PeterDavid.net

When I finally put on the episode of “Monk” that I taped last week, I noted with pleasure the name “Jimmie F. Skaggs” in the opening credits as a guest star. I got to know Jimmie, a talented and eminently pleasant character actor, some years ago when he was appearing as “Buteo,” the solemn Indian-esque wiseman in my films “Oblivion” and “Backlash: Oblivion II.” We hung out in Romania while I was over there, and he was a really sweet guy.

So imagine my shock when, at the very close of the episode, it said, “In Memory of Jimmie F. Skaggs.”

Damnation. I didn’t know he died of complications from cancer a couple of weeks ago at the age of 59.

If you’ve never seen either of the “Oblivion” movies, scrounge around at your local DVD shop and see if you can score a copy. He’s done tons of work in movies and various episodics, and I openly admit my bias, but I thought he was great in the role and it’s a crying shame to lose someone that young.

PAD

So with the Democratic National Convention wrapped, what did you guys think? High points? Low points? Kerry’s speech?

Personally, I thought he did very well. With so much being attached to this speech in terms of do-or-die, he seemed a little shaky to start out, but slowly built up an impressive head of steam. By the end I thought he sounded pretty damned good.

Although I still have to say I thought Comedy Central’s “John Kerry: He’s Not George W. Bush” was still the best commentary on the night.

PAD

I’m getting lots of queries about the fact that Rich Johnston has reported in his column that Marvel is considering offering me the Hulk again. This is based upon Joe’s soliciting fan reaction, getting huge cheers, during one of his panels on the notion of my coming back on the series, and then giving a cryptic, Cheshire cat response.

Now, honestly, I’ve been to such gatherings, and while it’s great that people cheered when Joe asked what they thought of me returning full-time to HULK, my guess is that if Joe had said, “We’re thinking of tearing up the carpeting at the Marvel offices and switching over to linoleum, whattaya think?!” he could have gotten thunderous applause. So, y’know…

That said, No, Marvel has not approached me about the prospect of returning to an ongoing HULK series. For one thing, with Bruce leaving to go off to DC, I don’t even know if there IS gonna be an ongoing HULK series, do you? I am still doing the six-issue HULK limited series next year, and yes, we do have an artist aboard: Lee Weeks, which will be fun since I haven’t worked with Lee since our “Justice” days.

Ever since Bruce’s exclusive with DC was announced, I’ve been speculating that maybe Marvel is now looking to the limited series as a litmus test, because certainly fans have sent mixed reactions on line. For every fan who says, “We’d love to see Peter David back on HULK,” there’s another who says, “Been there, done that.” So it could be they don’t know what to expect and are interested to see what the miniseries results in. But I don’t know for sure. It’s pure guess on my part and, for all I know, they could announce tomorrow that Bendis is taking over on HULK and that’s that.

So I guess we’ll all find out together.

PAD

I’m back from the San Diego Con, with a brief sojourn up into Los Angeles for business and such.

I figure I’ll do a blow-by-blow in my column in the next CBG (about which I heard from a number of people, most of them saying the same thing: “Did it HAVE to go monthly?” Hey, wasn’t my call to make.) Overall, the con continues to be the marathon of conventions. There were exhibitors who looked like the walking wounded, and it was only Thursday.

I would say that, over the four days, I got to see maybe 50% of the dealer’s room, which is by this point easily the size of three football fields if not more. I was on several panels, and what was interesting to me was that they were not comics panels but fantasy lit panels. There’s something to be said for sharing space with the likes of Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan.

I attended, by invite, the very first screening for an audience of “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.” One hell of a film, I gotta say, with Jude Law perfect as the movie serial-esque hero and Gwyneth Paltrow looking like she just stepped out of a 1930s film. I’m utterly convinced that this retro pastiche look is the way to go with the new “Superman” film. Just go ahead, make it look like a Fleischer studios cartoon. It’ll be great. High point of the film remains the attack of the giant robots, so masterfully convincing that you practically wanted to duck as they tromped through.

Attended parties thrown by both Marvel and DC, shot pool with Robert Kirkman, and pulled off a lucky trick shot that convinced everyone watching that my protests of being inept were just a cover for being a pool hustler. Accompanied a friend to an informal cocktail gathering at the Marriott where it turned out Stan Lee was, and the moment he spotted me, Stan called out, “It’s Peter David! The greatest comic book writer in the business!” whereupon everyone there suddenly wanted to get to know me.

And, yeah, in a passing remark that kind of got out of hand, I wound up getting a tat of Elfquest’s Leetah on my left arm. And let me stop discussion right now by saying that, no, as several people including my eldest daughter asked, I will NOT get my nipple pierced for another $1000 donation, or $10,000, or whatever amount. Wendy Pini, however, has volunteered to do body drawings that can then be tattooed over on anyone who wants to make a $1000 donation to the fund. My arm still stings just a bit, but it’s more like a sunburn than anything else. And I’ve pretty much got the hang of flexing my muscle so that it looks like her stomach is undulating.

