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Short answer: It was a film that surpassed the quality of the script, making up with special effects and human drama what it lacked in coherent plot.

Longer answer below, with spoilers (sorry, couldn’t be helped.):

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So on the one hand fans decry my getting involved with tie-ins. On the other hand, I’m reading fans on other sites saying, “Hey, I just bought X-Factor because of the Civil War tie-in, and whoa, I’m on board for this series from now on.” Go figure.

Whad’ja think?

PAD

In the June 26-July 9 issue of Variety, there’s a story on page five headlined “Entourage Floats Faux Feature.” The article discusses the two-page ad that ran in June 16’s Variety congratulating James Cameron and Vince Chase for the $116+ million opening of Cameron’s “Aquaman” feature. Anyone who watches the hit HBO series knows full well that this record-setting event happened two Sundays ago in the fictional showbiz world of “Entourage.”

Yet the bogus ad has stoked interest in the prospect of Cameron directing a genuine “Aquaman” feature (although astoundingly the WB, missing the opportunity to cash in on it, passed on the proposed “Aquaman” TV series “Mercy Reef.”) And Denise Martin’s article concludes with the following:

“The ad has lit a flame under Cameron fans, who hope the director will make the pic his follow-up to ‘Titanic.’ “Now all we need is for Cameron to really make an Aquaman film and we’re good to go,” Aquaman’s comicbook scribe Peter David cracked.”

Somewhere, DC execs are spitting tacks over THAT one.

And hey, Jim…if you’re reading this…I’ve got some great ideas. Have your person call my person, we’ll do a thing.

PAD

We’re trying to track down some performance problems and server errors. We hope to have them up for later this afternoon. –GH

So Kathleen happened to have the radio on this morning, tuned to a sports radio talk show. And it seemed that the volume and intensity of the discussion was inversely proportional to the degree of importance-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things that the subject matter had.

And all I could think of was how grotesquely unfair it is that science fiction and comics fans are tagged as nerds and dweebs and treated in a condescending manner when sports fans are just as “bad” if not “worse.” I mean, where the hell does the media get off being snotty about fans who are dressed as Klingons when you can go to any Yankees game and see 1800 guys wearing jerseys that say “Jeter” on the back. The Klingon language may be incomprehensible, but no less so than watching two sports fanatics tossing around stats, names and abbreviations (“When he wasn’t able to DH he was HBP and wound up on the DL when his ERA was 0.73, or else he would have been MVP.”) How is it 1500 people, mostly sober, spending a weekend enjoying a mutual interest at a hotel and talking about space exploration, how to avoid global warming, and whether the Hulk can beat Superman…how is that automatically inferior to 43,000, mostly drunkly drunk, spending a day enjoying a mutual interest at a stadium and talking about playoffs, how to avoid the line at the bathroom, and whether the 1953 Dodgers could beat the 1962 Yankees?

Plus science fiction fans have only the Sci-Fi Channel. Sports fans have ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN Classic. Golf. There’s a golf channel. A whole channel dedicated to Golf, for God’s sake. That’s like having a whole channel devoted to “Voyager.” And how are fantasy baseball leagues any weirder than local chapters of Starfleet? And where do people get off being snotty about Renfaires when there are those fantasy baseball camps that some organizations offer, where you pay big bucks to dress up like a baseball player for a week? At least Renfaire’s don’t set you back a few thousand bucks.

So what makes us nerdy and them “mainstream? Because it’s “big business?” Maybe the only way science fiction and comic book conventions will gain genuine respectability is if they become designed, not for socialization or debate, but about being as aggressive as possible about separating fans from their money. You know: LIke pro sports.

PAD

Everyway I look, there’s articles about Superman being gay, or all this subtext about him being gay.

WTF?

When the hell did this happen? Are these people all stupid or something.

BATMAN is gay.

