Monthly Archives: April 2008

I am back on the proper (for me) coast. The flight home via American Airlines was acceptable. It took off about fifteen minutes late because the incoming flight was fifteen minutes late, probably due to the fact that Richard Lewis was on it. I found myself walking next to him through the terminal for a minute or so and he was engaged in a loud, impossible-to-not-overhear cellphone conversation that sounded just like a Richard Lewis routine. Funny boy.

The New York Comic Con was great…and huge. Folks kept guesstimating its size relative to San Diego…about a fourth? A third? Whatever it was, it was plenty big and an amazing percentage of it was about comic books. There were the usual multimedia entries — gaming, TV, animation, etc. But there were an awful lot of comics, new and old in the Javits Center. Seemed like a pretty well-run convention, too, though one gets the feeling its management is continually surprised by and maybe a bit unprepared for how big it's getting. I hope to attend again, though I'm less excited about the prospect of being in that city February 6-8, which is when the 2009 show is. Those dates do not, happily, conflict with Passover but they may conflict with the tolerable weather.

As you may have figured out, I solved my Internet connectivity problem. It was out for a few days throughout the hotel but when it got fixed, it still didn't work in my room. As often happens, the guy on the phone was of little help. He's somewhere else (India, I suspect) and all he can do is talk me through certain software fixes. When they don't work, which was the case here, his immediate solution was to blame the hardware and tell me the hotel would have to fix things. So I have him, working for the outside company that provides 'net services to the hotel, telling me it's the hotel's problem…and I have the hotel blaming the outside company. I finally figured it out in spite of both sides…and boy, those wi-fi cards for one's laptop are starting to look pretty danged good to me.

Made the rounds of publishers. Signed copies of Kirby: King of Comics at the con, at Jim Hanley's comic book shop, in my publisher's office, at the DC Comics office…even in the line outside the Javits Center where I was waiting to get a hot dog from a street vendor. Must have signed 500 copies, including my first of the Second Printing, which is more or less out. I probably also answered about 500 questions about how Lydia the Cat is doing.

Oh! Outside the Javits Center, there was a whole line of pushcarts selling those Sabrett hot dogs that are ubiquitous. In Manhattan, you are rarely more than four steps from a Sabrett hot dog. Inside the convention center, there were stands and other pushcarts selling Hebrew National dogs. Obviously, a taste test was in order and I was surprised at the outcome: I usually like Hebrew Nationals but the Sabrett ones were clearly better. They were also half the price.

I'll probably think of other experiences worthy of mention here. Right now, I'm handily behind on all manner of projects so you may not see a lot of me on this page for the next few days.

Kris Mandt writes…

When you get a chance please explain what "financial core" means as it applies to members and I guess now former members (it was on Nikki Finke's blog) of the WGA. Are they just non union writers?

Financial Core (which is sometimes also called Fiscal Core) is a special category/status that a person can elect with regard to the union that covers the field in which they work. Essentially, it's a way to resign the union and still work in whatever the industry is.

The category was invented as a result of several lawsuits, and I believe the main stated impetus for them was that certain folks objected to a union in which they were members doing political-type lobbying and campaigning. Unions do that, of course, trying to promote legislation and other government actions that the union leaders (whoever it is at that moment) feel will be beneficial to the labor organization. There were union members who said, in essence, "Hey, my union is donating dues money — some of which is mine — to support Candidate X. That's a violation of my rights because I want Candidate Y." There were also folks who for whatever their reasons, just didn't want to belong to the union.

So a parlay of legislation and court decisions created Financial Core status. If you elect to take it, you pay only the portion of union dues that actually go to the maintenance of the union contract. You forfeit your right to vote on that contract or on anything else within the union. In exchange, you are no longer bound to the union rules, most notably its strike rules. When the union is on strike, you can cross the picket line and go to work. You can also work year 'round for the non-union companies that the union members are obligated to avoid.

This may sound like the best of both worlds to some — you get the benefits of the union contract without any of the sacrifice that is occasionally necessary to secure that contract — but there's another side to it. And that other side is the reason why very few people opt for Financial Core status. It's kind of scummy.

That "best of both worlds" aspect causes most onlookers to consider it a category of selfishness; of individuals saying, "I demand all of the benefits but I'm not only refusing to fight for those benefits, I'm going to actively subvert those who do." There are convoluted rationales of how that's not quite so. Those who choose F.C. will assert it is due to principles and ethical considerations, not opportunism…and perhaps in some cases and in some ways, that's so. I don't think it is generally viewed that way by others. It just looks, like I said, kinda scummy and selfish.

