PeterDavid.net

UPDATED 3/1, 9:43 PM–A request to the hit and runners.  By that I mean the people who swing by for the express purpose of hurling blame, invoking Gail Simone, calling me names and departing.  You might want to consider taking the time to read the thread.  Read it in its entirety, read the most recent posts, whatever.  The chances are you will already see your comments responded to (since the H&Rs are pretty much all saying the same thing) by myself, various fans, and Gail.  Honestly, I don’t expect this message to have much impact on the H&Rs, but I figure it’s worth a shot.

Did you ever hear of Scans Daily?

I had not.

Kathleen informs me that it began as a site on Live Journal where individual scenes from comic books were put up and commented upon. Apparently, this included certain panels from “Young Justice” to which homoerotic subtext was ascribed. It’s a shame I never had a chance to see those. That would have been funny.

But somewhere along the way, it morphed into posters giving page by page summaries of new comics, complete with the entire pages. Writing a critical review and posting up a panel or a page to illustrate a point falls under fair use. Posting over half the book while saying, “This happened, then this happened, then this happened,” is not remotely fair use and a blatant copyright violation.

On an “X-Factor #40″ thread on CBR, someone put a link to it. This put it on my radar, and–I suspect–on other people’s radar as well.

Conscientious people have reported to me when they see flagrant copyright violations of my work (typically entire Star Trek novels being posted online). So I did the same thing, informing Marvel of the scans.

Did Marvel then shut them down? No. Because before Marvel legal had an opportunity to do anything, the scans had already been removed for being a violation of terms of service of Photobucket, the site that enabled the posters to put up pictures on line. Perhaps the CBR links put the site on PB’s radar as well as mine.

I did, however, use my wife’s Live Journal account to make my presence known. A fan asked if I had informed Marvel about the scans. An honest question. I replied honestly. I said yes, I had, but that the scans were pulled before Marvel took any action.

Two days later, Scans Daily was shut down completely. Purely a guess: Photobucket complained to Live Journal and LJ said, “Enough’s enough.”

The reaction on the blogosphere? Peter David got Scans Daily shut down.

Well…no. Again: My intervention wound up having no impact. And besides, if anyone got Scans Daily shut down, it was the fans themselves. Some will own up to that reality. Many, I suspect, won’t.

PAD

Newly minted AG Eric Holder, in a speech that must have had his boss banging his head against a wall in the White House residence, declared:

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.” He went on to say, “Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race.”

Oh, don’t “we?”

I was always under the impression that talk was cheap. Having a black president and a black attorney general, I would have thought, counts a good deal more than talking. To quote another cliche: Actions speak louder than words.

I would concede the notion that there is a certain, shall we say, tentativeness when it comes to discussing deeper issues of prejudice. However, I am moved to ask:

Whose fault is that?

I mean, what should we discuss? Racial epithets that whites can only refer to as “the N word” whereas blacks use the term routinely in rap songs? The word “niggardly,” the utterance of which in a private staff meeting resulted in a mayoral aide in Washington, D.C. being forced to resign? What about off-hand jokes by radio personalities that wind up getting them fired from their gig no matter how much they endeavor to apologize for it? How about rioters in LA who express their dissatisfaction with what they see as racism by smashing into local electronics stores and stealing televisions and air conditioners? How about everyone from the ubiquitous Al Sharpton–as big a racist as there ever was–to the National Association of Black Journalists (were there an Association of White Journalists, such an entity would be declared racist by its very existence) declaring that the only possible interpretation of a NY Post cartoon was one that had racist overtones?

The fact is that black leaders, black activists, black organizations, have made it clear that any slight, real or imagined, is cause for condemnation, retaliation, and media pillorying of the highest order. Under the current atmosphere, who would WANT to discuss racism? Well…Barack Obama did, back when he gave that superb speech about Rev. Wright. I don’t recall whites rioting over it. I don’t recall whites going on TV in droves and screaming for censure. My recollection is that it was a major turning point for white voters to assess Eric Holder’s future boss and deciding that they liked what they saw.

If you touch a hot stove, get burned, and say, “Whoa, I’m not touching that stove again,” is that an act of cowardice? Or is that just a reasoned response to an atmosphere created by many members of the very audience that Holder would presumably claim as his constituency? And by the way, not for nothing, but when did an attorney general become an “average American?”

PAD

In case you’re wondering, yes, as in previous years, I will be live-blogging the Oscars. This is an unusual year for us in that Kath and I have seen ALL of the nominated films, plus many of the acting performances, so we’ll actually have strong preferences this year. Swing on by and join us at 8:30 (no, I’m not planning to comment on the red carpet arrivals.)

PAD

Sure, various sites are blogging, but really, who cares about the others? This is where the action is.

(more…)

I usually delay these threads a week or so to give as many people as possible the opportunity to read it, but I know you’re all dying to talk about it. So before spoiler comments start leaking onto the “X-Factor #39 sold out” thread, here’s somewhere to discuss the shocking developments.

I will say one thing about the ending, which readers of this should feel free to repeat on any thread anywhere, spoiler or not:

Most people are assuming that the last page is exactly what it appears to be.

That’s a mistake.

PAD

My general rule of thumb is that, when some issue breaks and Al Sharpton becomes involved, I generally take the opposing side. Not out of any personal dislike for Sharpton, but because typically he’s wrong.

The current situation with the New York Post presents a bit of a poser, though. In case you haven’t heard, the NY Post ran an editorial cartoon depicting a couple of cops having gunned down a chimp, and one of them says to the other, “Now someone else is going to have to write the next stimulus package.” This has caused an imbroglio and prompted Sharpton to declare:

“Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama [the first African-American president] and has become synonymous with him, it is not a reach to wonder whether the Post cartoonist was inferring that a monkey wrote it?” Sharpton said in his statement.

