Month: January 2014

Originally published March 10, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1373

I’ve been doing this column for nearly a decade and also having a lousy memory, which naturally presents a danger: I don’t recall whether I’ve covered certain topics or not. So if I have discussed the following, then hopefully I’ll say something new. If I haven’t, then it’s completely new.

Which actually makes me wonder about commercials when they advertise an episode by saying, “An all-new episode.” What’s meant by that? It’s not a rerun? Then why don’t they just say “new”? What’s with the “all?” It particularly annoys me when it’s an episode that’s actually a clip show. You know the type I mean. There’s a framing device of some sort—someone’s looking at a photo album, or one character has amnesia and someone else is filling them in on their life. And there are scenes from other episodes for illustration, which wind up occupying fifty percent or more of screen time. I’ve seen that on Xena more than a few times. So where do they get off calling that an “all-new” episode? Because it’s not. A lot of it’s old.

Am I the only one who worries about these things? Besides Jerry Seinfeld, I mean?

Probably.

God, I need a life.

Mushing on: One of the questions I continually get asked (which leads me to believe that either I didn’t discuss it, or I did but lots of people missed it or didn’t pay attention) is whether I pay attention to critiques and comments from the fans. They’re certainly unavoidable. They’re all over the place, in boards and folders and such.

The answer is, yes, I always pay attention. But how I react to that commentary varies depending upon the circumstances and my mood. Here are the various techniques I’ve used regarding fan comments.

Continue Reading “Reacting to Fan Reactions” →

Originally published March 3, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1372

Snail mail has trickled these days, most people choosing to communicate via e-mail. And because e-mail requires so little effort, some of them tend to be minimalist—letters that I call “What’cha thinks?” What’cha think of this or that. Understand: I’m not being disingenuous when I say that I’m not entirely sure why folks ask what I think. Perhaps they want to hear my opinion so that they use it to form an opposite opinion. In any event, herewith a scattering of recent “What’cha thinks…”

Continue Reading “What’cha think?” →

Originally published February 25, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1371

Two things…

I don’t know if other young fans have (or had) this problem, but when I was a kid, I couldn’t distinguish art styles. Take the old Marvel Superheroes cartoon. That was “animated” (if we dare use so drastic a word) by taking panels from various Marvel Comics and doing rapid zoom-ins, Dutch angles, and the occasional movement of one body part (Thor whirling his hammer, for instance.) But they had certain panels that were stock shots. Consequently, if they were doing an Iron Man story by, say, Don Heck, a Jack Kirby Iron Man or Gene Colan Iron Man might suddenly pop into the middle of the action. The thing is, it didn’t really register on me that the style had varied. Not only that, but in letters pages of comics when fans would comment on different artists’ styles, I could not for the life of me comprehend how anyone could just look at a page of art and be able to tell—just by looking at it—who had drawn it. Perhaps I simply wasn’t very… oh, what’s the word I’m looking for? Oh, yes. “Bright.” (Although at that time, I wasn’t actually reading Marvel comics. My dad wouldn’t let them in the house; he felt the characters were too ugly, and didn’t look sufficiently heroic. I tend to think that, sitting in front of printed pages, I would have picked up on Kirby versus Ditko. At least I’d like to think so.)

Gil Kane was the first artist whose style I actually noticed.

Continue Reading “Gil Kane and Previews” →

Originally published February 18, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1370

Ah well. Another fan bites the dust.

In the new issue of Young Justice, a fan who simply signs his letter “Creed” (address withheld) extols his long-standing appreciation of my writing, but then informs the editor, “After reading Young Justice #15, I was given a clearer picture of Mister David, one that I will not support. I do not support anyone who doesn’t understand ‘you don’t blame the car for the accident, you blame the driver.’ Gun control is not the answer. In the ’30s the German people gave up their guns so that the violence would decrease. In the ’40s lots of people died. ‘Never Again!’ Good Bye DC, and Good Bye Peter.”

Continue Reading “Young Justice #15 and Guns” →