It's closed now but Music Theatre Wichita recently mounted a production of Hello, Dolly! which got rave reviews. Here's a video of the "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" number. Near the end, Dolly Levi makes a brief appearance…and guess what! Dolly was played in this production by my oft-mentioned-on-this-blog friend, Christine Pedi. I'm sure she was sensational in it…

And one of the reasons I'm so sure Christine was great in the show — apart from the fact that she's been great in every show in which I've seen her — is this video of her singing a number from the show while not onstage. I talked to her right after the show ended its run and she was still kvelling from how wonderful the experience and all her castmates were…

• FRIDAY •

Friday, July 24 – 11:00 AM to NOON at Booth 1216
me SIGNING STUFF
I'll be at the booth from Abrams ComicArts signing my recent book, The Essential Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz: The Greatest Comic Strip of All Tiime.

Friday, July 24 – 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
THE GROO PANEL
It's 75 percent of the crew that brings you the bumbling adventures of Groo the Wanderer, talking about what they do and why they do it. Stan Sakai talks about how he lettered this comic, and he may talk a little about the one-man show that is Usagi Yojimbo. Carrie Strachan discusses how she colors this comic. Mark Evanier explains whatever the heck he does on this comic to warrant his not being paid. And they may have to phone Groo creator Sergio Aragonés to clue Mark in.

Friday, July 24 – 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 10
FOCUS ON JENNY BLAKE ISABELLA
This year's in-person recipient of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing used to be known as Tony Isabella, famous for Black Lightning and many, many comics for Marvel (like The Champions, Tigra, Luke Cage, It, the Living Colossus, and more) and other publishers. These days, she's Jenny Blake, who tonight will be presented with an award she so richly deserves. For this hour, she will be interviewed about her life and times by her longtime friend, Mark Evanier (administrator of the Bill Finger Award).

Friday, July 24 – 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM in Room 10
TWO MARKS EXPLAIN EVERYTHING
If you want to know anything about comic books — how they're made, who did what, why your favorite comic was canceled, anything — this is the panel for you. If longtime comic book writers Mark Waid and Mark Evanier don't know it, there's a good chance no one does. Questions are welcome. And be prepared to learn the secrets behind the comics.

Friday, July 24 – 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO
Cartoonist Walt Kelly gave the world many great cartoons and characters, but the most enduring and beloved are the inhabitants of the Okefenokee Swamp — Pogo Possum, Albert the Alligator, Churchy LaFemme, and all the rest. Fantagraphics Books is now reprinting Pogo in its entirety, and Kelly's work will be discussed on this panel by Maggie Thompson, writer Paul Dini, cartoonist Jeff Smith (Bone), Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, and moderator Mark Evanier.

Georgi Mihailov writes to ask…

Why is it that Daws Butler, who almost everyone considers to be one of the best voice actors, is still sans a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? This is bizarre considering the fact that his contemporaries like Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet and June Foray already have one. Do you know why that is?

Yes, I know why that is. It's because no one with deep pockets has ever gotten behind such an effort. Once upon a time, those stars appeared because someone with a connection to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce suggested someone was deserving and others there agreed. Now, it involves a lot more politics and a lot more money. It doesn't just happen because someone is deserving.

First of all, someone has to nominate the person and this must be done during an announced window of opportunity. The time to nominate someone to get a star in 2027 has just passed. The nomination must be accompanied by a lot of paperwork and if the person is alive, there must be some commitment by them or their representative that the star will appear for the ceremony. In the case of a posthumous star, it is not specified in the rules but it's kinda understood that you have to guarantee that some famous, crowd-drawing celebrities will appear for the ceremony.

The nomination, in order to be considered, must be accompanied by a $275 application fee. I believe that with someone like Daws whose nomination is not time-sensitive, it is often necessary to submit them several times (and pay the fee several times) unless someone with some clout pushes for it. For example, if Steve Martin — to pick a celebrity at random — were to say, "I believe Daws Butler deserves a star and I'll show up for the ceremony," that might hurry things along.

And then once accepted, someone would have to pay the fee for the installation of the star and the unveiling ceremony. At the moment, that fee is $85,000 and it seems to be increased every few years.

