PeterDavid.net

Too bad about the sore throat, hope you feel better.

One of these days I hope I get to make it to Dragon Con.

Ever think you'll make it back to the Trek Expo in Tulsa?

Hope you get well soon, and happy b-day to Ariel!

Happy Birthday Ariel... hope you feel better Peter! Sorry we are missing Dragon*Con this year... WE missed you at HeroCon (hint hint)!

If you run into my brother, tell him i said "Hi!"

Dragon*Con is becoming high on the list of conventions I still want to hit. I couldn't this year, won't next year (I'll be in Chicago that weekend), so maybe 2008.

Hey Peter-

I couldn't make it this year, but I gave a friend pain-of-death orders to see you and give you a packet o' stuff for me. Did you get it, or do I have to go all the way back down to Georgia to shoot a man?

Why does Dragon*Con always remind me of the joke:

Q - "How do you get dragon milk?
A - "From a cow with short legs!"

Speaking of George Perez, it's such a shame you two have exclusive contracts with different companies. It's been way too long since you worked together on Future Imperfect, a story that deserves hardcover format. Oh, and hey Peter, let George know that his fans want him to do that unfinished New Teen Titans project.

Happy 15th to Ariel, and best wishes about the throat. We're nursing colds up here -- just the thing right before school starts...

TWL

Happy Birthday Ari, love Auntie Beth :-)

Sarah and Emma say "hi"

Peter, I hope you feel better soon.

Travel isn't high on my agenda right now, but when that changes I hope to have the good fortune of meeting you at a convention again.

Happy birthday to Ariel and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I'll bet you have more than a few storis about obviously ill fans approaching you at cons and sneezing, coughing and otherwise spreading anthrax spores in you general direction. As I tell my students, "Try to come to school but if you are obviously ill with something I might catch keep your toxic ass home."

I said that to students for a while, Bill, but at the moment there doesn't seem to be much point. Even if they don't bring anything in for me to catch, Katherine's at day care (also known as the Great Virus Swap) and routinely brings things home to share with us. I just hope she's as generous when it's gold or something instead of viruses.

TWL

Well, if it's any consolation, studies indicate that she will end up stronger and less prone to illnesses in the future. It's part of the "That which does not kill us makes us stronger" hypothesis. When I was a kid we played in dirt. We built dirt houses. We tried to dig a dirt hole to China. We had dirt ball fights. We made up games with names like "Throw the dirt!" and "Hey look, dirt!". As a result we got exposed to all the bacteria that God in his infinite wisdom placed upon the earth and grew up with immune systems well primed for whatever got thrown at us (except for the kids who died from infections, tetanus and other dirt related pathogens but natural selection is a harsh mistress and you can't make omelets without breaking a few eggs).

Contrast this to your average Kid Of Today, growing up in a world of steel and Lysol, bathing twice a day with anti-bacterial soap, frantically reaching for the waterless hand cleanser when they accidentally touch another human being. Small wonder the world is in the shape it's in.

Oh, believe me, we're well aware of the immune system benefits. We're just hoping she gets to that stage soon. :-)

(The one negative so far is that she appears to have inherited my respiratory system, so that virtually every cold heads right to her chest and leaves her wheezing. That's a bit of a hassle, but it's not a huge concern.)

TWL

Were you in Disney World last week? That's where I got my cold that started out that way... It must be working its way north, like the "hurricane". Best wishes to Ariel!

I have indoor and outdoor allergies, and the chronic sinus problems that go with them. I even have a condition that mimics asthma (hard to explain, not worth going into).

There's a hypothesis floating around the medical community that allergies are the result of an immune system with too much time its hands due to an excessively clean world. This hypothesis posits that your immune system therefore overreacts to triggers that are otherwise harmless.

I guess my parents should have let me play with dogshit. Who knew?

Peter,

I see that DC is soliciting the Sachs and Violens TPB for November.
If that sells really well, is there any chance that you and George might get together for a sequel (and does DC have rights on any sequel-related project or could you possibly take it to another publisher if you and George could fit it into your schedules)? I know you are exclusive to Marvel and George is (I believe) exclusive to DC ... but perhaps they'd allow you to run something through someone like a Boom! Studios or another smaller outfit of that nature.

Peter- I got to see you at DragonCon and just wanted to say thanks, you were incredible nice to every fan I saw you talk to (including me) and I really enjoyed having you sign my copy of your guide to writing comics (as well as the Fallen Angel and X-Factor scripts I picked up from you).

