PeterDavid.net

The Four of the Fantastick go off the map, but do there be dragons there? Whad’ja think?

PAD

Baghdad (AP)–The world was shocked to learn that Saddam Hussein has been preemptively cloned and is currently in utero. A perfect clone of the recently hanged butcher–said to be eight weeks along–has been revealed to be “doing fine.” The identity of the Iraqi woman carrying the deceased dictator’s clone is being kept strictly secret.

Immediate cries for the abortion of the fetus were resisted by the Iraqi government at the behest of the Bush White House. In a short statement, President Bush stated, “As a civilized nation, we must fight for the sanctity of human life except in those instances where we decide it’s not sacred…and this is obviously not one of those times.”

Officials have declared that, shortly after the clone is born, it will be put on trial for slaughtering the Kurds, found guilty, and be executed. Upon announcement of that decision, there was much celebrating and shooting off of guns. Stray bullets were responsible for the accidental deaths of three children and two more US troops.

PAD

Saddam is dead. Executed.

First, I’m opposed to capital punishment. Period.

Second, just what Iraq needs: A high-profile martyr to rally around and provide reason for an even more massive explosion of violence than we’ve already seen.

PAD

Back at my computer after our sojourn to visit Kath’s parents (with a stop along the way to see mine as well) and am hard at work on two projects: A “Fantastic Four” original novel, and a “Sandman: Year One” one-shot.

Also, a tip of the hat to board denizen Garrett Sims who tipped me that Amazon.com was running a mad sale on Garman GPS devices. I picked up the exact model that navigated us so adeptly to Georgia and back, knocked down a whopping 67% off retail. I love post-Christmas sales.

PAD

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #15 hits the stands this week, featuring Deb Whitman’s bookstore signing plus a cameo that’s already being noted at various websites. Whad’ja think?

PAD

With our house sitting firmly ensconced, we embarked upon our annual drive down to Kath’s parents. To save wear and tear on the family vehicle, I typically use my Amex membership rewards to pick up some huge Avis car for the voyage. And this time, just for kicks, I also opted to rent something I’d never seen before: the Garmin brand GPS.

Holy cow, how cool is this thing.

On a screen about the size of a hand-held video game, it gives you a constant view of the road up ahead of you, with a pink band of color charting your intended path. You can set it for any address in the contiguous United States and it will give you door-to-door directions, along with constant info as how much distance you’ve covered, how much further you have to go, your ETA, etc., as well as constant voice prompts courtesy of a polite female voice that we’ve dubbed “Majel.”

But that’s not all. First of all, at one point Majel informed us of an accident two miles ahead and offered to chart an alternate route, enabling us to sail around the jam. Second, when we hit a miles-long traffic back up (courtesy of an accident on the OTHER side of the road; even Majel can’t perceive rubber-necking delays), we triggered the “detour” function, got off the highway, and lost no time using the surface streets. Probably the best aspect was that, since I prefer to drive long distances at night, I was faced with impenetrable fog at 4 AM. My visibility couldn’t have been more than ten feet in front of me. No problem thanks to Majel: The display on the screen was unaffected, giving me half a mile of “visibility” as to when the road was going straight and, more important, when it was curving. It took me less than a minute to master the art of glancing between the screen and the road and consequently moved through an extremely hazardous traffic situation with complete confidence.

I don’t know that I’m going to go plunk down the retail price for one, but the rental price was certainly worth it. And if you do a lot of travelling, I can’t recommend enough having one of these gadgets.

Oh…happy holidays to anyone inclined to celebrate it.

PAD

I finally saw “Borat” the other day, and there was something about it that bugged me about it for quite some time afterward. It took me a while to figure out what it was.

It made me wonder because throughout much of the film I simply wasn’t laughing. I winced a few times (particularly during the scene where the naked Borat is wrestling with his equally naked, staggeringly obese producer). I loved the sequence where a TV weatherman desperately tries not to break down laughing when Borat, after participating in an achingly embarrassing on-camera interview elsewhere in the studio, keeps wandering into the middle of the weather report while searching for an exit.

