When I'm asked what my favorite Christmas movie is, I usually say Die Hard. And I mean it. It's also one of the very best action movies ever done as well as a great character driven story. Die Hard, like Star Wars and the first Matrix changed movies to one degree or another. After the first Die Hard came out, everyone was looking for a "Die Hard in a...." movie. Submarine. Airplane. etc. A million things. Until the phrase "Die Hard in a..." became so generic one development person is said to have requested "Die Hard in an office building" forgetting the original. The second and third Die Hard movies, however, like the second and third Matrix movies, well, sucked.

Die Hard one works because it places a very real person in a horrible situation. Its genius was that the character - for very plausible reasons - was not wearing shoes. He was sadly vulnerable. As he took apart a criminal ring John McClane never strayed from being human. He didn't have super powers. He didn't do anything that defied reality. He was trying to survive and save his wife at the same point. But you believed what was going on because you believed any ordinary - albeit very fit - human could have done the same.

Die Hard 2 &3 changed that. The character did things that defied physics. Way defied physics. He was thrown something like 100 feet in the air, crashed to the ground and survived and kept fighting. That the stories made little sense also hurt. That they repeated the estranged wife plot also hurt. After what John does in the first movie, those two should have simply been together. The stories lacked credibility, the characters weren't right, and the franchise went south.

Now the non-sensible title, Live Free or Die Hard has come out and once again John is doing things that defy physics. He survives beatings and more that would stagger Superman let alone a real person in his late 40s, early 50s, as Bruce Willis is. Yet, somehow, I enjoyed this movie whereas I hated 2&3. Yes, there was CGI everywhere. Characters did things that were impossible. The overall scheme really pushes all my buttons the wrong way, but the simple story of trying to save his daughter resonated. The action, although ridiculous, was fun this time. This was a massive cartoon of improbably and ludicrous stunt work, but it worked because unlike in 2 & 3 I cared about the characters.

So maybe the real reason I hated 2&3 wasn't that John McClane defied physics and believability, but because I didn't care about John McClane, whereas this time I do. I am not someone who likes things because at one point in my life I liked it. I like SF, but not all. I like action movies, but the fact that a film is an action movie won't get me to see it. I like a few Westerns, but if you asked if I'm a western fan I'd say no. Genres don't do anything for me; individual movies do. So I wasn't looking forward to Live free or Die Hard because I liked the original. I went in not caring about the commercials, but I left enjoying it. It's no Die Hard, but it's what I like to call bigdumbfun. And sometimes that's enough.

Labels: Live free of Die Hard

Just got home from a few days in Chicago. Got there Tuesday night and left Thursday. The weather was perfect, nice and crisp and it only began to rain as I was less than 100 feet from the hotel. But I'm glad travel for the present is over until San Diego - unless something else suddenly rears its ugly head. The past few months have been packed with going places and I'd like to stay home for awhile with Noel and just work.

I had forgotten how beautiful a city Chicago is. I was staying on Michigan Avenue directly across from an Apple Store. Every major store was within a block or two, and Pizzeria Uno and Due were within 3 blocks; best pizza anywhere. Chicago is full of amazing restaurants and I only wish I had more time to try them out, but work kept me hopping.

Travel home was weird. I was booked for a 4:30 or so flight but was finished earlier so I headed to the airport for an early standby flight. I was actually in my seat, starting to read, when I got bumped by someone with a million frequent flier miles. I did get put on the very next flight - still hours before I was supposed to leave, but being bumped once you're in your seat is something new.

I found American Airlines extremely weird this time. I'm used to them not serving food unless you buy it, so I always get my sandwich elsewhere, but usually they at least give you pretzels or nuts. But no, they charge for that, too. As for movies, they usually sell you headsets or let you use ones you already have, but American seems to have found some new gimmick; they rent you a DVD player for your seat only and I think it plays only one movie... for 8 dollars. Airlines are pleading poverty but every seat on my flight - both ways - was filled. Also, the airline people seemed to be rude or severely perfunctory; not to me, but I watched them speaking with others and, well, there didn't seem to be a friendly sky anywhere in sight. Maybe on United, but not on American.