The answer, of course, is “no.” Sharpton is inferring it. The question is whether or not the Post cartoonist was implying it. This is a simple grammatical point and it’s mystifying that Sharpton couldn’t grasp it.

My response to the cartoon itself is twofold:

First, it’s the New York Post. Were they attempting to slam Obama personally, associating him in a racist fashion with a monkey? Possible. Then again, there’s the old notion that if you put an infinite number of monkeys in a room with infinite typewriters and give them an infinite amount of time, they could produce the works of Shakespeare. So it could be argued that a dead monkey is an editorial cartoon shorthand for something that anyone could have produced, in a random fashion, and not particularly well.

Second, and more important…it’s the New York Post! Why does anyone give a damn what they say about anything? Before they produce the works of Shakespeare, the infinite monkeys will probably produce an issue of the Post. It should be accorded exactly that amount of respect and concern.

PAD

I understand that some people were unable to obtain X-Factor #39 at their local comic shops last month. The issue sold out at Diamond, so if your store still doesn’t have it, they won’t be getting it via reorder.

There appears to be increased interest in the series, but I’ve no idea if retailers upped their orders to compensate. So if you don’t want to risk missing #40, which comes out this week, you may want to ask your local retailer to put a copy aside for you.

PAD

Edit: behind the cut is a preview of the next issue of X-Factor. Enjoy.

(more…)

So Joss Whedon makes his return to the Friday night Fox death slot in hopes of defying the odds with “Dollhouse.” There has been much controversy over the creative process of the series, with Fox supposedly not being happy with original scripts and taking a heavy hand. This would be the same Fox that insisted Firefly’s pilot episode be aired at the end of the series’ truncated run, prompting Kathleen and me to watch the pilot, turn to each other and say, “Okay, the series makes a lot more sense now.”

So where do we stand with “Dollhouse?” Not really sure yet. Commentary with no real major spoilers follows:

(more…)

A periodic chart you’ll never forget.

http://www.emsb.qc.ca/laurenhill/science/elephant2.jpg

PAD

An active weekend. In addition to Ariel’s bowling triumph, apparently–you may have heard this–there was a convention in town.

Caroline engaged in lengthy light saber duels with Danny Fingeroth’s sons

Attending the Writer’s Guild awards on Saturday night, I encountered several cast members from “30 Rock.” Then, at the convention, I encountered another. Scott Adsit who is not only hilarious on the show, but is also one of the producers/writers/performers in the late, lamented “Moral Orel”

Me with Todd Nauck, currently very much in the news having drawn the Spidey meets Obama story.

PAD

I wasn’t at comic con Saturday because I was cheering on Ariel and her Varsity bowling team at the County finals in Long Island. The top eight girls bowling teams in Suffolk County were competing. And for the first time in years, her team won the finals. Ariel herself finished eighth in the field of competitors. Having won Counties, they will next be bowling in the Statewide championship in Rochester the first weekend of March.

PAD

My base of operations will be my table in artist’s alley, which is J10. I will be around mostly on Friday and Sunday. On Saturday I won’t be around until late, if at all, because Saturday is Ariel’s county-wide bowling competition which will likely run until about 3 PM in Long Island. However Kathleen and Caroline will likely be at the table on and off during the day, selling already-autographed books and comic scripts of mine.

My panel schedule is as follows:

Friday:

IDW, 3:15 to 3:45 in room 1A07
Marvel/X-Men, 3:45 to 4:15 in room 1A14
Signing at the Marvel booth from 5:00 to 6:00
NYC through its Authors, 5:45 to 6:45 in room 1A21 (I’ll obviously be a little late for that one.)

Sunday:

Star Trek in Print, 11-12, room 1A07
Writers on Writing, 12:15-1:15, 1A14 (the Comic Con schedule doesn’t list any of the panelists, so heads up, Whedon fans, because Amber Benson is one of the panelists)

I am extremely irritated with BSG. Extremely so.

Between the acquisition of my DVR, its ease of programming and the joy of buzzing right past commercials, the various schedule conflicts with other programs I watch (not to mention my various bowling leagues) the concept of appointment programming in Casa Cowboy Pete’s has virtually disappeared. There are no programs that can’t wait for some convenient, commerical-free time.

Except for BSG.

We can’t wait. Short of being out of town and not having access to Sci-Fi Channel, we have to be there at 10 PM Friday to watch the damned thing, and suffer through the commercials. We could be watching “Psych” or our recording of “Friday Night Lights” from an hour earlier or going out for the evening, but no. We’re right there at 10, watching BSG, suffering through the commercials, not wanting the slightest delay. In doing so, we’re waiting and watching for the slightest weakness in the series so that we have an excuse to relegate the show to the same status as, well, pretty much everything else on the air.

Thus far they’ve given us no excuse, and last week’s episode doesn’t make it any easier.

Damn them. Damn them to hell.

(more…)

Yes, once again I will be blogging on the Superbowl, talking mostly about the commercials. I’ll be using this entry space right here and we’ll go live at 6 PM EST. As for the outcome of the game, since most of the pundits are giving it to Pittsburgh although allowing it will be close, I–contrarian that I am–predict that it will be the Cardinals in a blowout. Something like 35-7.

PAD

5:58 EST: And we’re live, eagerly awaiting the kickoff of the first commercial. Commentary will be elow the cut line.

(more…)