Category: But I Digress…

Originally published August 4, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1394

“Must… control… fist of death…”

–“Dilbert”

Several years back I got an angry phone call from John Byrne, and for a refreshing change of pace, he wasn’t angry at me.

“Did you read Spawn #30?” he asked.

In Spawn #30, there were two members of the Ku Klux Klan, and their names were Peter and Johnny. Byrne was convinced that Todd McFarlane, Spawn creator, writer and erstwhile penciler, had dubbed the characters thusly for the purpose of taking a direct swipe at us. After all, Byrne and I had not marched in the preferred lockstep of approval for all things Image that the founders seemed to desire of the comic pro community. Byrne felt that it was nothing less than character assassination, was contemplating taking direct legal action, and wanted to know if I would be interested in joining him in such an endeavor.

Continue Reading “Twist vs. McFarlane, Part 1” →

Originally published July 28, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1393

I’ve written before about the fundamental lack of knowledge of, and interest in, the history of our little hobby. At the time that I was a young fan first discovering comics, and eagerly seeking out everything I could get my hands on, there were a number of tomes to be had. There were such works as The Great Comic Book Heroes by Jules Feiffer or Jim Steranko’s History of Comics and the essay collection All in Color for a Dime edited by Ðìçk Lupoff and Don Thompson.

But there is more than just the written history that presently exists. There is the living history of the comic and science fiction greats. And as anyone who has been keeping up with CBG, or with the industry, knows, we’ve been losing them. One by one, they’re gone, and if they didn’t write down their experiences in the forging of the industry or genre that we all love, then that’s it. It’s vapor mist. All those experiences, all that information, lost to us.

Continue Reading “Book review: Man of Two Worlds by Julie Schwartz” →

Originally published July 21, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1392

“Reviews,” I am told. This is to be the “All Review” issue, which is to given out at the San Diego Con. Okay. I’ll review everything that I’ve read or seen in the past few days, excluding television.

Continue Reading “Reviews of Stuff” →

Originally published July 14, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1391

“I want to decide who lives and who dies.”

–Crow T. Robot

It’s really coming true, isn’t it. From peek-a-boo websites to game shows where people screw up their courage to face Regis Philbin and try to land a million dollars (although, considering the tax cut, the show’s name should really be changed to, “So You Want To Be a Half-Millionaire?”) to—most hideously—the new shows that make such future-vision films as The Truman Show, EdTV, and Network seem short-sighted in comparison. After all, Truman was ultimately more parable than prediction: Man’s relation to his creator, with man deciding this time around to walk away from the Garden of Eden on his own, leaving an unnecessary God whining and begging for him to come back. And EdTV, a marvelously realized comedy that was unfortunately overshadowed by Truman, was nothing more than the story of a network formalizing what already exists on assorted websites—twenty four hour observations of one person’s life.

But shows such as Survivor and the forthcoming Big Brother take voyeurism and add something new to the mix: Cruelty.

Continue Reading “Reality TV” →

Originally published July 7, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1390

One of the best moments in Austin Powers is when Dr. Evil informs his son, Scott Evil, that he is about to place Austin in an “unnecessarily slow moving” death trap, which he will then not deign to watch. The reason is, of course, is that the hero is being given every opportunity to escape, as is standard in any action movie death-trap. An incredulous Scott, not able to wrap himself around the concept, keeps urging his evil father to keep it simple. “I’ll run upstairs, I’ll get my gun, it’ll take five seconds, we’ll shoot him, done. It’ll be fun!” Scott’s agitation grows as Dr. Evil consistently rejects the course of action which will unquestionably guarantee that Austin Powers will never bother him again.

Finally Dr. Evil looks sadly at his son and sighs, “Scott… you just don’t get it.”

He could just as easily have been talking about Archie Comics.

Continue Reading “Archie and the Lawyer Guys, part 2” →

Originally published June 30, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1389

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a guest column by superfan Vic Chalker. And it’s going to be a while longer. Instead we here at BID want to welcome to the fold Vic’s kid cousin, eleven year old Geoff Neubee. Geoff’s only been reading comics for a couple of years, but already has his older cousin’s unique perspective. Take it away, Geoff…

Continue Reading “Guest column: Vic Chalker’s cousin, Geoff Neubee” →

Originally published June 23, 2000, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1388

A couple of things…

* * *

Folks are asking me my opinion on the announcement about the cancellation of Aquaman. Perhaps they think I’ll take some sort of glee or satisfaction in the demise of a title that I left in such frustration over.

Continue Reading “Aquaman’s cancellation and Mission: Impossible 2” →