PeterDavid.net

Peter just wants you to know that the simple reason he hasn’t done COwboy Peter is because he is waaaay behind on TV watching. He’s been immersed in writing the next “New Frontier” novel (plus assorted other projects) and just hasn’t had time to sit down and watch the various shows he’s taped the past several weeks. But he’ll be getting current over the weekend and will do a new “Cowboy Pete” this Monday that will be reasonably current. So just hold your comments until then and we’ll go to town.

Penguin-Putnam and I have come to terms on a third “Arthur” novel. Tentatively titled “Fall of Knight,” it will pick up where the previous volume, “One Knight Only” left off, and will continue the adventures of Arthur Penn, Gwen, Merlin, et al.

I won’t discuss details of the plot at this time, especially since world events wound up changing the plot of “One Knight Only” so monumentally. I have a basic storyline in mind, but we’ll see what’s happening in the world when I’m actually writing it.

Taking a guess, it will see print some time in 2006.

PAD

I’ve been reading with interest on Newsarama.com the travails and frustrations of Micah Wright, whose “Stormwatch: Team Achilles” was canceled (with numbers that were, frankly, not much different from “Fallen Angel.”) Which gave me an idea, but I’ll get to that later. What struck me the most was that his experiences in boosting readership paralleled my own. He said:

When the monthly book was cancelled a week later, I noticed that a lot of online readers were saying things like “I’ve never even heard of this book… is it really as good as people here are saying?” That’s a bit depressing to hear… that someone’s never seen a copy of the book on the shelves of their Local Comic Store? Interestingly, another group of people expressed disappointment because they were following the book exclusively in trades. A third group of people were saying “Damn, I’ve been seeing the new art team online and I was waiting on that third trade to jump onto the series.”

I’ve talked a lot online about lessons learned from this series… one of them is this: no nine-part story arcs while the book is still young. People whose store didn’t carry early issues can’t find the first part of the story so they wait for the trade.

Fans never heard of it, retailers didn’t stock copies to be seen. Boy, is this familiar. I can assure Micah, though, that the lesson he learned is pretty futile. “Fallen Angel” launched with two done-in-one issues, followed by a four parter, followed by a five parter. Made no difference. People who *found* the first issue said *they* were waiting for the trade.

But speaking of the trade, that’s the most intriguing aspect. According to the article, pre-orders are now very brisk on the third trade paperback of S:TA. In fact, fans are acting in concert to order copies. Only problem: The book doesn’t actually exist. DC cancelled the trade. So the tactic is of questionable effectiveness.

The trade of “Fallen Angel,” however, has not been cancelled. However, the quantity and, even more important, the speed with which the book sells is likely going to determine the future of the series.

If you’ve already bought the issues and don’t want to pick up the TPB in addition, I can totally respect that. If, on the other hand, you want to, so you can give it to a friend or something, hey. Great. Heck, as always, send it to me with a SASE to PO Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705 and I’ll sign it and send it back. And if you’re planning to buy the trade anyway… order it now. Bump the numbers up. Spread the word. Get some buzz going. What can it hurt?

Hopefully our esteemed webmaster will put a direct link to it (so you won’t have to slog through the astounding number of books, CDs, DVDs etc. that are all called “Fallen Angel.”)

Let’s see how high the Fallen Angel can fly.

PAD

How many comic books I’ve written?

Seriously, I was wondering, ’cause I realize I’ve no idea. How many actual comic books I’ve produced in my writing lifetime.

PAD

Anyone following “Gasoline Alley?”

In the April 19 strip, 100+ year old Walt Wallet settles into bed with long-time spouse Phyllis. On April 20, Walt’s adopted son Skeezix is awaken by a late night phone call.

It’s obvious someone’s died.

But it’s unclear who.

Skeezix gasps “Uncle Walt!” into the phone, but it could be that Walt died, or it could be that Walt’s on the other end giving the bad news.

Now I don’t mind suspense in just about anything. And I don’t mind knocking off a long time character in a comic strip. But it’s a week later and they’re still having the characters reacting with shock and mourning and grief and we still don’t frickin’ know who died. To me, the strip has passed beyond the bounds of honest suspense into the range of…I don’t know…tastelessness.

If you’re going to portray a tragedy in a comic strip, or anywhere, then do it honestly. Trudeau did it right. He did it with the classic formula of “three.” The first strip introduced a tragedy involving BD (my God, is he dead?), the second reinforced it and heightened the concern (okay, he’s not dead, but something really bad has happened), and the third was the reveal (holy crap, his leg *and* his helmet are gone).

In this day and age of tons of genuine sad deaths, it’s exploitational to milk death for artificial suspense…even fictional death. Which is what “Gasoline Alley” is doing. It’s bad writing. And it’s kinda tacky.

PAD

Congratulations to David Mack, Star Trek author (including the Zak Kebron story “Waiting For G’Doh, or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People” in the New Frontiers anthology No Limits) on his marriage this weekend to the lovely and talented Kara Bain, a real Supergirl if ever there was one.

In his honor, we have arranged to have the Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees like Neal Peart’s drum set.

