As a number of people pointed out, yesterday was my birthday.
I don’t make a big deal of it. Actually, I generally do my best to ignore it. All I do is reflect on people who should be celebrating birthdays, but aren’t around to do so, and then I wonder why I’m here and they’re gone, and then I just get even more depressed. On the up side, there’s cake at the end of the day to drown the depression in, so I suppose it always works out.
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Kathleen and I made our annual sojourn to the Broadway Flea Market, held every year in Schubert Alley. The event only seems to get more and more crowded every year, but all the money goes for charity and so it’s a good cause. A whole buncha actors were there signing autographs (with the customary long line) while cast members of various shows sold everything from props to old books. Lots more folks selling food this year, I noticed; mostly home baked stuff.
Next Sunday I’ll be back in Manhattan attending New York is Book Country, the annual Fifth Avenue event celebrating publishing in NY. Last year’s was cancelled due to 9/11, so it’ll be nice to see this tradition back in place. Perhaps I’ll see some of you there.
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I wanted to like FIREFLY. You’ve no IDEA how much I wanted to like FIREFLY, if for no other reason than it features Jewel Staite from mine and Bill Mumy’s SPACE CASES.
Here’s the thing: Joss Whedon has made his name and reputation on programs that take cliches and invert them, stand them on their collective ears. The cute helpless blonde who is first to be screaming victim of the monster? She’s the heroine who kicks their butts. The vampiric creature who goes bump in the night? He’s the hero, helping the helpless (okay, between everything from St. Germain to “Forever Night,” that one isn’t so original, but still…)
FIREFLY doesn’t transcend cliches or invert them. It embraces them. It adores them. Oh, there’s touches here and there, flashes of the Whedon pull-the-rug-out-from-under-expectations. But the overall world in which they exist does very little to indicate original thought.
Me, I’m going to stick with it, partly because of Jewel, and partly because Whedon’s earned that through years of getting it so right on his two other series. But most viewers don’t have a personal attachment to one of the actresses, and furthermore, Friday evening can be a serious killer of genre shows unless they come out of the box fast. And the hard truth is that if it didn’t have Jewel and it wasn’t by Whedon, I’d don’t know that I’d ever tune in the series again.
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A few more fixes around and about the site. We direct your attention to the sidebar, where you will note the recent addition of Peter’s biography, a pointer to Spacecasestv.com (where spacecases.com moved after the domain got lost– don’t ask, please) and weblogs by Elayne Riggs (wife of Supergirl inker Robin– I know, I know, you all thought Robin was female and was going out with Joe Duffy) and your humble poster. (If you read my blog, I won’t feel the urge to interject over here. So much.
And, yes, now that the site is– no, won’t say anything lest the evil eye return– we’ll be back to posting more BIDs shortly.
A few more fixes around and about the site. We direct your attention to the sidebar, where you will note the recent addition of Peter’s biography, a pointer to Spacecasestv.com (where spacecases.com moved after the domain got lost– don’t ask, please) and weblogs by Elayne Riggs (wife of Supergirl inker Robin– I know, I know, you all thought Robin was female and was going out with Joe Duffy) and your humble poster. (If you read my blog, I won’t feel the urge to interject over here. So much.
And, yes, now that the site is– no, won’t say anything lest the evil eye return– we’ll be back to posting more BIDs shortly.
There was a period at the beginning there when there was a new editor on SUPERGIRL every other issue. When Mike McAvennie settled in, I kept expecting him to disappear within a month or so. Happily, I was wrong; unhappily, not forever.
I was extremely unhappy to learn of Mike’s departure from DC Comics yesterday. When I was first looking at Leonard Kirk’s pencils and saying, “Gee, I’m not sure,” Mike was the one saying, “Trust me, he’ll work out great,” and he was absolutely right. He was always watching out for the good of the book.
People are asking me what this bodes for SUPERGIRL. I couldn’t say. I am reasonably sure that sales are not what I’d hoped for with the new storyline and the “return of Kara.” I’m seeing lots of fans who state they never read the book or dropped it now saying they fully intend to start buying it with #75. Unfortunately my guess is that they haven’t bothered to tell their retailers, who in turn aren’t bothering to increase their orders. If every single retailer had increased his order by one copy–one–that’d be a rise of several thousand right there. Hasn’t happened so far. Funny that retailers and fans complain about the CAPTAIN MARVEL circus, with the air of publicity stunts and the multiple covers. But sales tripled. Tripled. SUPERGIRL was simply publicized with a much-asked-for storyline and terrific Ed Benes art. Emphasis on substance over style. Best guess? Haven’t even cracked the top 100 yet.
I’m asked what sort of message DC is sending by firing Mike McAvennie. Answer: Not a good one. Now here’s my question: What sort of message is being sent to DC when an editor launches a popular storyline with great art and the book still can’t get the time of day?
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…and the reviews are beginning to come in for Captain Marvel. Peter is either too modest to link to the reviews, or he still fears the attempt will cause the website to explode again, so it falls to me. Look here and here. If you have any others, post them in the comments section and we’ll move them up front.
Meanwhile, some people are declaring victory. Forgive me for having my doubts…
UPDATE: More reviews here and here. Domo arigato, Markisan.
And anybody else who’s got a review and looking for some cheap link traffic, place their review in the comments section.
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