Ariel David — 1013

Ariel David learns names — 1055

Peter meets Jack Kirby — 1059, 1316

Peter gets a mammogram. Really — 1079

Why Peter writes comics — 1088

David’s Three Rules of Reality — 1111

Peter boycotts everything — 1121

David Family Practical Jokes — 1148

Peter’s away from the family (in Montreal for Space Cases) — 1151

Peter’s early years — 1162

Peter meets Jerry Siegel — 1163

The David family at Disneyworld — 1164

Peter does jury duty — 1174

The Davids’ new cat — 1182, 1184

Peter tries to see a movie for free / writing for a living — 1216

Peter meets Captain Kangaroo — 1232

Peter wins a radio contest / New York Knicks halftime contest — 1250-1251

Peter and Ariel wait for Lucy Lawless — 1255

Peter David, Agent 008 — 1257

Peter and kids at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (“They killed Barney!”) — 1259

Peter slogs through the slush pile (Where Man Josh) — 1260, 1263

Separation and divorce — 1261

Peter encounters Michael Jackson — 1263

Peter and sister Beth at Titanic — 1263

Peter needs sleep… badly — 1265

A power line falls in front of Peter’s house — 1289

The Trouble with MCI — 1304

Divorce dilemmas — 1305

What Peter is thankful for — 1309

Peter performs in community theater (1776) — 1319

Peter lands a part in Li’l Abner community theater production — 1336

Summer fun with the David family — 1340

Divorce: no happy endings — 1343

When hurricanes attack! — 1351

Peter gets breakfast at McDonald’s — 1369

“PAD is Anti-Catholic?” — 1375

Peter in Man of La Mancha — 1382

Ariel David meets Ted Raimi (Joxur on Xena) — 1384

Peter proposes to Kathleen O’Shea at Disneyworld — 1406-1407, ^17

Peter has trouble with DVD players — 1419, 1431

Kathleen’s comic collection for sale 1421

15-year old Peter David talks comics (‘1971’ issue) — 1423

Peter’s daughters vs. The Pørņ Channel That Wouldn’t Go Away — 1429

Peter makes up summertime memories — 1439

Peter’s wedding to Kathleen O’Shea — 1441, 1444, 1606

Kathleen’s bag with wedding photo album stolen at Dragon*Con — 1457

DAVID 3:16 (in response to Captain Marvel price hike open letters) — 1485, ^161

Peter sees The Simpsons: In the Flesh — 1500

Shana wins trip to Club Med from Comedy Central — 1512

Birth announcement for Caroline Helen David — 1520, ^34

Kathleen goes into labor. Peter goes bowling — 1521, ^34

Peter’s plane problems — 1535

The David family sees Cirque du Soliel — 1545

Peter tries out for Jeopardy! — 1546, ^47

Everyone wants to interview Peter about the Hulk (even MTV) — 1547

Peter helps lost Haitian woman at airport — 1558, ^50

Convention memories: when Peter first asked out Kathleen — 1561, ^208

Peter David starring as “Peter David” in Comic Book: The Movie — 1579

Ariel does convention costume contests — 1582, ^192

Looking back on life as a fan and a pro — 1591, ^58, 1593, ^58

Peter gets an Elfquest tattoo — 1598, ^195

Divorce/everything ends — 1603

Peter gets hate mail — 1605, ^320, 1607, ^325

Caroline on a carousel — 1610

Caroline at Disneyworld, PAD attends PTA meeting, flying Jetblue, PAD disease — 1611, ^54

PAD tries a role-playing game — 1613, ^371

PAD has travel problems and watches women’s beach volleyball — 1620, ^124

PAD meets Noel Neill (Lois Lane from The Adventures of Superman) — 1624

PAD and Kathleen win the New York Lottery!!!! — 1630

PAD meets Stephen Colbert and Stephen King — 1630

How PAD lost weight and keeps it off — 1635, ^38

PAD attends George Takei’s same-sex wedding and his Friars Club Roast — 1649, ^128

.