Add to this the insane check in procedure and air travel is simply no longer fun. Because one lunatic had a shoe bomb we all now have to remove our shoes. Yet in some European airports they merely wave a wand over your shoe to check for explosives so you don't have to remove them at all. How many people have to walk barefoot over God knows what? Also, considering everyone has to take off their shoes, the airports don't seem to think about putting a large number of chairs on the other side of security for us to sit down, retie our shoes, put our computers back in their cases, rebuckle our belts, dig out the change we scattered, etc. We have to do everything standing up at the end of the X-Ray line which continues to slow down the check-in procedure. Because of the potential for gel explosives, we can no longer bring soda and water to the airport which means we have to pay inflated prices at airport concession stands. I am actually not a conspiracy theorist, but I believe we are purposely being subjected to inconveniences that invade our privacy in order for us to slowly accept bigger such invasions elsewhere. I just keep thinking there has to be a better way to accomplish needed security and move us through the line faster.

One last thing. Note to self: do not go anywhere near the Apple Store today at about 6PM if I don't want to be trampled. I've had a Treo 650 for 2 years now but my plan is still to wait at least a year before I even begin to consider an iPhone. I want GPS, a larger hard drive, G3 transmission, etc. Otherwise, it really does look way cool. Of course, if some company I work with wants to give me one free, I won't turn it down. I like way cool.

Labels: American Airlines, Chicago

My favorite TV show is coming back and premiering later tonight. THE HISTORY DETECTIVES is on PBS and I've been touting it here for the past few years, but I usually forget to announce it in advance. Not so this time. The concept of the History Detectives is simple and probably doesn't sound fun, but trust me it is. Essentially, people write in about some old something they they have in their possession that they think is connected to some part of American history. It could be as simple as a liquor flask that may have gone back 200+ years to the Whiskey Rebellion or a mechanical mouse that could have been a forerunner to Mickey, or a gun that might have belonged to Hermann Goering. Our detectives begin an exhaustive search to authenticate the item, and it's the search that's the fun. There are usually 3 different cases each week so if case 1 isn't of interest, I can pretty much guarantee case 2 will be. As I say, the description doesn't do it justice, but it's a show I've been faithfully watching since the first episode years ago. If you like history in any fashion, give it a try.

For the past month or so my cell phone - a Treo 650 - which rests in a leather case slipped onto my belt, has taken to falling off said belt. The leather, from years of wedging it in place, has worn away and the metal clasp is all that's left. Without the leather the metal slides from the belt too often and carrying case and phone has fallen off several times. Fortunately I usually hear the fall or it falls inside the car so I can easily find it.

Not so yesterday.

I went to the mall to replace a cable at the Apple store. As I reached to my Treo to get the name of the needed cable, I saw the phone was gone. I wasn't overly concerned. I thought maybe I left it at home or maybe it fell into my car as it had before. So I went back to the car and it wasn't there. I drove back home and it wasn't there, either. I called its number hoping to track it down. Zip. It was nowhere. I called the phone a few more times, heard the dial tone, but nobody answered.

So I rushed back to the mall to see if anyone turned it in. No. I went to my phone store and had them cancel the Sim card so calls couldn't be made on it, but before I did, I called the number one more time. This time the phone had been turned off as it went directly to my outgoing message. Obviously the phone was gone. Despite being pressured by the phone store, I decided not to buy another phone right away; I hate rushing into things like that especially when in two weeks the new iPhone will be coming out from Apple and I wanted to see it although I knew I wouldn't buy it, either. Maybe in a year or so when the iPhone has been tested for awhile and more software is announced and available. I rarely buy the first of anything. And Apple tends to improve products so fast it's better to wait a little. In a year the hard drive size should double and there will be more software built into it.