Just who pays that fee is usually a secret but it's believed that some celebs actually pay for their own stars but most often, it's a promotional expense for some movie or TV show or CD that's coming out. Sally Superstar has a new movie coming out so the company behind it is going to spend a few million dollars promoting and advertising it.  Thus, someone decides to spend some of that money to get Sally a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Or when she signed to do it, she had her agent demand that as part of her compensation for doing the movie. And then they schedule the installation ceremony to coincide with the film's release.

So as you can see, that process would not cause a star for Daws to miraculously appear.

I believe Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet got their stars back at a time when the process was simpler and cheaper and the idea that someone deserved the honor had more bearing on it. Stan Freberg got his when Capitol Records — the company releasing his records — had a lot of influence with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

I attended the star ceremony for June Foray and I happen to know the story behind it. Warner Brothers — or whatever the company was called then — wanted Chuck Jones to do some things for them. Chuck made it a condition of his agreeance that they'd use their clout and pocketbook to get June a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and they did. It also helped that June was alive then, willing (make that "eager") to attend the ceremony and they got Freberg, Steve Allen and some other folks to agree to attend. (That's me in the above photo, back when I had more hair and body mass.  Leonard Maltin took the photo of us that day at the ceremony and then I took one of him with Steve and Stan.)

The cost of a star then was more like $30,000 and Warner gladly paid it to make Chuck and June happy. I would imagine they also paid for Bob Kane's star a few years ago.

Daws Butler was a terrific talent and one of the nicest, most wonderful human beings it has ever been my privilege to know. He absolutely deserves that honor as do Paul Frees, Don Messick and a dozen others we could all name. I don't expect it to ever happen.

Oh — and I explained all this at least once before on this blog but it felt like a good time to do it again. I'll explain it again in a few years when the price of a star will be over $100,000.

• THURSDAY •

Thursday, July 23 – 10 AM to 11 AM in Room 9
ANIMATION HISTORY WITH JERRY AND MARK
This panel features two guys who know a lot about cartoons answering questions from the audience about cartoons. Jerry Beck is one of the foremost experts on animation history, and he even teaches classes about it. Mark Evanier has seen a lot of cartoons, written a lot of cartoons, and worked in the industry for 50 years. Bring your questions, and they'll give you answers, maybe even the right ones.

Thursday, July 23 – 11AM to NOON in Room 9
TALES FROM MY SPINNER RACK LIVE
In 1975, after five incredibly creative — and frustrating — years at DC, writer-artist Jack Kirby returned to Marvel. Over the next few years, he would create titles such as The Eternals and Devil Dinosaur, while also working on Captain America and Black Panther, two characters he co-created. This is the beginning of the final years of the King of Comics' 50+ year career, which also saw him work in animation in Hollywood and introduce brand-new characters for companies like Pacific Comics and Topps. Moderator Gary Sassaman (former director of programming and publications for Comic-Con) talks to Kirby experts Mark Evanier (author, Kirby: King of Comics) and John Morrow (editor-publisher, Jack Kirby Collector) about the final years of the King, including details on Morrow's new book, Marvelmation: Jack Kirby's Final Act in Comics & Animation. Free Tales from My Spinner Rack! bookmark and set of collector's cards to the first 100 attendees.

Thursday, July 23 – NOON to 1 PM in Room 9
GREAT CARTOONISTS AND COMEDIANS WE HAVE KNOWN
Film expert Leonard Maltin and writer Mark Evanier have thousands of years of showbiz between them and have met, and sometimes even worked with, some of the cleverest, funniest men and women. They share their experiences with people like Groucho Marx, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and as many others as they can squeeze into the time they have.

Thursday, July 23 – 1 PM to 2 PM in Room 9
GOOD GRIEF!  THE ENDURING LEGACY OF PEANUTS
An all-star panel of Peanuts experts, historians, and editors celebrates Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the enduring legacy of Charles M. Schulz's beloved comic strip. Mark Evanier (The Essential Peanuts), Chip Kidd (Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts), and Charles Kochman (editor-in-chief of Abrams ComicArts) explore the past, present, and future of Peanuts, from classic comics and publishing projects to the characters' lasting impact on popular culture, with video and images from the archives. Moderated by Alexis E. Fajardo (editorial director at the Charles M. Schulz Studio). Plus, be among the first to hear a special Peanuts announcement.

