I was out on the left coast for a few days. It was a blink-and-you-miss-me gig, meeting with various folks about a variety of topics, including a new creative endeavor currently under way (more about it later as I see how it shapes up.) Got together with Mark Evanier, a genial and accommodating host if ever there was one. Also spent time with Marv Wolfman and Len Wein, two industry giants (and by the way, why the HÊLL is the industry not hiring them more?). And I swung by to see Harlan and Susan as well, which is always exciting.
My current airline of choice, by the way, is Jetblue. I didn’t know for sure I was LA bound until about four days beforehand. Jetblue roundtrip was a little over $300, which sure ain’t bad for four day’s notice. The leather seats are extremely comfortable, and they have cable TV at every seat. The bad news is, they don’t have much in the way of airline food. The good news is, they don’t have much in the way of airline food.
I was out of town for Super Tuesday, but that’s okay. I hadn’t one hundred percent made up my mind between Kerry and Edwards, so at least I didn’t have to make that decision.
PAD
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I was made aware of JetBlue by a former boss when I worked for the goverment…he swore by this airline, and I had never heard of it. Once I tried it out it became the only airline I would fly with…69$ to Florida and those little TV’s make a huge difference 🙂
The leather seats are extremely comfortable, and they have cable TV at every seat
Don’t you mean satellite TV? Otherwise that would be one hëll of a long cable. 🙂
Ummm, Peter, you may want to mention that JetBlue doesn’t actually fly to LAX, it goes to Long Beach. The airport is about 15 or 20 miles south of LAX, which I suppose is fine if your actual destination is in the south end of the Greater LA/Orange County area. The Long Beach airport is also limited because it is not a 24-hour airport like LAX, so there are no late-night or early-morning takeoffs and landings. Granted, it’s a nice, cozy little airport, frequently used in TV and movies when an airport scene needs to be set in the 40’s or 50’s.
All that said, I like Jet Blue as well, having flown it to JFK three times now. Considering I prefer to get myself highly medicated and sleep through flights the TV’s don’t hold that much appeal to me.
I’ve found that my favorite LA to NY airline with non-stop service is America West. The planes are not as nice and there’s no TV, but the prices are just as cheap as JetBlue. And on the flights I’ve taken, each flight has been less than half full and I’ve had my entire row to myself so I could stretch out. I hope they can afford to keep these flights on their schedule. They also sell meals on the flight, though I’ve never seen anyone order one.
Harumph –
Also spent time with Marv Wolfman and Len Wein, two industry giants (and by the way, why the HÊLL is the industry not hiring them more?).
Hear, hear!
Wein’s name on a project is almost always a sure sell for me, and Wolfman’s guarantees I’ll at least give it a look.
I also think they happen to be pretty good editors, come to that.
– DB Bennett
Glad you’re back. How come NF After the Fall’s release has been moved from October to November.?
Glad you’re back. How come NF After the Fall’s release has been moved from October to November.?
Probably because I told them the manuscript won’t be done until the middle of April instead of the middle of March.
Hey, I’ll still have a better timeliness track record than JK Rowling…
PAD
Ummm, Peter, you may want to mention that JetBlue doesn’t actually fly to LAX, it goes to Long Beach. The airport is about 15 or 20 miles south of LAX, which I suppose is fine if your actual destination is in the south end of the Greater LA/Orange County area.
Once you’re on the 405 (barring traffic screw-ups, and if there are some, there are many alternate routes), an extra fifteen miles doesn’t make that much difference.
Furthermore, consider: Security check in at LAX, around fifteen minutes at busy times. Long Beach: Three. Travel time from arrival gate to street corner: LAX, up to twenty minutes. Long Beach: Two. Average wait time for rental car bus transport combined with travel time to rental car lot by bus: LAX, Up to twelve minutes. Long Beach, a 45 second walk from terminal to rental car lot 150 feet away.
When you factor in how long it takes you to get out of LAX as opposed to Long Beach, or how quickly you can physically get to your plane at LAX as opposed to Long Beach, it comes out either dead even or even with an edge to Long Beach just because of the sheer lack of aggravation.
PAD
I hadn’t one hundred percent made up my mind between Kerry and Edwards, so at least I didn’t have to make that decision.
