It’s been a while since I’ve done a straight up Q&A thread. So anything you want to ask me, feel free. I’ll answer your questions the best I can, although it may take me a little bit to reply.
PAD
ADDED at 7:51: Okay…the five, ten, fifteen question thing? Not happenin’. One per person. Those people who posted enough questions to fill out an interview: Choose the one you most want to know and ask that. My fault; I should have repeated that condition since it’s been a while since I’ve done this.





1) What’s up with Spidey 2099 showing up everywhere? I think I’ve seen him on 4 different covers for 4 different comics recently. Is Marvel planning to relaunch some 2099 stuff? I love the series, but I’d only want it to come back if you were writing it, PAD.
TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, MARVEL HAS NO PLANS TO DO A SPIDEY 2099 BOOK. I ADMIT IT’S KIND OF AMUSING TO ME. I USED SPIDEY 2099 AND IT WAS DEEMED TO BE UNORIGINAL AND SELF-DERIVATIVE; OTHER PEOPLE START USING HIM AND IT’S A FUN NOSTALGIA TRIP. GO FIGURE.
2) Is the current direction of Fallen Angel something you would have done if the property had stayed at DC?
YUP.
How’s it going?
COMME CI, COMME CA.
I believe you mentioned before how the death of Banshee wasn’t known to you, and that’s why it took time to work it into X-Factor. How much lead time did you get on the big Spider-Man reveal and did it abort any upcoming story lines in “Friendly”?
IT DIDN’T ABORT ANY, PER SE, BUT IT CERTAINLY SENT SOME OFF IN RATHER UNEXPECTED DIRECTIONS…PARTICULARLY EVERYTHING I HAD PLANNED FOR FLASH THOMPSON. I KNEW ABOUT THE REVEAL ABOUT, I DUNNO…FOUR MONTHS AGO, I THINK.
Given the unlimited opportunity, no worries about who is currently working on or with any character/s, what character or group of characters would be your dream writing assignment as of now? No boundries on time or company for this, just the dream match so to speak.
Thanks,
jeff
MY LONG STANDING DREAM IS TO WRITE A TARZAN VS. THE PHANTOM LIMITED SERIES. THE TWO MAJOR JUNGLE GUYS GOING HEAD TO HEAD. I’D HAVE A FIELD DAY WITH THAT.
RUNNER UP WOULD BE DOC SAVAGE. IT WOULD SELL FOR CRAP, AS DOC SAVAGE ALWAYS DOES IN COMIC BOOK FORM, BUT IT’D BE FUN TO PLAY WITH THOSE CHARACTERS.
Why/how did “grozit” become your go-to alien expletive, and how’s it pronounced?
(I feel like this has been asked before, but I couldn’t find the answer anywhere…)
IT DIDN’T. BILL MUMY CAME UP WITH IT. HE FIRST HAD CATALINA SAYING IT IN “SPACE CASES” AND I’VE COOPTED IT SINCE THEN.
IT’S PRONOUNCED “GROWS-IT,” ACCENT ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE.
Will you also write the novelizations for the coming new Spider-Man and Fantastic Four movies?
SPIDER-MAN, YES. FF, I HAVEN’T THE FAINTEST IDEA.
(I am reading the FF novelization at the moment and I love it!)
Next year will be New Frontier`s 10th anniversary. Will this event be celebrated by Pocket books? Maybe with another trade paperback with short stories as they did with all the other Trek series (they were TV ones originally, but nevertheless…)?
Y’KNOW, I DON’T KNOW. MAYBE.
I remember the book “Double or Nothing” very well which was officially a TNG book but in reality very NF heavy as well. I am wondering, will the coming TNG novel you are writing be part NF as well?
NOPE.
Not being a big fan of the Mirror Universe, I am hoping that next year will offer more NF than that.
WE’LL SEE.
Who’s the biggest douchebag in the comics industry?
NO, WHO’S ON FIRST.
Ok, a non-comics question… what are your favourite individual hours of drama? ie: you remember watching and thinking ‘I have to watch that again NOW (ie: single episode or moments)
TWO EPISODES OF WEST WING: “ELLIE” AND “CELESTIAL NAVIGATION.” AND THE LAST CAPTAIN FREEDOM EPISODE OF “HILL STREET BLUES.”