Generally speaking, those who choose to "go Core" seem to have one or both of two motives. One is an angry dispute with the union over its rules or rulings. Occasionally, the Guild in enforcing its rules, tells some member "You can't do that" and the member goes ballistic and quits. The Writers Guild has an arbitration process that sorts out what are often fiercely-conflicting claims as to who should get the "Written by…" credit on a movie or TV show. As with every arbitration process that has ever existed on this planet, there are those who lose an arbitration and feel they have been wronged…and this has driven a few to Financial Core. (I believe George Clooney is a fairly recent example. He didn't like the determination of writing credits on Leathernecks.)

The other motive is simple financial advantage: Someone thinks it will enhance their income if they can work for the non-union companies, work during a strike, work for less than union minimums, etc. At the very least, they don't have to pay full dues. There have been no surveys to my knowledge but I would guess that when someone goes Core, about 98% of all who hear of it presume this is the operative reason and that all that talk of principle and protest is just a bogus rationale for greed.

Some, I suspect, also figure the person in question must be pretty desperate for work. When I started out in the business of professional writing, a gentleman with much experience said to me, "When a writer looks desperate, he might just as well be wearing a big sign on his ass that says in flashing neon letters, 'I'M NOT VERY GOOD!'" My own observations since then would bear that out.

All of this explains why even during a prolonged strike such as the one we all recently endured, very few members of the Writers Guild decide to go Financial Core.

Most of those who did are soap opera writers and as such, they face a particularly brutal situation. When the WGA strikes, they're pretty much the first ones on the line — their shows don't shut down. They go on without them. They go on with scab writers who too often are rewarded for their scabbery with permanent, post-strike employment. Soap writers also sometimes feel under-represented by the Guild. They aren't numerous enough to get the same attention as those who write screenplays or prime time episodic TV. I happen to feel the WGA has often been short-sighted in this way, and not just with regard to those who script daytime dramas.

However, none of that excuses the actions of those who go F.C. on us. I share to some extent all the negative feelings and assumptions I've mentioned here about Financial Core members…or non-members, as some might phrase it. I acknowledge it is legal. I assume some of them felt they had to do it or lose their homes or careers or not send their kids to college. I still think it's a shameful thing to do.

Recently, the presidents of WGA East and West issued a letter to the membership that has caused some outrage. They are identifying those who elected Financial Core status from the WGA and the letter suggests we treat them in a manner that…well, it's better if you read it for yourself.

A debate over the propriety of this letter is raging in many private writers' forums and also over on Nikki Finke's blog. If you read the latter, you'd do well to ignore all the anonymous comments and to not presume that someone is a WGA member just because they say they are.

I am enormously conflicted on all this. I do not think it is as analogous to the blacklisting of the fifties as some do. That shameful episode involved sponsors pressuring employers to punish those who, in the opinion of someone, had the "wrong" political stripes. In this case, it's a factual matter that certain individuals have chosen Financial Core status (presumably because they thought it would enhance their employment opportunities, not diminish them) and there is no reason that information needs to be kept secret. Or should be kept secret.

However, there is also no reason why it has to be disseminated in a way that confers martyrdom or even vaguely resembles what was done to the Dalton Trumbos of the world. The presidents' letter wants to give us the names in question "for future reference." I don't think that's so I can take those people off my Christmas Card list…so what are they suggesting I do with those names?

I wish they had not published this letter. I appreciate being able to know who the Financial Core members are but I am quite capable of deciding on my own how I wish to treat them, how I wish to respond to the choice they have made. I don't know anyone on the list and am unlikely to find myself in proximity with any of them in the near future. If I do, I'll try to understand their actions and then make a decision. I don't need the Guild leadership to nudge me in some direction and I don't think it was wise to create a situation where Financial Core status is getting confused with and rationalized as comparable to the blacklisting of the fifties. And I really, really don't need to be put in a position where I may feel obligated to defend those people.

Right after 9/11, George W. Bush had the highest approval rating that the Gallup Poll had ever recorded for an American President. Today, he has the highest disapproval rating.

On the left is a photo of William Mumy as he looked when I first met him. He was a cast member on the hit series, Lost in Space, and that was the least of his employment. It was like every time someone needed a cute kid who could talk for a movie or commercial or TV show, they hired Billy Mumy. Needless to say, I and all the local guys my age who collected comic books were jealous as all get out. Billy was "one of us" in the fannish sense but he had fame and fortune and talent and I think some of us were looking forward to the inevitable fate of most child stars…to him being found dead in a hotel room at an early age, suffering from a severe case of failed expectations.