Superman was the one who was a symbol of totalitarianism. Batman was the one who was the gay icon, hanging out in his mansion, wearing lounging pajamas or a smoking jacket and having fun with Dick. For a while there Bruce Wayne was so synonymous with homosexuality that the very name “Bruce” had gay connotations (“Match Game” always used “Bruce” to convey gay guys in their questions, and the network insisted Bruce Banner’s name be changed to David Banner for the Hulk TV series.)

But when “Batman Begins” came out, there was no discussion of whether Bruce Wayne was gay. I didn’t see any articles along those lines; certainly not in the mainstream media, which is where I’m seeing it everywhere. I guess when you dress in black leather and scare the crap out of people, you’re just too butch to have anyone question your sexuality. But poor Clark…suddenly he’s a gay icon.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

PAD

A Hulk special edition, featuring–among other things–a Champions story and a long-clamored-for reprint of “Hulk: The End,” and the first of a “Fallen Angel” two parter featuring her first experiences after having fallen to earth. Whad’ja think?

PAD

There’s a nice interview up with Todd Nauck in which he talks about his three issue stint (which, who knows, may be more; part of it depends on sales, I suppose) on “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” issues 10-12. There’s two pages of his artwork accompanying. So check out www.newsarama.com, and you have ANY fond memories of Todd and me on “Young Justice” and you’re not reading FNSM…now’s the time.

PAD

A while back, Peter wrote a Hulk story with Nightmare, and his growing power after a warm day in September, with millions of people wishing, “Please, let it all be a dream…” which allowed Nightmare a permanent foothold in the real world.

Now we have this:

New Study Finds That Dream Imagery Became More Intense After 9/11:

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have not only affected the real world that we live in today, but also the intensity of our dreams. Dream imagery became more intense following that fateful day, according to a research abstract that will be presented at the 20th anniversary SLEEP meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) at Salt Lake City’s Salt Palace Convention Center from June 17-22.

The study, conducted by E. Hartmann of Tufts University in Newton, Mass., consisted of 44 persons living in the U.S. who had been keeping a record of their dreams both before and after 9/11. The results showed that while dream imagery became more intense after 9/11, dreams were not longer, more dreamlike or more nightmarelike. There was also no direct (“replay”) incorporation of 9/11 content. This, noted the author, is consistent with the “Contemporary Theory of Dreaming”, which states that the connections of a dream, along with the imagery, are guided by the dominant emotion of the dreamer. It also adds that the intensity of the central image of a dream is a measure of emotional arousal.

(Via News Unfiltered.)

It’s been a while since I’ve done a straight up Q&A thread. So anything you want to ask me, feel free. I’ll answer your questions the best I can, although it may take me a little bit to reply.

PAD

ADDED at 7:51: Okay…the five, ten, fifteen question thing? Not happenin’. One per person. Those people who posted enough questions to fill out an interview: Choose the one you most want to know and ask that. My fault; I should have repeated that condition since it’s been a while since I’ve done this.

For those interested, over on www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com, there’s a preview of “Fallen Angel #6″ on the sidebar. Check it out for the different art style J.K. is using for this two parter.

PAD

Blogger O.V. Hawkins made the following observation:

Paul McCartney wondered musically forty years ago, “Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m Sixty Four?”

Paul turns 64 this weekend.

His wife has filed for divorce.

So apparently that answers THAT question.

PAD

You can find the following in better bookstores everywhere: FALL OF KNIGHT, the last of the King Arthur trilogy, and WRITING FOR COMICS WITH PETER DAVID. Knock yourselves out.

PAD

Well, the New York Post blew the reveal of the end of Civil War #2 before the book was on the stands. Then again, I suppose anyone who actually reads that rag deserves what they get so, y’know, that’ll teach ya.

We, however, will allow those who don’t know what’s going down with Spider-Man to frequent the board without having it ruined for them. For those who do want to discuss it–and you know you do–I provide the space below. Have at it.

PAD

Colbert has a thing about bears. He’s always listing them as a major threat to America. So then this article hits:

“WEST MILFORD, N.J. (June 10) – A black bear picked the wrong yard for a jaunt, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree – twice.

