Year: 2002

ucking thing is going to get back on…

OH! WE’RE BACK!

HI! I was just, uh, talking with Glenn about the razor-sharp efficiency of our host, the power outtage that was solved in short order with the restoration of every board except this one, and the e-mails for help to our host that were apparently ignored. All hail the host.

Oy. WHY are we doing this again?

So…lots of folks are telling me with great excitement about DC’s announcing at the Chicago Con that they’re going to “poll the retailers” regarding a collection of “Atlantis Chronicles,” as if this is going to lead to a TPB. Except no one seems to recall that they’ve made this announcement repeatedly for the last decade. Lemme ‘splain how it works: Fans tell DC that they want to see a collection. DC then asks a small cross-section of retailers who give them one of three responses: (a) No one’s asked for it; (b) I’ve still got copies in my back-issue bin; (c) What’s that? And the talk of collecting a series that’s probably some of the best comics work I’ve ever produced dies until the next round of dead-end discussion pops up.

To be honest, DC has been saying there’s no demand for so long that my guess is they don’t dare bring it into print simply because if it *does* sell, they look like schmucks.

It was, however, collected in two volumes in Italy a few years back. So if you can speak Italian, you’re all set.

PAD

I’ll be writing about this in more detail in “But I Digress,” but having seen “Men in Black II,” I have to say that the best thing about the outing was the cockamamie little cartoon that ran in front of it.

MIB2 had TL Jones, Will Smith, Rip Torn, Lara Flynn Boyle in lingerie, and lots of incredible effects (including Lara Flynn Boyle in lingerie). What it did not have is emotional heart. And that’s an incredibly amazing achievement, considering that the opportunities were right there and completely blown by the filmmakers. The changed dynamic of J knowing the ropes and K learning his way just sat there. They did nothing with it. A remarkable opportunity of pulling K out of his new life was utterly wasted when it was established that he had a dead end postal job and his wife had left him several years previously. Imagine a film where J has to pull K out of his Happily Ever After. That if they’d built into the premise the notion that one K was de-neuralized, he could never go back.

You see this film and you’re so distracted by what it *could* have been that what *is* there simply isn’t all that appealing.

PAD

New rumor floating around is that the BBC is considering reviving “Doctor Who” with Anthony Stewart Head as the traveling Time Lord.

My understanding is that this rumor, while enthusiastic and certainly food for thought, is also not true. So why am I repeating it here? Well, I figure that maybe it’s like “Beetlejuice.” If you same it enough times, maybe it’ll just spontaneously happen. Now personally, I liked Paul McGann in the role, but I think Tony Head would be even better in it. McGann captured the man of action aspect, but not the scholarly manner of the Doctor, and I think Head could encompass both.

PAD

So the word is out on what’s coming up for SUPERGIRL. If you head over to Comicon.com, you’ll read all about the return of–maybe–Kara Zor-El in the 75th issue of SUPERGIRL.

Bottom line is, I believe that there are still potential readers for the series out there who aren’t even giving it a try because it’s not the Silver Age cousin of Superman (you remember…the one who could never sustain a series). And I figured, Y’know, let’s embark on a development that will pull in even those readers. And let’s play off a cover that is one of the most instantly recognizable cover images that DC has ever produced, so much so that a statue was produced and sold of the moment. Although in reviewing that sequence as I prepped the issue, I was struck by the fact that Kara’s ship was crumbled upon landing. Shouldn’t it have been “invulnerable?”

At any rate, the seeds for the storyline actually start being sown with issue #73, so be on the lookout for it. And if you’re not reading the book and want to start, for heaven’s sake tell your retailer.

PAD

Ðámņ. I found a dozen more “Captain Marvel” letters, just when I thought I’d finished them all up. I’d misfiled them. Since it’s my fault, I’ll stick the extra postage on. Rats. Ah well.

People are actually receiving the previews (which means .34 cents was enough postage, thank heavens) and the response seems pretty positive. Over in the Warren Ellis Forum, a fellow named Isaac Sher got his and posted a really nice write-up about it in the Comics News Section. I’d post a direct link to the message, but I’m not clever enough to figure out how to do it. Don’t bother trying to post a follow up response, though, if you do happen to find it: Warren made a point of shutting down the topic before anyone could reply, instructing the poster to find another forum to discuss “Captain Marvel” in. Not sure why, but it’s his forum and his call, so once again…ah well.

PAD

I attended the Comic show at Madison Square Garden today. Saw old friends such as Walt Simonson, Chris Claremont, a buffed, bald and unrecognizable Joe Rubinstein. Colleen Doran was kind enough to escort Ariel (not to mention Bob Greenberger’s teen daughter, Katie) over to meet Rutger Hauer and Warwick Davis, and Ariel got an autographed picture of Davis as Wicket the Ewok.

A gorgeous girl named “Solange” walked up to me and asked if I make use of models. Being a writer, I have no use for them whatsoever. Naturally I said “yes.” She gave me her card. Ðámņ. What a time not to be able to draw. Also met “the Ferret Man,” a local fellow who is head of “New York’s Ferret’s Rights Advocacy” and drew the ire of no less than Rudy Guiliani because of his concern about the rights of ferrets. I got his card, too. Solange’s has a picture of Solange on it. His has a little drawing of a ferret. If I could only save one card from drowning, it wouldn’t be a tough call to make.

Also met WWE wrestler Raven, who told me he’s a huge fan of “Captain Marvel.” He offered me wrestling tickets for Saturday night at the Garden, but my show “Checking Out” is still running at Molloy College, and so I had to be back in Long Island Saturday night. More’s the pity. I’ve never been to a wrestling match, but since so many people have compared my tussle with Marvel to wrestling, I am now intrigued to see at least one match. And with free tickets, why not? Raven is a very pleasant and amiable fellow. At one point he was trying on t-shirts at a dealer’s table. I saw passing women (and a couple of passing men) trying not to look at his bare chest and utterly failing. Ideally I’ll be able to take him up on his offer at a future date. And hey, if “Captain Marvel” is outsold by “Marville,” maybe Raven can put Bill Jemas in a headlock.

PAD

Newly out on DVD is the entirety of “Captain Scarlet,” one of those great Gerry Anderson puppet series that I watched as a kid. Captain Scarlet, as (hopefully most of) you recall, was an unkillable operative for SPECTRUM, an organization dedicated to battling the ongoing threat of the evil Mysterions.

I already own the 12-inch dolls of the Captain and his nemesis, Captain Black (who was, as it happens, not actually African-American.) But Kathleen found the shows on DVD, and bought them for me. So I”m in the living room along with Gwen (my 17 year old) who’s reading a book, and in bounds Kathleen who announces, “Guess what. I’ve got Captain Scarlet!”

And Gwen looks up from her book and says in bewilderment, “What is that, like, slang for your period? ‘I’ve got Captain Scarlet, along with his friends, Major Cramps, General Discomfort and Private Parts?”

Another fond childhood memory shot.

PAD