Whatever happened to Sandy Duncan? This profile, which focuses a lot on her time spent Peter Panning on Broadway and on tour, will tell you. I saw her in that production (with Christopher Hewett as Cap'n Hook) and I thought she was quite wonderful…
Monthly Archives: July 2022
Sunday Scenes
It's rough typing on my busted laptop but I can upload these photos that Ace Photographer Bruce Guthrie took yesterday at two of the four panels I moderated. This first one is Frank Miller and me at what might have been the best of a few dozen Jack Kirby Tribute Panels I've done…
Also on that panel were Bruce Simon, Steve Saffel, Rand Hoppe and Jack's grandkid Jeremy Kirby. Bruce and I discussed our great friend, the late Steve Sherman. Steve and I discussed the relationship Jack had with his one-time partner (and our great friend) Joe Simon, Rand talked about the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center, and Jeremy discussed carrying on the memory of his grandpappy. I may have typed the name of the museum wrong but given the shape this computer is in, it's amazing I can type on it at all.
I described how Frank stood up for Jack during Jack's famous battle with Marvel Comics for some of his original artwork, and we talked about how comic book creators became empowered — to not wind up as the creators of Superman had — in the seventies and eighties. The conversation will probably be published in a forthcoming issue of The Jack Kirby Collector and maybe I'll write more about it when I'm not typing on a broken-down jalopy.
And here's the Sunday Cartoon Voices Panel. In the back row, left to right, you have me (obviously thinking, "Two more to go after this one"), Zeno Robinson and Kaitlyn Robrock, First row is Rosemary Watson, Jim Meskimen and Fred Tatasciore. It's very easy to host a great panel when you get people like this to be on it.
I shall write more when I have a real, working computer to do it on. This one is already sounding like Mel Blanc making the sounds of Jack Benny's car — or for you slightly younger readers, the sounds of Speed Buggy.
Ray B.
A problem with my laptop is making it beastly difficult to type so I can't yet write up any closing thoughts on this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. So here's a rerun of a post that ran here way back on July 23, 2003…
That's me interviewing Ray Bradbury at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. Much of what he said at the event fell into the general category of "Encouragement For Aspiring Writers" and it sent me into spasms of Flashback. In 1968 when I was a lad of 16, I went with several friends to Mr. Bradbury's office in Beverly Hills for what we thought would be maybe a half-hour of his time. It wound up being all afternoon, as he seemed to enjoy the chat as much as we did. He liked talking about comic books and strips and science fiction, and about the way the mainstream world treated those of us interested in such things.
That day in '68, Bradbury had powerful memories of growing up in Los Angeles (like we were doing) and participating in fan-type clubs (as we were then doing) and feeling a bit out of sync with the world (ditto). So we were in awe of him and he identified like crazy with us, especially after being informed that I was aiming to be a professional writer. The advice he then gave me was all pretty generic and obvious but the fact that The Great Ray Bradbury was telling me to keep at it had enormous impact. It made my intended occupation sound eminently possible and when I went home and told my parents that Ray Bradbury had told me to keep at it, they took it as airtight proof that I was on the right path — this, despite the fact that Mr. Bradbury had not read one syllable I'd written. I have the feeling he had the same effect on at least a few folks who were in the audience last Saturday afternoon. He's one of those writers that makes you feel like a writer.
I subsequently met Mr. Bradbury maybe a dozen times. One encounter that I prize occurred around 1978 when I came across a copy of a movie magazine that contained an article he'd written. It was all about his experiences as screenwriter of the 1956 film of Moby Dick and, of course, quite interesting. The following weekend, he was making an appearance at a local mini-con that I knew always had rotten turn-outs, so I went and took the magazine along. Sure enough, upon my arrival I found Ray Bradbury sitting there, ready to sign anything fans brought to him…but no one was paying him the slightest attention. Since he didn't drive, he was stranded there for the next few hours, until the con ended and its organizer could take him home — bad for him, good for me: I had him all to myself. We sat and talked, mostly about Los Angeles and what was to become of it. When I hauled out the magazine, he practically jumped out of his chair. "I don't have a copy of this," he gasped. "I've been looking for one for years."