25. Current events / politics

Saddam Hussein / Gulf War — 899

Death penalty / winning the Gulf War — 910, *25

New York’s Son of Sam law — 946, *28, 958

Who are our heroes? — 956, *203

Pat Buchanan’s anti-homosexual campaign — 958

Bush and Quayle—1992 Presidential campaign — 972

Dan Quayle vs. Murphy Brown — 987

1992 Presidential debate (Quayle/Brown part 2) — 990

The siege in Waco (the Branch Davidian cult) — 1017

Political correctness — 1048, 1050, 1053, 1082

Teaching current events in schools — 1055

Tonya Harding / the Bobbits / Michael Jackson — 1058

Guilty until proven innocent? (Tonya Harding) — 1061

The O.J. Simpson Trial — 1082

The Republican victory in the 1994 elections — 1100, 1111

Flag burning / V-chip — 1135

O.J. Simpson’s aquittal — 1145-1146

The Trekkie Whitewater juror — 1168

The assault weapons ban (Brady Bill) — 1170, 1178

The murder of Ennis Cosby — 1214

The Starr investigation — 1268

Sexual harassment — 1269, 1273

Starrgate — 1298

The Columbine High School massacre / gun control — 1332

JFK Jr.’s death, Princess Diana’s death — 1343

Violence in entertainment / censorship — 1354

The Brooklyn Museum and Harry Potter censorship controversies — 1356

Gun control — 1370

John Rocker / First Amendment — 1372

More gun control — 1375

2000 Presidential campaigns — 1391

Political correctness (Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride) — 1405

2000 Presidential election: Gore as Reed Richards and Bush as Plastic Man — 1409

2000 election dispute (and Libertarian Harry Browne as Spider-Man) — 1412-1413

Internet piracy / Napster — 1428

Death penalty — 1443

September 11 / the terrorist attacks — 1455-1456, 1507, ^25

President Bush, and Israel and Palestine after Sept. 11 — 1492

Using “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance / First Amendment 1497

Comical candidates for California’s governor recall election 1555

Howard Stern gets taken off the air 1585

Anti-Semitism (review of The Plot) 1608, ^297

.

26. Remembrances: obituary columns (alpha by last name)

Abel, Jack — 1167

Adezio, Leah — 1634, ^42

Asimov, Isaac — 964, *117

Barks, Carl — 1401

Buscema, John — 1474, ^147

Cockrum, Dave — 1634, ^42

Eisner, Will — 1603

Falk, Lee — 1325

Goodwin, Archie — 1271

Gruenwald, Mark — 1192, 1194

Kalish, Carol — 932, 934, *113, 1606

Kane, Gil — 1371

Kirby, Jack — 1059

Lenard, Mark — 1205

Liebowitz, Bill — 1601, ^132

Mitchell, Ericka — 1062

Nodell, Carrie — 1592, ^138

Schwartz, Julie — 1581, 1587, ^143

Shuster, Joe — 981, *119

Siegel, Jerry — 1163

Tennant, Lee — 1196

Thompson, Don — 1075

Yale, Kim — 1220

.

27. “The Most Awards” (the annual But I Digress awards presentations)

Marvel, DC, The Great Debate, Sachs & Violens #2, bagged comics — 1051

“Batman Meets Depressman”, SOTI, Image, Bosom Buddies, NY Yankees — 1103

Marvel vs. DC, Leefeld, Verotik/Planet Comics, the Cokemeter, Toy Story — 1158

Sexual Harassment, Image, The Phantom, Groth, Hulk, Spider-clone — 1206

ST: Voyager, Starship Troopers, Kevin Smith, Lost in Space, divorce — 1261

Sergio Aragones, B5 finale, Zorro, Batman: TAS, Lost in Space — 1314

Harry Potter, Archie, Andy Kaufman, Star Wars, Buffy, Marvel — 1365-1366

.

