Year: 2014

Originally published May 5, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1381

Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

It’s a term I learned many years ago. What it means is that one is so busy minding every nickel and dime, that one forgets to see the big picture (if one was ever aware that it was there in the first place.)

Once upon a time, Marvel Comics was called “the House of Ideas.” Then everyone started calling it the “Condo of Concepts” (well… I know I did.) Somewhere along the way, the Powers That Be, the Executives, Those Who Watch the Dimes, turned it into a studio, and I don’t mean in the movie sense. A studio as in a studio apartment or an efficiency. The popular slogan of “Make Mine Marvel” has been replaced by “Make Mine Cheaply.”

And it has cost them. Good God, how it has cost them.

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Originally published April 28, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1380

This past weekend was I-Con 19, the nineteenth science fiction convention held at the University of Stonybrook in beautiful Long Island. When I first started attending the con back in its earliest days, one small building housed the entire thing. The entirety of the dealer’s room took up exactly one medium-sized classroom. Now the dealer’s room requires the entirety of the gargantuan athletic center, and programming is spread out among three buildings. It’s easily the largest annual convention in the tri-state area, and possibly in the East Coast (although I’m not sure where the attendance figures compare to Dragon*Con.) The downside of “Schlep Con,” as I sometimes refer to it, is that because everything is so spread out it can be, well… something of a schlep.

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Originally published April 21, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1379

“Things were better the way they used to be.”

“Why can’t they leave well enough alone?”

“Why do they have to change everything?”

I’ve been reading that a lot lately in relation to comics… and in relation to me and my humble endeavors. I’ve read it everywhere from message boards to internet columns.

Continue Reading “Ch-Ch-Changes” →

Originally published April 7, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1377

As I mentioned last week, the noble But I Digress readers were instrumental in helping select the episodes of The Incredible Hulk TV series for the Columbia House “Best of” tape collection. Herewith the rest of the selections that made the cut.

Continue Reading “Best of The Incredible Hulk TV show, part 2” →

Originally published March 31, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1376

Again, we’re falling into the realm of short-term memory problems, but it suddenly occurs to me (hopefully accurately) that I never followed up on the open request for favorite episodes of the Hulk that I gave to you, the readers.

If you’ll recall, some time back Columbia House video approached me. The reason: They wanted me to oversee the selection of a “Best of” collection for the old Incredible Hulk TV series. Now I’ve seen a number of “Best of” tapes for other TV series and always thought the same thing you probably did: “Gee, I wish they’d asked me.” So I took the opportunity to do exactly that by offering to hear whatever input you folks wanted to offer. The final list was a combination of some Columbia House mandates (such as the pilot), reader input, plus my own preferences. Since the set provides two episodes to a tape, I tried to provide episodes with some sort of thematic link. For instance, I linked “747” with “My Favorite Magician” on the same tape—even though “Magician” wasn’t a large vote-getter—because both of them featured former co-stars of Bill Bixby (Brandon Cruz of The Courtship of Eddie’s Father and Ray Walston from My Favorite Martian. Not to mention that the title itself was a reference to Bixby’s unfortunately short-lived series, The Magician.)

So for all of you who are interested, herewith a list of the “Best of The Incredible Hulk.” I didn’t incorporate every single preference of any one reader, but there was such a consensus on so many of the episodes that, for the most part, I think I did hit a majority of everyone’s wish list.

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Originally published March 24, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1375

I’ve been doing this column for nigh unto a decade now, and I’ve come to the startling realization that I’ve been going about it all wrong.

What I write doesn’t matter. What people think I’ve written, that’s the important thing.

Continue Reading “Giving fans something to complain about” →