So I went back home, not concerned about all the info on the Treo - I don't put anything on it that is sensitive, and since I back up the phone I knew it would be easy, once I got a new phone, to load everything onto the replacement. I was only miffed that I'd have to buy a new phone since I love the Treo 650. It does nearly everything I want and it does it well. Plus it synchs with my Mac which the newer Treo 700 doesn't do.

Anyway, I got home just as the house phone rang. My phone had been found in the Mall parking lot by a woman who lived a few blocks away from the mall. She had to figure out how the Treo worked to find my info and once she did she called me right away. I rushed to her house, got back my phone - gave her a reward; such honesty in this day and age deserves at least that - then returned to the store to get a new Sim card and carrying case.

You hear every day about how people are lousy. That phones, certainly expensive ones like the Treo, are stolen or cloned, but you rarely hear when someone goes out of their way to figure out a weird phone system, track down the owner and call, all within an hour. I may write about heroes, but this was a wonderful reminder that there are good people in real life, too.

I'm back home. Thank goodness. After two weeks on the road I was starting to get real, real antsy and I'm off again next week, this time to Chicago. The best part of the second half of the trip was spending 5 days with my daughter, Jessica. We did as many of the sights of Philly as we could. On Monday we went to Independence Hall, the new museum which is all about the Constitution - including an incredibly stirring live mixed-media performance. We saw Ben Franklin's grave (he's still dead), ate someincredible food and made our way to the 30th street train station where Jessica took a train south and I took a different train directly to the airport where we sat on the runway for about an hour before taking off for a long, long 6-hour return trip home.

Wizard World Philly ended on Sunday with my Powerpoint slide show panel of my career. Being the final panel of the day as well as the con, I was pleased with the attendance and the questions afterward. Once again the people you meet at the cons are the ones who make it fun. Thanks, Philly fans.

Philly is a beautiful city, better than I had remembered as I hadn't been there in nearly 25 years. The city is cleaned up. There are heritage signs everywhere pointing out its rich history, and I swear many of the museums we went to were brand new. The food in Philly was all great. I don't think we had even a fair meal. The city is also very walkable, though on Monday when it started to get hot and muggy, it was less so. I can't wait to go again some time, whether to a different convention or just touring.

I was exhausted when Noel met me at LAX and drove home. As we opened the door, LD jumped up to greet me, sure I was probably dead or something as I hadn't been around in awhile. This morning was spent slowly waking up and then emerging myself back in work. The next day or so might be light posting - if any - as I have to catch up with work I missed, although I did manage to write an entire issue of Nightwing while on the road. This week in comics will be spent doing a script for a different title and then it will be back to another Wing.

Labels: Jessica, Philadelphia, Wizard World

There is Liberty everywhere you look in Philly. Every other store is named Liberty this or Liberty that. Probably because the Liberty Bell is here. Yesterday, my daughter Jessica and I went to see the bell before heading off to Wizard World. I'd seen it before, on many previous trips here, but Jessie hadn't since she was a wee kidlet and didn't remember it. It is strange, but as you go through its new building, you do feel a small twinge of patriotism coursing through you. We take for granted that we have the basic freedom to say we don't like something in this country whereas in some countries you still can't do that. For the moment, at least, we can be loud, rude and obnoxious, and that is legal, too. Sometimes one could wish it weren't, but that also allows us to be loud, rude and obnoxious, too.

Jessie and I went to see Shrek the Third and enjoyed it a lot more than we expected to. I had problems with the second movie but this one moved along quickly. We both found it funny throughout and the animation was astounding.

The convention opened Friday. I was given a table way in the back, behind the bleachers, I think. But people still found me anyway. Friday was a short day and I spent most of it signing stacks of comics, DCs, Marvels and others that I had done over the past milennium. Friday night was a DCU dinner at a wonderful - if not loud - restaurant about a mile from the hotel. Jessie and I shared a table with Walt & Louise Simonson, Ron Marrs, Ric Leonardi, Bob Wayne and I'm sure there was someone else but my memory is foggy. Afterward, a few of us returned to the hotel and chatted for awhile longer before parting and eventually heading off to sleep.