Most of the time I just watched it. Others around me were howling, but I felt disconnected from it, as if I was missing something. And I didn’t know what.

After giving it some thought, now I think I do. And it stems from the following realization:

Andy Kaufman did this first, and better.

(more…)

The First Amendment is the cornerstone of our business. Without it, the comics and graphic novels we make and enjoy would not be as vital as they are today. But we live in an environment where our constitutional rights are constantly under attack, and that’s why the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund exists. For twenty years the Fund has defended the First Amendment rights we depend upon, and to make sure we’re around for another twenty years, we need your continued support.

This winter, the case of Georgia v. Gordon Lee will enter its third year. Since embarking on this defense in 2005, the Fund has spent over $72,000 defending Gordon Lee through numerous proceedings – including answering three sets of charges arising from the same incident. The Fund successfully knocked out five of the seven counts Lee originally faced, including both felony counts of “Dissemination of Unsolicited Nudity/Sexual Conduct” and three of the five misdemeanor “Harmful to Minors” counts he originally faced. However, Lee still faces two remaining misdemeanor charges of “Distribution of Harmful to Minors Materials.” If convicted, each charge carries penalties of up to 12 months in prison and a $1,000 fine. This case will finally go to trial early next year, and we need your support to have the money on hand for a vigorous defense.

Defending Gordon’s rights in Georgia isn’t all the Fund has done this year. Including costs from the Lee case, we’ve spent a total of $70,000 on our legal mission work in 2006. This work included two significant advocacy cases: an ongoing challenge to Utah’s draconian new Internet censorship law, and participation in the victorious outcome of Lyle v. Time-Warner, a California case that threatened free speech in the creative workplace. We have also assisted libraries on graphic novel challenges, including a letter in support of keeping Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and Blankets by Craig Thompson in the Marshall, MO public library system.

The Fund also expanded our educational advocacy work with the publication of Graphic Novels: Suggestions for Librarians and The Best Defense: The CBLDF Retailer Resource Guide. These publications are helping to educate libraries and booksellers on how to defend against the threat of censorship.

To continue these efforts, and to prepare for the casework at hand, we need you to take this moment to make a contribution to the Fund. If you need to renew your CBLDF membership, or if you have yet to join in the first place, now is the time. If you’re a retailer, please consider signing up at the $100 level or above, to get your own copy of The Best Defense.

If your membership is current, I thank you, and ask that you consider making an additional gift. If you can’t donate money, you can still help with a donation of original art, signed scripts, and other items that we can auction to help raise the money needed to maintain our work in the coming year. By donating money, collectibles, and/or time, you will help us continue to perform our very important work. And, of course, your contribution to the CBLDF is tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law.

The work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund — to defend the First Amendment rights that we depend upon to read, make, buy, and sell comics — has not abated in the twenty years since our establishment. Please do your part to keep the Fund fighting the challenges we currently face, and whatever threats are on the horizon, by making a donation today.

Your friend thru comics,

Chris Staros
President

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Make a donation to the CBLDF

Sign up for membership!

Order a special CBLDF premium!

Bid on the CBLDF’s eBay auctions
Ending this week: one-of-a-kind Frank Miller, Will Eisner,
Neil Gaiman, and Moebius art & memorabilia, and much more!

For more information go to http://www.cbldf.org

I’ve been receiving consistent complaints from readers and would-be readers of “Fallen Angel,” the award-winning (well, my mom likes it) series from IDW. They’re telling me that their local comic shops aren’t providing it. I don’t mean that the shops simply aren’t ordering shelf copies (although sadly enough that’s often the case.) I mean that fans are actually ordering the book in advance, putting it on their pull lists, and the stores STILL aren’t getting it in.

Invariably the stores blame Diamond Comics Distribution. But my admittedly informal surveying of a fairly reliable base of retailers indicates that they actually have no trouble obtaining copies of “Fallen Angel.” They receive the book when they order it, and reorders are readily available. No one disputes that the occasional shipping mishap can and will occur, but thus far the evidence would seem to indicate that any retailer who routinely is “unable” to obtain “Fallen Angel,” well…let’s just say such claims seem a mite dubious at this point.