I’m curious about your recent how-to book WRITING FOR COMICS. Was the process of writing a book about how you write different from just writing? It seems like an exercise rife with opportunity for introspection or self-criticism. I guess I’m asking whether, in the process of writing this book, you learned anything about the way in which you write comics.
IT CERTAINLY CAUSED ME TO GIVE VOICE TO A LOT OF STUFF THAT I’D NEVER REALLY ANALYZED BEFORE. ALTHOUGH I’VE WRITTEN INDIVIDUAL COLUMNS ABOUT WRITING COMICS, I’VE NEVER DONE A SOUP-TO-NUTS COMPLETE ANALYSIS OF EVERY ASPECT OF HOW I WRITE COMICS. IT WAS INTERESTING TO SORT OF “FIGURE OUT” WHY I DO CERTAIN THINGS, AND DON’T DO OTHERS.
Do you ever get the desire to write any other Star Trek books or is NF all you need ?
ACTUALLY I’M WORKING ON A NEXT GEN NOVEL RIGHT NOW, WHICH WILL ALSO FEATURE JANEWAY AND SEVEN OF NINE.
Have you thought about doing another SACHS & VIOLENS mini, since they’ll be in upcoming issues of FALLEN ANGEL? The first series is kind of hard to find.
I CAN’T REALLY SEE DOING IT WITHOUT GEORGE PEREZ AT THIS POINT, AND SINCE GEORGE IS EXCLUSIVE TO DC AND I’M EXCLUSIVE TO MARVEL, IT WON’T BE HAPPENING ANYTIME SOON. BUT, HEY, I’M HAVING FUN WITH THEM IN “FALLEN ANGEL,” SO IT’S ALL GOOD.
Guiliani/Rice vs. Clinton/Obama in 2008. Former mayor of NYC and 9/11 hero, with a Leo-style foreign policy expert who happens to be both African American and female (although both are liberal for Republicans), against two sitting senators (who are trending conservative for modern Democrats). Be a fun race, at least; whaddaya think?
I’D PROBABLY DECIDE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY AT THAT POINT…
I read that you actually DID abort some FNSB storylines because of recent developments. Level with us (we won’t tell). Are you ticked? Or did you know going in that writing a major Marvel icon means bending to the whims of corporate synergy (also known as summer event crossovers)?
IN THE WORDS OF SUPER-CHICKEN, I KNEW THE JOB WAS DANGEROUS WHEN I TOOK IT. THE ADVANTAGE OF WRITING AN ICONIC CHARACTER IS THAT YOU HAVE A WIDER AUDIENCE. THE DISADVANTAGE IS THAT YOU KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO BE SUBJECT TO THE HIGH-PROFILE CROSSOVER EVENTS THAT ARE GOING TO INVOLVE YOUR GUY. SO IT’D BE POINTLESS TO GROUSE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT I WAS FULLY AWARE WAS PART AND PARCEL OF WRITING SPIDER-MAN. IF I DIDN’T THINK I COULD DO THE JOB, I WOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN IT ON. IF I DIDN’T THINK I COULD STILL DO IT, I’D LEAVE. SIMPLE AS THAT.
I DO FIND IT AMUSING THAT PEOPLE HOWL HOW MUCH THEY HATE CROSSOVERS…BUT THE *INSTANT* THAT FNSM DIDN’T TIE IN WITH MAJOR CROSSOVER EVENTS (AND MKSM) SALES DROPPED.
Peter,
You’ve made your liberal views well known. However, I’m curious, do you share any common views with Republicans (and please allow me to pre-empt you on any response of ‘less government intrustion into private lives,’ because we all know the modern, sad, irony of that).
YES. DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES ANNOY THE HÊLL OUT OF ME.
Don’t know if you’ll remember, but I might as well ask. I liked your run of Dreadstar, and the mini-series starring Kalla was good as well. But you never explained what happened to Oedi.
You showed all the other characters and what had happened to them, but Oedi was only shown in flashback and his current fate was never mentioned. Even the other characters never talked about it. Which was fine, except that most of these characters hadn’t seen each other for 20 years — I’d think somebody would have said “What happened to Oedi? Did he land with you?”, or something.