This is from some group called The Gypsy Guitar Academy…

For some reason, I've recently received a lot of questions about the digest-sized comics that Western Publishing Company once published under its Gold Key logo.  Most of those questions can be answered in this post from back in 2003 that I've already rerun once before here.  If I was writing it today, I would make more of the success that the Archie company has had over the years with their digest line. I'm told it kept that company alive for a long time and the fact that it no longer works as well as it once did is why they're floundering about, trying stunts to refurbish a very old, outta-date property.

I would also include a remark I once heard from Jack Kirby. Jack liked things big. He liked big comics and big panels and big scenes and big concepts. When DC started their "super-size" lines of comics with a larger-than-usual page size, he was thrilled with the concept…and disappointed that they started by filling them with reprints of old comics, thereby not taking advantage of that bigger canvas.

Anyway, one time Jack looked at a Gold Key Digest and he said, speaking just of the page size, "That's a terrible thing to do to comics." He wasn't wrong but I still find something fun about those books.

Back in the sixties, Western Publishing Company (Gold Key Comics) began to have increasing problems getting their comics distributed. All the publishers were having this problem but it was most acute for Western. DC and Charlton owned their own distribution companies so they were able to push a little harder and at least they were paying their distribution fees to themselves. Marvel was distributed by DC until they jumped to a company owned by the same conglomerate that owned Marvel. The other companies, like Archie and Harvey, were hurt…but they (like DC and Marvel) were largely using their comic book publishing as a loss leader for the merchandising of the properties depicted in their comics. DC didn't consider it fatal when sales on the Batman comic went down since they were making money off Batman t-shirts and games and spatulas and such.

Western, however, did not control their own distribution, nor did they make any money off the merchandising of most of the characters in their comics. They had the Disney properties, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, etc. — all properties owned by others. The few comics Western did own did not yield any real licensing money.

So they began hustling to find a way to sell comics in other venues — bookstores, toy stores, anywhere. They explored other forms of distribution and to this end began experimenting with different sizes and shapes of comics. Long before anyone at DC or Marvel was ready to break from the conventional funny book format, Western tried oversize comics, paperback comics, comics bundled in plastic bags and a few other ideas. Some received limited test marketings or never made it that far. Others came out and were widely ignored. The one thing that did well for a time was the digest comic — a little paperback about 6 and 3/4" tall with (usually) a little under 200 pages. Today, the Archie people have done quite well with their digests and the rumor is that other companies are gearing up to try them — especially for "funny" comics, whose less-detailed pages suffer less when reduced in size.

I don't believe this format will ever catch on big. Archie's success with it has largely been a matter of skillful (and expensive) marketing. They've managed to get excellent display in airports and at supermarket checkout counters. It often costs a lot of money to get your wares into those locations…which can accept very limited amounts of product. I also think there's a fundamental problem with the format in that its very size makes comics look cheap and unimportant.

One thing that some publishers seem to have missed is a lesson that Western learned when they were the only publisher doing them. When the digests were successful, they were only successful in stores that were completely isolated from regular-size comics. If a store had both sizes, no one bought the digests. If a store didn't carry regular-size comics but the one across the street did, no one bought the digests. I forget the actual sales numbers I was shown but it was something like this: When no regular-sized comics could be purchased nearby, a store that carried the digests might expect a 75% sale, which was very good. If the same store had regular comics, the digests would sell 10%. Therefore, Western was in the odd position of trying very hard not to distribute one of their products to some outlets. This they did until the digests died out in the early-seventies — about the time DC and Marvel were both enjoying some success with larger-than-normal comics. Western's distribution was crashing anyway by then but I've often wondered if the appearance of the tabloid "super-size" comics made the digests just look so puny that they helped finish them off.

My friend Gary Sassaman shares some tales of his early days in comic book fandom and convention-attending, and also tells the story of how he almost had work in a Marvel comic…

Gary is hosting a panel at Comic-Con all about Jack Kirby's return to Marvel in 1975 after he made the painful decision that he'd be better off there than remaining at DC. John Morrow, publisher of The Jack Kirby Collector, and I will be joining Gary. It's Thursday, July 23 in Room 9 at 11 AM.

