Originally published November 30, 2001, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1463

Remember when the Hulk was inarticulate, and his alter ego had the first name of David, and a fall from a helicopter could kill him instead of simply resulting in a Hulk-shaped dent on whatever piece of ground he landed upon?

Remember when Doctor Strange’s mentor, instead of a venerable Asian named the Ancient One, was an affable British guy named John Lindmer?

Remember when Captain America had a clear plastic shield that doubled as a windshield for his motorcycle? Or that other time when he fought the Red Skull, who was Italian instead of a Nazi?

Remember that glorious period when Don Blake was able to summon the spirit of Thor, who was not a god, but instead a Viking warrior with attitude who bore a resemblance to nothing so much as a biker? And Blake would stand there and argue with Thor about how obnoxious he was being and how little he understood the Twentieth Century?

Remember when the Kingpin had a full head of hair, and Daredevil wore a black costume with a blindfold and no horns? Remember when the Punisher had no costume?

Weren’t those fun times?

It was all during the Hollywoodization of Marvel Comics, and it was a time that drove true believers absolutely stark-staring nuts.

Continue Reading “The Hollywoodization of Marvel Comics” →

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.

Continue Reading “We Regret the Error” →

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.

Continue Reading “No More Mr. Nice Guy” →

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.

Continue Reading “The Three High-Verbals, Part 2” →