Category: But I Digress…

What the Dickens?

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published January 22, 1993, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1001

Well, I’ve just had the pleasure of seeing noted actor Patrick Stewart performing one of the best pieces of science fiction I’ve ever seen.

Not Star Trek: The Next Generation, of course. No, most episodes are little more than wastes of Stewart’s time and talent. No, I’m talking about that science fiction classic that has been part of world literature since the middle of last century. Yes, that’s right: A Christmas Carol by master science fiction writer Charles Dickens.

What’s that you’re saying? A Christmas Carol is not science fiction? It wouldn’t make anyone’s list of top 10 SF stories?

I don’t see why not.

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Things to Come

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published January 15, 1993, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1000

(As a bold experiment here at BID, we have decided to withhold the column intended for the 1000th issue of CBG and instead go straight to the column for the 2000th issue of CBG–which, by our rough calculation, will see print some time in the year 2012. Once we actually get to 2012, we will then run the column originally slated for the 1000th issue–currently in a time capsule buried in the back yard–to serve as a testimony to the current state of affairs.)

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Ask the Self-Proclaimed Experts

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

digresssmlOriginally published January 8, 1993, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #999

It would seem that the pages of Comics Buyer’s Guide Price Guide will be carrying a new column–or rather, a revival of an old one from Comic Collector–called Ask the Experts, in which fans will be invited to write in questions that will be answered by pros in the industry. The esteemed Don and Maggie asked if I would be interested in contributing to it, with the first question being “What is a day in a writer’s life like?”–which had previously been answered by Marv Wolfman. (The Marvelous One’s example was sent along.)

Now I figure, what the heck, I’ll probably participate. I mean, heck, I’d donate a kidney if Don and Maggie asked me to (not one of my kidneys, mind you).

But it occurs to us here in the skyscraper headquarters of But I Digress that experts’ answers frequently pale compared to the thousands of experts out there in the world of comics.

Yes, I’m talking about those authorities who wander through comic stores or conventions or letters columns, giving the latest inside information that they swear is absolutely true. Undeterred by facts, they cite mysterious sources and claim full knowledge of the innermost workings of every aspect of the comics world.

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