For the next five minutes, we argued: He insisted on paying me for the magazine. I insisted he just take it. We finally compromised: He would take it and send me an autographed book. He asked me which of his I wanted and I said, "It doesn't matter. I'm probably not going to read it since I already own well-worn copies of every one of your books. I just want to put an autographed Ray Bradbury book on my shelf. Send me whichever one you have the most copies of." He seemed to like that answer. Even better, he liked that I offered to rescue him from the dreary convention by driving him home. A few days later, he sent me an autographed copy of The Martian Chronicles in Swedish and another of a short story collection in German — a terrific, clever gesture, I thought.
I interviewed Mr. Bradbury last year at the Comic-Con. He is in poor health, primarily from a couple of strokes that have robbed him of most of his ability to walk. At one point, I felt it was appropriate to tell him that though I was sure he didn't recall it, I had visited his office in 1968 and he had been most encouraging, sending me well on the way towards this thing my agent and I laughingly call my career. He smiled and said he had a vague memory of it…but of course, I assumed he didn't and was just being polite. This year, we had a few more minutes to chat before the panel as he sat there in his wheelchair, looking for all the world like someone who couldn't recall his name, let alone past events. When I reminded him I'd moderated the same event last year, he said he remembered…and then surprised the hell out of me by saying, "You gave me a magazine once…about Moby Dick." That would have been an impressive feat of recollection even for a man who hadn't had a stroke.
I guess we're too quick to assume that if the motor skills don't function properly, the brain doesn't, either. Just like last year, when the program started, he suddenly turned pretty much into Ray Bradbury from the waist-up. Owing to a set-up problem, we couldn't get him onto the elevated stage so we had to situate him on the floor in front of it, where more than half of the 1000 people present were unable to see him. It almost didn't matter. His mind was sharp and his words were passionate. He touched every person in that hall and infused them with a large dose of inspiration and creative energy. A fellow who sat way in the back, unable to see Bradbury even during the standing ovations later said to me, "This may sound weird but it really felt like he loved us all." He did…and the feeling was more than mutual.
Today's Video Link
Some nice Bob Fosse moments…
Saturday Morning
My new laptop computer — so new it's still actually under warranty! — is malfunctioning and if my reports from Comic-Con grow sparse or cease, that may be the reason. I can use it but I'm not sure for how long.
I also don't have a lot to report. The con we love so — which some of us love so — is back and in some ways, it's the same event it's always been, packed with happy, enthusiastic people, some of them dressed as characters from their favorite source of incredible fiction. I was in the main exhibit hall yesterday for about 90 minutes and am not likely to be in there at all today or tomorrow. I'll be upstairs playing Mr. Panel Moderator.
But what struck me in that downstairs hall was how much was the same as it ever was: Same crowds, same jammed aisles, same exhibitors — most of them with the same displays in the same places. Everything was the same but the prices. I guess I'd hoped for less humanity in the usual close proximity but that was a silly thought. If you sell the same number of badges to enter the same building, you're going to have the same density of people in there. Simple rule of Physics.
But there was something different you couldn't miss: The masks.
Everyone was masked…or should have been. A few, less than I might have expected, had their defiant nude faces or wore their masks improperly. Some seemed to be employing the Beverage Ploy based on the premise that you're not expected to mask when eating or drinking…so you carry around an open bottle of water or something all the time on the premise that makes you exempt. By contrast, most cosplayers I saw were masked and many had figured out clever ways to incorporate a mask into their particular, peculiar ensembles.
You can't ignore the masks. Yours is right below your eyes and they're a constant reminder of how few of us are fully-comfy with being around so many people. They also remind us how thanks to COVID-19, Comic-Con missed two years, is still a bit risky to attend, and is even weirder than it used to be. Which was already pretty weird.