It was a tough choice for me, too. I agreed more with Edwards’s stance on certain issues, so he ended up getting my vote, but–surprise, surprise–Kerry won. I must admit though: a Kerry/Edwards ticket would be nice. I could easily accept that.
Peter David: The bad news is, they don’t have much in the way of airline food. The good news is, they don’t have much in the way of airline food.
Luigi Novi: When I flew to Italy almost 11 years ago on Continental (IIRC), I was surprised by how good the food was. By contrast, the other airline I used when flying six years ago (I forget which it was), the food was merely acceptable.
As someone who will be flying to Italy one month from today, I hope I fare well with the accomodations I’m given, but at least I’ll only be paying $500, and not $800 or $1,000, since I’m going in April instead of August.
Btw, if anyone wants to read my spoiler-free review of Kevin Smith’s new film Jersey Girl, which comes out March 26th, you can read it at: http://64.33.77.146/discus/messages/8/23620.html?1078471679#POST251656
I first discovered Jet Blue when they turned out to be the only airline that would fly my girls out for the summer from Idaho to New York City without making them change flights (the thought of an 11 and 12 year old navigating the Chicago airport without a GPS device made me nervous). They raved about how great the flight was and the customer service was really friendly and cooperative, as opposed to, say, TWA, where they go out of their way to make you feel like a terrorist in the final stages of advanced Ebola.
Wish I’d bought stock in them.
First let me say this to Luigi. I hope you enjoy your trip to Italy. I live in Italy with my wife, and I’m STILL AMAZED by the country, the people, the food, and especially my wife. I wish you the best.
Secondly, I have to say I don’t understand why the comic book industry doesn’t hire Marv Wolfman and Len Wein either. I remember the first Hulk comic book I read was written by Wein. I also happened to find some of his Swamp Thing comic books and loved them. I loved Marv Wolfman’s Tomb Of Dracula and Superman stories. Considering what both have done for comic books, I am offended by the fact that industry doesn’t do more for them.
JHL
“Chicago airport … where they go out of their way to make you feel like a terrorist in the final stages of advanced Ebola.”
Too right. When I’ll head off for my annual pilgrimage Japan-side I’ll be going via Vancouver because, although it’ll be $200-300 more in spite of being a SHORTER route, the aggravations in going through O’Hëll … excuse me, O’Hare aren’t worth it. Japanese ladyfriend feels the same way. Having run afoul of security at O’Hëll, she does everything she can to avoid going through that airport. For some reason, paying $1,000 or more for the privilege of getting treated like a notorious criminal doesn’t appeal to her.
And some people actually wonder why the tourist industry is down?
I agree that Marv Wolfman and Len Wein are very talented men who deserve more work in the comics industry than they get. Some things just leave me scratching my head. At least as far as Wolfman’s concerned, there’s something forthcoming later this year, which is that Teen Titans original graphic novel drawn by George Perez. Granted, I think it’s largely been written already, but I believe Wolfman has said that he has some things to revise.
Oh, by the way, PAD, if you don’t mind my asking, when might we hear about your new Marvel project(s)? I know that back in January, you said you went into NYC and met with Joe Quesada about one of your two big projects. I remain curious what these projects are, and hopeful that one of them might be the Incredible Hulk or the Avengers.
Glad to see you’re back, though. 🙂
Hey, I’ll still have a better timeliness track record than JK Rowling…
And unfortunately you’re poorer for it…. Just take a look at her recently released financial statements. It just seems the later you are, the more successful you are. JK Rowling, Marvel Comics, Kevin Smith, etc…. Something is definitely askew there.
When is “Harry Potter Book 6: The Quest for more $$$” coming out anyway?
Chicago airport … where they go out of their way to make you feel like a terrorist in the final stages of advanced Ebola.”
*chuckle* I’ve flown into Chicago only once, and that was on my way from Des Moines to San Francisco (gotta love going east to go west).
It wasn’t horrible, going to O’Hare, but it could have been worse.
My wife and I are flying to Vegas (our second trip there) on Sunday morning.
We’re going by United’s “Ted” program. Not sure what the difference is supposed to be; we flew United to Vegas last August as well.