So I’m just wondering – did you have other plans for him, like for another mini-series that never happened? Do you remember what you would have done with him? Or did you just not get into it with only six issues to work with?
Thanks.
OEDI’S ABSENCE WAS DELIBERATE SO THAT I’D HAVE SOMEWHERE TO GO WITH THE NEXT LIMITED SERIES…WHICH NEVER MATERIALIZED. DARNED IF I REMEMBER WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO WITH IT, THOUGH.
Fun fact about “grozit”: it means “threaten” in Russian. I have no idea if this was the intention, but it’s true (according to my rus-eng dictionary) nonetheless.
What are your favorite Arthurian books/authors/stories? (I’m particularly curious if you’ve read Phyllis Ann Karr; her “The Follies of Sir Harald” seems right up your alley.)
STILL KIND OF FOND OF THOMAS BERGER’S “ARTHUR REX,” I THINK IT WAS CALLED.
Which character/group of characters that you thought were great, but never caught on?
THE CREW OF “THE CHRISTA.”
Woo hoo! Good day, Mr. PAD, and thank you for having this (and for all of your writing in general).
Knowing of A) your fondness for Harlan Ellison, B) your fondness for puns, and C) Harlan’s, um, non-fondness for puns (yes I remember his “Spaceballs” review), I wonder: Sir Apropos (which I really enjoyed, especially Books 1 and 3) would seem right up Harlan’s alley except for the puns. Did you ask him to be a first reader? What was his reaction to the work? Can you make even him laugh at a pun, the way the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie did?
HARLAN HAS WAY TOO MUCH TO DO FOR ME TO ASK HIM TO READ MY STUFF AHEAD OF TIME. HE’S READ IT SINCE, BUT NOT BEFORE. AND SINCE HE LIKED THE BOOKS, I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THE PUNS THEREIN AMUSED HIM.
1. I’m reading the Next Gen novel “A Rock and a Hard Place.” Was the character of Quentin Stone an early draft of Captain Calhoun?
NOT INTENTIONALLY SO, BUT HE SURE TURNED OUT THAT WAY.
2. A while back at the motor city comic convention, I gave you CD’s of material by comedian Bill Hicks as well as songs about Star Trek by singer Voltaire. What were your thoughts on them?
I THOUGHT, “WOW, I HOPE I DON’T MISPLACE THIS CD.” TRAGICALLY…
What advice would you give to someone thinking about converting to Judaism?
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT, BY TALMUDIC LAW, THE ONLY ADVICE I COULD GIVE SUCH AN INDIVIDUAL WOULD BE “DON’T.” CONVERTS TO JUDAISM ARE GENERALLY DISCOURAGED, NOR DO WE BELIEVE IN TRYING TO CONVERT PEOPLE. IF YOU’VE EVER ENCOUNTERED THE CHASSIDIC JEWS AND THEIR “MITZVAH MOBILE,” THE FIRST QUESTION THEY’LL ASK YOU IS “ARE YOU JEWISH?” IF YOU ANSWER “NO” THEY’LL IMMEDIATELY SAY, “THANK YOU, HAVE A NICE DAY,” AND THAT’LL BE THAT. (UNLIKE, SAY, JEWS FOR JESUS, WHICH IS THE SINGLE MOST IDIOTIC NAME FOR A RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT I’VE EVER HEARD. WE ALREADY *HAVE* A HISTORIC NAME FOR JEWS FOR JESUS: THEY’RE CALLED “CHRISTIANS.”)
Have you thought about doing another SACHS & VIOLENS mini, since they’ll be in upcoming issues of FALLEN ANGEL? The first series is kind of hard to find.
Not PAD, QA, but, if you’re looking for Sachs & Violens, check out this news store–
http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70427&highlight=sachs+violens
What is a question that no one ever asks you but you wish that they would?
WHAT WAS KIM BASINGER LIKE IN BED?
And if you please, what is the answer to that question?
OH, LIKE I’LL TELL *YOU*.
1. Peter David, I love your books, however I’ve read all of ’em. Could you tell me what your favorite authors are, so I at least have something good to read? Thanks.
[Alex]
HARLAN ELLISON, ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, ROBERT PARKER, STEPHEN KING, NEIL GAIMAN.