That's all for now. I have to get over to the convention center to host Quick Draw! and then the first of two Cartoon Voices panels this weekend. On the way over, I'm going to stop at the front desk of my hotel and ask about what seems to be a new policy of this establishment. It seems like every three hours, some hotel employee is required to think of a random amount of money between fifty dollars and five hundred, and to then charge it to the credit card they have on file for me…without explanation. If I'm late for Quick Draw!, I'm probably duking it out with some assistant manager over this. Maybe I can get the guy in the tiger suit to confront him about the $217.44 I was charged at 4 AM this morning.
Today's Video Link
Here from sometime in the sixties is one of Bob Newhart's better monologues. One night around 1983, I took a date to a comedy club called The Ice House in Pasadena. You hear a lot about places like the Comedy Store and The Improv but not much about The Ice House, even though most of the comics who played at those other clubs and went on to fame and fortune also played The Ice House. It's been there since 1960 and it's still there even though it hasn't reopened after closing for COVID.
So anyway, this one night a new comedian you never heard of (and never will) went on and as his act, did Bob's act…including this same routine almost word-for-word and others from Newhart's albums. And I'll give the guy this: He was about 35% as good as Bob was with the same material, which is not bad for a beginner. Those in the room who didn't recognize the bits laughed and applauded. Those of us who did grumbled and marveled at the sheer chutzpah.
When the guy departed the stage to scattered applause, someone yelled out, "I hope you paid Bob Newhart!" and the departing performer yelled back, "As much as you did," whatever that was supposed to mean.
There was a long pause of one or two minutes, then someone who I guess represented The Ice House came to the stage and said, "The management would like to apologize for that. We had not seen this performer before and he will never be asked back." The next performer who was introduced — who you also never heard of — came out and opened by saying, "Too bad I'm white or I could do Dick Gregory's albums for you."
Here's Bob Newhart doing his own material his own way…
Major Oops!
I posted some wrong times for my panels today. I knew when they are but my fingers didn't…or something. Whatever the excuse the Secret Service had for deleting all those text messages, that's my excuse. Here are the corrected times…
Friday, July 22 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 10
COMICS FOR UKRAINE
Comics for Ukraine is a crowdfunded comics anthology through zoop.gg initiated and edited by Scott Dunbier to help relief efforts in Ukraine. Dozens of creators have stepped up to help. Alex Ross, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Johnson, and Arthur Adams have supplied covers. More than a dozen all-new stories will be included: Astro City by Busiek and Anderson, Groo by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, American Flagg by Howard Chaykin, Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson, Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory, Grendel by Matt Wagner, Star Slammers by Walter Simonson, and Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai make up a portion of this book, But there are more, too many to list—so come to the panel (which will have several of the creators listed here) and find out about this very important book and what you can do to help this charitable endeavor.Friday, July 22 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO
Some would tell you that Walt Kelly's Pogo was the cleverest, most wonderful newspaper strip of all time. It was certainly up there with them. It's now being reprinted in full for the first time in a series of lovely hardcover volumes from Fantagraphics Books and Volume 8 (of 12) is on the presses now. Hear all about Kelly's work from Pogo authority Maggie Thompson, Walt Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, cartoonist (and creator of Bone) Jeff Smith, Fantagraphics editor Eric Reynolds and his co-editor and your moderator Mark Evanier.
Yesterday's Video Links
If the Internet works as it's supposed to — which it does, about 68% of the time — there will be a live feed above of the Brooklyn Bridge, which I recently purchased for a surprisingly low price. I just have the one. They had them on sale at Costco but what do I need with a ten-pack of Brooklyn Bridges?
If you like that, you'll love the video embed below, which dissolves from one live web-camera somewhere in the world to another live web-camera somewhere in the world and then another and another. If you want to linger on a specific one, go to the YouTube page for this video and scroll down. You'll find all sorts of amazing links. But remember that if you visit my bridge again, you need to pay me toll…
Recommended Reading
Eight New York Times opinion columnists do something that today's political pundits rarely do. They admit they were wrong about something. There are people in this world who are congenitally incapable of doing that.