Saturday was more of the same. Lots of signatures. I know there were panels but I never got to see any. At one point Jessie and I left the con for lunch and headed across town just to get away. I love conventions and I love meeting the fans - they are truly gracious with their praise and it's a wonderful moral boost when things get hard. But sometimes you just want to be alone, and since I don't see Jessie often enough, I took the lunch opportunity for that. I returned and did a signing at the DC booth. Jessie and I went to see the Fantastic Four movie, which I liked much, much more than the first one. This was family fare, and the kids in the audience loved it, but it really did feel like the old Fantastic Four where Stan would inject as much humor into the strip as drama. Is it a great movie? No. But perhaps because it only shoots to be a bigdumbfun film, it really succeeds. I liked the characters, the story, the Surfer, even Galactus although they do a different take on him, and one I completely agree with. I even think Dr. Doom didn't suck this time around. The FF movies aren't serous, but at 90 minutes it was fast moving, packed in a ton of story, and felt right. I think a lot of people have built up the old FFs to be something they weren't. Stan and Jack's FF was probably the best and most ingenious comic out there at the time, but they weren't plot heavy or angst ridden. Anyway, I liked it. Speaking of the FF although I haven't seen it yet, I am in one or two of the "extras" on the newly released special edition DVD of the first FF movie. As I filmed it over a year ago, I can't wait to see what I said.
Tomorrow is the final day and I have a panel in the afternoon. Hopefully the computer cables I have are what will be necessary to show my Powerpoint presentation. Otherwise I'll have to wing it. Since it's the final panel of the day, I'm pretty certain I'll be giving the presentation to Jessie only as everyone will have left the con, but if you are in the area and stick it out, c'mon by.

Labels: Fantastic Four, Wizard World

I'm sitting in a Starbucks in New York. Across the street on the second floor of a building is The Times Square Church - 10 blocks from Times Square, by the way. The sign says "There is a God. He knows you. He loves you. He has a plan"

He has a plan?

Is God a Cylon?

I'm in New York now. Weather is almost perfect with just a light sprinkling of rain last night. But before that, just wanted to say the final day of the Toronto Con was quiet. Nice, but light attendance. The fans of course were pretty much all wonderful with lots of nice comments, books to sign, etc. I started the day with a nice breakfast with DC's Joan Hilty, Gail Simone and her husband, Scott, DC editor Shelly Bond an a few other folk whose name I sadly can't remember just this moment. I got to the plane south only to find I was sharing the ride with Shi-creator Billy Tucci.

Went to DC and said Hi to everyone. The DC offices, for those who can't make it there, takes up five floors. Management and Vertigo on the top floor. The DC editorial offices below that. A whole bunch of things I'm not sure about below that. Mad magazine is squeezed in somewhere there, then licenced publishing and other licensing below that. It was weird walking to one of the offices an having to pass racks and racks of super-hero clothing, samples from various lines of garments with DC characters emblazoned on them. I felt like I was in Macys.

I'm staying with friends (Hi Stan! Hi Ruth) and on the way down after a nice dinner with Paul Levitz, DC Publisher (although more importantly my friend for more decades than I can remember) I met up with Stan at Jim Hanley's comic shop on 34th street. It's a must see destination if you're in NY. I think they get every comic published including the tiny mini-comics.

I'll be heading down to the Wizard World Philadelphia show in a day or so and am looking forward to it. My daughter, Jessica, is coming up from Maryland to get together for a few days of conventioneering and walking the city. So get prepared for another con report.

Labels: DC, Toronto Comicon

Paradise Toronto Con Day Two.