Thanks!

Hey Peter--

I know you're nominated for a Harvey this year. Are you going to Baltimore this year? I have had something come up stopping me from going to every comic con or trek convention you've been at in the DC/Baltimore area since I started reading your stuff in '92. I have a friend who theorizes that our combined presence at the same convention would cause a collision of matter and anti-matter causing a horrific explosion, possibly creating a rend in space/time that would consume the entire eastern seaboard. I for one, already have my ticket. Is this really a theory you want to test?

"I know you're nominated for a Harvey this year. Are you going to Baltimore this year?"

No. We will have just come back from Dragon*Con. Plus I don't need to schlep to Baltimore so that I can watch either the high profile Marvel book ("Young Avengers") or the Fantagraphics nomination win. I'm not saying they're undeserving. I'm just saying that, calmly assessing the possibilities, we have no chance.

PAD

No. We will have just come back from Dragon*Con. Plus I don't need to schlep to Baltimore so that I can watch either the high profile Marvel book ("Young Avengers") or the Fantagraphics nomination win. I'm not saying they're undeserving. I'm just saying that, calmly assessing the possibilities, we have no chance.

On the one hand, damn-- cause it will be another year at least till I can afford another show. (And it will probably be Baltimore again-- though with tickets purchased farther ahead of time so Ticketmaster doesn't sell out of two day passes.)

On the other hand, I'm not entirely certain that my friend isn't right. Maybe the universe is trying to protect itself.

Damn, that was a great Con.

The Sir Apropos novella reading (phone call and all) was great. Although, strangely, my wife, who has never read an Apropos novel and is one of the least political people I know, seemed to get into it even more then I did. Good news/bad news I guess. It's a good sign that the novella my reach Apropos virgins and send them teaming into the book stores in search of the novels. Bad news in that it probably means even more print runs and a longer wait for a new Apropos publisher and novel for the rest of us. Evil, evil fates!!!!!

Still, the highlight, for us, had to be the Mythbusters and Ghost Hunters Q & A sessions. If you ever get a chance to see the Mythbusters do a con, especially if they're bringing along their convention only blooper reel, go without a moments hesitation or a second thought. You will never be able to watch the show the same way again.

PAD,
"we have no chance"
You do realize now that you've made that statement you are setting yourself up to be the modern version of Paul Newman, who did not show up at the ceremony where he finally won an Oscar, for "The Color Of Money".
No one expected Marisa Tomei to win for "My Cousin Vinny" either.

Everytime you mention that Ariel has a Birthday, I immediatly think back to the Little Mermaid Drawing from CBG those *sigh* 15 years ago. Happy Birthday Ariel!!

Peter, do you have any comments on Harlan Ellison's threats to sue Pocket Books over the use of the Guardian of Forever and "The City on the Edge of Forever" in the new 40th anniversary trilogy, Crucible, by David R. George III? I know that you've used elements of "City" in your own work, namely Imzadi, and I was curious if Harlan had given you any flack over that.

I forgot to wish Ariel "happy birthday."

So, Ariel, a belated "happy birthday!"

Peter, do you have any comments on Harlan Ellison's threats to sue Pocket Books over the use of the Guardian of Forever and "The City on the Edge of Forever" in the new 40th anniversary trilogy, Crucible, by David R. George III? I know that you've used elements of "City" in your own work, namely Imzadi, and I was curious if Harlan had given you any flack over that.

I seriously doubt that.

I hadn't heard of the lawsuit threat...I would have thought that the Trek people owned pretty much anything done for the series. Wasn't the Guardian used in the animated series?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARIEL

I hadn't heard of the lawsuit threat

Most people are only finding out about it now (Dave has something posted to the news part of the Psiphi.org site dated yesterday), with a link back to Harlan's site. Look for the post titled " THE NEXT BIG BATTLE".

Wasn't the Guardian used in the animated series?

*Nod* As well as in multiple other novels, including Yesterday's Son and Devil's Heart.

-Rex Hondo-

I see that DC is soliciting the Sachs and Violens TPB for November.

It figures right after I buy the entire series in back issues it gets collected in trade paperback. Dutifully, I am buying it anyway to let the powers that be know that I am interested in seeing more of these characters.