Several retailers suggested that I make available a list of those who have no trouble obtaining and providing “Fallen Angel” to willing customers. Between the upcoming second IDW trade collection, the impending release by DC of the long-awaited next collection of the DC “Fallen Angel” run, and IDW’s announced hardcover deluxe collection of the first 13 issues for later in 2007, I’m optimistic that the customer base will only grow.

So I am indeed going to make a list of “Friends of the Angel” public, both on this website and in the pages of “Fallen Angel” itself (so that anyone who had serious trouble finding that particular issue can learn of an easier way to obtain future issues.)

Any retailer who is willing to, or is already, consistently providing “Fallen Angel” to any and all customers can be included on the list by simply sending an e-mail to me at PADGUY@AOL.COM and put “Friends of the Angel” in the subject header. (He should also make clear if he is set up for mail order service.) This way if a customer in Shelbyville is told by his local retailer that, gee, that “Fallen Angel” book is just impossible to get, he’ll find there’s a store over in Springfield with a retailer who will be happy to provide him a copy of the latest issue while declaring, “Best…comic…ever.”

PAD

Ariel and I shot in the PBA Pro/Am yesterday at AMF Babylon Lanes. It’s not really a cutthroat tournament, but more for fun. You bowl with six pros over three games and it’s a pretty relaxed atmosphere.

I started off well with a 263 and a 256. However my strike line seemed to wander away to nearby Bay Shore Lanes midway through the third game, never to return, and a couple of late-frame crappy splits left me with a 171 for the third game. Ariel, meantime, started slow with a 174, but then rebounded with a 193 and finished with a resounding 210. Several of the pros commented to me about the quality of her technique, including top-ranked female bowler Kelly Kulick, who is Ariel’s bowling idol. Overall Team David was more than satisfied with the outing.

Kathleen and I will be attending the ESPN finals today at 1:00 PM EST. We’ll be seated somewhere behind the bowlers (as opposed to the sides). I’ll be wearing a red PBA shirt. Don’t look for a guy with a full beard since I shaved most of it recently and just have a long mustache now. Or just look for someone seated next to Kathleen. Odds are 50/50 that’s me.

PAD

Dear Dick:

No, I’m not being insulting. In the intro to SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT, you say that your friends call you Dick. So I’m speaking to you now, as a friend.

You blew it.

I mean, so much of your version of S2 was vastly superior to the original theatrical, Richard Lester release, that it’s staggering. Ill-timed humor was removed, scenes with the Kryptonian villains that went on endlessly were quite correctly trimmed. The revise of the Niagra Falls reveal of Clark’s dual identity was a vast improvement. Everything was better, better, and–to use, shocking, the double comparative–more better The sequences with Brando, the explanation (at last!) of how Clark regained his powers after tossing them away. I had a minor quibble when Superman’s defiant “General…would you care to step outside?” was replaced with a different and much less effective line, but as I said…minor.

And then…then, God help us…came the end. Which I will now blow below because there’s no other way to address it:

(more…)

Slightly belated, I know. Kath got me the complete set of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” Weep in jealousy, suckers.

Matt Adler sent along the following link to an article you might find of interest. I’m not mentioned by name (God forbid) but one of my stories is descibed in detail.

http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/20113/Chanukah:_A_Time_For_Superheroes.html

PAD

For those readers living in the UK who would like to try out Fallen Angel for free (or who may have missed it last month), Economic Comics are giving away 10 copies of Fallen Angel #10 to the first 10 people who request one.

Simply send your name and address with a short message using the following page…

http://www.economic-comics.co.uk/contact_us.php

…and a copy will be sent to you absolutely free of charge.

Your details will only be used to send you the comic and no further contact will be made. UK addresses only. 1 per household. Fallen Angel #10 is MR rated.