It's still pretty much like day one only with a few more folk. I signed a ton of books which leads me to something I should say so nobody has to be disappointed. Please note I only sign books I wrote. Not edited. Not created. Just wrote. If the book has a story by me in it I will sign it. Or the con book, or a poster from one of my books or movies based on my books. It's nearly impossible not to get me to sign something (other than checks) and I've been known to tackle people across a crowded con room and force them to accept an autograph, but I don't sign books that list me as editor. I'm listed on just too many. Okay?

Anyway. I was on a Titans panel - can't imagine why - along with the amazingly talented and amazingly nice Tom Grummett who used to draw the Titans with me, J. Torres who writes the Titans Go material, and Teen Titans Year One artist Karl Kerschl. That was a lot of fun, then it was back to my table, sign more autographs.

Dinner followed at an incredible Thai restaurant with a number of other friends. One thing I have to say about Toronto - beside the fact that their money actually doesn't have holes in it unless you push out the inside part of their Loonie, or is that their Twonie (that's what they call their one and two dollar coins; I didn't make it up). Toronto has great food. Even the hotel food is great. I've put on eleven hundred pounds eating steak, Tom Horton bagels, Indian food, fish, Italian food and more. Man. I could become one of those guys who they have to build a house around if I stay here too long.

After dinner we rushed back for the Joe Shuster awards for Canadian writers, artists and more. I'm not sure but I think Darwin Cooke won everything. Least it seemed so.

After the awards show I rushed an entire half block to see EvilDead The Musical, based on the old Sam Rami pre-Spider-Man films. All I can say is if it comes to your town, rush to see it. But do not. I repeat, do not sit in the first 3-4 rows unless you want to be splattered with blood. I was comped tickets by the cast and director and they very kindly put me far away from the target range. It is great. The songs are hilarious. And everyone was wonderful. See it. That's an order.

I'm not about to head out for breakfast and then day three to be followed by a short plane trip to New York and then finally Wizard World Philly. If you're in the Philly Area, c'mon by.

I don't quite remember the last time I was in Toronto, but I have a feeling it was 25 years ago. Maybe it was less, but I'm not sure. Back then I went to Toronto in the winter, and even though to get from here to there you had to use the underground tunnels because it was so $%@$% cold outside, I loved the city. It was cosmopolitan like New York, only civilized. It was clean. The people were nice. The city was great.

I'm pleased to report decades later that hasn't changed. There is a huge tower pretty much outside my window that seems to be 8 million feet tall; the CN Tower it's called. Whether it's actually 8 million feet tall I don't know, but I hurt my neck looking up to the top. The city itself is in disarray; they are building on every square inch, but even with construction crews everywhere, it still feels cleaner than New York. And, of course, the people are nice. But hey, it's Canada. What do they have to not be nice about? They're like the U.S. without the need for psychiatrists. No, I wouldn't move there because the winters are still nine thousand degrees below zero - a recorded fact. But that's in Celsius. God knows what the temperature is in real degrees. The money here is cute, too. And their two dollar coin has a hole in the middle of it. I guess so you can string it like a necklace.

But as I say the city is like New York but still more civilized. And the people are great, and the con, although incredibly small on its opening Friday, was okay because the people are just so polite. I was speaking with publisher Ross Richie of BOOM! studios who asked me how do you get Canadians to get out of the swimming pool? I don't know. How, I replied, do you get Canadians to get out of the swimming pool. "Excuse me, Canadians. Please come out of the swimming pool." That's how nice they are and that's how nice the fans are. And I got the pool all to myself.

Seriously, today was just opening day. An afternoon with no panels. Sort of San Diego Preview Night during the afternoon since it starts at 3PM and only runs to about 8PM. Tomorrow I have my panel. I think it's called something like, How Nice are Canadians, ey? And what about those Titans? But I had nice talks with people, and a few pros in a way you can't at other cons since you're always running here and there. I had a good chance to reunite with my old Titans partner, Tom Grummett who showed me pictures of his new born granddaughter. My God. He was like 11 when we worked together and it wasn't that long ago.

