I’ve been gone for almost two weeks. First to LA for business meetings and Comikaze and now in Mexico City for La Mole convention. It’s been great and all, but I sorely miss my family.
PAD
Year: 2014
We Regret the Error
Originally published November 23, 2001, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1462
Assorted things…
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When one does a column of this nature, week in, week out, it is inevitable that little inaccuracies are going to slip in. Since we like to keep things above board here at But I Digress, it behooves us to correct some mistakes that have slipped through. Granted, I do have a crack research staff, but since—as per their field of interest—they spend most of their time on crack, naturally they’re of very limited help. So it falls to me to make things right.
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Originally published November 16, 2001, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1461
I’m not a nice guy.
You have to understand that up front. There’s this perception among many that I’m a nice guy, but I’m really, really not.
I like to think I’m a good guy. Decent, moral. A loyal guy. I try my best to treat people well. I think I can be fairly entertaining, usually polite. Convivial, except at parties, where I usually tend to retreat to a corner and wonder how long I should stay before it would be acceptable for me to bolt. I try to be a good husband, good father, good friend, and I think I succeed more often than I fail, although I do have my failures, to be certain.
But I’m not a nice guy.
The Three High-Verbals, Part 2
Originally published November 9, 2001, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1460
So after I had completed my fifteen minutes of fame at MIT and Harlan had done his forty-five—which seemed proportionate, somehow—Neil came out and did this own chat with the group, far closer to my time than Harlan’s. Speaking in that calming and urbane fake British accent he puts on, the highlight of Neil’s time (as far as I was concerned) was a charming poem he’d written for his youngest daughter called “Crazy Hair” (i.e., the poem, not the child, is called “Crazy Hair.”) After that, Neil took his seat, at which point the dogs of war were unleashed.
The PHANTOM ships this week
In case you haven’t heard–and I suspect that’s the case for many of you–I’m writing a six-issue PHANTOM limited series for Hermes Press. First issue ships this week.
I suspect many stores aren’t intending to carry it because it’s off the Marvel/DC trail, so I would strongly suggest that if you’re interested, PLEASE order it in advance.
For years fans have asked what my ideal series was and I always said “The Phantom vs. Tarzan.” That is essentially the story that I have written. Is Tarzan actually in it? Not exactly, but it’s still mostly the same tale that I’ve been planning for years, so for heaven’s sake, don’t “I’ll trade paperback it” this time around. It’s a small press and needs all the support that fans can provide. Plus Sal Velluto has done wonderful artwork on it.
So please pick it up.
PAD
The Three High-Verbals, Part 1
Originally published November 2, 2001, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1459
“It’s gonna be great!” said Harlan Ellison, which is usually enough to set off warning bells in my head.
The new great thing that Ellison had masterminded was to be my introduction to, quite simply, the big time. The Big Stage. The Rilly Big Shoo, as Ed Sullivan used to say. Ellison had put together an evening of debate, discussion, and mishugas at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The concept was that Ellison, Neil Gaiman and I would take the stage as—in the spirit of the Three Tenors—the Three High-Verbals.
TV review: Smallville series premiere
Originally published October 26, 2001, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1458
Television being a spectacularly imitative medium, producers like to present new shows in ways that will evoke something else which has been successful. One also wants to have as many recognizable elements as possible in order to prompt more people to watch the show.
And it was decided that Superman remains a consistently popular and attractive character (except when Nicholas Cage is slated to play him) and furthermore that Superboy may well appeal to a youthful audience. Not to a juvenile audience, as the previous half hour Superboy series did, but rather that desirable, hotly coveted eighteen-to-twenty four demographic that apparently has money to spare and sets many of the trends for the rest of us.
One can almost see the light bulb flashing over the producers’ heads as they considered a series about Superman’s early years, and came up with the perfect pitch: Kal-El’s Creek.
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