Craig, thanks for the heads-up on the Ellison lawsuit threat it took about five seconds to find the original post by googling it with the appropriate key words. If I understand the specifics of the situation, it sounds like Ellison is objecting to the unauthorized use of certain elements of 'City' which are providing the basis for a rilogy of new books, to which he retains the copyright. If anybody in a position of more knowledge believes that to be untrue, feel free to correct me, but all things being equal, I would be on the phone to Ellison tomorrow, and Fedexing him a fat check the day after that. If Pocket believes the high-paid lawyers of their parent company will shield them from Harlan's wrath, they are sorely mistaken. Just double-checking the copyright info on his White Wolf City on the Edge of Forever book was enough to tell me they're in for a fair amount of trouble here, and I'm hardly a copyright lawyer. If anybody from Pocket is reading this post, I strongly suggest you apologize and pay the man now and save yourself a world of hurt. There, I've just saved you tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs free of charge. If not, there are probably some AOL lawyers who will be happy to provide you with the same warning.

Except that Ellison owns only the original script for "City," not the finished episode. Paramount owns that, and Crucible: McCoy is a sort-of sequel to that. CBS/Paramount is within their rights to license Star Trek as they see fit, and if there's fault it's not with Pocket, it's with CBS/Paramount. Ellison seems to labor under the misapprehension that the White Wolf book gave him additional rights to the script. It didn't. At best, the White Wolf book was published under the same fair-use doctrine as any other unauthorized non-fiction Star Trek book. Ellison's case isn't just shaky, it's non-existent.

Allyn, I'm really not sure you're correct here, but at the risk of completely sidetracking this thread, does anybody well versed in copyright law want to weigh in?

Joe, Pocket has been utilizing elements of "City on the Edge" since Yesterday's Son. What made Yesterday's Son and Imzadi (which was the plot of "City," but inverted) and Final Frontier (which dealt with Kirk grieving over Edith Keeler) okay, but Crucible: McCoy is not okay? If Ellison is claiming that Pocket is infringing on his copyrights, he hasn't protected those copyrights.

But they're not his copyrights to start with. Norman Spinrad complained when Wildstorm did a comics sequel to "The Doomsday Machine," but he also admitted that Paramount owned the Doomsday Machine and could do what they want with it. Ellison owns the original script and can publish that. His copyrights don't extend past that.

Y'know, one of these days, I'm gonna get back to one of these cons. (Without thinking, I was just about to say I used to be a real pro at going.) I haven't been to a comic con, or even a non-Creation con, since 1990. Like my lovely ex is always quoting, now that I'm making a decent living, I can't have a life. Of course, Stacie and I have been talking about going to the Ren Faire for the last 10 years, and that hasn't happened yet either.

Regarding the whole Ellison lawsuit thing--I only have one thing to say, and this isn't anything but my opinion, so nobody start yelling. I don't think that it's anybody's business except the people involved in the lawsuit. Was City the best episode of TOS? THAT I will argue with you. Well produced, yeah, cleverly written as shown, yeah, but the best? I don't think so. It's UP there, but I wouldn't call it the best. But whether Mr. Ellison has a case? I got NO idea. To paraphrase a certain surgeon, I'm a videographer, not a lawyer.

Regarding the whole Ellison lawsuit thing--I only have one thing to say, and this isn't anything but my opinion, so nobody start yelling. I don't think that it's anybody's business except the people involved in the lawsuit.

Don't worry, no yelling will be forthcoming from this direction. However, while I would agree that it shouldn't be anybody else's business, Ellison made the dubious decision to rather arrogantly (IMO) spout off about his next "big battle" on his public website.

-Rex Hondo-

"You do realize now that you've made that statement you are setting yourself up to be the modern version of Paul Newman, who did not show up at the ceremony where he finally won an Oscar, for "The Color Of Money"."

No, I was just setting myself up to be right, as evidenced by the results.

PAD

Eh, you were robbed. Young Avengers is good but nowhere near the same league as X-Factor (especially since it seems to have been compiled by putting Young Justice and Runaways into a blender together).

Well, keep in mind that Young Avengers had lowered expectations to overcome. If you remember, a lot of people reacted very negatively to the title and concept. Then when the book came out, people were very pleasantly surprised. So that certainly helped.

PAD

That's true. I was certainly among those who scoffed at the concept (it looked like it should have been called "Tiny Toon Avengers"), and I ended up enjoying it quite a bit