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In LA with a few days to kill

I'm out on the left coast working on trying to get an animated series up and running. These things are always long shots, so it's far too early for me to go into any sort of detail. But you never get anywhere if you don't at least try. So some producing partners and I are making the rounds of Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network and others and we'll see if something comes of it.

Tonight I'm going to the premiere of "Iron Man." So if you see some guy who looks like me walking in the background past Robert Downey Jr. on E! or something, there's a possibility that it is, in fact, me. Or it could be Dick Cheney...

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While Peter is Out of Town

I figure we could do another round of Ask the Wife to pass the time.

Please do understand that if I say I can't answer a question or make a comment on something, it has not much to do with your question and probably more with agreements that we have signed with various companies and groups.

Don't ask me where Peter is or what he is doing right now. Just think good thoughts for our leader.

Well, now Obama doesn't get to complain

Obama voiced dissatisfaction with the current format of the debate, claiming that the moderator focused on trivial issues for far too long. He had a valid point: In the most recent outing, the moderator claimed that the economy was the number one issue on peoples' minds, yet didn't frame a question about it until nearly an hour in.

Here's the thing: Never identify a problem without posing a solution. Obama made the mistake of doing just that, and Clinton--hewing to her claim of being a problem solver--immediately presented one. She suggested a free-form, no-moderator debate, similar to the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Obama turned down the notion in short order. No surprise there: A front-runner, generally speaking, has nothing to gain from a debate and everything to lose. Unfortunately, it brings a truth into focus: There's going to be any number of times when a world leader is in a challenging face-to-face and there's no play book to follow. Obama puts forward the notion that he can win over ferocious opponents of the United States or bridge the gap between parties with his oratory and personal charm, but he balks at facing Clinton in a free-for-all?

Interestingly, the "West Wing" comparisons continue. In the seventh season debate episode, Santos faced Vinick in a debate and that time it was Vinick who suggested that debate rules be tossed aside. In that situation, Santos took him up on it. He welcomed it. As Obama should have.

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"They think he's Seth Green"

I mentioned in passing playing ping pong with Seth Green, but the outing deserves a bit more expansion.

Kath and I wound up getting friendly with Seth and the Robot Chicken guys while hanging out in the convention green room (how appropriate). Consequently we were invited to hang out with them that evening at a nearby pub that had ping pong tables and pool tables in the lower floor.

We took them up on it, and for a while the group of us hung out, drank, played ping pong and were undisturbed. Then I heard a couple of guys at the pool table saying, "Is that Scott Evil?" I wasn't the only one; Matt Senreich, Seth's "Robot Chicken" co-creator, muttered, "We've been made."

Over the next few minutes, word spread, and girls started leaving their dates to come over to Seth to talk to him or have their pictures taken with him. A guy sidled over to me while several girls were posing with Seth and he said, with obvious contempt for the girls' brainpower, "They think he's Seth Green."

"Yeah, he gets that all the time," I said.

The guy nodded, glad to have a voice of reason to talk to. "They don't realize he's just a lookalike."

"Personally, I don't see that much of a resemblance," I said.

"Me neither."

Tends to make one value one's anonymity.

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Typos in "Darkness of the Light"

A number of you complained when the first volume of "The Hidden Earth" saw print that there were a number of typos. I am currently reading the galleys of the paperback edition, and would like to get it as right as possible.

So this is your big chance. If you remember any particularly egregious typos, you've got until Thursday noon EST to let me know.

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OUT LAST WEEK: X-FACTOR #30

Evil doings in Mutant Town. Whad'ja think?

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Convention highlights

1) Kathleen was in one piece: As anyone who's read her blog knows, Kath was in an auto accident. Fortunately she's fine, albeit a bit achy and bruised. Upon learning of the accident Friday, I immediately headed home, rendering me unavailable for the Marvel autograph session and also the Mondo Marvel panel. I left word at the Marvel booth, but somehow they didn't get the message to panel moderator Jim McCann. On stage he noticed my absence and wondered aloud where I was. When one of the panels whispered in his ear what had happened, a startled Jim said "Oh my God!"...right into the open microphone, causing some degree of confusion and alarm for the audience which he quickly had to undo.

2) The Gordon Lee trial being dismissed: As reported elsewhere, the CBLDF announced on Friday that Gordon's lengthy trial nightmare has been tossed.