When is “Harry Potter Book 6: The Quest for more $$$” coming out anyway?
Whenever Rowling feels like it.
Must be nice, as an author, to write a book every couple of years, delay it repeatedly, still have it sell millions the first day, and make more money than probably all other authors combined.
Must be nice, as an author, to write a book every couple of years, delay it repeatedly, still have it sell millions the first day, and make more money than probably all other authors combined.
Yes, how very cunning of her. It’s a wonder no one else has thought to try this plan.
Rowling’s success is really luck more than anything else. She just happened to write a story that there was a huge demand for at the time. Pretty much any writer dreams of falling into success like that. Given another set of circumstances, it could have happened with the Sir Apropos series.
and by the way, why the HÊLL is the industry not hiring them more?
I believe I heard/read somewhere that at least in Wolfman’s case it has something to do with the brouhaha he raised over the ownership of Blade. Editors might be leery of giving work to someone who will claim complete and total ownership of it years down the road.
(Read the interview with David Goyer on CBR when he talks about how Wolfman claimed that Gene Colan didn’t deserve ANY credit for creating Blade. And kudos to Goyer’s answer, unrepeatable on this family website.)
As I’m sure PAD knows, once a creator, any creator in any field, gets the “problem” label it can be tough to shed. It has nothing to do with Wolfman’s talent, which is kinda sad.
As for Len Wein, I thought he had pretty much given up comics to work in animation. Not so?
JLK
Per an online chat with Rowling and a bunch of kids yesterday, she said she’s still writing Book 6, and wouldn’t say when it’d be out, or even what the title will be.
When is “Harry Potter Book 6: The Quest for more $$$” coming out anyway?
That would be a fair title for Book 8. (Since she has always said there would be 7 to the series)
But if she is a true writer…she will find she has to write something. So there will either be a #8, she will start a new series entitled Son of Harry Potter, spinoff a series based on a secondary character, or try something different altogether. (Preferrably the last, what does she have to risk?)
This thread piqued my interest. I have been a Teen Titans fan for quite a while so I have read many stories by Marv Wolfman. However, I didn’t follow his Marvel work very much. I went to his website http://www.marvwolfman.com and was suprised to see the cover of Tomb of Dracula that Blade made his debut in. I found it VERY interesting that the cover announced him as “Blade, the Vampire SLAYER”.
My boss likes JetBlue as well. I’m a little keener on them than I used to be since they stopped spying on their passengers. And as I noted on February 8, they may be Mormon-owned but I doubt any of their pilots ever proselytized on flights the way the American Airlines guy did…
It was a tough choice for me, too. I agreed more with Edwards’s stance on certain issues, so he ended up getting my vote, but–surprise, surprise–Kerry won. I must admit though: a Kerry/Edwards ticket would be nice. I could easily accept that.
You know the funny thing about that is that for years, Jesse Helms was the senior senator from NC. No one outside of the state could stand him, but everyone in the state loved him and kept sending him back. Now, Edwards is the senior senator and no one in the state can stand him, we won’t be sending him back, and everyone outside the state loves him. Go figure.
As for a Kerry /Edwards ticket, well, I’m pretty certain that Edwards couldn’t deliver NC for Kerry. But if all you want is a pretty boy lawyer who talks good, he’s your man.
Re: older creators.
Most of them aren’t working because they are older and the editors who hired them are no longer in the business.
The main problem, IMO, is that a large portion/most editors today don’t know how to edit and wouldn’t know superior writing from drek if you slapped their mamas with it.
I’m completely dismayed at how many comics today are mediocre and boring. Some of them are unreadable. Some of them should have been self-published in black and white.
I also feel similarly about the story-telling abilities of a large number of the artists today. Pin-ups don’t tell stories. I will gladly accept those artists whose style isn’t “hot” if they can tell the story.
Regarding Harry Potter, apparently in that Web chat, (reported at http://www.zap2it.com/movies/news/story/0,1259,—20732,00.html among, I’m sure, other places) Rowling has suggested that she might consider writing more books about Harry Potter as an adult, after the 7-years-at-Hogwarts of the originally announced series. But, hey, HP Book 8 is nothing but hints and speculation and wishes and dreams at this point, nothing firm, even in Rowling’s own plans, it seems.