That, I am happy to say, did not happen. He grew up with his talents intact and his ego in reality, and he's been quite successful as an actor and a musician and a heckuva nice guy. You will find this out if/when you tune in tomorrow and listen to Stu's Show, the anchor program of Shokus Internet Radio. Stu's having Bill Mumy on as a guest and you'll be amazed at how much this fellow has done in his lifetime…and that's just so far. Like I said, Lost in Space was only a small part of it.

I'll be listening. You can too if you point your computer browser to the Shokus site between 4 PM and 6 PM Pacific, which is probably 7 PM and 9 PM on the East Coast. Remember: This is not a podcast you can listen to at your leisure. This is Appointment Radio. You have to listen when it's on, which you'll want to do because it's live and you can call in and ask questions of Stu's guest. Someone ask him about Brigitte Bardot, please.

This is probably not necessary but I just might need to clarify something. All weekend at the New York Comic Con, and in a number of other recent venues, I've been asked by impatient folks when some favorite Jack Kirby comic will be reprinted in a new, worthy-of-the-name-Kirby volume. Here is roughly how I answer this question every time…

While there are no official announcements I can make, I am predicting that every major Kirby work that hasn't been recently reprinted will be reprinted in the next few years. The demand is there and it's merely a matter of not flooding the market with too much at too rapid a pace. The folks at DC want to reprint all that Jack did for them, the folks at Marvel feel the same way, and there are offers aplenty for the material that is neither DC nor Marvel. They can't shovel it all out onto the marketplace as swiftly as you might like but right now, it's just a matter of what order they'll do the books in and how they'll space them out. Personally, I'd rather they took their time because if they did saturate the racks, the material might stop selling and then they would stop issuing Kirby reprints. But I don't think that's going to happen. I think it will all (or nearly all) get reissued.

That's approximately how I always say it. It is then usually quoted as Evanier revealing that DC (or Marvel) has committed to reprint everything Jack ever did for them. No, no. no. First off, I am but a freelancer. Those companies will announce what they announce when they announce it. Secondly, there's a difference between a prediction, even an informed prediction, and an actual press release. Please understand that difference. They'll put out Kirby stuff as long as it sells. I just happen to think it'll continue to sell well enough long enough for everything to come out.

In all the interviews, playwright David Mamet insists that the President depicted in his new play, November, is not (repeat: NOT) George W. Bush. Nathan Lane, who stars as President Charles H.P. Smith, says the same thing and they're probably right. Smith is running for re-election, certain to lose and immersed in various machinations to extort cash from the Turkey Farmers Association in exchange for the ritual pardoning of a couple of Thanksgiving gobblers. Can't recall Bush getting mixed up in anything like that…or the determination of his head speechwriter, an avowed lesbian, to have her employer marry her and her lady friend on live TV. President Smith has to contend with that, too.

However, most of the laughs in Act One, Scene One are at Bush's expense. Smith is wildly unpopular for his admitted ineptness including — but not limited to — invading Iraq and clumsily threatening war with Iran. And the audience howls because they hate George W. Bush or at least feel that the outrageousness of the play isn't so far from the truth. They also laugh because Nathan Lane is very, very funny.

Carolyn and I spent Saturday evening laughing a lot…but I'm not sure how much of it was at what Mamet wrote and how much of it was what Lane did with it. It was clearly both but I'm not sure I'd recommend the play if and when you have the opportunity to see it with anyone else. (Laurie Metcalf is also quite wonderful portraying the lesbian speechwriter.) If you can go see it with Nathan, go. And do yourself the favor of knowing as little about the storyline in advance as possible. I'll do you the favor of disclosing no more than this.

We are pleased to report that all charges have been dismissed in the Gordon Lee case. You can get the full background on this one by prowling about the site of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund but basically it goes like this: Gordon is a small time comic book retailer who was charged with multiple felonies after a comic book with some innocuous, non-sexual nudity was given to a minor. The prosecutors misbehaved egregiously in pressing a case which should not have been brought in the first place, and this one should have been tossed outta court on Day One. We're glad it's over but still outraged that so much time and money was wasted on the whole matter.

American Airlines got their act together in time for my flight here Thursday. The plane took off on time and landed darn close to the scheduled hour. What's more, they actually managed to have my luggage on board…so no problems there. The New York Comic Con, which concluded today, was packed with interesting people, and an amazing percentage of them seemed to be readers of this here blog. Everyone I encountered was asking me about Lydia the Cat and, as an afterthought, about my new book.