PAD

For those of you who have asked me, yes. I did know what Peter was up to. He kept me up to date all the way on his adventure. There are pictures up now at Newsrama that Richard took of the whole thing.
I think it looks pretty cool.

are true. Photos to come. And what have YOU done for the CBLDF lately?

At least I think it’s out this week. People are e-mailing me about it, so I’m guessing it is.

Had to try and accomplish a lot in a last issue that I had no idea was going to be the last until they said, “Okay, we’ve ending it with #25, so wrap it up,” and I’d already written #24.

Whad’ja think?

PAD

So I went today to see “I Robot.” Comments follow below in what is essentially the spoiler section…

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The “Fallen Angel” trade paperback came in #37 on the Diamond list which is, frankly, not impressive. However, I am hearing anecdotally from fans who claim the book is sold out in their stores.

I want to hear from any retailer who is (a) sold out and (b) has reordered it. Just for my own curiosity, if nothing else. No need to reply publicly: Simply e-mail me at padguy@aol.com.

Thank you.

PAD

Dems are howling over Arh-nuld’s calling them “Girlie Men,” saying it’s insulting to gays and women.

Aw, c’mon. I don’t recall anyone bitching about it when Hans and Franz coined the term in a recurring SNL sketch that was clearly lampooning Arnold. Instead of whining about being regularly made fun of, Arnold embraced the gag, even showing up during one sketch and lambasting them, saying they’d let themselves go and had become girlie men themselves (as they hung their heads in shame.)

If the Dems feel he was off-base in accusing them of pandering to special interest (which is where their ire should really be directed) then the response should be something along the lines of, “The Governor has been so busy pumping (clap) himself up that he’s full of hot air.” Not this namby-pamby, “Oh, he’s calling us names, he’s being mean to us” crap. Dem spokesmen are reacting like–well–girlie men.

PAD

UPDATE: Turns out I forgot (big shock there) that I’m to be at the CBLDF table Sunday from 2-3 PM. So I’ll only be at the Marvel table from 3-4 on Sunday. The list has been adjusted accordingly.

So here’s where I’m going to be during San Diego. So none of you gets to say, “Ooooo, I’d have come by to see you, but I had no idea where you are.” Appreciation to Dave Seidman for actually sifting through the newly posted schedule and finding out where the hell I was, since–as I usually do–I agreed to stuff, neglected to write it down, and then forgot where I was supposed to be.

THURSDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102 (n.b.: I’m first arriving in San Diego on the 10:40 AM plane, so this is going to hinge on everything arriving on time and how fast I can get over to the site. I will be there, but don’t be shocked if I’m a little late.)
5:00 – 6:00: Autograph Area AA5, in connection with the panel Kicking
Serious Butt
6:00 – 7:00 Room 7B, for the panel Kicking Serious Butt

FRIDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102.
2:00 – 3:00: Room 7B, for the panel The Future of Star Trek Publishing
3:00 – 4:00: Room 7B, for the panel Beyond “Once Upon a Time”
4:00 – 5:00: Autograph Area AA3, in connection with the panel Beyond
“Once Upon a Time”

SATURDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102.
2:00 – 4:00: Marvel Comics (I don’t know what booth they are)

SUNDAY
12:00 – 1:30: Claypool Comics, booth 2102.
2:00 – 3:00: CBLDF
3:00 – 4:00: Marvel Comics

Interestingly, I told DC several times I was interested in signing at their booth and no one ever called me. I told Marvel exactly once and they called me immediately. So take from that what you will.

PAD

Just saw the somewhat revisionist, yet supposedly fact-based, film about the historical Arthur today. Now of course I was put-off right from the get-go because, yes, I’ve long known that historians suspect a Roman warrior, one “Arturus,” to be the basis for the Arthur legends. But I also know that Lancelot didn’t enter the mythos until about six centuries later, when the French crowbarred him in. I mean, naturally: He’s better and stronger than any other knight, he’s so irresistable that the queen cuckolds her husband for him, and of course he’s French. He’s like a medieval Lieutenant Mary Sue. So don’t go telling me you’re making a movie steeped in historical theory and then toss in a latter-day Gaullic addendum ’cause it’s just pissing me off.

That said, I liked it a hell of a lot better than I thought I would. Considering I know that they edited the crap out of it and inserted an uplifting ending, I’d be intrigued to see the R-rated director’s cut which I understand will be released on DVD. The absolutely stand-out is Bors, a growling monster-bear of a man who has so many bastard children that he can’t be bothered to name them, only number them. Although I have to say that the mother of his kids (a dozen of them) should looked a lot less haggard than any such woman would realistically have the right to be. Kind of typical of these sorts of films: The men looked grizzled and wartorn and the women look like Hollywood actresses. The last time I saw a period film set in a poor area where the women looked right for the time and place, it was “Fiddler on the Roof.”

It’s certainly a refreshing take on Arthur once you get past the whole out-of-place Lancelot thing, and it certainly beats the hell out of the ghastly “First Knight.”