(Heck, I seem to recall a while back where Rowling hinted that Harry Potter might not even survive the events of Book #7.)
I’m sure that we’re due for a lot of teases before we’re done with good Mister Potter…
Thank you, James. If you don’t mind my asking, in what part of Italy do you live? My family lives in the Campagna region, with my parents just outside of Naples.
“Everyone in the state loved [Jesse Helms]”. Not hardly. Here’s his election results:
1996: 52.6%
1990: 52.6%
1984: 52%
1978: 55%
1972: 54%
Darn close, and that’s after his early campaigns through at least 1984 getting millions of out of state dollars from the Congressional Club and running any number of dirty campaign ads and rumors. And in his last two elections, his opponent was almost tailor made for him; a black former mayor of Charlotte who’d been defeated for re-election for mayor. So the largest city wasn’t thrilled with him, and the rural folk weren’t thrilled with him being urban based, with his being black beefing up Helms racist base supporters.
I’m certainly not thrilled that NC sent Helms back to D.C. for 5 terms, but it wasn’t by any great margins, and he had to really work at it every time to win.
Whenever Rowling feels like it.
Must be nice, as an author, to write a book every couple of years, delay it repeatedly, still have it sell millions the first day, and make more money than probably all other authors combined.
Now, now. The first four books were released on a one a year schedule because that was what the publisher wanted for sales reasons – being a typical, proven model for many authors. Stephen King at his most prolific was forced to start publishing under the pen name Richard Bachman because he was writing faster than the publisher wanted to put the books out, fearing he would be competing with himself and losing sales in the end.
In the course of writing book five, Rowling wrote a much larger book than she had expected. When book four was released, it was expected to be the largest until the seventh. Increasingly, over the course of writing the first four, she was dissatisfied with the quality and a lot of it was due to the pressures of the deadlines. Book five was never delayed. It was never announced for any particular release. Booksellers had to make guesses based on the past release schedule. She expressed numerous times during the press for book five that she was much happier with the book having had two years to work on it. Start looking for book six during the summer of 2005.
Rowling’s success is really luck more than anything else. She just happened to write a story that there was a huge demand for at the time. Pretty much any writer dreams of falling into success like that. Given another set of circumstances, it could have happened with the Sir Apropos series.
I’ve read both Harry Potter and Sir Apropos and I sell books for my meager living. With no insult intended to the host, Harry has a much wider potential audience than Apropos and the books are well enough written. They may not be as original as some of their fans find them, but they are very appealing to a lot of people, for being kids books they read very acceptably to adults, who before trying them didn’t have much interest in reading.
Diane Duane and Diana Wynne Jones, to name a couple of examples, both have series and individual books of similar type story and subject, written at a similar level, considered by some to have been done first and better than Harry. Typically, we have tried to turn Harry fans on to these books during their wait and they never get the same reaction and devotion that Harry receives.
Rather than luck, it might be a lot of work with a great deal of attention spent on world building, creating a place and a story that a lot of people like. There were a lot of other choices of similar material and the kids and their parents weren’t interested whether it was the Hobbit or the Narnia books or the Lloyd Alexander or the Susan Cooper.
From Tom Galloway:
And in his last two elections, his opponent was almost tailor made for him; a black former mayor of Charlotte who’d been defeated for re-election for mayor. So the largest city wasn’t thrilled with him, and the rural folk weren’t thrilled with him being urban based, with his being black beefing up Helms racist base supporters.
So the people that supported Helms are racist? Calling Helms supporters racist is much like saying that Gore/Liberman lost the election because people are anti-semitic and wouldn’t vote for a Jew.
Here are some major differences between Helms and Edwards. If you needed something from your senator and contacted Helm’s office, someone would contact you back. Unlike Edwards who’s spend his entire senatorial career running for President. Many folks have complained that when they contacted Edward’s office, all they would receive is a letter asking for a donation.
Helms actually made it to most votes on the senate floor, unlike the 20% or so that Edwards managed to attend.
No matter what the issue was, you knew where Helms stood on an issue, and knew that he wouldn’t trade his vote.