What I'm Not Doing Right This Minute
I'm no longer on hold…but not because I got to speak to Tech Support. After 45 minutes waiting, I called the company on Line 2 and told them how long I'd been waiting on Line 1. A nice lady — who, alas, had no power to get Tech Support to actually speak with me then and there — apologized, took my number and promised they'd phone me within one hour. This has not happened.
In the meantime, I got this message from Brian Phillips, a wise and sage reader of this site…
I empathize.
The day after my birthday, I needed an item that only a certain supermarket sells and it's about 25 miles away, so I'd rather know that they have it before driving. I called to ask them and they put me on hold.
I waited.
Then I got in the car.
I drove all the way there (they had what I was looking for) and I spoke to the manager. I said, "If you look at line 1, that's me on hold, waiting for your staff to find out whether you had this item. I showed him my phone. I was on hold for 35:52.
He did not apologize. Hopefully, he spoke to the staff about this.
In an ideal world, all these CEOs who are paid six and seven figures per year to run a company would have the following clause in their contract. Once a week, they must get on their cell phones or call from home, phone their company, pretend to be just an average customer and ask a real question. If they don't get a satisfactory answer to that real question within fifteen minutes, their salary for that week goes to charity. If they don't receive that satisfactory answer within thirty, the entire salary for that year goes to charity.
It probably wouldn't change anything but some money would go to a good cause.
And just as I was proofreading the above before posting it, Tech Support called me and gave me the answer to my problem: The device is old, it's out of warranty, the price of repairing it is about 80% of the price of a new one and their new model is so much better. I've decided to toss it out and buy a new one…of a different brand.
What I'm Doing Right This Minute
I'm on hold waiting to speak to someone in the Tech Support department of a company that makes something that is important in my life and not, at the moment, working. Pleasant guitar music is playing over and over and every thirty seconds, either a recorded male voice or a recorded female voice (they alternate) assures me that they know my call is important and help is only "moments away."
I have now been on hold for 37 minutes.
Early on Day One
If you're down at Comic-Con (where I am not yet), that guy you see running around taking photos of absolutely everything is my pal Bruce Guthrie. With his kind permission, I've often featured his photos on this blog because no matter what happened anywhere, Bruce got a photo of it. He shot some of my birth and I still don't know how he managed that since he's so much younger than I am.
He's already down in San Diego, sending me photos of, among other newsworthy images, people standing in long lines to get their vaxx status confirmed. The photo above of a Comic-Con banner inside the hall looks just like photos he's taken there every year…but this one was taken last night and that's the key thing: It's solid, incontrovertible evidence that Comic-Con is back. I shall confirm this in person before long.
I can't really explain my assorted feelings about going this time. I know I'm happy that Comic-Con exists again as I've always had a good time at them. I guess I'm just hoping that everyone rises to the occasion and respects everyone else's concerns about too much close contact. Comic-Con has never been the place you go to get away from crowds. Quite the opposite.
The last time I went to Comic-Con — or it may have been the year before — I was scurrying to get to the Eisner Awards to make my little presentation and I was walking across the park-like area between the convention center and the Bayfront Hilton. Cosplayers were all around creating little photo-ops, displaying their wonderful outfits.
When I first began attending conventions back in the Mesolithic Era, long before the word "cosplay" was invented by whoever invents words like that, there were costumes. On average, they seemed to take about fifteen minutes each to make. Some guy would put on a torn shirt and declare he was Doc Savage. Some gal would remove as much clothing as the convention allowed, make up a clever title to justify it, and get so much attention, no one would notice how lame the Doc Savage guy's costume was.
Now, those who dress-up really dress-up. Most of what they don is elaborate and sometimes expensive…and you know so much time, effort and creativity went into them that the wearers earned the chance to show off.
As I've said here, I love about 95% of the cosplayers…and that number may be low. But there are always a few who don't respect that others just might need a place to be. The 5% or less strike their poses and do their little antic scenes wherever anyone has a camera…and of course, these days, everyone has a camera. We talk to each other on our cameras. I have prevented actual injuries, once to a small child, by stopping a cosplayer from cosplaying too close to others.
