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The following is a letter from my daughter, Shana, that just went out. I reprint it here and urge you to support her project if you haven’t already. If you’re one of the thousands of people who read this blog and have just kind of shrugged or said, “Maybe later,” there is no more later. This would mean a lot to her and a lot to me. Please help make this happen:

Happy Friday!

If you’re reading this email it’s because you have kindly allowed yourself to be hassled about a project that is much needed in Riverside, the takeover, rebranding, and renovation of the 5 Points Theatre. Through your support and that of other residents and businesses Tim and I have raised over $46,000 on our crowdsourcing site at ulule. That’s pretty impressive, except that our goal is more than twice that and we only have a week to pull this off. As of this writing we have 142 “supporters,” and I know at least one of those is my grandma. Consider that Riverside and Avondale have what, 25,000 people and when you add Downtown, Springfield, West Jax, and Ortega you’re at 250,000. Dangit, I just don’t think that Jacksonville’s representing the way it oughta.

For the sake of our hood, please spread the word far and wide. Remind people this restoration likely will not happen if we can’t raise the funds. Let them know this ain’t a donation, you can buy two tickets and a tub of popcorn for only $25, lifetime movies or a year’s worth of onscreen ads for $1000, or have the best company Christmas party ever for a cool $10k, with lots of great incentives in between.

To break it down:

If 2000 people drop that 25 bucks we’re set. 500 people could buy a card that gets them into 10 movies and we’d be there. Or 50 people at $1000. We don’t have a second shot at this. The kind folks at Ulule gave us this rare opportunity to extend our campaign so let’s all get on the Facebook, the Tweeting, and the guilt tripping because next Friday it’s all over.

Power to the people!

Shana

Originally published January 19, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1157

What with going “home for the holidays” (after an extended stay in Montreal), I find myself crunched for time this week. Therefore the adventures of Dick Cosmic, the Cosmic Dick (which has grown far more in the telling than I had anticipated), will be delayed one week. Instead, we have a time-saver column from the set of Space Cases, the kids’ science fiction TV series I co-created with Bill Mumy.

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Jose Reyes of the Mets has caused a brouhaha that underscores the notion that Mets fans can find loss in just about anything. He brought the team its first batting title in its history (and indeed pretty much the only bright spot in the season) but fans are taking issue with the fact that he took himself out of yesterday’s final game after a single appearance…the better to protect his narrow lead in the race.

I know the old saying is, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” Well, guess what? This season the Mets played for crap. So I’ll take my wins wherever and however I can find them.

He won the batting title fair and square. He didn’t cheat. He didn’t take steroids (God, I hope not). There’s not gonna be an asterisk next to his name in the record books. He won it. And in a season where wins of any sort have sometimes been few and far between, I’m just not inclined to bitch about how he won it. But maybe that’s just me.

Oh, uh…happy New Year.

PAD

Originally published January 12, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1156

I felt the oh-so-gentle jab of a toe in my rib cage. The snow against my mouth tasted like New York snow usually tastes: dirty. What else can you expect from something that’s fallen through the air? After all, who knows where the air had been?

I tried to raise my head and get out a word that sounded vaguely more intelligent than a simple low moan of pain. Unfortunately, I was not particularly successful on that score. I made a sort of “urkh” sound, but that was all.

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So let’s see where we stand. In recent Republican debates, we have seen audiences cheer for the prospect of a young uninsured man dying in a coma. We have seen audiences cheer the high rate of people being executed in Texas. And we have seen them boo a soldier on duty because the soldier could now be openly gay.

Here’s the question: Is compassionate conservatism dead? Or was it, like other Bush creations as WMDs in Iraq, something that never existed in the first place?

PAD

Got back in from Los Angeles at a little past midnight today. Still tired and not quite up to speed. Went to IHOP for lunch since this is the one day a year I allow myself to have chocolate chip pancakes. Settling in now for cartoon night: all our favorite series are on tonight on Cartoon Network, and they’re all new.

PAD

Originally published January 5, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1155

“Find out who stole the fun in comics.”

The voice of my client, 12-year-old Billy Gates, echoed in my head, as I trudged through the snow. I couldn’t be wasting my time on a pointless case during pleasant weather. Nope. It had to be snowing. The trouble with snow is that it’s deceptive. It floats gently from overhead with an almost soothing silence. When it falls just right, even the high-decibel crankiness of New York City seems to fade out and be replaced by a respectful silence.

