Monthly Archives: November 2006

Michael Kinsley (him again) on the Baker Commission that's supposed to recommend a way to deal with the mess that is Iraq.

This article by Michael Kinsley, demanding that "neocons" apologize for shoving us into the war in Iraq, will probably infuriate many. But I think he's right that many who championed the cause owe the nation a better explanation of what went wrong.

As we all know, the cutest thing on the planet — cuter even than me in the shirt I bought at Costco last Friday — is baby pandas. Nothing cuter. Let's start our week off right with a minute or so of looking at baby pandas…

Every so often, I like to link to an article that gets things completely wrong and this piece by Andrew Sullivan may be one such article. It's one of these psychological profiles of an elected official written by someone who doesn't know the guy at all and is extrapolating all sorts of things about him from a few public utterances and deeds. Sullivan also isn't a psychologist but that's okay. Those who've studied in that area tend to make even wilder assumptions when they do a long-distance diagnosis of a stranger. They're all kind of like Bill Frist discussing Terri Schiavo.

Note that I'm not saying Sullivan is wrong. I'm saying he may be wrong. The guy is guessing from afar, speculating on what's going on in George W. Bush's mind based on very little evidence. I'm not sure people who work with G.W.B. every day are qualified to make some of these deductions but a guy who's never met him certainly isn't. I didn't think these psychiatric explorations had any worth when they were about Bill Clinton (nearly all were sure he'd divorce Hillary as soon as he was out of office) and I don't think the ones about Bush have any value, either.

Actually, they're going to bring down (i.e., implode) The House but first, people have to buy what was in it. The Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas will be demolished some time next year but right now, they're auctioning off its contents. You might be interested in browsing the catalog of what's going on the block; not that you're likely to rush out and bid on an old Keno display board or some carpeting that Sinatra once spilled scotch on, but it's fascinating how much stuff they have to sell. Here's a peek at the first lot and you can find your way from there to others. (The item depicted above is identified as "hippie-style Blackjack table." You have to wonder if the guy who designed it thought it would be a great way to win peoples' drug money away from them.)

For years, I have quarrelled with Norton Anti-Virus on my PC. I suppose it does its job okay in terms of protecting me from evil viruses but it's an intrusive program that often seems to be hogging memory and slowing down others. It also has a teeth-gnashing tendency to go kablooey every now and then for no visible reason…and don't even try to get Tech Support online or, if you're a mad and impetuous dreamer, via phone. General rule of thumb: If you have Norton and something goes wrong, uninstall the program and reinstall it from scratch. It's a pain but that seems to be the only thing that works…and if that doesn't, try this: Uninstall it not the normal way but with a piece of software called the Norton Removal Tool (or something of the sort…you can Google and find it) and then reinstall. Or better still, uninstall it and keep it uninstalled forever and switch virus programs.

Which is what I finally did after way too many crashes and problems. I am now up and running — on the advice of Bill Goldstein, my tech support wizard — with AVG and it's doing the job well. Matter of fact, their AVG Malware package is both virus checker and spyware scanner, rolled into one. The spyware component was formerly known as Ewido, and it was one of the best. No spyware checker will catch everything so if you're anal about this kind of thing, you need to run a couple. (I rotate Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, Super Anti-Spyware and A Squared. Each flags things the others don't, owing to different criteria of what constitutes "spyware.") But the AVG version is almost all you need.

There is a free AVG and a pay AVG. I sprung for the pay AVG and so far (one week), I'm very happy with it. For whatever that's worth.

Bullwinkle selling Cheerios. That's Bill Scott as the voice of the moose with June Foray as Rocket J. Squirrel ("Rocky" to you) providing the introduction. You know where to click.

Add another 2007 convention to the roster of conventions that have had the questionable judgment to invite me as a Guest of Honor. The Anthrocon isn't strictly a comic convention — it covers "funny animals" in all media — but I hear it's a great event and, heck, I've never been to Pittsburgh on a July 4th weekend, even one that runs July 5-8. Come to think of it, I've never been to Pittsburgh at all. That alone should be interesting.