Luigi,
Laura and I live near Venezia (Venice). She was born here, and I’m a native of Ohio, USA. I met Laura four years ago, and she changed my life for the better. We got married before Christmas 2003. She encourages me to continue to write and is always a constant surprise and source of joy for me.
JHL
So the people that supported Helms are racist? Calling Helms supporters racist is much like saying that Gore/Liberman lost the election because people are anti-semitic and wouldn’t vote for a Jew.
I would be very surprised if there weren’t people out there who wouldn’t vote for Liberman because he was a jew. Fractions of a percentage point I trust, but some. How much difference would a few hundred people make in an electorate of 200 million?
Of course I assume that were republican leaning jewish voters who were moved to vote Gore because of his running mate.
And I have no hesitation in thinking at at least some Helms voters were rascists.
James Heath Lantz: Luigi, Laura and I live near Venezia (Venice). She was born here, and I’m a native of Ohio, USA. I met Laura four years ago, and she changed my life for the better. We got married before Christmas 2003. She encourages me to continue to write and is always a constant surprise and source of joy for me.
Luigi Novi: Wow. That’s amazing.
I haven’t been to Venice since I was ten. Since we’re staying for a full month this time (which we haven’t done since I was ten), and since my godparents will be working and not able to spend all their time with us, we’re going to rent a car. Hopefully we’ll be able to visit some of the places we visited in 1982, when we went all over the country to places like Pisa, Rome, Venice, Assissi, Bologna, etc.
Who knows, maybe I’ll stop on by, James. 🙂
Thanks to those of you who commented on our work here(and thanks to you, Peter, for mentioning us) but as to my giving up comics to work in animation, I must say it wasn’t MY choice. Of all the mediums I’ve worked in over the years, the one I still most enjoy is comics.
Ah, well, from your mouths to some willing editor’s ears, eh?
Why doesn’t the industy want people like Marv Wolfman and Len Wein around? Let’s think about this for a minute. Swamp Thing just relaunched yet again. One of the most critically acclaimed comics ever, spun off into two features films and a TV series. The New Teen Titans, also a mega hit for DC, now a red hot animated series, which I believe has been renewed for another season. Tomb of Dracula: introduces Blade, two features with a third on its way in a couple of months. The New X-Men: the most successful characters Marvel ever had, accounting for probably half its overall sales, not to mention two hugely successful features, with number three and four in the works. Yeah, I can see why they wouldn’t guys like that around anymore!
Almost forgot: does anybody know any more about the super-hero feature script Gene Pool that Wein and Wolfman sold a few years back?
Just a quick note:
and this is just what i’ve heard, mind you… but i thought the reason Wolfman isn’t really getting gigs in comics is because he’s a big jerk and he’s hard to work with…
Remember, that’s just what i’ve HEARD…
-P
Remember, that’s just what i’ve HEARD…>>
I can’t believe anyone would actually post something as stupid and chidish as this. This is exactly the sort of infantile behavior that costs good people potential work in this (or, frankly, any other) business.
Shame on you.
“and this is just what i’ve heard, mind you… but i thought the reason Wolfman isn’t really getting gigs in comics is because he’s a big jerk and he’s hard to work with…Remember, that’s just what i’ve HEARD…”
You heard wrong.
PAD
Reminds me of Paul Reiser’s old comedy routine, where he could absolve himself of responsibility for his words by adding, ‘I’m just saying.’ Sorry, you can add whatever disclaimers you want, but the words are still out there and you said ’em.
That sure wasn’t what the Pinis were saying, when Wolfmill Productions was trying to get the long-awaited ElfQuest movie up and running – and after the debacle with Donning/Starblaze, I can’t imagine Richard keeping his mouth shut about someone like that… 🙂
Wolfman, Wein, our industrious host, Hama, Claremont, the Pinis–GODS! These are the guys (and I’m sure I’ve left some out–I bow down in apology) that made me want to write, to create, to get these STORIES AND CHARACTERS OUT OF MY HEAD BEFORE I GO MAD! Oh, sorry. They don’t just write, they start fires of imagination that spread unchecked for all eternity. A good story is a joy forever. (Which explains why I’ve gone through 3 sets of New Frontier tapes….)