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A federal judge in Florida has agreed with a federal judge in Virginia that Obamacare, passed into law by Congress, is unconstitutional.

Well, we all know just how angry the right wing talking heads get when it comes to activist judges endeavoring to countermand laws approved by the representatives of the people!

Go get ‘em, Fox News!

PAD

Originally published September 23, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1088

It has been several years since “Name Withheld” crawled out from under his rock, announced anonymously in Oh So? that writers had outlived their usefulness in comics and that artists no longer had need of them, and then scuttled back away into darkness.

In more recent times, the artist behind said letter has been a bit more forthcoming about his authorship (although he has yet, to my knowledge, to explain his base cowardice in the matter). I don’t mention him by name because lately he’s been working overtime to provoke me into giving him publicity… apparently on the assumption that McFarlane was able to, so therefore he should be entitled, too.

I only mention him in order to set the stage for the advent for a soul mate. This newcomer is one John Kricfalusi, best known as the (eventually cast-out) creator of Ren and Stimpy.

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For the past month, the CW has been advertising that we’d have new episodes of “Smallville” and “Supernatural” on the 28th of January.

So imagine my surprise to discover that they’re airing “Vampire Diaries” and “Nikita,” even though my DVR is still under the impression that it’s recording the originally intended programs.

Anyone else got this on their local stations? Anyone know what the hell is going on?

PAD

The SyFy channel is doing another “Green Hornet” marathon from now through to 6 PM.

UPDATE:Apparently they will be doing another marathon on Wednesday, February 9th. So nobody gets to say I didn’t give them enough warning this time.

2ND UPDATE: As I’ve been watching the marathon today, they keep advertising a made for Syfy film called “Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.” And every time I look at the logo, it reads to me as “Monty Python vs. Gatorade.” I swear, if that’s what it was actually called, I’d watch.

PAD

Me, I was walking into the office of my boss in the Marvel direct sales office, moving with the speed and grace of a zombie. Carol looked up at me and saw that I was ashen. “What’s wrong?” she said.

“The Challenger blew up,” I said. My then-wife had been watching the launch on television and had called me, sobbing, telling me the news. We didn’t know at the time that it hadn’t actually blown up so much as it had been shaken apart.

Word sped quickly through the Marvel offices and I had plenty of zombie friends for the rest of that day. The shuttle had been very much in the news, mostly because of the presence of teacher Christa McAuliffe. Years later, Bill Mumy (who had at least some experience with space travel, albeit fictional) and I would memorialize her in our small way by naming the good ship Christa after her in the TV series Space Cases.

To anyone old enough to remember it, it’s just one of those snapshot moments in your head, where you recall exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard.

PAD

Originally published September 16, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1087

Well, I was wrong about something.

Unfortunately, my mistake is not something about which a lot of folks are going to be particularly pleased.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been discussing Seduction of the Innocent (the infamous anti-comics tract by Dr. Fredric Wertham) and the Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in the United States—specifically, the subcommittee’s investigation into comics.

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We’re all officially impressed.  You’re the Top Man, the Big Kahuna.  We get it.  You’ve proven your point.

Now enough with the snow already.

PAD

You guys obviously know of my interest in Oswald the Lucky Rabbit since I did the comics for “Disney Epic Mickey.” You also know that I was seeking help a few months ago in locating a plush Oswald.

I feel the need to mention that, over on ebay, several people are auctioning off plush Oswalds. Do NOT confuse these items–black fur with blue shorts–with the one that was produced several years ago that I was looking for and has gray fur. The latter goes for serious bucks since it’s rare and impossible to get. The former, however, is obtainable in Disney stores now and also on line at Disney.com for $16.50. Hell, you can buy two of them for $28. Yet right now, there’s an auction about to conclude in which the bidding has gone up to a ridiculous $168. Meanwhile another seller is offering one with a “buy it now” price of $100.

These people aren’t being ripped off because the sellers aren’t claiming it to be something it’s not, but the buyers obviously haven’t done their homework. General rule of thumb: If you’re bidding for something on ebay, make sure it’s not available elsewhere, and if it is, set your maximum bid below what you would pay for it from another source. Caveat emptor, people.

PAD

As in years past, I will be live blogging the State of the Union address. See you at 9 PM EST.

So, here we go. Comments below the line. (more…)

Years ago, I was doing a signing at a convention, and a kid brought me a copy of an issue of X-Factor to sign. And I glanced at it and said, “I didn’t write it. I’m sorry, but I don’t sign comics I didn’t write.”