28. Christmas gift suggestions

— 891, *19

— 1092

— 1149

— 1198

— 1256

— 1468

.

29. The But I Digress mailbag (Peter prints and answers letters)

Death in comics, Oz movies — 880

Imaginary Marvel action figures — 919

Marvel marketing, fan behavior, Laura Palmer inaction figure, rape — 925926

Alien3 review response — 975

How to break into comics — 1009, *100

Submitting comic work — 1018

Marvel distribution, political correctness, racism — 1049-1050

Politics — 1111

Politics, Marvel/New World, a genuine comics fan writes in — 1128

First Amendment issues — 1172

Independence Day and Star Trek: First Contact — 1209

Peter’s movie reviews — 1231

Hercules — 1238

Sexual harassment — 1273

Getting facts and details right in comics — 1422

Marvel’s Slashback program — 1426-1427

The “trade paperbacking” of comics (TPBs coming out too soon) — 1560, ^116

Is Wizard’s “talent contest” a scam? / Heidi MacDonald — 1574, ^305

Hanley’s Universe taking creator comp copies for credit / Heidi MacDonald — 1575, ^308

Harlan Ellison’s Guava Paste is people! — 1578, ^203

.

30. Top Ten Lists

Top Ten Things That Fans Have Actually Said to Me at Cons and Store Appearances — 887, *244

Top Ten Ways You Know Your House is Haunted — 897, *244

Top Ten Unused Ideas for Super-Pairs — 898, *245

Top Ten Rejected Disney Characters — 912, *245

Top Ten Really Annoying Complaints from Users of the Emergency Alert System — 922, *245

Top Ten Ways to Jack Up Sales on The Little Mermaid938

Top Ten Things This Column Should Not Deal With — 954, *246

Top Ten Questions I Did Not Ask Todd McFarlane — 1043

Top Ten Groups of People Who See Casper (by Myra David) — 1127

Top Ten New Adjectives for the Hulk (by Madjak) — 1302

.

31. Parody Song Lyrics

“Beauty and the Beast,” author unknown — 1002

“Be Our Guest,” author unknown — 1002, *246

“The Lord of Time,” to the tune of “The Longest Time,” by Peter David — 1006, *248

“A Whole New World (Video Version),” by Brian Saner-Lamken — 1010

“Conventional Days,” to the tune of “Arabian Nights,” by David Seidman — 1018, *250

“Mutantmaniacs,” to the tune of the Animaniacs theme, by Tom Galloway — 1069

The Love Theme from Mystery Sandman Theater 3000 by Charles Skaggs — 1074, 1076

“I Just Can’t Wait to be King” by Peter David — 1105

“Oklahoma” by Peter David — 1161

“Heroine Barbarian” (Gilbert and Sullivan spoof) by Kevin Wald — 1236

“The Theme to Kingdom Come” by Peter David — 1270

“Leetah of the Pack” to the tune of “Leader of the Pack” by Peter David — 1278

Xena: Warrior Princess theme by Peter David and Kathleen O’Shea — 1279

“Darth Maul’s Lament,” to the tune of “Yesterday,” by Jeff Morris — 1337

“Archie and the Lawyer Guys” to the tune of the Josie theme by Peter David — 1386

“Air Canada!” to the tune of “Blame Canada!” by Peter David — 1404

Bush, Gore, and Nader sing a parody of “Fugue for Tinhorns” by Peter David — 1413

“Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?” tune of “Carmen Sandiego” by PAD — 1466

“The Scorpion King” and “Oy, It’s the Borg!” by Peter David — 1487, ^398

“Bin Laden and The Brain” by Peter David — 1532

“Trouble” to the tune of The Music Man’s “Trouble” by Peter David — 1549, ^265

.