Anyway, that early evening when I was hustling to the Hilton, there was this guy dressed as Conan the Barbarian or Kull the Barbarian or Crom the Barbarian or Someone the Barbarian…I don't know who the f-word he was supposed to be; only that it wasn't Groo even if he did have about the same I.Q. and consideration for others. Dancing about, waving a prop sword that could still have done serious damage, he somehow did not see me walking where I had every right to walk. ("How…clumsy…was he?" "He was so clumsy, he couldn't see me." That's like not noticing that you're in close proximity to Mighty Joe Young.)
Crashed right into Yours Truly. Knocked me off my feet, which is like accidentally toppling the Colossus of Rhodes…and I was dirtied a bit but unhurt. Mostly, I was stunned by the lack of "I'm sorry." There are people who go through life unaware that they're expected to share the planet with others. I guess they've always existed but before those omnipresent cameras and YouTube, we didn't see video-recorded evidence of them in the wild and no one dubbed them "Karens."
I've thought about that guy way more than he deserves…probably way more than is good for me. I hope he's not there this year. I hope he's not there any year but especially this year.
Grab This!
The souvenir book for this year's Comic-Con International is now online where it can be read or downloaded in PDF format. It is chock full of articles, several of which are by me. But don't let that stop you. You will be very glad you spent some quality reading time on this well-assembled, well-designed publication. And hey, it's free!
Today's Video Link
This is from the televised version of The Sound of Music from 2013. I'm not a huge fan of the show and I wasn't a huge fan of that production…but I couldn't resist Audra McDonald singing "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." Come to think of it, I'm not a huge fan of that song either, but I am of Audra…
It Starts Tonight!
The 2022 Comic-Con International in San Diego opens tonight at 6 PM. I can tell because the end of the line to get in is somewhere near my house 132 miles away. As you can see below, I begin appearing on panels on Friday.
A lot of folks won't be there because of that COVID thing and I did consider missing my first of these conventions ever. I'm not sure I can explain my decision to chance it but I shall, like any human being with a brain in his head, take precautions and mask as appropriate. To some extent, I think we are all somewhat dependent on the sanity of others in this life.
I'll be seeing the upper middle part of some of your faces there. In the meantime, here's this again…
Friday, July 22 — 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 10
COMICS FOR UKRAINE
Comics for Ukraine is a crowdfunded comics anthology through zoop.gg initiated and edited by Scott Dunbier to help relief efforts in Ukraine. Dozens of creators have stepped up to help. Alex Ross, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Johnson, and Arthur Adams have supplied covers. More than a dozen all-new stories will be included: Astro City by Busiek and Anderson, Groo by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, American Flagg by Howard Chaykin, Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson, Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory, Grendel by Matt Wagner, Star Slammers by Walter Simonson, and Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai make up a portion of this book, But there are more, too many to list—so come to the panel (which will have several of the creators listed here) and find out about this very important book and what you can do to help this charitable endeavor.Friday, July 22 — 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM in Room 10
WALT KELLY AND POGO
Some would tell you that Walt Kelly's Pogo was the cleverest, most wonderful newspaper strip of all time. It was certainly up there with them. It's now being reprinted in full for the first time in a series of lovely hardcover volumes from Fantagraphics Books and Volume 8 (of 12) is on the presses now. Hear all about Kelly's work from Pogo authority Maggie Thompson, Walt Kelly archivist Jane Plunkett, cartoonist (and creator of Bone) Jeff Smith, Fantagraphics editor Eric Reynolds and his co-editor and your moderator Mark Evanier.Saturday, July 23 — 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM in Room 6BCF
QUICK DRAW!