What’re the odds of a Peter David podcast/mp3 stuff to listen to on the go?
SLIM TO NONE.
One time or weekly or monthly or never? 😀
DAILY.
Is it true that if I kill you, I become you?
😉
HOW DO YOU THINK *I* GOT THE GIG?
So, do you have some kind of beef with Mount Rushmore, or is it just coincidence?
IT JUST MAKES SUCH A GOOD VISUAL.
Actually, If I may, I have a few:
1) Have you ever considered running for any sort of political office?
2) Have you pitched ideas for books to either Marvel or DC in the past that were rejected? If so, what idea/concept of yours that was rejected did you most want to see print?
3) What do you want to be when you grow up?
4) Which Marvel/DC story that you wrote would you consider your strongest work? And, along the same lines, which Spider-Man story of yours do you consider to be your best?
5) I watch about half of the shows that you talk about in your Cowboy Pete Roundup. One show I notice to be missing is 24. Do you watch 24? And, if so, do you think the first lady and Aaron should hook up ;)?
6) What is your biggest regret?
7) What is your most embarassing moment?
8) Who would play you in a movie about your life?
9) What reality TV show do you think you’d have the best shot at winning the grand prize?
And….
10) Actually… no…. I’ll leave it at 9……
Thanks you very much, sir!
Do you remember that time in Detroit when I got your autograph?
THERE’S JUST NO GOOD ANSWER TO THIS…
We will finally see a resoultion to the Rictor/Shatterstar were they werent they thing?
What other characters did u consider for X-Factor?
What do you feel about Marvels treatment of Random since you last wrote him. What were your plans for him?
Would you ever ever write a book that Byrne was drawing?
Will you ever do something with the Panthenon again. I miss them.
Gamma Gang too? Did you have plans for them?
If you were to write the Avengers which characters would you use?
If you were to write a book bringing c list chracters to fore as a team. Who would you use?
X-men too?
Top 3 most undersued characters?
Cheers
If I can promise you Space Cases cosplayers at Dragon*Con this year… is there any way to see the old blooper reel? 🙂
IF I CAN FIND WHERE THE HÊLL IT IS.
1. Ok PAD, settle a bet for me. Greatest movie of all time? I say The Blues Brothers, my friend says Blade Runner. Settle it for us.
2. What do you do with all your comp comics? I mean, you must be on a ton of different comp lists. Do you keep them at home? Give them away? Are you bound by the same rules as the DC staffers who go in so much trouble last year for selling them?
3. Rob Liefield, John Byrne, Micah Wright. They all are the butts of so many fanboy jokes. Is there anyone out there who is the butt of so many jokes, but isn’t geting the respect they deserve?
4. We’ve had monkeys/apes, pirates, zombies, decompressed storytelling, packaging for trades, heroes giving up secret identities, manga. Look into your crystal ball: what is the next big trend in comics?
5. I believe that more important than male/female, gay/straight, black/white, red/blue, there is an essential question that classifies people: are you in favor or opposed to dressing up your pets? Please answer.
Thanks for taking the time to do this. Next time you are in Portland, let me take you out for a beer and a few frames.
garbonzo
1Thank you for all the work that you do. I’m always looking forward to any new novels that you write. Please don’t ever stop writing New Frontier, it’s my favorite. Any chance of another Sir Apropos book? Thanks, Jimmy
WELL, THE PROBLEM IS THAT POCKET BOOKS NO LONGER DOES ORIGINAL FANTASY, AND IT’S DIFFICULT TO TAKE A SERIES THAT ALREADY EXISTS AND RELAUNCH IT ELSEWHERE. HOWEVER THERE WILL BE A NEW APROPOS NOVELLA IN A COLLECTION ENTITLED “HEROES IN TRAINING” COMING OUT NEXT YEAR.
Agamemnnon was a Bucky, wasn’t he?
I CERTAINLY THOUGHT SO.
Hey man…
Given how popular they have become, with the likes of PvP Online, Ctrl=Alt-Del and Penny Arcade on my daily Must-Read list, have you ever been tempted into the world of online comic strips at all?
NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST.
