Category: 1

That creators shouldn’t get worked up over Internet piracy because, hey, it enables people to sample the work and, by gosh, they will start buying it. And you’ll find plenty of people who will attest to doing just that.

But then there’s the guy who J.K. Woodward–sitting at the adjacent table right now at the Wildpig convention in New Jersey–told me about, who came up to him at the New York Comic Con. The fan was waxing effusively about J.K.’s work on FALLEN ANGEL, and how much he enjoyed his work…and then felt constrained to add, “I don’t actually buy it. I download it. But it’s great!”

You wonder how someone can be that clueless. Well, it’s easy: the massive sense of entitlement amongst some Internet denizens. People who would never think of shoplifting a comic book from a store do not hesitate to take advantage of stolen goods. Why should they feel any kind of shame when it does not occur to them that they are screwing the publisher and creators out of money? They cannot distinguish between, say, free online content provided by newspapers and pirate sites where they can browse through illegal downloads.

And it’s only going to get worse. Because the current generation of users has witnessed the rise of pirate sites and makes use of them without the slightest intention of providing remuneration for the creators, rationalizing it all the way. The next generation is going to grow up with theft as the norm. No excuses necessary. And if you don’t think that’s going to have a long-term negative impact on publishing, you are quite simply kidding yourself.

Because for every nimrod who’s shameless enough to tell creators point blank, “I love getting your work for free,” I’ll wager there’s plenty who are doing the same thing and just keeping their mouths shut. Because they know what they’re doing is wrong. And they do it anyway.

PAD

“What’s the best superhero” film ever made is a question endlessly debated with no concrete answer. There’s too many subcategories. You want fealty to the spirit of the source material? “Spider-Man.” You want the best performance of an iconic hero? Chris Reeves’ “Superman.” Comic strips? “The Phantom.” Most street cred with the Academy? “Dark Knight.” And so on.

But for pure fangasm…for a comic book superhero film that will not leave a dry seat in the house (metaphorically, one hopes)…you simply cannot beat “The Avengers.”

Continue Reading “The Best Comics Fangasm Movie Ever (Pretty much spoiler free)” →

Been a busy week.

Flew up to Montreal on Monday and then, in a rental car, drove up to Quebec City to do work on a video game. The weather appears to have declared war. The entire drive up to QC it rained, except when it sleeted. Once in QC, whenever I was indoors, the weather was fine; when I set foot outside it started to rain.

Then I drove back down to Montreal on Wednesday afternoon, this time with only intermittent spitting from the skies. Thursday morning the weather I remained indoors so that the weather was clear and flew to Calgary, my current location, attending the Calgary Expo, which seems very well run and organized.

Friday went very well. Met a lot of enthusiastic fans, sold a ton of stuff (guess Canadians have spending money because they don’t have to worry about paying for health care; lucky devils). Had a lengthy chat with Ty Templeton about the fabled golden age hero, Hoverboy. Been trying to take it easy, but this morning I woke up at 4:30 and haven’t been able to fall back to sleep. So here we all are.

PAD

Isn’t that kind of like Hamas accusing the U.S. of launching a war on Israel?

PAD

That’s what we more or less attended at Carnegie Hall yesterday.

It was a celebration of the music of the Muppets (and by extension of the life of Jim Henson) with puppeteer John Tartaglia as the MC. And the Muppeteers were there, performing in as low-tech an environment as you can imagine: They had black drapes erected on railings on either side of the stage, about five feet high, and the Muppeteers (dressed in black) would enter in a crouch from either wing, put the Muppets on their hands, and then have them appear over the top of the railing. It was on par with what you’d see during a puppet show mounted at your local library. Personally I thought it was marvelous because it really got the Muppets back to their roots, which was perfect for something celebrating the artistry of Henson (whom Kermit referred to as “my right hand man.”) Kermit, Fozzie, Piggy, the whole gang was there. They even had Statler and Woldorf heckling from one of the balconies. And Kath was teary eyed for a good chunk of it, particularly when Paul Williams was performing “The Rainbow Connection” with Kermit.

PAD

I received an email from the State Department yesterday that a July book fair in Lima, Peru, asked specifically for me as a guest to come out and talk about comic books and graphic novels. I figure it’s either a great honor or else an incredibly elaborate practical joke or kidnapping plot.

I figure I’ll go. When the State Department says a whole city asked for you to come out, I don’t see how you say no.

PAD

The moment when I release a bowling ball, with a full rack of pins at the other end, there are many variations as to what could happen. However, particularly in a close game–where simply getting a spare isn’t going to get it done–it really comes down to only two possibilities:

Either the ball will strike. Or the ball will not strike.

But it occurs to me that, at the moment of release, the ball has both struck and not struck. Both possibilities exist simultaneously.

I call it Schrodinger’s Balls.

PAD