3) "Tigerheart" presence: Between the 3-day passes with the book cover, the galleys giveaway, and the posters, Del Rey's push for my Peter Pan pastiche was a thing of beauty.

4) Our seder: We had a nicely sized hotel room that enabled us to have some friends over to celebrate the first night of Passover.

5) Saturday evening: After the seder, Kath and I went party hopping. The Marvel party was incredibly well attended, although insanely cramped. We wound up at a bar hanging out with the Robot Chicken gang, with me playing ping pong against Seth Green. He won 21 to 14, but considering I haven't picked up a ping pong paddle since my early 20s, that's not bad.

6) Constant stream of fans: At my artists alley table, I had a constant stream of fans. In the words of Eeyore, thanks for noticing me.

7) Got some neat stuff.

8) Caroline sat at my table making countless drawings of the water horse from the film of the same name. She would announce that they were priced anywhere from "six bucks" to "twenty seven bucks." Not that she knows denominations; people could give her a dollar and she'd be thrilled. She made over thirty dollars which she then spent at the Mattel booth on toys from the film "Cars."

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Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Shaaana
Happy Birthday to you.

Love, Dad

Peter's Schedule for New York Comic Con

Peter's table in Artist Alley is L7-8. He will be there on Saturday and Sunday when he is not at panels or signing at other booths.

Friday April 18th (events canceled due to family emergency. See Kath's blog for details)

Saturday April 19th

11:00-12:00 Signing at the Del Rey Booth (1921)
Del Rey is giving out a limited number of copies of Tigerheart at that time

1:00-2:00 Fantasy Panel (More info as we know the details)

Sunday April 20th

11:00-12:00 Signing at Midtown Comics Booth (1541)
4:00-5:00 Signing at the Marvel Booth (1141)

Who Da Man?

Stan's da Man!

So noted...

The "Dark Tower" received multiple nominations in the Eisner balloting for the limited series as well as the work of Jae Lee and Richard Isanove. And the novelization of "Iron Man" landed on the New York Times expanded Bestseller list on #29.

Personally, I'm a little bummed that the Eisners ignored the magnificent premiere edition of "Fallen Angel" that IDW put out. Chris Ryall and the guys did an outstanding job of putting that package together; would have been nice to see that acknowledged in the reprint category.

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Frakkin' Bunny Town

On the otherwise harmless, and even charming Disney series "Bunny Town," there's one bunny who thinks it's hilarious to run into the middle of situations and shout, "Underwear!" Because to the target audience of "Bunny Town," "underwear" is one of the most hilarious words ever.

Caroline, being the target audience, shares this opinion, and for the past month--whenever things around here get slow--starts shouting "Underwear!" This can go on for, literally, an hour or more at a stretch. And I was making it clear that I was getting sick of it.

So one day I come home and, as soon as I walk in the door, Caroline shouts, "Knickers!" I look at Kathleen questioningly. "I got her saying that instead of underwear," she said proudly, certain that I would be pleased that the underwear scourge was at an end. "At least it's different, and it's basically the same thing."

And Caroline started saying "knickers" over and over again, very quickly.

I turned to Kathleen and said, "Are you insane? If she says that in the wrong place at the wrong time, we're all going to die. Listen to how it sounds."

Confused, she did as I said, and as Caroline continued to say "knickers" even faster, Kathleen realized that Caroline's rapid enunciation was causing the middle "ck" to come out as a hard "g."

Kathleen immediately said, "Caroline. Say underwear instead."

"Underwear!" crowd Caroline happily.

Thus was a potential race riot averted. Currently we're trying to teach her to say "kungaloosh" instead so she'll be all set next time she goes to the Adventurers Club.

Frakkin' Bunny Town.

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Politics of the Hand

So Obama is in all kinds of hot water because he said that there was bitterness in the working class of Pennsylvania, saying that workers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere who have seen factories shut down "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them." These sentiments are generating all manner of controversy, although since my understanding is that the remarks were made in private, I find the violation of confidences to be more alarming.

Clinton is blasting Obama, saying his comments smack of "elitism." Newsday reported that one Democratic strategist in Washington, asserted, "Mistakes like this make superdelegates nervous. ... You cannot be elected president of the United States if you think you're smarter than everyone. People pick up on that."

Here's what I don't get: Why is that a bad thing?

