Year: 2013

Movie reviews: Mystery Men, The Iron Giant

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published September 3, 1999, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1346

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

–John Donne, “Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions”

There are two movies out at the moment, one squarely comic book related, the other tangentially related, both of which serve to remind me of my earliest days of comic reading. Specifically, what heroes were about, or at least what they were supposed to be about.

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Waiting for Godot

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

So I saw “Waiting for Godot” last night with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. Oh, and Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) as well. Kathleen has stage managed three productions of it and so this play meant a lot to her.

It was the first time I’d seen it. Here’s my spoiler free review:

WTF?

Seriously. What the hëll was THAT about?

I am happy to award a brand spanking new Peter David WTF award to the best explanation.

PAD

Elfquest Under Attack

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published August 27, 1999, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1345

It always gives one a nice, tidy, false sense of security to think that the only comic books which undergo attacks by watchdogs or misguided individuals with no clue as to what the First Amendment is all about, are those comics that somehow “deserve” to have it happen. Over-the-top pørņ, raging obscenity, stories that seem to encourage violence towards women or in some other way make you feel ever so slightly unclean just for having to defend it.

I want to welcome you, then, to the latest case to fall into the docket of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, as a part-time dealer in comic books—selling them at flea markets—finds himself facing two counts of trafficking in selling obscene material to minors. The name of the ever-so-foul comic that this scumwad was dealing?

Elfquest.

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The Punisher

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published August 20, 1999, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1344

There are two characters in comics whom I have written and never want to take another try at. This isn’t to say that the characters are necessarily bad, or that other writers with a far greater affinity for them couldn’t producer cracking good stories for them. Indeed, writers whose work I have nothing but respect for have done exactly that. Nevertheless, I personally have no affinity for the characters whatsoever.

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So where does the GOP stand now?

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

I’m reading all sorts of articles that claim the GOP has royally screwed itself thanks to its shutting down the government. (And those who are trying to spread the blame around can just stop. You’re fooling no one except yourselves. This was a GOP action from soup to nuts.)

The question is, are they really as dead in the water as pundits are claiming? Are they going to lose upcoming elections? Seats in the House? Me, I’m thinking not, because people have such short memories nowadays that I’m concerned by the time elections roll around, they will have forgotten all the crap the GOP pulled and be on to the next thing, while the Democrats will be unable to take advantage of GOP incompetence.

PAD

Mike Friedman’s Kickstarter Program

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

Michael Jan Friedman is embarking upon a Kickstarter program. It sounds very exciting and I hope you’ll all participate. Press release is below.

LONG ISLAND, NY (October 17, 2013) — The hero of veteran science fiction writer Michael Jan Friedman’s new young-adult superhero novel, I Am The Salamander, is a cancer survivor.

“I didn’t set out to make Tim Cruz a kid who had cancer,” Friedman said. “But when you read I Am The Salamander, you’ll see why it makes perfect sense for Tim to have beaten that disease, and why he’s in a position to offer hope to real teens trying to beat cancer themselves. And let’s face it, hope is what superheroes do best.”

I Am The Salamander is being funded by a Kickstarter campaign. ““The publishing landscape has changed,” said Friedman, who has written 70 novels for major publishers like Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, and Random House. “It’s harder than ever to get publishers to take a chance on a story, especially a quirky one like I Am The Salamander. And when they do, the book’s shelf life is shorter than that of a jar of half-sour pickles.

“I want I Am The Salamander to be around for a good long time,” he said. “That means I have to get it in the hands of readers on my own, and I have to keep it available to them.”

However, Friedman said, he wouldn’t ask anyone to donate to the I Am The Salamander campaign “just because it’s a worthwhile thing to do. I’m asking because it’s also the best thing I’ve ever written, and because I want to get it out to readers the most direct way possible.”

Friedman is asking his readers for $5,000. to cover the cost of book design and printing. The book’s cover was rendered by up-and-coming Brazilian talent Caio Cacau.

Those who wish to make donations to the I Am The Salamander campaign can do so at Kickstarter.com.