Year: 2002

It certainly would never have been a crusade that occurred to me to undertake, but for what it’s worth, Glenn has been successful in his endeavors. For the moment, at least, when doing a Google search for Carol Kalish, Groth’s eleven year old screed is no longer the first thing that comes up. So that’s nice.

FYI–Richard Howell sent a baby present to Caroline. It’s a small plush hippo named “Mud” that used to belong to Carol. “Mud” seemed most pleased to be pressed back into service after years of inactivity, and has a place of honor in Caroline’s crib.

PAD

Well, I’m not sure if they’re exactly “spoilers” or not, considering it’s just speculation. Nor am I the only person to think that the following is the case (board monitor Glenn Hauman shares my opinion.)

On last night’s episode, Giles–having survived his close encounter with a representative of the First Evil–showed up in Sunnydale with three would-be slayers in tow.

Except…I’m thinking not.

I’m thinking we’re seeing a “Sixth Sense” riff here (so much so, as Keith DeCandido pointed out, that they even mentioned that film’s writer/director in the episode). I’m thinking that, with the BBC “Ripper” series apparently terminally stalled, that Giles did not, in fact, survive a dámņëd thing, and that the First is impersonating a dead Giles.

Granted, the dialogue was off. Giles sounded defeatist and unheroic. On the other hand, the script *was* co-written by Marti Noxon, so that’s not exactly unusual.

But the utter lack of physical contact–an impossibility for the incorporeal First–was staggering.

1) Giles never knocked on the door.

2) Giles, the British gentleman, never helped with carrying any luggage or held the door open for any of the females throughout the episode. Nor did he seize a weapon when the others did.

3) When he arrived, none of the females hugged him, and Xander didn’t shake his hand. This is such a stunning lapse in the typical physical behavior of the characters that it seemed like one of those nail-on-chalkboard script requirements. You know, where something has to happen a certain way because the script demands it, but it makes so little sense that it just strikes you as wrong.

4) Giles never removes or hangs up his coat, even when we see others do so with theirs. Why? Speculation: It wouldn’t hang on a hangar.

5) When walking through the Christmas tree lot, the heavier Giles walks directly over the boarded hole that the much lighter Buffy promptly crashes through.

6) When Buffy is scrambling to get out of the hole, Giles doesn’t extend a hand.

7) When the vampire is emerging from the hole, we see Giles is standing directly in front of the sun, blocking it. He blocks it so thoroughly that Buffy is looking straight into it and doesn’t squint. Yet the vampire screams and falls back as if hit with the full force of the sun. Why? Because if Giles is really incorporeal, there’s nothing actually there blocking the UV rays.

Not looking real good for our hero, kids.

PAD

The following link (for as long as it’s up) will take you to an article in the Philadelphia Daily News in which the writer lists what he considers to be the top ten “Next Generation” novels. Seven of them are written by me, and one more of them is one of the group books I wrote with Mike Friedman and Bob Greenberger. Not bad. http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/2002/12/12/living/4721661.htm

PAD

Some months ago, with SUPERGIRL sales sagging and Leonard Kirk leaving the title, I came up with what was essentially a “Hail Mary” pass. I talked the DC Powers That Be into letting me do a storyline involving the return of Kara.

My reasoning was simple: Who wasn’t reading the book? (1) People who had become bored with the current storyline. (2) People who had dismissed the series from the get-go because any Supergirl who wasn’t Kara Zor-El was of no interest to them. By doing “Many Happy Returns,” I figured I could snag both groups. A fresh storyline to pull back lost readers, and the Kara angle to haul in first-timers. It was a “Hail Kara” pass to attend to what I felt were alarmingly sagging numbers.

As near as I could tell subsequently, it was a success in both regards. There was a lot of preliminary buzz, and many people were saying that they’d never read the title but were going to give it a look.

And then the solicits came in for #75, and I knew without question we were pretty much dead. Sales were up an anemic 2000 copies. Fan interest had not translated to retailer interest. Why should they? Knock the Marvel no-reorder policy as much as you want, but by this point, the retailers are trained. A Marvel title sells out, they’re screwed. A DC title sells out, they figure more copies are in the offing. The only deficiency in the reasoning comes when the initial low orders becomes a book’s death warrant.

Which is what happened here.

I’ve known for some months that “Supergirl” is going away. Frankly, I kept hoping for a last minute reprieve. Then the numbers came in on #76, showing an impressive lack of any confidence whatsoever as numbers went almost right back to pre-#75 levels, and that was that. Supposedly numbers are now climbing back up. Too little, too late.

Well, at least this incarnation of “Supergirl” was around longer than every other comic bearing that title combined. We did a lot of good work and I worked with some great people: Gary Frank, Leonard Kirk, Robin Riggs, Ed Benes, and long-suffering editor Mike McAvennie. And, of course, current editor Lysa Hawkins, who will be my editor on the new original series, “The Fallen Angel” (more about which later.)

And issue #80 goes out with a bang. Seems I’ve had a lot of experience writing last issues lately.

PAD

A few folks are taking me to task about the intro I wrote to Peter’s remembrance of Carol Kalish. Since some folks had trouble noticing it the first time (my name at the bottom, Peter being referred to in the third person) I want to make clear that I wrote it, not Peter– he was busy doing something important, taking care of his new daughter.

In an effort to keep Peter out of it, I reply to it on my own weblog. Alas, I’m sure we’ll get around to it again when I start reprinting the BID columns dealing with Enemies of Ellison…

Okay, there wasn’t much sex, but did anyone see Al Gore on “Saturday Night Live?” My God, did the writers and Gore rise to the occasion. His hilarious Trent Lott impersonation was beautifully balanced by the Democratic rep who cheerfully agreed with everything the GOP did while trying to act as if the Democrats were coming up with new ideas. The stuff with Tipper, Weekend Update, everything worked beautifully. And the “West Wing” sequence was an odd combination of funny and wistfully depressing.

I’m not surprised he’s passing on the 2004 nomination. If he couldn’t beat Bush even when he *did* beat Bush, what’s the point of trying it again. Hey! Maybe Lieberman will run for President and Gore will be *his* VP.

PAD

Once I would have been both amused and saddened by the woman who repeatedly told Stan Lee on CNN that the Rawhide can’t, simply can’t be gay because kids might get their hands on the comic and comics, as we all know, are for kids. Except a DA actually got a store owner convicted for that very notion.

Which leads one to wonder whether in some homophobic communities whether stores will be targeted for having those evil queer comic books available to warp young minds.

And besides…c’mon…the Rawhide Kid? What about the Lone Ranger? The kinky mask. “Hi ho, Silver,” indeed (although I’ve also heard “Hi yo, Silver,” but that’s not much better.) That snappy powder blue ensemble. “On, Big Fella?” “Mount up?” And what’s *really* going on with Tonto?

Actually, if you want to see gay deconstruction of the wild west, check out the comedy “Rustler’s Rhapsody.”

PAD