PAD

From America’s Finest News Source…

UPDATE: insideman noted this first in comments a few days back, and if there’s anything we here at PeterDavid.net are, it’s sticklers for credit. Right, Rob?

Yeah, that’s a letter from me in the on-the-stands issue of “TV Guide” (the one with “How do rich TV people spend their money” on the cover.) I was outraged that the “TV Guide” list of the greatest TV dads omitted my personal TV dad guru, Gomez Addams, and shot off a letter to that effect. They printed it in its entirety at the top of the lettercol, so that’s nice placement. Didn’t really think they’d use it. Live and learn.

PAD

For almost the entirety of the 1990s, the RAM (Republican Attack Machine) spewed lies the way Old Faithful blasts water. Now “Fahrenheit 9/11″ comes out and suddenly the RAM aggressively embraces the concept of truth and accuracy with such zeal that you’re almost waiting for them to complain because Michael Moore didn’t define the word “is.”

Everyone howls about inaccuracy? Here’s an inaccuracy that no one really wants to cop to:

“Iraq is better off now than it was.”

That’s not necessarily true. Why? Because it depends on what your definition of “is” is.

See, we don’t know for sure what the impact of Saddam’s fall will be. Not for sure. Not remotely for sure. No one can know. Why? Because once upon a time, the US had no problem with Saddam. He seemed much better than The Other Guys in other countries that we had problems with. So top GOP officials were photographed shaking his hand, and I seem to recall we sold him weapons.

And one thing led to another, and then we didn’t like him because he was a brutal dictator and was killing innocent Iraqis, and so we got him out of power…while killing innocent Iraqis. Iraq IS better off? Iraq has civil unrest, water and electrical power are dodgy, buildings are bombed out, prisoners were tortured (and for all we know, still are but we just haven’t found out yet) and thousands of innocents were killed, while young American soldiers went in and died for a cause that was questionable at best. And Michael Moore showed all that, not just as evening headlines, but on the most human level imaginable, and that terrifies the RAM because they don’t want Americans seeing that.

Furthermore, it may well be that the result of this endeavor will be that a new generation of terrorists is spawned by America’s invasion, the resulting Iraqi government may be no better or even worse than what they had before (especially if a new dictator seizes power, and then what? We invade again?), oil prices are skyrocketing, we’ve lost tons of worldwide goodwill that 9/11 handed us, and by the way, America is so much safer with Saddam gone that we get terror alerts every six weeks or so and we’re discussing suspending elections. Is martial law next?

And that’s the point that “F9/11″ is making, and the RAM is terrified that the message is going to take hold, and they’re trying to nitpick it to death while protecting the big lie that is the Bush Administration. To quote Edith Ann, “And that’s the truth *pbthhhh *.”

PAD

Lately I’ve discovered that if I’m trying to sign on in order to post responses, the program refuses to acknowledge that I’ve signed on and I get no response box. I think it may be because I’m going through AOL, but I can’t be sure.

If anyone else is having sign on problems in trying to respond, please e-mail me at padguy@aol.com.

PAD

The latest issue which you literally have to read twice in order to pick up on the stuff you missed the first time around once you get to the end.

Whad’ja think?

PAD

Always a bit of a trick getting back into rhythm when I’ve been out of town a few days. Working right now on the script for “Fallen Angel #16,” and from there I go right into the next issue of “Soulsearchers and Company.”

Within the next day or so, I’ll post my schedule for San Diego.

Of amusement to fans who saw “Monty Sauron” is my hearing that the extended version of “Return of the King” will feature, among its added scenes, a sequence where Sauron taunts the men who have gathered outside the Black Gates challenging him. If that’s the case, I wonder if he’ll speak with an outrageous French accent.

And in answer to questions, no, I’ve no intention of posting the script for “Monty Sauron.” I already had two people coming up to me at the convention saying, “Hi, can you give me the script so I can perform the show at another convention?” So no, that’s not gonna be happening.

PAD

When some Bush bashers claimed that Bush would try to retain office even if voted out, I thought they were just being paranoid. As much as I dislike the guy, I couldn’t see even him trying a stunt like that.

But now “Newsweek” reports the Administration is trying to find ways to postpone (indefinitely, one presumes) the election in the event of terrorist attack. Even though there’s no mechanism for such a thing to happen at a Federal level.

Well, sure. With Bush’s numbers dropping, maybe they’re actually worried that the country would not rally around its president a second time, but instead howl for Bush’s metaphorical head. Purely speculation on my part, but I wonder if the GOP hired a private polling firm to put a question out there: “If America were attacked again, would you be more or less likely to vote for Bush.” And they didn’t like the answer they got. Again, purely speculation, but if they were NOT trying to get a feel for the American mindset on that score, I think it’d be a foolish oversight.

PAD

Well, we’re back from our annual sojourn to Shore Leave in Hunt Valley, MD. This may go on for a bit, so we’ll go to an extended entry.

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