The New York Times has a nice profile up of Dark Horse Comics, which is the third largest publisher of comic books…an especially impressive achievement when one considers that the firm is privately owned and not part of some massive conglomerate. The article mentions a number of reasons why important creative talents — and even some lesser lights like Yours Truly — like working with Dark Horse. A biggie, of course, is that you generally feel like you're working with them, not for them.

I'll add another: One-stop shopping. It's something a lot more companies, and not just purveyors of funnybooks, should practice. And by that term, I mean that there's someone in charge with the power to give a Yes or No that actually means something. I've worked with (or for) a number of companies where you can go to the person ostensibly in charge of determining what projects they do and you can say, "Here's an idea that I'd like to write," and it almost doesn't matter what the response is because it still has to be referred to committee and kicked around and put on an agenda to be discussed at next summer's planning conference after it's run past the marketing department…and on to oblivion.

I have literally had cases where there was some comic that I proposed and it won approval from every single person who theoretically had to approve, all the way up to the top…and it still didn't happen. Everyone said Yes but then red tape and buck-passing and I-don't-know-what-else caused it to be delayed or simply not scheduled or something.

Quite maddening. There have been times when they said Yes and in hindsight, I would have been much better off with them saying No. Because we would have gotten to the same place via the No, only quicker and with a lot fewer meetings and phone calls…plus, of course, a No frees you up to take something elsewhere or to focus your energy on other ideas. One time, the head of one of the two biggest comic book companies asked me what changes I thought the firm could institute to make them more "creator-friendly." I told them what I'm telling you, and said that what I wanted was to be able to pitch an idea to an editor and potentially get a Yes that was a firm commitment and not merely the prelude to weeks of conference referrals and exploratory discussions. The boss said that sounded like a terrific idea, then turned to an aide and said something like, "Make a note to have the Infrastructure Planning Committee discuss Mark's idea at the October seminar."

I've never encountered that with Dark Horse. I go to Mike Richardson, the guy who owns the company, and if he says he wants to proceed with something, that's it. End of discussion. I can't tell you how refreshing that can be. Even one level down, his editors can go to Mike and then call you back and say, "Mike approved it" or even that he didn't. Either way, you're not left dangling for months. It's a fine operation, and I say that as someone who isn't known for speaking excessively well of publishers, even some who've had the wisdom to employ me.

From yesterday's Countdown With Keith Olbermann, a compilation of some of what late night comedians have been doing since the Tuesday elections…

Ever hear of Hellzapoppin'? Probably. Know what it was? Maybe not. Ever seen it? Probably not. Hellzapoppin' was a Broadway show and touring revue starring the comedy team of Olsen and Johnson. It opened in New York in 1938 at the 46th Street Theater (now the Richard Rodgers) to critical appraisals that ranged from ecstasy to utter bewilderment. But a lot of people loved it and since the show kept changing, they kept coming back to see it over and over…in sufficient volume for it to run three years, then be displaced by another Olsen and Johnson revue and and then another and another. This article presents a nice overview of the career of these two men.

In 1941, Hellzapoppin' was made into a motion picture out at Universal Studios. Due to some sort of legal problem that I won't pretend I understand, the movie is no longer shown in this country, nor has it ever been legally available on home video. It is, however, pretty easy to come by in other lands. (I have a DVD that was made off an Australian VHS release.) The film is said to be loosely based on the stage production…and as you'll see, it involves so many gags about the medium of film that very little of it could have been from the original. But the film is also said to capture the manic attitude of the original. Either way though, the movie was not a hit. None of the many movies that starred Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson did all that well at the box office, though they probably hold up better today than many that did.

Our feature attraction today is the first ten minutes of this very odd movie…especially odd when you consider the year in which it was made and how non-surreal most movies were back then. So enjoy this much of it and, yes, that's Shemp Howard playing the projectionist…

I can announce now that I have been added to the guest list of Wondercon 2007, which will be held March 2-4 of next year at the Moscone Center South in that city where Tony Bennett left his heart. Even better, they've added two great comic book veteran artists, Gene Colan and Nick Cardy. We don't have programming plans yet but I wouldn't be surprised if I wound up interviewing both of them — maybe individually, maybe collectively — as well as EC/MAD legend Al Feldstein.

