Originally published December 20, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1205
Some recent movie-going experiences:
Year: 2012
My first foray into Marvel Zombies
A week or so ago I was contacted by Marvel editorial: The writer for their new Zombie limited series, “Marvel Zombies Destroy!” had run into some health issues and they needed someone to step in and write the last three issues. Having not read the solicits, I said, “What’s the premise?”
“World War II Marvel Nazi zombies.”
I gave it not a moment’s hesitation. “Sold.”
Because really: How can you possibly turn down World War II Marvel Nazi zombies?
I wrote my first issue (#3 of the series) and candidly really got a kick out of it. And I’ve got incredibly twisted things in mind for #4 and #5. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I am writing it.
PAD
The State of Marvel 1996
Originally published December 13, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1204
It’s tough to keep up with the current situation regarding Marvel Comics. Whatever I write at the moment becomes overshadowed by new outrages.
To the Moon Over “John Carter”
It’s easy to point out that, since I have several dogs in this hunt–namely I work for Disney and also wrote the *ahem* New York Times Bestseller graphic novel prequel, “World of Mars,” that I cannot approach the newly released “John Carter” in any sort of unbiased way. And that’s true. But not for the obvious reasons.
I’m going to be biased because when I was ten years old, throwing myself eagerly into the Edgar Rice Burroughs tales of Barsoom, there were nights–especially at the end of some VERY lousy days–where I would stand in the backyard and try to find the glittering red spot that was Mars against the blackened sky. And I would look up longingly, just as Carter had, and throw my arms wide, and wish desperately that I could leave my mortal body behind and find myself on Mars. There I would pal around with a four armed green guy, and a calot would be my pet, and I’d have a naked Martian girlfriend (yes, I thought that way at age ten. What can I say? I was precocious. Don’t tell ME gender preference isn’t ingrained.)
The BID Poll Revisited, part 2
Originally published December 6, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1203
Picking up from last week, we’re following up on the But I Digress poll, conducted in these very pages four years ago. The original notion was for readers to predict the state of the comics industry a decade into the future. Since life is—to put it mildly—uncertain, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look at how a passage of less than half a decade has affected the industry.
Caroline’s Science Experiment. Of Particular Interest if you Hate Cats.
Caroline is doing a project for her third grade science fair this year. She’s decide to myth bust the following belief: that if you drop a piece of buttered bread, it will always land butter side down. Her belief was that, in fact, even buttered bread would attend to the law of averages and probability and simply fall butter side down half the time.
She was also aware that cats always land on their feet. So she further decided to see what would happen if you strapped a piece of buttered bread to the back of a cat and let it fall. Would it fall butter side down? Cat feet down? Or would the dropped cat simply spin perpetually in the air on a horizontal plane, like a chicken on a spit roast, unable to land since it was caught between two absolutes?
The family pitched in and here are the results:
Continue Reading “Caroline’s Science Experiment. Of Particular Interest if you Hate Cats.”
The BID Poll Revisited, part 1
Originally published November 29, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1202
There was recent discussion on CompuServ regarding the But I Digress poll.
For those poor folks who came in late: Four years ago, we conducted a reader survey, inspired by a magazine which tried to assess what folks thought their world would be like come the next century. The BID poll asked fans to share their thoughts, via multiple-choice possibilities, of what the world of comics would be like 10 years down the road.
I have no idea whether BID (or even I) will be around in another six years. So it might be instructive to see the changes a mere four years have brought and get a feel for where we are—and, perhaps, where we’re going.
• 
Recent Comments