I only ask because a lot of your books are dámņ funny and i’d love to see what you would come up….anything would be better then that dire Trek Life rubbish over on the official trek site 😀
Also….do you follow football (and by football, I mean proper football, what you lot over the pond call “soccer” and if so, who do you support?….and who do you think will win the World Cup? 😀
MY LACK OF INTEREST IN THE WORLD CUP IS MATCHED ONLY BY MY LACK OF INTEREST IN WEB COMICS.
Cheers man, you da bomb….or some other random street phrase that makes me sound hip and cool 🙂
THESE DAYS, SOMEONE IS TOLD HE’S THE BOMB, HE GETS A VISIT FROM HOMELAND SECURITY…
Oh….and what is the meaning of life?
Nearly forgot that one 🙂
LIFE IS LIKE A GLASS OF TEA.
I’ve noticed a story type that you use a lot, PAD. Taking several minor characters or events and tying them together. For example, the Next Generation book where Q is sent back through time by Trelane and ends up causing several of the time anomalies and super powered phenomena in the various Trek series. Or the Spidey 2099 character who gave Spidey his gliding material and also turned out to be the first Spiderite. Or the episode of Gargoyles where a guy had run into the gargoyles so many times that he had to hit Goliath in the face with a pie.
Any particular reason why that’s one of your favorite story tools?
I WROTE AN EPISODE OF GARGOYLES…? NOT TO MY RECOLLECTION.
I WOULDN’T SAY IT’S A “FAVORITE.” IN HUNDREDS OF COMIC BOOKS AND SEVENTY+ NOVELS, I’VE DONE IT A COUPLE OF TIMES. IT’S JUST INTERESTING TO TIE THINGS TOGETHER EVERY NOW AND THEN. CREATE A TAPESTRY SO THAT, IF NOTHING ELSE, IT GIVES THE ILLUSION THAT–WHEN IT COMES TO LONG-FORM STORIES–I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING.
Peter,
I know of your somewhat disappointment of the Watchmen and Killing Joke. But I was wondering how you liked Alan Moore’s “Superman: Man of Tomorrow” and “Superman: For the Man Who Has Everything”.
And I would also like to know how you liked Frank Miller’s orignal Dark Knight and Batman: Year One.
I WOULDN’T SAY I WAS “DISAPPOINTED” WITH EITHER OF THE FIRST TWO WORKS. I FELT THAT WATCHMEN WAS SOMEWHAT PADDED OUT AND THE ENDING USED SOME PAINFULLY OBVIOUS WRITER’S TRICKS, AND THE IDEA OF BATMAN AND THE JOKER SHARING A LAUGH AFTER THE LATTER PARALYZED BARBARA GORDON NEVER SAT RIGHT WITH ME. BUT THERE WAS A TON OF GOOD STUFF IN THEM AS WELL.
I’VE UNRESERVEDLY LOVED MOORE’S SUPERMAN WORK, THOUGH.
Well I want to say thank you for all the great storytelling over the years. Of course there is some real stinkers in there too(hey you wrote MERC for peet’s sakes “take it back! take it back!”). But I digress.
Anyway… looking back on your career I noticed something rather odd. It appears you never quit. What I mean to say is that, of your writings on various comic book series, you keep plugging away at them until someone cancels the title (Captain Marvel, Young Justice, Supergirl, should I go on?) or just outright “replaces” you. (ummm… Hulk.) Is this true?
PRETTY MUCH. OF COURSE, THE DOWNSIDE IS THAT FANS CLAIM THEY WANT WRITERS TO STICK AROUND…EXCEPT WHEN YOU DO, THEY THEN GET BORED AND WANDER OFF. IF I HAD ANY BRAINS I’D DO A YEAR MAX AND THEN LOUDLY LEAVE.
But regardless of the case… thanks for sticking through till the bitter end. Or at least until you get carpotunnel syndrome.
WITH ANY LUCK THAT’LL NEVER HAPPEN. I WRITE USING AN ERGONOMIC KEYBOARD.
1 Peter, I have been a big fan of your works and continue to enjoy your thoughts as expressed in your blog. A while back you mentioned that Howling Mad had been optioned by a movie studio. Any further updates on the status of that project?
OTHER THAN THAT THEY STILL HAVE THE OPTION, NOPE.