32. Mystery Sandman Theater 3000 and more (parodying comic book pages)

New Titans #84 by Charles Skaggs — 1076

But I Digress… the Musical by Eman K. Torre — 1090

The Pact #2 by Bob Jenson — 1114

Captain America ashcan edition by Peter David — 1193

Fighting American #1 by Peter David — 1248

.

33. Guest columns

Myra David (“But She Digresses”) — 924

Shana David — 991, *231

Shana David on Casper — 1127

Corey Bond (“Mystery Movie Marquees”) — 1138

Dave Sim (“Parting Shot”) — 1181

Bill Mumy — 1350

Harlan Ellison — 1398

Gwen! David — 1440, 1454

.

34. Barf bag artwork

Stimpy-Hulk, She-Hulk, and “Mind Game” — 977, *237

— Artists: Randy Zimmerman, Gordon Purcell, R.C. Harvey

Image Zombie, Franken-Hulk, and Elmer Fudd — 1008, *240-241

— Artists: Don Simpson, Dave Gibbons, Bill Neville

Neil the Horse, Mick, and the Sandman — 1016, *241-242

— Artists: Arn Saba, Dave Sim, Neil Gaiman

The Thinking Man, DC Hair Club for Men client, and Bone — 1021

— Artists: Craig Hamilton, Phillip Hester and A. Parke, Jeff Smith

Unknown villain, Dizzy Devil, Barfing Man, Fred Flintstone, Superman, the Wild Weasel, and a Vampire — *238-244

— Artists: Charles Truog, Paul Dini, Sergio Aragones, Scott Shaw, George Pérez, Rick Schmitz, Ernie Chan

.

35. Other guest artwork

The But I Digress logo by Kurt Busiek — (almost all columns)

Peter as Moses by Neil Gaiman — *front cover

What the Critics Think of But I Digress by John Byrne — *back cover

Clavin and Hobbes by James Fry — 907, *250

Ariel, the Little Mermaid by Bill Neville — 933

The Little Mermaid, Flounder, and Sebastian by Richard Howell — 940, *249

The Big, Bad Mermaid by Eric Hess — 975

The “New” Superman by Milton Teruel — 991

Disney Heroines by Richard Howell — 998, *190

J.J. Sachs, the Hulk, and Spawn by George Pérez — 1042

When Heroes Clash by Kyle Baker — 1057

Mutantmaniacs by Arne Starr — 1069

Prince Charles as the Lion King by Arne Starr — 1105

Peter Offends No One by Arne Starr — 1122

Peter Continues to Offend No One by Arne Starr — 1123

Miss Oklahoma City by Frank Thorne — 1166

The Marvelcrumb Tinies by Richard Howell — 1210

The Hulk by unknown — 1272

Xena characters by Richard Howell — 1279

The Telethuggies by Mike Collins — 1296

Star Wars: Dennis the Phantom Menace trading cards by Richard Howell — 1333

Peter David as The Powerpuff Girls’ Mojo Jojo by Stephanie Gladden — 1397

.

36. Random, assorted thoughts

Batman on TV, Ðìçk Tracy, New Universe, Playboy, writing for money — 876

Darkwing Duck, Star Trek, Captain America, Blackadder, Superboy, Rahne — 936

Wishes for 1992—technology, DCU, Atlantis Chron., Rescue Rangers, the Flash — 948

Call-waiting, “Son of Sam” law, the “Inniverse,” Pat Buchanan — 958

Trancers casting, Image, Mocksville, female action figures, Mardi Gras — 1012

Perelman, Cheers, Blackadder, The Maxx, “Destruction,” submitting to Tundra — 1013