The man got his wish…

Comic-Con International begins with a Preview Night on Wednesday, July 22 and continues until 5 PM on Sunday, July 26. Here are some things you should know…

• The con is sold out and has been since about 45 minutes after tickets went on sale long ago. There are folks selling them on scalper websites but there's a good chance those badges are bogus and will not be honored at the door. Even if they are real, badges are supposed to be non-transferrable so don't take the chance.
• The only completely Kosher way to buy a badge for this con is to purchase a "Legend" membership for the Comic-Con Museum. You can do that here but I'll save you the click and the sticker shock by telling you that it costs $1900.00. For nineteen hundred bucks, you could probably get me to come to your house and host panels in your backyard.

• For the days of the con, the National Weather Service is predicting it'll be 76° during the days and 67° at night.
• The schedule of panels and other such events will be posted online later this week. The schedule for Thursday will be posted this Thursday, the schedule for Friday will be posted this Friday, etc. I seriously suggest that if you're attending and you're at all interested in attending panels, you study that schedule carefully and make a note of what you want to see. And you might also pick out second choices in case your first choice is so popular that all the seats fill up early.
• I don't know anything about parking except that some people have found that it's cost-effective to find a parking space a few miles away and Uber or Lyft to the convention. The San Diego Trolley Line may also be able to get you there and back from wherever you left your car.
• Don't be surprised at what some people will want to charge you for an autograph.
• And lastly for now: Take it easy.  Don't try to see everything.  Hydrate, which might mean bringing along a water bottle.  Plan ahead where you're going to eat.  Bring more money than you think you'll need but not so much more that you'll be mad at yourself for having spent it.  Wear the most comfortable shoes you own.  And remember that if you go out onto a back terrace of the convention center, there's a lovely marina out there with water and fresh, not-airconditioned air accompanied by a little peace 'n' quiet.  Take advantage of that.

Robert Forman wrote to ask me the following question — but first, some background: Vince Sullivan was the editor at what we now know as DC Comics. Bob Kane was one of the freelancers doing comic book stories for him. Here's what Mr. Forman wants to know…

I'm familiar with the Vincent Sullivan/Bob Kane Batman origin story and I have a question that I've always wondered about it. So Sullivan tells Kane something like "Hey, this new Superman character is doing great. We could use more like it." I take it that Kane was either familiar with Superman or familiarized himself with the character before trying to create a new character like Superman.

So why did Kane give Sullivan a non-super character? I mean, other people came up with characters with some sort of "power" like speed or had a "power ring," etc. Why did Kane give him a character that had more in common with The Green Hornet or the Crimson Avenger? Why not give his Batman something like a bat's "radar power" or something like that? Was this something Kane ever addressed?

The trouble with getting an explanation from something Bob Kane said is that Bob Kane said it…along with many things that weren't always true. When I was in my teens, I sat with Bob for an hour or two as he downed several glasses of vodka and told me all sorts of stories about his life and his career and what he did and what he didn't do. One of them was a long story about him having sex with Marilyn Monroe. I would believe that there really was a Batman before I'd believe Bob's story about Marilyn Monroe.

But I think the answer to your question is pretty obvious: Sullivan wanted a costumed hero who did extraordinary things. The extraordinary heroes with which Bob was familiar back then were The Green Hornet or The Shadow or Zorro or The Phantom. And Superman wasn't that "super" in his early stories. I interviewed Vince Sullivan at Comic-Con back in, I believe, 1993. I don't recall him saying he wanted a character that had unearthly powers. I think he just wanted one as colorful and able to do amazing things.

So Bob thought about all those inspirations and came up with Batman in some form.  Then he huddled with Bill Finger (probably the brains of the operation) and they thought about all those popular, heroic heroes from the pulps, radio, movie serials and comic strips of the day and, lo, there was the primal Batman. Most comic book characters didn't get power rings or radar powers until later.

At least, I'd assume that's what happened.  It's also possible they knew that the new character, if accepted, would wind up in Detective Comics. and felt a science-fiction element wouldn't fit into that book.  But you know what's not possible?  That story about Bob and Marilyn Monroe. How can you ever trust anyone who'd tell you something like that?

Cynthia Lin and her All-Ukulele Band…

Kevin Greenlee wrote to ask…

Charles Schulz famously said that if you read enough of his work you would have a pretty good idea of what he was like as a person. Do you feel the same applies to your own work? If someone wanted to get an understanding of you, what pieces of writing (scripts, articles or books) would you suggest they read?

I would suggest they read this blog, especially the pieces where I tell some story from my past. And I would suggest they not assume anything I put into a work of fiction is particularly autobiographical, especially if it's a story which doesn't have my name in the copyright line.