Give JMS’s success with the BABYLON 5 SCRIPT BOOKs being published through Cafe Press, have you considered putting together a similar volume of your two B5 scripts, your CRUSADE script and your B5 comic scripts along with some recollections of your work on the franchise? Maybe include some notes on the Centauri trilogy as well? If you haven’t given the idea any previous thought, could you do so now? I’m sure it would sell well.
I’VE THOUGHT ABOUT IT, BUT I’M NOT SURE OF THE LEGAL ANGLE. AFTER ALL, I DON’T OWN THE COPYRIGHT SO I’D PROBABLY HAVE TO WORK OUT SOME SORT OF DEAL. I SIMPLY HAVEN’T HAD THE TIME, OPPORTUNITY OR INTEREST IN GOING TO THAT MUCH WORK.
Don’t you think the songs in 1776 are incredibly third-rate, and it’s the show’s book that makes it such a great musical, even though without the songs it wouldn’t be a musical, and as a straight-out comedrama, it’d be pretty much Poor Richard’s Almanac with a cast of hundreds and not necessarily all that fondly remembered?
WILL SOMEONE SHUT THAT MAN UP?
What short story writers (and what stories) had the most influence on you when you began writing?
ASIDE FROM THE AFOREMENTIONED SHORT STORY WRITERS: AVRAM DAVIDSON, O’HENRY, MARK TWAIN, SHIRLEY JACKSON. IN TERMS OF SPECIFIC STORIES: “REPRENT HARLEQUIN,’ “THE LOTTERY,” TOM GODWIN’S “THE COLD EQUATION.”
If memory serves, in your last issue of your first run on X-Factor, there was an unresolved cliffhanger…tentacles grabbing Valerie Cooper and dragging her into a room. What was the payoff for that supposed to be? I’ve been wondering for many years….
IT WAS THE BEGINNINGS OF THE STORYLINE THAT EVENTUALLY MORPHED SOMEWHAT AND LED TO THE INTRODUCTION OF ARMAGEDDON OVER IN HULK.
What writing job out there, if any, is your Holy Grail?
WRITING ANYTHING THAT WINS AN OSCAR OR A TONY.
So now you’re in your third decade of this comix-writing business, which means that you have nearly twenty years more experience than the Peter David of 1989 did.
If that guy sent you all of his comics and said “So what do you think? What am I doing right, and what am I doing wrong?” what would you tell him?
(PS: Naturally, feel free to parry this off by saying “Buy Microsoft, ha ha” or somesuch. But if you do, the next time I write my check to the Red Cross I’m going to short-change them by ten bucks. I’ll tell them that it was because you momentarily lowered my endorsement of Humanity.)
I’D TELL HIM TO DITCH THE THOUGHT BALLOONS AND CUT BACK ON SOUND EFFECTS. I’D SAY ROLL BACK THE JOKES SOMEWHAT, AND TRY NOT TO OVERWRITE.
When will we get to see an FNSM/X-Factor crossover?
SPIDEY SHOWS UP IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF XF, BUT I’M NOT PLANNING A STORY THAT ACTUALLY GOES FROM ONE TITLE TO THE OTHER.
Okay, well, I’ll still write the check for the full amount. Hollow threat, there. But I’m interested in the answer anyway.
Only one question burns in my head, well, that’s worth asking, anyways. Well, worth asking HERE, to you.
After Skin Deep, did you have any other ideas for the Guardians? Stuff that was just BEGGING to be let out to play? BTW, This Is Your Life, Bhodi Li is STILL one of my favorite books. And thanks for bringing Bernie back in Strike Zone.
IF I DID HAVE ANY PLANS, THEY’RE LOOOOONG GONE FROM MY HEAD. SORRY. GLAD YOU LIKED THE PHOTON BOOKS. ALMOST NOBODY REMEMBERS THOSE.
Since you are doing a Wonder Man limited series, I was just wondering what you thought of David Michelinie’s take on the character when he wrote the Avengers? Also do you like the purple energy thing going on? I rather him be like he use to be when he wore his shades and had the hip jet packs.
HE’S DOING THE PURPLE ENERGY THING. THERE’S REALLY NO CONTINUITY REASON FOR ME TO ROLL HIM BACK TO THE JET PACKS; PEOPLE WILL THINK I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE ENERGY STUFF.