Some say it's the fastest, funniest event at Comic-Con every year. It's the annual Quick Draw! game as three of the fastest, funniest cartoonists rise to challenges hurled at the by the audience and your host, Mark Evanier. Competing this year, we have Scott Shaw! (Sonic the Hedgehog, The Simpsons), Lalo Alcaraz (La Cucaracha), and Mike Kazaleh (Ren & Stimpy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). As usual, wagering is strictly forbidden.Saturday, July 23 — 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Room 6BCF
CARTOON VOICES I
Every year (with two recent exceptions), animation writer and voice director Mark Evanier assembles a panel of some of the best and most-heard cartoon voice actors in the business to demonstrate their craft. This time out, the dais consists of Alicyn Packard (The Tom & Jerry Show, The Mr. Men Show), Phil LaMarr (Justice League, Samurai Jack), Gregg Berger (The Garfield Show, The Transformers), Shelby Young (Star Wars, Baby Shark's Big Show), Brian Hull (Hotel Transylvania, My Babysitter Story), and Townsend Coleman (The Tick, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).Saturday, July 23 — 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Room 23ABC
SPOTLIGHT ON PHIL LaMARR
Actor Phil LaMarr, known for Mad TV, Pulp Fiction, and his extensive voice acting career, with roles animated series including Justice League, Futurama, Samurai Jack, Static Shock, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, will be ruthlessly interrogated by Mark Evanier about his journey from an '80s comic book fanboy to the voice of iconic characters in the DC, Marvel, and many other fandom universes.Sunday, July 24 — 10:00 AM to 11:15 AM in Room 5AB
THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL
It wouldn't be a Comic-Con without a panel tributing the man they still call "The King of the Comics," the man who created or co-created most of the Marvel superheroes and plenty of other comic book superstars elsewhere. Sit and talk about Jack Kirby with comic book superstar Frank Miller, comic book editor Steve Saffel, Rand Hoppe (acting executive director of the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center), and Jack's grandson, Jeremy Kirby. And presiding over it all will be Jack's biographer and one-time assistant, Mark Evanier.Sunday, July 24 — 11:45 AM to 1:15 PM in Room 6A
CARTOON VOICES II
Once more, animation writer and voice director Mark Evanier assembles a panel of some of the best and most-heard cartoon voice actors in the business to demonstrate their craft. Showing off their skills will be Jim Meskimen (Thundercats, We Baby Bears), Rosemary Watson (Let's Be Real), Fred Tatasciore (The Hulk, Family Guy), Kaitlyn Robrock (Minnie Mouse, Thundercats), and Zeno Robinson (My Hero Academia, The Owl House). There will be a reading of a classic fairy tale that will never be the same after these people get through with it.Sunday, July 24 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Room 25ABC
COVER STORY: THE ART OF THE COVER
What is seen on the front of a book, comic or otherwise, is becoming of increasing importance, and some of the most amazing artistry is being seen these days on covers. This panel features five people who have been responsible for popular and even iconic covers in recent years: Comic-Con Special Guests Kevin Maguire, Lorena Alvarez, Mark Wheatley, Marc Hempel, and Bill Morrison. See how they approach their work. Hear what they use to create the magic. And learn how it all comes to be…with your moderator, Mark Evanier.Sunday, July 24 — 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Room 25ABC
THE BUSINESS OF CARTOON VOICES
This is Mark Evanier's annual panel on how to break into the world of voice-over and how to avoid those who would charge you large amounts without helping you much, if at all. Joining Mark will be two of the workingest actors in the field, Alicyn Packard and Gregg Berger, along with agent Sam Frishman, who's with one of the top agencies in the field, Cunningham, Escott, Slevin and Doherty. Here's a chance to learn the basics of the business…and it's absolutely free!
Every bit of the above is subject to change for reasons that may defy comprehension and as usual, I will be exercising my constitutional right (until the current Supreme Court strips me of it) to not sit behind a table in the exhibit hall very much.
If you're interested in any of the books I've worked on for the fine people at Abrams Books, I will be signing those at their booth (1216, I think) for an hour on Friday commencing at 2:30 PM. But if you see me and want to say hello, please do. I am usually not as busy as I appear except before and after Quick Draw! when I'm a maniac. At other times, I am approachable and easy to find. I'll be the guy running around the hall wearing a KN95 mask.