Month: August 2010

In the DC Universe, are there any established police officers or police detectives who are (a) not secretly superheroes and (b) operate out of New York City? Not Metropolis or Gotham, but New York City.

PAD

Jim Valentino’s “Fractured Fables” project, which should be instantly understandable to anyone who has fond memories of the old “Fractured Fairy Tales” cartoons, got an excellent write up in “Ain’t It Cool News.” Since this happens to be my website, I’ll single out what they said about my contribution:

The Little Mermaid: I did this list chronologically how they appear in the book, but if I had to pick a “best-of-the-best” this would be it. Art and story combine fantastically to reinvent the babe aquatic’s tale. While the “be careful what you wish for” message is still firmly intact, Peter David’s traditional humor and wit shines through in every panel. Juan Ferreyra paints some dámņ pretty seascapes and has a great time on dry land as well making all of our favorite Mermaid’s wishes and horrors come to life.

And the Washington Times also had many positive comments about the book. Once again, being an egomaniac, I’ll single out what they said about my story:

The adventure of “The Little Mermaid” turns much more ominous in the hands of comics scribe extraordinaire Peter David as her quest to live happily ever after with a human prince becomes a puzzling problem in podiatry. Artist Ron Ferrara (sic) offers ample arch support for the mermaid’s issues.

The reviewers had nice things to say about many of the other stories as well. Check out the book when you have a chance.

PAD

One American in five now believes that President Obama is a Muslim. This is apparently regarded as a big story and some sort of commentary on Obama.

It’s worth noting that in a survey a couple of years ago, thirty-two percent of respondents believed that Vin Diesel was the inventor of the diesel engine.

To me, the real story is that a disturbingly large percentage of Americans are stupid. Then again…not exactly news.

PAD

American Airlines spokesman Virasb Vahidi (official title: Chief commercial officer). It’s his job to try and make palatable Ameican Airlines finding yet another way to charge people for something they were getting for free before.

American has decided to charge customers anywhere from $19 to $39 for seats in the first few rows of coach. They’re no wider, they don’t have any more leg room. Yet they’ve decided to dub them “Express seats,” because apparently if the airline is running late (and American has one of THE worst on-time records in the industry) they decided that travelers with tight connections should have to pay extra if they want to be able to sit far enough forward to compensate for American’s timely ineptitude.

So how does Mr. Vahidi put a positive spin on this? “Express Seats highlights American’s focus on offering customers what they value most. This is another great product under the Your Choice program that puts more travel choices in the customer’s hands.”

No, it doesn’t. It takes OUT of the customer’s hands the option of being able to sit forward in the plane without having to pay through the nose for it. It’s not as if they’re giving you a huge discount if you opt to sit in the back. They’re just trying to put a shining veneer on a steaming pile of crap.

PAD

Coming out in October: “The Balverine Order,” an original novel that ties into the “Fable” video game. It’s set between the events in Fable II and the forthcoming Fable III. Quoting from the Amazon description: The days of magic and adventure are fading away, giving way to the age of industry and science. As the aged last Hero sits upon the throne of Albion, two friends-the privileged Thomas and his loyal servant, James- set out for the East in search of a legendary beast: the vicious, rarely-seen balverine. But their desire for adventure may be their ultimate undoing-because their quarry has just found them…

I also wrote a 64-page adaptation of the original “Tron” film for Marvel which will be coming out in November.

PAD