Month: September 2004

For some bizarre reason, my conservative friends (and I use the term insincerely) on this board keep pestering me to comment about the whole CBS thing with Bush’s time protecting the skies over Oklahoma while Kerry was, y’know, apparently the one soldier in the entirety of Vietnam not being shot at. Politicians and supporters who swallow whole anything the Swifties say are suddenly demanding hearings because of the CBS reports. And people are throwing it in MY face like I’m the head of the Dan Rather fan club. Why they’re not throwing it in, say, Jerome’s face, since he’s a working reporter and–if it’s false–then it’s a commentary on the lack of quality of the Fourth Estate, leaves me mystified (and I again use the term insincerely.)

I didn’t comment on the story when it was released because, frankly, it didn’t interest me all that much. The debate barely interested me four years ago, and it certainly doesn’t now. Bottom line is that all the masterminds currently waging war in Iraq have never been under enemy fire themselves, period. So it’s of little relevance to me HOW they avoided it. They used all the powers at their family’s command to avoid enemy fire, period. And John Kerry didn’t do that, again period. So the basis of the argument is hazy to me at best.

Furthermore, truth to tell, I learned back in Journalism 101 that if a piece of information seems too good to be true, it usually is. So at best, I was leery of it. I still am. And if it turns out CBS was suckered, they should admit they made a mistake. If nothing else, it will put them several points ahead of the President, who lacks that capacity.

But trying to pretend that Bush’s dubious military service is somehow legitmized if the CBS story is indeed false is like saying that Piltdown Man being a hoax invalidates evolution.

PAD

I think the following would be an interesting script for a commerical for a Democratic activist group:

1) Footage of Candidate Bush stating that he’s against nation building.

2) Footage of dead and dying American soldiers and dead and dying Iraqis, including some of that brutal footage from “F 9/11.”

3) Footage of Bush declaring “MIssion Accomplished.”

4) Footage of headlines declaring over a thousand Americans killed.

5) Footage of Candidate Bush stating that he supported the assault weapon ban.

6) Footage of newspaper headlines about the assault ban treaty being lifted without a word of protest from the White House, intercut with dead and dying young people or terrorists fighting assault weapons.

7) Footage of Bush saying that he’s keeping us safer. Freeze Frame, and the following words appear:

“While he’s lyin’, we’re dyin’.”

Paid for by the Committe of People Who Don’t Want to See More People Die On George Bush’s Watch.

Just a passing thought.

PAD

Although this has been announced at various conventions, I haven’t stated it here,and word hasn’t apparently filtered through to the on-line community. So I figure I’ll clarify matters, especially since I see folks on Newsarama wondering if “Tempest Fugit” is going to be a $3.50 per issue price point similar to the current Hulk/Thing limited series.

Bottom line is this: The combination of the positive fan response to the “Hulk” limited series by Lee Weeks and me, and the fact that Bruce Jones is now exclusive with DC, prompted Marvel to say, “Why the heck are we doing this as a limited series instead of as part of the ongoing?” So rather than it being issues 1-6 of “Tempest Fugit,” the Hulk series will simply start up again in January after a four month hiatus and my storyline will be issues 77 through 82 of the regular book. Which means that, to all intents and purposes, I’m back writing the Hulk.

Whether I’ll stay beyond that hinges on a few things. First, I want to make sure that I’m comfortable back writing the Hulk. So I’ve really only committed to six issues Then again, I initially only committed to six issues of “Young Justice,” so it’s not unprecedented for me to stay around.

Second, of course, is fan and retailer response, and third is whether Marvel wants to keep me around on the series. But naturally those two aspects are inextricably bound. If the retailer and fan support is there, that will send Marvel one message. If it’s not, that sends them another. And they will act accordingly, and I wouldn’t blame them.

So ultimately what it comes down to is, I’m back on “Hulk.” Whether I stay or not is up to a variety of factors, not the least of which is you guys.

PAD

Unbelievable. The free edition of “Fallen Angel” designed to get fans to sample it and, ideally, pick up the trade?

A retailer has put one up on Ebay. And it’s already got two bids bringing it up to $3.75. This for a book that says “FREE” on the cover. Check it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=35764&item=2269079664&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

PAD

On the anniversary of September 11th, I would like to bring to your attention my multimedia adaptation of John M. Ford’s “110 Stories“.

You can view the Quicktime file (13 MB, just under 7 minutes) at http://110stories.malibulist.com/110Stories.mov, and you can read the original text at http://www.110stories.us/. If you happen to have the bandwidth to mirror this, please do, as I anticpate traffic– if you do, please email me with a link so I can post it properly.

And to all of you who helped contribute to the making of this project… thank you.

…or are more people than ever trying to exploit 9/11 for personal gain? Be it the GOP or some of the most remarkably tacky 9/11-related commemorative merchandise ever.

If anyone is interested in seeing the tragedy used for keenly dramatic purposes, I refer you to the FX series “Rescue Me,” in which it’s three years later and a group of firemen are still wrestling with the aftershocks of what they witnessed that day.

PAD

I can’t help but notice a couple of real-world parallels to stuff that was in “West Wing.”

WEST WING WORLD: In the flashback sequences where Bartlett was running for the presidency, his (soon to be fired) advisors kept urging him to refer to “my opponent.” The reasoning was, Why keep mentioning the name of the guy he’s running against? Why give him the publicity? Bartlett rejected the advice, maintaining that it would make it seem as if he couldn’t remember the guy’s name. That it would make him look “dotty.”

REAL WORLD: Bush constantly refers to Kerry as “my opponent” rather than by name. Either he doesn’t care if it makes him look dotty, doesn’t want to give Kerry additional publicity, or he really can’t remember Kerry’s name.

WEST WING WORLD: Bartlett’s second term opponent, the Bush-esque Governor Ritchie, wanted to minimize the number of debates. Bartlett wanted anywhere from three to five, Ritchie wanted no more than two (and eventually got it down to one).

REAL WORLD: Where Kerry wants as many debates as possible, with a minimum of three, the Ritchie-esque Bush wants no more than two, and technically hasn’t agreed to any. Whether they get it down to one has yet to be seen.

PAD