SOTI, X-Men, Tony Isabella, submitting work, “Harley and Ivy” — 1014

Image cancellations, Barney, Don Thompson’s Marvel reviews — 1029

Political correctness, MST3K, Gay guy in Hulk, Oblivion — 1066

Native American names, Christmas gift suggestions — 1092

Xerox Hour, movie ratings, Tom DeFalco leaves Marvel — 1095

Jim Shooter, Ellison, Oblivion, laserdiscs, stupid instructions — 1104

B5, Disney music, Oblivion screening — 1110

Teasers for news shows, comics sales, O.J. Trial — 1112

Canadian customs officials, Space Cases scripting, Verotik — 1152

Pulp Fiction, Trekkie juror, Magic Eye posters, ban on assault weapons — 1170

AOL, Superman’s new costume, women in comics, aliens — 1211

Seinfeld, Bill Mumy, Men in Black trailer — 1229

The X-Files, Starr vs. Clinton, DVDs, being Jewish — 1268

Leonardo DiCaprio, leaving Aquaman, sexual harassment — 1269

What writers owe fans, The Ten Commandments and Thunderdome, Kevin Smith — 1276

The X-Files, the Holocaust, movie marquees — 1289

Community theater, public school, convention schedule, comics on TV — 1374

X-Men, Andy Kaufman, Rocky and Bullwinkle, “Blame Canada” — 1378

DVD coding, West Wing — 1435

Blackadder on DVD, Planet of the Apes, Tomb Raider, Sir Apropos of Nothing — 1444

Errors in BID, Smallville, Peter’s proposal for Marvel Heroes one-shot — 1462

Legends of Tarzan, Biggs Darklighter, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers — 1466

Farscape cancellation, death of Mr. Rogers, “Bin Laden and the Brain” — 1532

Saddam & bin Laden comic book, No Marvel display @ San Diego, Pirates movie — 1553

Mark Hamill’s play; reviews of Alias, Smallville, Angel, West Wing; Cubs playoffs — 1565

Peter’s last thoughts for the night, editing the world, when JFK was shot — 1571

McFarlane/Twist case / Football predictions / Internet quizzes / Pete Rose’s book — 1577

Ernie on Play with Me Sesame / Hidalgo’s basis in fact / Howard Stern and the FCC — 1585

House TV show is based on Sherlock Holmes — 1618, ^362

Blog reprints: Death of Captain America, The Lost Tomb of Jesus — 1630

.

37. Miscellaneous columns

1990 Major League Baseball Playoffs (New York Mets) — 884

The Simpsons: Bart as a dysfunctional learner — 888

Buying animation cels — 895

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles / violence in kid’s shows — 909, *198

Rape “victim” vs. “survivor” — 929

Boy vs. girl toys — 944, *200

Peter talks to kids at school — 959, *151

Batman: The Animated Series967

Homosexuality (Gay = cretin??) — 969, *206

Sesame Street (and the Youngblood generation) — 973, *208

A Christmas Carol: an analysis of Scrooge — 1001, *191

The death of Brandon Lee (The Crow shooting) — 1015, *211

What’s so bad about Barney? — 1029

Peter refutes “A Letter from Peter David” in Comics Journal — 1060

Unlikely couples (Julia Roberts & Lyle Lovett, Lisa Marie & Michael, etc.) — 1082

Movie ratings — 1089, 1095

Time travel — 1093

Stupid instructions contest — 1104-1105, 1117-1118, 1120

Shopping for Pocahontas merchandise — 1131

The Butchering of a Language — 1137

Why heaven is hotter than hëll — 1137

Movie remakes — 1146

Pocahontas: Hide and Squeak Meeko book recall — 1161

Correspondence between a hotel and its guest — 1173

Certificates of authenticity — 1178

Red Dwarf — 1183

Audience reactions at William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet — 1205