What “haunts Kerry” (according to the AOL newsfeed) is his youthful days as a staunch protestor against war after serving his country in Vietnam.

As opposed to what haunts Bush, is his youthful days as a drinking, partying drug user who disappeared for months on end while serving his country in Texas.

And Bush’s numbers still appear strong while Kerry’s seem soft.

Ohhh, that wacky liberal media…

PAD

Four issues to go, and this one’s out on the stands now. Whad’ja think?

And please, CM fans…stop wasting your time trying to save the book. Marvel simply isn’t interested in keeping it around. It’s never gonna sell like a Spider book, it has no movie optioned for it, and it’s not going to pull in underutilized audiences such as young girls (which is why Spider-Girl is continuing.) So they won’t keep it going. Simple as that.

Please put your energies into reading and spreading the word about “Fallen Angel,” which does have a genuine chance to succeed (especially if the trade collection sells out quickly).

PAD

Nearly a hundred years ago, the head of the Philadelphia Communist party suggested to conscripts for World War I that the draft was a violation of the 13th amendment rights against involuntary servitude. The government’s response for the expression of this presumably despicable notion was to throw him into jail for a decade, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court (it was from that decision that the “cannot falsely shout fire in a crowded theater” dictum came from.)

So now, of course, when we live in a time that’s far more conducive to open discussion, and we have a much more understanding Supreme Court, I’m moved to wonder…*is* a draft unconstitutional? The constitution gives congress the right to “raise” armies, but I didn’t notice anything that specifically said they can commandeer citizens against the will of the citizens. In fact, there’s yet another amendment–the 5th one–that says citizens will not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. That is to say, the only situation in which the Constitution seems to say it’s okay to deprive someone of their basic freedom of movement and right to have their own stuff is if they’re paying for a criminal act of which they’ve been convicted.

So…is there a case to be made for a draft being unconstitutional? And don’t tell me it’s constitutional simply because it’s existed before unless you’re ready to argue that African-Americans should never have been counted as more than 3/5 of a person because that was the way it was done before.

PAD

I fully understand that characters in comic strips are just pen-and-ink representations of things going on in an artist’s mind. That they’re not real.

Nevertheless, in seeing the launch of the current “Doonesbury” storyline in which B.D. becomes a man down in Iraq, my first thought was, “Oh God, poor Boopsie, she couldn’t take it, please don’t let him die.” Which shows just how effective Trudeau’s become in investing us in his cast’s fates.

Spoiler to follow regarding B.D…

(more…)

Got a call from Keith Giffen today regarding “Captain Marvel #25.” He was working on the breakdowns for issue #25, the last issue. As I noted in a previous post, I came with a story so demented that I believed–and still do–that Keith was the only artist who could pull it off. He mentioned to me that when his coming onto CM #25 was announced, the most often heard comment he got from fans was, “What took so long?” Apparently fans feel that we have similar enough sensibilities that we should have teamed up on a project long ago.

We’re on the same page with CM #25. If you want to have some idea of what to expect, think of the classic Chuck Jones cartoon, “Duck Amuck.”

PAD

In a supermarket yesterday as I was going through the checkout line, I heard a couple of cashier guys chatting and instantly knew what the subject matter was.

“The first one was great, it was like this terrific action movie. But the second one sux.”

Having seen “Kill Bill Vol. 2″ today with Kathleen, I fully understand the sentiment. I don’t *agree* with it, but I get where the young guy was coming from.

While “Kill Bill Vol. 1″ was the Quentin Tarrantino version of a 1970s Hong Kong action film, “Kill Bill Vol. 2″ is QT’s version of–don’t laugh–a chick flick.

If you haven’t seen it but plan to…stay through to the very end for an amusing out take.

Spoilers follow:

(more…)

Turns out that Caroline’s majestic barfing on the flight back from Chicago may not simply have been a response to turbulence. Instead it might have been the precursor to something more problematic. Starting Tuesday, she’s been running a fever on and off, as high as 103.9–which isn’t as dangerous for an infant as for an adult, but still. And she developed a runny nose and cough. But her energy level was still up, and her appetite was fine. So we treated her with fever reducer, kept her fluids up, and waited to see if that would be enough to break what could be a simple flu.

But last night was hellacious, and she was crying in such a way that she seemed in genuine pain. And I thought, “Okay. Ear infection.” We took her to the doctor and, lo and behold…ear infection. Both ears. So now we have her on Amoxyl, a pediatric cure-all so universal that David Steinberg once did a bit as to what it would be like if a pediatrician were the President of the United States. (“Mr. President, what should we do about the Middle East situation?” “I’m thinking Amoxycilin.”)

She’s napping now, making up for all the sleep she lost last night.

Sometimes I can’t believe I’m 47 and doing this all OVER again.

PAD

A pivotal issue in the series hits the stands this week. Whad’ja think?