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I’m out in Los Angeles, working with the brilliant writing staff of “Young Justice,” prepping the last few episodes of the second season. While I was there, I was able to watch a completed edition of my first episode of the current season, airing on Cartoon Network. These things are extremely fluid and subject to change, but it’s tentatively scheduled to be broadcast on November 11. When we get closer, I’ll verify as to whether it will indeed be airing on that day. And please don’t ask me the title or what it’s about; I’m afraid that’s secret.

PAD

Random thoughts:

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Originally published December 29, 1995 in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1154

“Are you Dick Cosmic?”

I’d been studying the racing forms for tomorrow’s stakes at Belmont, trying to determine just which horse I was going to bet on—which was, in turn, going to guarantee that some other lucky saps were going to strike it rich.

I’d convinced myself that I was not only the crunchy cream center of my own little private detective universe, but that my various picks in different races were capable of determining just precisely who was going to lose (me) and who was going to be raking in yet another long shot at the trackside ticket windows (not me). Sure, I was dragging some poor saps down with me.

Then again, anyone who was dumb enough to bet on the same ponies I picked probably deserved whatever they had coming to them.

The kid who spoke was standing in the doorway of my dingy little detective concern—said office located in one of the seedier sections of Times Square. The block was filled with prostitutes, pornographers, and slimeballs. Unfortunately, Disney was pretty much buying out everything, so the neighborhood was in danger of going straight down the toilet.

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It might be that a newcomer to “Doctor Who” might be jazzed by the current season. I couldn’t say; having been watching it (on and off) for some thirty years, I can’t rewire my brain into novice mode. Intellectually I know that each season of the long-running (to put it mildly) adventures of everyone’s favorite Time Lord should be judged separately. Yet it’s natural to compare. And if we’re going to compare, this latest season of the Whovian modern era is sorely lacking. Spoilers in these comments are more or less non-existent.

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A few days ago I posted that the next Crazy 8 Press offering, Aaron Rosenberg’s dementedly humorous “No Small Bills” had chapters up on the site and would be available soon.

This garnered exactly no responses, which I admit I found a bit disheartening.

So now I want you all to know that the full book is available at Barnes and Noble, and you can still read the sample chapters at the C8 site below. I’m hoping for better response this time around.

Crazy 8.

PAD

Originally published December 1995, in Comics Buyer’s Guide 1996 Annual

How many of you hated it when the time came to choose up sides? In gym class, in neighborhood pick-up games, there would always come that defining moment: the defining moment of youth (male youth in particular), when two teams were being formed, and the team captains would say, “I pick Jimmy,” “I’ll take Spike.”

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Originally published December 22, 1995, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1153

The phone has been ringing off the hook at Chez David, and many of the calls are from folks who seem to be aggrandizing my “importance” in the grand comic book scheme of things beyond anything that I could imagine. (And, in the words of Han Solo, I can imagine quite a lot.)

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I really can’t say anything in this space that I haven’t said at some point in the preceding decade. All I can tell you is this: 1) sometimes the 9/11 coverage reaches such a point of omnipresence that you just want to curl up in a dark room; 2) the Mets have been a source of great frustration to me this year.

So where am I this evening? At the Mets game where there will be a 9/11 ceremony at 7:30.

PAD

Originally published December 15, 1995, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1152

As I continue to be situated in Montreal, working on Space Cases, here are varied and assorted notions and incidents:

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My eldest daughter, Shana, and her husband, Tim, are trying to get a business started in Jacksonville, FL. They are attempting to raise money to refurbish a local movie theater and turn it into a showcase. I am extremely proud of her efforts and would love to see her succeed. You can not only find details of their endeavors (and how you can contribute) here…

Shana’s Dream

…but you can also watch a TV news piece and see her talking about it.

Shana on TV

She’s got a ways to go to her goal and there are deadlines involved. So this can’t be one of those, “That seems nice; let me think about it for a month.” She needs people to step in and do so now. If it’s any incentive, I can offer this: For every donation of $500, I will send the donor a piece of artwork from one of my stories, autographed by yours truly. So let’s get it going, people. Please help my little girl realize her dream.

PAD

Sample chapters from “No Small Bills,” Aaron Rosenberg’s skewed new offering via Crazy 8, are up on Crazy 8.

Check it out.

PAD

We just completed the drive back from Dragon*Con through an unceasing barrage of rain all along the Eastern seaboard. Sixteen hours of driving on a trip that normally we can do between 12 and 13 hours.

Once my brain is functioning better I’ll do a full write up.

PAD

Originally published December 8, 1995, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1151

Assorted bits of weirdness in my life:

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