Wallace & Gromit toys — 1215

Everybody vs. everybody contest — 1215, 1225-1227

Things that drive Peter nuts (DVDs, MST3K, Oscars) — 1223

Captain Kangaroo — 1232

“Application for permission to date my daughter” — 1236

Moral irresponsibilty in Hercules — 1237

Myths and archetypes — 1239-1240

Jokes — 1245, 1247

Scooby Doo and friends meet Hamlet by Mike Schiffer — 1254

James Bond movies and novels — 1257

Seduction of the Innocent: the band (and Shaun Cassidy) — 1267

The Cartoon Laws of Physics, author unknown — 1270

South Park’s Cartman as Spider-Man — 1277

Remaking Superman II — 1280

Ageism — 1295

Beanie Babies and Teletubbies — 1296

Peter apologizes for everything — 1298

I Hate Superman kid’s book review — 1303

Courageous Cat cartoon series — 1308

The Bureau of Overthinking Things — 1311

Space Ghost and Nexus — 1318

Picking the best Incredible Hulk TV episodes — 1327, 1376-1377

The “Aw, C’mon!” Awards — 1330

Li’l Abner, Al Capp, and political correctness — 1336

A review of reality — 1343

Body dimorphism (in comics and action figures) — 1357-1358

What pros owe fans — 1368, 1482

“The Spider-House Rules” — 1378

Peter’s friends in the comics industry (Busiek, Dini, Jurgens, Riggs, Kesel) — 1383

K-Lee’s notebook (stupid things high school kids say) — 1385

Gladiator’s basis in historical fact — 1385

A review of Survivor and other ‘reality’ TV shows — 1391

A review of Julie Schwartz’s autobiography Man of Two Worlds — 1393

Spider-Man: organic webshooters in the upcoming movie — 1399

Review of book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier Clay by Michael Chabon — 1411

What it means to be a “supergirl” — 1416

“How the Grynch Stole Fandom” (fandom.com allegory) — 1418

Walter Koenig is looking for Fawcett comics cards — 1421

Peter on the set of the Spider-Man movie — 1442

Review of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods novel — 1445

Review of Smallville series premiere — 1458

Spam e-mails of the Marvel universe — 1483, ^403

The 2002 Academy Awards (Oscars) — 1484

Akiva Goldsman (Batman and Robin screenwriter)—his awards and criticisms — 1486, ^235

The Lone Gunmen pilot episode foreshadowing Sept. 11 attacks on WTC — 1493

How the Hulk would solve real-world problems by Meryl Yourish — 1493

The Simpsons: In the Flesh live show — 1500

Review of Comic Wars book — 1494

Predictions for season seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — 1510

Peter’s ideas for Buffy, Angel, Smallville, The West Wing, The Sopranos, Alias — 1516

Musicals: Dance of the Vampires, Man of La Mancha, and… Batman!?! — 1518

Naughty kid’s toys (“What were they thinking!?!”) — 1526

South Park parody of Crossing Over with John Edward — 1528

Differences between reviews and critiques — 1542

Hints of homosexuality in The Lone Ranger, Shane, and G.I. Joe — 1543

The end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — 1544, ^229

Schadenfreude: fans taking malicious joy in Hulk’s less-than-stellar box office — 1551

DVD releases Peter wants to see (Hill Street Blues, Green Hornet, Diver Dan) — 1559

Hate mail from “fans” — 1605, ^320, 1607, ^325

Review: The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion — 1608, ^297

Role-playing games (RPGs) — 1613, ^371

Gender inequality in movies and comics — 1623, ^85

The death of George Reeves (Hollywoodland, The Adventures of Superman) — 1624

The BID Cell program (brainstorming terrorist attack scenarios) — 1626, ^292

“Back in ‘the day’”: Stan Lee, 1986 NL championship playoffs, Carol Kalish — 1627, ^268

Going to movie screenings-ROTJ, Blade Runner, Batman, Daredevil, Ghost Rider — 1629, ^277

Fans claim PAD hates: Byrne, McFarlane, Image, the internet, Catholics, critics — 1639

Grammar police: words and phrases that annoy PAD: awesome, free rein, elitist — 1644, ^216

Peter visits Toy Fair 2009 — 1653

Predicting the quality of a movie based on advance leaks / scripts (Wolverine, Rocketeer, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) — 1655

Fanfail: some fans’ inappropriate sense of entitlement — 1659