And he said, “The Wizard guide says you wrote it.”

I said, “I’m sorry,but I didn’t. It’s wrong.”

He stared at me , uncomprehending, unable to process it. “But…Wizard says you wrote it.”

I opened it for him and pointed to the credits. “See? Right there. I didn’t write it.”

“But…Wizard says you did.”

That is the hold that Wizard Magazine once had on young readers (no, I didn’t sign it, if that’s what you’re wondering.) It directed their every interaction with comics. But time has passed, and anyone with eyes could see how the publication was shrinking, to the point where there was no advertising–the lifeblood of magazines–to keep it going. And now it’s stopped going.

I, personally, am saddened by it. Anything that shutters an avenue of comic collection diminishes us all, even if we weren’t always thrilled with how they presented the hobby. Plus it means people are out of work; never a good thing in today’s economy. I know a lot of people will be pleased to see what they perceive as something that did the hobby no favors folding, but to me it’s just another tangible indicator of the funk the entire industry is in.

PAD

Originally published September 9, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1086

We were discussing Seduction of the Innocent, the 1954 book by Dr. Fredric Wertham which became the symbol of the notion that comic books were destroying America’s youth.

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Originally published September 2, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1085

So there I was, gnashing my teeth over the latest issue of Self magazine.

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“X-Factor” has been nominated for a 2011 GLAAD media award. Thought you guys would be interested.

PAD

It’s been a while since I’ve done an open Q&A. Actually, not since my back surgery. So…throwing it open to questions. Anything you guys want to ask about whatever?

A couple of stipulations:

1) One question per person.

2) Please don’t bother asking about the wing speed of an unladen swallow, the answer to life, the universe and everything, or similar questions. It was funny the first time. And second. By the tenth time, the charm has worn off.

3) I reserve the right not to answer.

PAD

A man who wanted to see a world of equality and peace, and yet his life ended in violence, being memorialized barely a week after another brutal slaying.

I’m really not sure what to say that wouldn’t sound banal.

PAD

Originally published August 26, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1084

Some years back, author Gary K. Wolf wrote an offbeat mystery titled Who Censored Roger Rabbit? It told the story of a down-in-the-mouth detective named Eddie Valiant, and his involvement with cartoon-strip actors… i.e., “characters” who posed for comic strips and spoke in word balloons that materialized over their heads.

It was fairly hard-boiled stuff, considering the subject matter. The titular rabbit was pretty pathetic, and even became pretty dead (hey, how big a spoiler can that be? It was in the dust jacket.) Most of the supporting characters were unpleasant, including Roger’s wife, Jessica. Ultimately, although the book was good reading, it was fairly bitter and kind of depressing.

Then the story was made over into Who Framed Roger Rabbit (no question mark, as if Doctor Who were the culprit). Roger became framed rather than dead, the characters became more accessible, Jessica became a doting wife rather than a literally one-dimensional bitch. The entire story, in short, became family entertainment.

Now history repeats itself, as The Mask opens at a theater near you.

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My daughter, Ariel, saw “The Green Hornet” with her friends and picked up on an in-joke in there that went right past me…which is mildly annoying, since I was the one who gave her the piece of information in the first place that the gag was based on. (more…)

We loved it. Okay, well, I did; the 3D gave Kathleen some nausea issues, which hits her sometimes when she’s watching films that were retrofitted rather than shot that way. But when she wasn’t feeling sick, she liked it as well.
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So the opening of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark has now been pushed back to March 15th.

Now: I get that they’re still working on fixing the story and songs. For that matter, if you compare it to a musical’s typical development time–considering that ordinary musicals have extensive out-of-town tryouts where such changes are usually made so that it arrives in NYC pretty much locked–it really amounts to about the same amount of time. Instead of starting in LA, moving to Chicago, then Boston and finally NY, all the repairs are happening right here.

I get all that. With that said:

They’re opening it on the Ides of March?

Great idea. What could POSSIBLY go wrong on the Ides of March?

PAD

Originally published August 19, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1083

In an earlier column, I pointed out that Marvel Comics was suffering from a major perception problem. That, to an extent, it didn’t matter what its motivations for certain actions were. Credibility was being damaged due to the public perception.

It has since been pointed out to me that I have the same situation in regards to Image.

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