Just for chuckles, I looked in on the current John Byrne Fan Site since, a few months ago, they couldn’t wait to dismiss “Fallen Angel” as a Buffy rip-off. Now that they could actually read it and comment upon it, I was wondering if anyone would do so.
One guy started a thread and was immediately jumped on for launching an “off topic” thread (despite the plethora of “off topic threads” already extant) with such an “obvious agenda” (because apparently bringing up my work constitutes an agenda). I could just feel the warmth radiating from my monitor.
The best, though, was the genius who (not having read the book, of course) declared he thought that “Bludhaven” was “a lousy name for a town,” but he never thought he “would see another even worse. Who would call a town “Bete Noir”?? Or “Bludhaven” for that matter??”
Well, gee. I could have gone for something even more obvious, like Hëll, but that’s a real city in Michigan. Or perhaps Panic or Fearnot, but those are both in Pennsylvania. Some believe that Bete Noire is where the dead reside, so I could have called it River Styx, but that’s in Ohio. Peculiar would’ve been good, but the folks in Peculiar, Missouri, might have objected. Maybe the sound makes when one is scared: Eek. But no, that’s in Alaska, the state that also gave us a town called Chicken. The population of Bete Noire is eclectic, but we’d probably hear from the mayor of Eclectic, Alabama, who might have been tipped off to it by the mayor of another Alabama locale, Muck City.
I could have gone for something ironic and called it Plain City, but that’s in Utah, or Boring, but that’s in Maryland. Or just plain No Name, but that’s in Colorado. My search for a city name built to a Climax…Climax, North Carolina, not to be confused with Climax, Pennsylvania, which is also not to be confused with Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
And shall we discuss Monkeys Elbow, Kentucky or the name of another city in Louisiana…Uncle Sam, LA? Nah.
Man, whenever my name comes up anywhere on a Byrne related board, it’s always good for some laughs. The current fan board says “All New, All Different.” Seems pretty same old/same old to me.
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