In fact, this blog was kind of an extension of a weekly column I wrote for a newspaper called The Comics Buyers Guide and I started that column, in part, because I felt there was too little of me in what I was writing. (A lot of those columns are on this blog, reachable from this page. Keep in mind that some of those columns are, like, thirty years old so my views and understandings may have changed. This also applies to same past posts on this site.)

Personally, I've found that what Mr. Schulz said is rarely true. I've met a lot of people who I knew first from their writing and then been quite surprised by the person in person. I'm not sure it even applied to Charles Schulz. At best, you may be able to see some common ground between the writer and writing that is not explicitly autobiographical..but not much. At least, that's been my experience. I did once write a comic book story about someone who hated cole slaw but that character was a bear and I'm not one of those.

This is a group called The Heavytones and here they give the Heavytone treatment to the theme song from a TV series I once (briefly) wrote for…

The American version of the game show Deal or No Deal debuted on NBC on December 19, 2005 and was a pretty big hit, sometimes airing twice a week and offering all sorts of special episodes and gimmicks. When you have a hit like that, someone's going to copy it and, sure enough, there were a lot of big money prime-time game shows soon, some of which didn't last too long. The one that was closest to the template of Deal or No Deal was probably Show Me The Money, hosted awkwardly by William Shatner. Every time I see Mr. Shatner in anything, I'm reminded of a line directed at Sammy Davis Jr. in one of those Dean Martin roasts. I forget who said it but I remember the line. It was, "You know, Sammy, you're allowed to turn things down."

Show Me The Money debuted on ABC on November 14, 2006. They made seven episodes but ABC only aired five of them, the last of which was broadcast on December 13, 2006. You weren't watching and neither was anyone else.

Why didn't it go? Well, Shatner's discomfort in the role of Game Show Host was probably a reason but I think, first of all, America was getting tired of shows that looked like this. Secondly, I think the game itself was kind of forced and clumsy and it got buried under all the pizazz and neon and an audience that was programmed to love every second of everything that happened on that stage.

You can see that in the episode below. You can also count all the ways it was trying to be like Deal or No Deal…

The following intrigues me: On most game shows, the release that contestants sign has a clause that says, in essence, that you don't receive the prizes if the show doesn't air. This goes back to the time when the prizes were all furnished to some extent in exchange for the on-air plugs. I knew someone who, on tape day, won big on the 1975 revival of You Don't Say! with Tom Kennedy. He was ecstatic but the program was abruptly canceled and the last week or two — including his episode — never aired and he didn't receive his winnings.

The last two episodes taped of Show Me The Money! didn't air on ABC. Game Show Network picked up the rights to air all seven episodes but — well, here: I'll let you read for yourself what Wikipedia says about it…

The first episode aired [on GSN] on June 12, 2007, and the second episode aired on June 19, 2007. However, on June 26, 2007, GSN replaced the series with an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It is known that GSN pulled the show due to bad ratings for the first two weeks and it was replaced by Dog Eat Dog on the Tuesday nights for the remainder of July 2007. There is no indication that GSN will air the show again, thus the two episodes not broadcast by ABC remain unaired.

GSN's webpage for the show included a photo from one of the two unaired episodes. The photo depicted Bob Glouberman, the contestant whose game was in progress at the end of the last episode aired by ABC, and a winnings total of $890,000 displayed on the scoreboard. Glouberman completed his game with that total in his bank and was paid, even though the episode showing his victory never aired on ABC.

So I'm wondering if the last two episodes didn't air because it wouldn't have been cost-effective if they had to pay some big winner who was not seen, as Mr. Glouberman was, in the shows that did air on ABC. I know a few game show experts who follow this site. Maybe one of them knows.

And I can just imagine how awful it would be to win a six-figures amount — what they call "life-changing money" — on a game show, then find out weeks later that you weren't getting it. That fellow I knew who didn't get the money from You Don't Say! charged a lot of purchases he thought he could afford before he found out that he couldn't.

Jimmy Kimmel picks some favorite David Letterman moments. What's interesting about his selections is that Letterman was on TV most nights for 33 years and the bits Kimmel chose are all from his first year or so and not at all indicative of what Dave did for the last three decades of those 33 years. They're also bits that may reflect the talents of Merrill Markoe and the writers more than of Dave…