Enjoyed seeing many people including but not limited to: Murphy Anderson, Buzz Dixon, Paul Levitz, Stan Lee, Irwin Hasen, Joe Simon, Joe Sinnott, Dick Ayers, Charlie Kochman, John Romita Senior, John Morrow, Stan Goldberg, Jerry Ordway, Colleen Doran, Kyle Baker, Joe Staton, Al Jaffee, Alan Kupperberg, Paul Kupperberg, Marty Pasko, Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, Nick Cardy, Jerry Robinson, Mary Skrenes, Mike Richardson, Michael Davis, Randolph Hoppe, Richard Bensam, Jesse Reyes, Alex Simmons, Marc Chiarello, Jack Morelli, Alan Weiss, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, Bob Greenberger, Len Wein, Mike Gold, Martha Thomases, Tony Tower, Michael Uslan, Sal Amendola, Jim Amash, Ramona Fradon, J.J. Sedelmeier and I'm probably forgetting at least thirty other names. Oh, yeah — and I finally met Fred Hembeck in person after more than 25 years of by-mail (and more recently, by-Internet) correspondence. And as Carolyn and I left, there was Jim Burns, who has been a frequent contributor of information here.

Friday, I did two panels — one about the work of the late/great Will Eisner; the other, about the state of the animation business. Saturday morn, we had a nice public memorial panel about our pal, the late/also great Steve Gerber. Many of Steve's fans and friends were there, along with members of his family. And Steve himself was present as you can see from this photo…

I guess you can't read the label so I'll tell you what the top line of it says: "This Package Contains the Cremated Remains of Stephen R. GERBER." That's right. We had his ashes there. Morbid, I know…but Steve wouldn't have wanted to miss a whole panel about himself. It was announced that immediately following the panel, we'd be taking the ashes down and flinging them in the faces of certain editors.

Then today, we had a nice Jack Kirby Tribute Panel with Dick Ayers and Joe Sinnott. Great to see those two guys still working…and mobbed by admirers of all ages.

Good crowds. Good people. I wish I had some good stories or news but it's mostly been seeing friends and people telling me they followed the story of The Kitten here. I'll write more about it when I can think of something to write.

Hello. We're coming to you from New York where everything's great except (once again) I'm in a hotel with a non-working Internet connection. Usually, it's just my room but this time it's the whole danged hotel. I'm BlackBerrying this to the 'net so this'll have to be brief. The con is terrific. Nathan Lane makes a wonderful President of the United States. And the housesitter says that Lydia the Cat is doing fine. More people at the con are asking me about Lydia than are asking me about Jack Kirby.

A longer post will follow once I have traditional web access. In the meantime, if I owe you e-mail, please be patient. (And Steve B., if you're reading this: The script revision is done and I'll find some way to get it to you.)

Attention, C-Span: It's lovely that you've redesigned your website but your video clips still won't play on most browsers. They're mostly RTSP links and most browsers are specifically designed to exclude them, plus they're also in RealPlayer format, which is becoming increasingly obsolete with all the FLV video clips available on YouTube, Google Video and any other site that offers a lot of video. I can download your clips because of a special piece of software I have but I'll bet most people can't download 'em and can't watch them online. If your goal is to send everyone elsewhere, you're doing a fine job.

That's another photo of Lydia, the animal formerly known as The Kitten. Want to know what's special about it? I took it in my backyard about twenty minutes ago. Lydia is home from the vet and back in her natural habitat. She seems a bit skinnier — and not just because she's no longer preggo — but in pretty good shape. I had assumed it might be several days before she got back in her regular routines…if she ever got back to them. But ten minutes after I released her from the cage, she was back in her old favorite location: Right outside the patio door, waiting for me to come out and pet her and feed her. Which I did.

I spoke today to my actor friend — the one who fielded my initial call about what to do about the feral one in my yard. He rattled off some statistics that I didn't catch but the exact numbers don't matter. The quick summary is that a staggering number of cats (more than you imagine) are put to death each week in this country because no one will adopt them, no one will feed them, no one will take them in…and to let them roam free and unspayed is to just ask for more.

One of the many "stray" experts I spoke to the other day said the following; that while it was commendable that Bob Barker spread the word to "spay or neuter your pet," that counsel was missing the bigger problem, which are cats and dogs that are nobody's pet. A pet cat that is kept indoors is not as likely to have kittens as a stray roaming through yards and living under houses. The kittens of a pet cat are more likely to be cared for and adopted than the offspring of a feral feline. More people need to take care of critters like Lydia.