What's wrong with a president believing he's smarter than everyone? Or at least smarter than most people? What's wrong with someone being elitist? Why shouldn't the President of the United States be the best and the brightest, and know that he or she is and be proud of that fact? We've had a proud dunce for seven years now; does anyone REALLY think we're better off for it?

It's no wonder that people are distrustful of politicians, but really, we've brought it on ourselves. We have a situation wherein this country's anti-intellectualism has become so pervasive, so suffocating, that we have multi-millionaire Ivy league graduates trying to pretend they're just plain folks when clearly they're not. And people know they're not. This country was founded by men who knew they were the best and brightest, and the citizenry took pride and comfort in that. But television has put politicians into peoples' homes, and now we just want someone we're comfortable with. We don't want men and women who come across like professors; we want the guy who sat in the back of the class and goofs off, as if life was a sitcom. To put it in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" terms, we should want to elect Mr. Hand; instead we opt for Jeff Spicoli.

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COWBOY PETE HANDICAPS "BSG"

In this, the final season of "Battlestar," we will learn the identity of the remaining unrevealed Cylon. Below the ol' Cowboy handicaps the most likely candidates...

TOM ZAREK—Odds: 1-1—FOR: It doesn’t get more metatextual than having the original Apollo, Richard Hatch, turn out to be the Number One Cylon. Prominent enough for everyone to go “Him?!?” And he’s missing from the big “Last Supper” picture, in which a chalice sitting next to an empty chair may symbolize that the missing Cylon isn’t represented in the portrait. AGAINST: Might be a shade too metatextual for the show’s creators.

LAURA ROSLIN—Odds: 2-1—FOR: Who better to have as a Cylon than someone who was in charge of education? And that was Roslin’s job before the Cylon attack wiped out the three dozen people ahead of her in the line of succession. Also, Cylon blood cured her of breast cancer. AGAINST: If a Cylon were in such a position of power, it’s amazing humanity is alive at all.

BALTAR—Odds: 5-1—FOR: We laugh now when we think about kids in the 1950s being told to duck under their desks in the case of a nuclear attack. What an absurd notion. So how equally absurd that Baltar survived the initial Cylon nuclear strike simply by crouching behind Number Six? Also, Lucy Lawless’s Cylon, upon “seeing” the number one Cylon, said, “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry.” Considering some of what they put Baltar through, the apology makes sense. AGAINST: It would undercut the drama of his being humanity’s greatest tortured traitor if he’s not human.

LEE ADAMA—Odds: 10-1—FOR: The conversations he had with his father over how the old man would feel about Lee’s long-dead brother being a Cylon could be a foreshadowing. Plus he fought hard to get Baltar off the hook, and Baltar has been a valuable Cylon ally. AGAINST: He’s just gone through the interesting transition from fighter pilot to civilian. Giving him yet another shift in his status quo so quickly would undercut that.

DUALLA or GAETA—Odds: 20-1—FOR: Three of the newly revealed four are active in the military fleet. Dualla or Gaeta would be consistent with that. AGAINST: Kind of an anticlimactic reveal.

STARBUCK—Odds: 30-1—FOR: She disappeared under mysterious circumstances, returned under mysterious circumstances, and practically has a big “Suspect me as a Cylon” sign stuck on her back. AGAINST: Too obvious.

CALLY TYROL—Odds: 50-1—FOR: Tidily resolves the fact that, with the reveal of Tyrol being a Cylon, there are now two Cylon/Human hybrids running around. AGAINST: I thought Cylons couldn’t reproduce. Unless it’s a fake-out and the chief isn’t actually a Cylon. Great, now my head’s starting to hurt.

ADMIRAL BILL ADAMA—Odds: 100-1—FOR: Roslin once said to him, in requesting that he take Baltar’s test, “If you’re a Cylon, I’d like to know,” to which he replied, “If I’m a Cylon, you’re really screwed.” That line would take on a whole new meaning, plus his initial opposition to Roslin and his new determination to lead them away from what Starbuck contends is the true path to earth makes sense. AGAINST: Nothing else would make sense. Nothing from Sharon’s putting bullets into him to the fact that the humans are still alive holds water.

AGATHON—Odds—150-1—FOR: Not much. AGAINST: Everything. Hera is no longer a hybrid, plus we’re back to two Cylons reproducing.

HELEN TIGH—Odds—200-1—FOR: She’s dead. But since that means nothing to Cylons, how much of a psych-out would it be if she turns up as their leader. Plus all her manipulation of her husband is consistent with a Cylon trying to exert her influence. AGAINST: With Tigh already revealed as a Cylon, would be repetitive.