There weren't a lot of people here, but tomorrow, Saturday, is going to be a whole other ballgame. I'll have a more serious report tomorrow since there will be things to seriously report. Today was silliness and I appreciated it.

Labels: Toronto Comicon

The Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon begins later today. In the meantime I'm in my hotel room working on Nightwing 136 - and thanks to everyone who's been saying such nice things about the new issue, 133. I think this arc is exactly where I wanted this book to get to and so far it's working out just the way I hoped it would. I'm completely thrilled that the response has been so positive. By the way, for those who have been asking, Eddie and Liu are completely new characters but they - especially Liu - have been affecting the way Dick Grayson deals with women, since he was 16. The story is called 321 Days and in my mind is the best Nightwing arc I've done so far. Jamal Igle's art on this issue is also outstanding.

Noel and I only had a few minutes to talk yesterday, but later today we should be able to have one of our anticipated video chats using the Mac's iChat function. If you haven't ever done a video chat, you really should give it a try. It allows you to see the people you care about in real time, and at least with iChat you're seeing natural movement (no stilted series of still photos - this is true video conferencing) and the sound is perfect. When you're away from home this brings home right back to you. It's like someone is sitting on the other end of a long table, but they are there for you to see as well as hear. Despite doing as many cons as I sometimes find myself doing, I actually don't like leaving home for any length of time, but as I say, this makes me feel like Noel and I are together, and since if she sits in my office our dog Elle Dee comes in, too, I get to see the barking fuzzbutt, too (No, LD's fuzzy butt doesn't bark. Get your head out of the ground).

I headed up to Toronto a few days early because of a job I'm working on up here. Can't talk about it right now, but it's going to be pretty big, so if you want to know what I'm doing, you'll just have to come to Comicon International, San Diego this July, and see for yourself.

But back to the con. If you're in Toronto, please come by and say hi. If you're not, remember next week I'll be at the Philly Wizard World. I don't do a lot of East Coast cons and have no others planned for the rest of the year, although I do have at least one international con set up for this fall.

Tonight if I have time I'll post about the con. Tell you what's going on, maybe show some pictures if I take any, etc. In the meantime, I hope to see as many of you as I can while on this east coast trip.

Labels: Nightwing, Paradise Comicon, Toronto

Just a reminder that my non-fiction comic, HOMELAND, the Illustrated History of the State of Israel is available in both hard and soft cover editions and can be found by clicking on the amazon.com button to the right. I know I wrote it, but Homeland is an amazing effort. It took us over three years to produce and though my name is the only one listed as writer, the book exists because of the work of many. It is told in a fully-painted comic/illustrated style and covers over 4,000 years of history, starting with the Bible and continuing right to today, and I believe it's well worth the time of anyone interested in the founding of Israel, non-Jews and Jews alike. I say that because it is actually not a book about the Jewish religion, but about the land. Give it a look and see for yourself.

Labels: Homeland

I'm off to two different conventions, so I wanted to give everyone a head's up. Canadian fans, my first stop is June 8-10 at the PARADISE COMICS TORONTO COMICON where I am one of the Guests of Honor. If you live anywhere in the Toronto area, please c'mon by. A week later, June 15-17, I'm off again to WIZARD WORLD PHILADELPHIA. Assuming I can get the correct cables in time, I'll be presenting my career retrospective Powerpoint presentation slide show there. It features lots of great graphics so I hope the cable situation can be solved before I get there (Macbook to whatever they have!) If you're anywhere on the East Coast, why not stop by and say hi. I'll have a table at both cons and will be signing throughout the day.

If you're coming to either con and are interested in some of the scripts I have to sale on my website (HERE) contact me ASAP and I'll see if I can bring them with me. I will have some scripts at the cons as well as copies of some of my novels, but if you have one you really want, let me know and I'll print it out and bring it with me. You'll save yourself postage.

Labels: Comicon, Philadelphia, Toronto, Wizard World