Jack, a 15-pound orange and white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, often chasing small animals, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.

“We used to joke, ‘Jack’s on duty,’ never knowing he’d go after a bear,” owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday’s editions.

Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack’s accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey property on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.

After about 15 minutes, the bear descended and tried to run away, but Jack chased it up another tree.”

I think Colbert should have the cat on as a guest. Maybe give him a medal or something.

PAD

I first met Greg and Tim Hildebrandt at an exhibition a bunch of years ago of artwork they had done for a set of Marvel playing cards. One of the pieces was of Random, a character I’d created for X-Factor. I wound up buying the piece. Wasn’t cheap, but how many Hildebrandt originals with characters I’d created was I going to find?

I encountered them again on occasion at various conventions. Always gentlemanly, patient with the fans, and incredibly talented.

Tim passed away at age 67. He will be missed. The artwork hangs on my office wall to this day.

PAD

Okay, see, this is how my mind works. I was channel surfing, and one movie channel was running “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” and another was running “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” So I think they should do a sequel called “Mr. and Mrs. Smith Go to Washington.”

It pretty much writes itself. The assassins are hired with the understanding that they’re to test the Secret Service’s “secure location” where the President is locked down during times of extreme danger. They manage to penetrate it and make a mock hit, except they find the president already dead, and discover they’re now framed for a presidential assassination. Something like that.

PAD

DC has decided to go back to press with the long out-of-print Fallen Angel trade paperback. It will be available in August.

No word on any interest in collecting the rest of the DC run.

PAD

Naturally, from a justice point of view, I’m as pleased as anyone else that this brutal creature who has killed so many innocent people is gone. However, I’m moved to ask two things:

1) Considering Al Qaeda had no presence in Iraq before we invaded it, aren’t the chances pretty good that all of his victims would still be alive if we hadn’t attacked?

2) Correct me if I’m wrong, but I could swear the Pentagon just got done explaining why outtakes from his recruitment video showed that, militarily, the guy didn’t know his ass from his elbow. So should we be worried that, if an incompetent yutz was able to give us this much trouble, whoever replaces him might be even worse?

PAD

I mean, honestly: How could any conservative with a scintilla of common sense not be?

With Bush’s approval ratings at lethal lows, with the GOP chokehold on government apparently threatened, with civilians and soldiers dying at a stunning rate in Iraq, gas prices through the roof, citizens being spied on, the courts and politicians finally taking a long hard look at Bush’s historic power grabs…NOW Bush et al suddeny haul out a marriage amendment? NOW?

I mean, yes, the ploy worked wonders in energizing the conservative base and getting votes out in 2004 in a dazzling, multi-state display of voting bigotry. But no one’s mentioned it in two years. Suddenly, NOW, they announce that “marriage is under attack” and start talking about adding the first amendment since prohibition (which, y’know, worked out so well) that would restrict freedoms rather than expand them. It could not possibly be a more obvious gambit to try and appeal to the many voters who have had buyers’ remorse ever since they voted for Bush and the GOP in 2004 and slowly came to the realization they’d been hosed. It’s genuinely insulting to conservative voters’ intelligence, that their leaders think they’re THAT easily manipulated. That they’re going to overlook the very real assault that our soldiers are under, needlessly, in Iraq, because of the fake assault that the institution of marriage is allegedly under.

Is it that Bush et al believe that conservatives must be monumentally stupid because the fact that conservatives voted for them proves it?

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: If politicians are really worried about marriage being undermined, the key is not to prevent people from getting married. It’s to make it difficult-to-impossible to get divorced. But they’ll never do that because Bush and his cronies aren’t REALLY concerned about marriage being under attack. They’re worried their numbers are under attack. But they’re clinging to the notion that conservatives are Just That Stupid that they’ll fall for this crap a second time.

The question is, will they?

PAD