If you can't get to San Francisco to see me interview Feldstein or can't wait 'til next March, you can go to the Buckeye State later this month. I'll be chatting with Al at the Mid-Ohio Con, which takes place November 25 and 26 at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. I'll also be interviewing — with the help of the infamous Tony Isabella — Gary Friedrich and Dick Ayers, who did many fine comics (including Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos) for Marvel in the sixties and seventies. Click here for the entire programming schedule.

Hope to see you at one or the other. Considering that the last time I was supposed to be at a Wondercon, I wound up in the hospital instead, I hope to see me at one or the other.

Sorry to hear of the passing of actor Jack Palance, a classy presence in an awful lot of movies over the years. I'm afraid I never met Mr. Palance and have absolutely no anecdotes about him.

However, I can't help but mention an interesting sidelight to the man's stellar career. In 1970, the great comic book creator Jack Kirby introduced a villain named Darkseid (pronounced "Dark-SIDE") who has since become one of the great bad guys in the history of the medium. Darkseid has appeared often in the pages of DC Comics ever since and also made it onto TV cartoons and the toy shelves.

The style and substance of this master antagonist were based on just about every power-mad tyrant Kirby had ever met or observed, with a special emphasis on Richard Milhous Nixon. Nixon was kind of the monster du jour for many in 1970 and he's still a fine template for various forms of villainy.

Beyond that kind of thing, it is not uncommon for comic artists to "cast" their creations, using someone they know or have observed as reference, and Kirby used Jack Palance as a model for Darkseid. I don't mean that he thought the other Jack had ever tried to enslave the universe…but Kirby had been impressed by one or more Palance screen appearances. They inspired some aspect of Darkseid…a look, a posture, a gesture, whatever. Most of all, it was probably a voice. When J.K. wrote dialogue for his comic book evildoer, he was "hearing" Palance in some film. (I have no idea which one. Another Kirby scholar has suggested the 1968 TV-Movie, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Palance in both title roles, but I don't see any points of comparison.) In the same way and in the same series, Kirby based the likeness of businessman Morgan Edge on actor Kevin McCarthy and super-heroine Big Barda on singer Lainie Kazan (right after she was in Playboy) while a villain named Glorious Godfrey was an amalgam of Billy Graham and Arthur Godfrey.

To the best of my knowledge, Jack Palance was unaware that one of his screen images was purloined for a comic book baddie, and no one seems to have thought of voicecasting him for any of Darkseid's animated appearances. And I want to emphasize that Kirby had no negative thoughts whatsoever about the actor. Quite the contrary, he thought Palance had a great screen presence, giving off a power that was worth putting to use in a comic book.

Also to the best of my knowledge, whenever Darkseid scored a triumph, he never dropped to the floor and did one-handed push-ups. But if I'd written more of his adventures, he probably would have.

Who was the biggest winner in last Tuesday's election? One writer thinks it was Stephen Colbert.

We seem to have a Theme Week going here, the theme being "Warner Brothers cartoons directed by the late 'n' great Bob Clampett." This is A Corny Concerto and it was the WB team's response to Disney's Fantasia with Elmer Fudd assuming the role that Deems Taylor filled in the Disney film. Mr. Fudd displays somewhat more charisma than Mr. Taylor.

Fantasia, in case you're interested, had its world premiere on November 13, 1940. A Corny Concerto came out in August of 1943…and you have to wonder if by then, most people who saw the parody even knew what it was a parody of. Fantasia was not terribly successful so a lot of folks didn't see it. Others had probably forgotten it by the time the Clampett version appeared. Still, it's a pretty funny film even if you don't know the Disney effort.

Arthur Q. Bryan provided the voice of Fudd. Since Bugs Bunny has no dialogue, this makes it (I think) the only Bugs cartoon produced during Mel Blanc's lifetime that didn't require his services. Let's take a look at it.