PAD

http://homepage.mac.com/kathodavid/PhotoAlbum12.html

So get this: The Feds nail this guy who’s attempting to smuggle drugs by having swallowed fifty one condoms filled with heroin (he’s what’s traditionally referred to as a “mule.”) He’s brought to Mary Immaculate hospital where laxatives enable him to pass forty four of them. But levels of opiates in his urine prompt doctors to be concerned that one or more of the condoms has ruptured, so they operate and remove the remaining seven. It turns out they weren’t ruptured, but hey, they didn’t feel like standing around and risk just letting the guy die, no matter how scummy he is.

Claiming that he hadn’t given them permission to perform the potentially life-saving operation, and that he “still has nightmares” about it, this transporter of illegal drugs is now suing the hospital for $5 million. This after already having tried, and failed, to sue the Feds for $25 million.

Here’s hoping the judge gives the mule a swift kick in the ass.

PAD

Americans love humility. They love it when great people are humble. Part of what got W. as far as he has is his self-effacing, aw-shucks act.

At tonight’s carefully staged news conference (if I read between the lines correctly, he had a list of reporters, knew the questions they were going to ask, and had answers prepared…like “Hollywood Squares”), one of the last questions he got (and one which I think he didn’t know ahead of time) was that, in 2000, he said the biggest mistake he ever made was trading Sammy Sosa. But now, post 9/11…what would he say was his biggest mistake?

He couldn’t come up with one.

There was so many things he could have said that would have played well, cost him very little politically, and would perhaps have gone a ways to portray him as someone who learns from his miscalculations. Because it’s the lack of learning curve displayed by this administration that is its most alarming tendency.

He could have said, “I made a mistake in underestimating the levels of evil that a bin Laden would sink to. I pledge to my fellow Americans, I will never make that mistake again.”

Or, “I made a mistake in saying that the mission was accomplished. It’s not yet, but we have to finish it.”

Or, “I made a mistake in my estimation as to the intensity of fighting that continued in Iraq, but we have brave soldiers in the field and we will support them.”

Or, “I made a mistake in giving the country the impression for months on end that I was stonewalling the 9/11 commission.”

Something. Anything. In the words of Doctor Evil, throw us a frickin’ bone.

Nothing. Hundreds of Americans, thousands of Iraqis dead, WMDs still MIA, no clean exit strategy, no clear idea who runs Iraq after June 30, intelligence lapses being investigated…

…and he can’t think of anything in three years that falls under the category of, “Ooops. My bad.”

Whatever happened to the buck stopping at the desk where he sits? Or does that buck permanently rest on the Clinton desk, since Clinton continues to be blamed for whatever’s gone wrong in the past few years.

PAD

So we were heading back from the “To Be CONtinued” convention in Chicago. A decent if not huge attendance, but I try to support regional SF cons where I can. The crew running it was enthusiastic and attentive, and everyone had a good time, I thought.

I was sitting next to Caroline on the flight back. She drank a bottle of cold milk during take-off, which was good, because the sucking kept her ears from getting clogged during the climb in altitude. During the flight, she smiled, she burbled, then she started to drift and her eyelids were closing.

And then we hit turbulence.

Forty-five minutes of it.

Poor Ariel desperately needed to go to the bathroom, but she wouldn’t go when the fasten seatbelt sign was on, and during the brief moments when they’d shut it off, others would sprint past her before she could get up.

Naturally Caroline, who carries her bathroom in her pants, wasn’t concerned about that. The eyes continued to close, close…

And then, with one final jostle of turbulence as the plane headed toward the airport, her eyes snapped open and the milk made its triumphant return through her mouth.

Everywhere. Everywhere. I grabbed into the seat pouch for a barf bag. None. Of course. Wasted precious seconds finding another, tried to get it in front of her mouth. Automatically she yanked her face away from the bag and decorated me with the remainder of her stomach’s contents.

Being barfed on by your kid is one of those few life experiences where, no matter how many times it’s happened to you before, each time is like the first.

Her little Easter outfit was shot, as was the interior lining of her chair. I unbuckled my seat belt and changed her out of her outfit into another “emergency” outfit Kath had packed in the diaper back, trying to hold the squirming vomit-covered crying infant while hoping no flight attendant would come over and tell me I had to be buckled in. Didn’t happen; I suspect the crew wanted no part of the whole mess, and I for one don’t blame them.

The one advantage was that I was able to get her off the plane quickly upon landing. People stood up in the aisle to start getting their stuff from the overhead. I rose with the bedraggled infant in my arms, facing out, and announced, “Pardon me. Anyone care to stand in the way of a baby who just barfed?” They parted like the Red Sea…which I guess made it Caroline’s way of contributing to the whole Passover experience.

I’d been hesitant to give her baby dramamine before the flight because, yes, it knocks the kid out and avoids these problems, but the child often wakes up *incredibly* cranky. So I figured I’d take the risk with the relatively short flight.

Nice risk taking there, David.

PAD

We haven’t had one of these in a while. Have at it.

Over at Lot Auctions, we’ve got theScience Fiction, Mysteries, and More Bookstore Liquidation Sale – over 4000 new paperbacks are up for sale in this batch. You can bid individually or in groups, like the name implies. This auction is scheduled to end on the 15th, but more’s going up as we inventory it. And in the next few days, we’ll have some unique items of Peter’s up for auction as well. (Now where did I leave his housekey…?)