PAD

Yes, it’s Padapalooza this week. Normally I wait until Friday to put these threads up in order to minimize spoilers getting out there before people have a chance to buy and read the book, but people seem hot to discuss these issues–particularly XF #14. So…whad’ja think?

(And again, if anyone’s LCS didn’t get in “Fallen Angel #11,” particularly in instances where you advance ordered it and it STILL didn’t show up, I’d like to know about it.)

PAD

When “Fallen Angel” first launched from DC Comics, I played fast and loose with the notion that Lee was actually Linda Danvers, a.k.a. Supergirl. A number of hard core Supergirl fans, frustrated that I merely remained coy about it, wandered away from the series because they wanted to know what was up with Linda. When the series moved over to IDW, I revealed the true origin of the Fallen Angel.

Let the word go out, far and wide, in best nudge, nudge, wink wink fashion: Any fans of my run on Supergirl–particularly those who are torqued because Linda Danvers was consigned to oblivion in the DCU–must, must, MUST pick up “Fallen Angel” #14 and #15 when they come out next year.

Trust me.

PAD

Martin and Carrie Nodell were the original fun couple of conventions. Carrie adored Caroline, partly because Caroline is, well, adorable…and also because–and please forgive me if I’m misremembering–”Carrie” was short for “Caroline,” so they shared the same name.

When Carrie passed away, I talked with Marty on the phone, and he told me he was so certain that he–whose health was more frail than hers–would be the first to go. He seemed stunned, and so were we all.

Now the creator of Green Lantern is with his beloved Carrie, where there is No Evil, escaping one’s sight or otherwise. I have an autographed lantern that I bought from him sitting right here on my desk. I will always beware its power.

PAD

I’ve been rattling this around in my head for a while now, and Bush’s reportedly tepid response to the Iraq Commission’s report–and his recent comparing of himself to Harry Truman–has forced me to the conclusion that, yes, he should be impeached.

Now the response one often hears as to why this is a bad idea is that it automatically means: President Cheney.

I disagree.

History shows that impeachment of a president does not automatically mean power devolves onto the vice-president. Impeachment is merely the first of two stages required to remove someone from office. Two presidents have been impeached in our history; in neither instance did the vice-president wind up as commander-in-chief.

I don’t think he needs to be impeached to be removed from office. I think he needs to be impeached to get his attention. Bush has ceased worrying about how his policies are impacting upon our soldiers and their families and the people of Iraq and–let’s face it–the global community, in terms of their own interests and their relationships with us. His major concern appears to be about his legacy and his place in history. If he thinks his place in history will be as the first president to be impeached and removed, that might be the cold dash of water in the face he needs.

Besides, it’s only just: If a president can be impeached over getting a blow job from one person, certainly a president can be impeached over giving a screw job to 250 million people.

To paraphrase “Heroes”–”Impeach the President; Save the World.”

PAD

Next Saturday, December 16, Ariel and I will be bowling in the PBA Pro/Am at Babylon Lanes. We’re in the 3:30 squad, so anyone who is in the area and has nothing better to do is welcome to come by and cheer us on.

Kath and I will also be attending the ESPN broadcast on Sunday, December 17, at 1 PM. We’ll be seated somewhere in the back area behind the bowlers (as opposed to the sides).

PAD

I do not typically embed films in this blog, but I thought this was so hysterical, I wanted to make sure you all saw it.

PAD

The newly released study on Iraq has claimed that, if matters continue as they are, “The global standing of the United States could be diminished. Americans could become more polarized.”

The report went on to observe that the Pope is Catholic and bears defecate in woodlands.

Geez, is it possible for Americans to become *more* polarized?

Much is also being made of Gates candidly stating that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq. However, I don’t think he actually said we’re *losing* it. It reminds me of Otto in “A Fish Called Wanda” declaring that we didn’t lose Vietnam, angrily claiming, “It was a tie.”

Personally, I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time before the Democratically elected head of Iraq is unDemocratically capped or subjected to a violent militia-driven overthrow. Maybe *that * will finally qualify as a civil war to Bush.

PAD