Month: December 2004

So people have been e-mailing me (yes, my e-mail is functioning properly once more) asking me if I’m “happy” about the news that Todd McFarlane has filed for bankruptcy.

The answer is, no, of course not, for two reasons. First, I take no pleasure in the misfortune of others, even if they’ve done me dirt. And second, I don’t think of this as anything other than a canny accounting dodge so that Todd can get out of the debts he owes to people that he’s done dirt to. Tony Twist, to whom he lost two court battles for naming a murderous thug after him; Neil Gaiman, to whom he made countless promises that he then broke; various artists including my past collaborator, Angel Medina, to whom he owes thousands. Depending upon how it plays out, all these people he’s screwed over may wind up getting pennies on the dollar, while Todd winds up “reorganizing” and eventually going back to business as usual without having to properly compensate these guys. Guys who (with the exception of Twist) made only one mistake: Trusting Todd McFarlane.

Granted, I’m not an accountant or a lawyer. So if someone with an accounting or law degree would care to explain that I’m wrong, I would love to hear it. I would very much like to be wrong on this and think that guys like Neil and Angel will be able to get what’s due them.

PAD

Glenn was out here until 3 AM last night trying to get my computer sorted out, and the decision after many hours of labor and crunching is the computer is probably on the verge of dying and I’ll need a new one.

Meanwhile, Verizon assured me that the line noise problem on my fax line would be resolved by late afternoon. In a sense, they were right. There’s no longer any line noise. There’s also no dial tone. The line is now completely dead. In the words of Henry Jones, Sr., “Our situation has not improved.”

PAD

We’re having some sort of major Verizon screw-up in the area. Although Kath’s computer, which functions along a DSL line, can still access the internet, my older computer (which doesn’t have the memory requirements to accommodate a DSL) is still locked into dial-up. Which isn’t usually a problem except we seem to terminal line-noise on the phone lines, making the internet inaccessible to me (and also puts the kibosh on my fax line). Which means that I’m completing work and have no means of getting it TO anybody since e-mail has become the conveyance of choice.

So I tried to call my editors to find out if they have any direct fax numbers (as opposed to, say, general switchboard faxes) so I can go to a shipping place and pay to fax the work out. And naturally all I get is voice mail. I keep thinking about how, when I was working at Marvel, phones were NEVER unmanned. Even during lunch hour, someone would always stay to man the phones. I don’t need to talk to an editor or get a callback just to get a fax number; an assistant could easily provide that information. I think voice mail, although convenient for the person being called, has become the first, best weapon in the spiralling quality of customer service and simple human interaction in this country.

PAD

I’ve finished the first draft of the treatment for “Gene Roddenberry’s Starpoint Academy.” Twenty pages long, providing a beat-by-beat guide through (what hopefully will be merely the first) adventure of the Starpoint students.

As always, there’s many a potential slip along the way. But I’ll keep you guys apprised as matters progress.

Now, off to work on the FF novelization. I’ve even got the first line, which is not in the script. I just like it: “I’m worried about’cha, Reed,” said Ben Grimm. “I think yer stretchin’ yourself too thin.”

PAD

Yes, it’s out! Finally, the threads all come together is revealed! The killer of Sue Dibny is–

Whoops. Wrong book.

So. Madrox #4. Whad’ja think?

FCC Wary of Greeks Baring Gifts at Games (washingtonpost.com)

In response to one or more indecency complaints, the Federal Communications Commission has asked NBC to send it tapes of its coverage of the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Athens, the network confirmed late yesterday.

Ironically, the night before, NBC’s Summer Games coverage was named the family-friendliest special of 2004 during WB’s broadcast of the sixth annual Family Television Awards. The awards are given by the Family Friendly Programming Forum, a group of 46 major national advertisers working to encourage networks to produce more family-friendly prime-time fare…

Yet another example of how open we Americans are to free expression and ideas from other lands nowadays…