ADMIRAL CANE—Odds—200-1—FOR: Likewise dead. Would give further support as to why the Pegasus managed to survive the Cylon attack. Would also explain her brutal command style and her selection of a support staff so abysmal that the Pegasus went through CO’s the way Spinal Tap went through drummers. AGAINST: Why would Six murder her?

BILLY—Odds—250-1—FOR: Just as dead as the previous two. Since the current assistant to the president is a Cylon, why not the previous one? AGAINST: Because it would be repetitive, that’s why.

BOXEY—Odds—300-1—FOR: For a series so obsessed with religious symbolism, how can they pass up Isa. 11-6, “And a little child shall lead them?” AGAINST: Hasn’t been seen since the very earliest episodes.

PATRICK MCGOOHAN--Odds--1000-1--FOR: The last time we had a character named Number Six and a big reveal of a Number One, it was in "The Prisoner" and it turned out to be McGoohan himself. AGAINST: Makes no frakking sense. Then again, neither did "The Prisoner," so...

Eddie Izzard Star Wars

At I-Con, Harlan was talking about an Eddie Izzard routine about "Star Wars." During the rest of the convention people kept coming up to me and saying, "You know, there's a Legos version of that bit." So here it is:

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She Hulk #30 preview

We think the artwork speaks for itself here.

Busy Day Yesterday

Spent the majority of the day at Mets opening day, courtesy of a last minute invite from convention guy Jon Manzo. The festivities were all great, and Citibank Park is coming along nicely. The only thing disappointing about the day was the Mets' level of play as they dropped the final Shea home opener 5-2 to the Phillies. It's bad enough when a team plays well and they're outplayed by a better team. But the Phillies were thunderingly unimpressive, with dinky, unimpressive seeing eye hits. What won them the game was the Mets bullpen, handing bases to them courtesy of hit batsmen (well, one batsman, Utley, who kept getting plunked. Who the hell did he piss off, anyway?), walks, and sloppy fielding that, in one instance, turned a potential inning-ending double play ball into an error that resulted in a run scored and everyone safe. When you hand a team five outs per inning, you're going to lose. Feh.

More cheerful was the evening spent at the screening of the Harlan Ellison documentary, "Dreams with Sharp Teeth" at Lincoln center. Present were Harlan, the doc's director, Erik Nelson, as well as such luminaries as Josh Olson, Norman Spinrad, and others (as well as Kathleen, who met up with me in the city and looked QUITE fetching, I have to say). Harlan and Erik did a Q&A afterwards that easily could have done another hour if they hadn't kicked us out. Good times.

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Peter David interview on ComicMix

Chris Ullrich interviews Peter for ComicMix, where he talks about She-Hulk, X-Factor, Stephen King and Dark Tower and online comics. Enjoy.

Another year, another I-Con

Had a good time at I-Con this year. How can you not when Harlan Ellison is in town?

Dire weather was predicted but fortunately held off, since I-Con (or, as I call it, Schlepcon) can be something of a drag in the rain. Held on the campus of Stony Brook University, you have to walk to various buildings for different panels, some of them practically on opposite sides of the campus.

Did a bunch of panels with such luminaries as Harlan, Bob Greenberger, Dwayne McDuffie, Murphy Anderson, Peter S. Beagle and Norman Spinrad. They were well attended and the fans were uniformly enthusiastic.

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Obama just lost my vote

A 37? The man bowled a 37 during a campaign stop in Altoona?

How in God's name am I supposed to get behind a man who rolls a 37? Caroline bowls better than that, and she's five. I mean, okay, granted, Obama can probably tell a joke better than she can. Her most recent endeavor which she told me just now:

"Daddy! Knock knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Banana!"
"Banana who?"
"Banana chair!" (followed by hysterical laughter)

Yeah. Anyway..

Thirty seven? Out of a possible 300?

Yo, Senator: Here's a bowling hint. That curved, deep wood channel on either side of the lane? The object is to keep your ball OUT of that.

I saw pictures of him in his endeavors. The man has no form at all. Even worse, he's a lefty.

Open invitation, Senator: Come to New York, I'll work with you for an hour, and we'll have you rolling strikes in no time. Until then...

Thirty seven? Good lord, we have to have SOME standards for a president.

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