| Peter David.net

My little gift to the readers: A chance to exercise your imagination in the Christmas spirit.

Dear Editor: I am eight years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus? — Virginia O’Hanlon
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The response she receives.
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Dear Reader: Thank you for your letter. We regret that we cannot respond to all our readers, but we appreciate your support, and also invite you to visit us at our website at www.nysun.com.
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Puzzled but determined, Virginia posts the exact same letter on the website.
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What response, I wonder, would she receive?
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“First!”
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“This poster isn’t eight. What eight year old would say, “My little friends?” Obviously some middle-aged sicko.”
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“Epic Reality Fail!”
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“Troooooolll.”
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“Cut the kid some slack. Maybe she needs some sort of inspirational message about the spirit of Christmas and the nature of Santa Claus.”
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“Don’t be an idiot. This kid, if it is a kid–which I seriously doubt–needs a reality check.”
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“Obvious plant by the Sun. The whole “if I see it there, it must be true.” Yeah, right.”
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Any other thoughts?
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PAD

digresssml Originally published July 8, 1994, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1077

When I was a kid, every Friday night was The Flintstones. The animated family was a part of my life for, literally, as long as I could remember. I looked forward to Fred giving that opening bellow of “Yabba dabba doo” and sliding down that bronto tail at the beginning of the show.

(Curiously, unlike contemporary catch phrases that work their way into vernacular such as “D-oh!” or “Isn’t that special” or even “I didn’t inhale,” we kids didn’t actually go around shouting “Yabba dabba doo.” I mean, we knew the phrase, and we knew it was Fred’s, but we didn’t try to imitate it. Maybe we just didn’t want to talk like cartoon characters. Nowadays that doesn’t seem to be quite as true. I hear “huh huh huh” from kids and even, God help us, adults, in imitation of cartoon characters whose animation is so pathetic that it makes the limited animation Flintstones look like Fantasia. But I digress…)

Continue Reading “Review: The Flintstones” →