Glen Cadigan who put together the very excellent Titans Companion a few years back is about to release Titans Companion 2 which brings the history of all the different Titans up to date. Glen spent two years assembling facts, interviewing folk (even me) and asked if I'd help him break through the crowded marketplace by mentioning it here. Well, if you can't mention a Titans project on my site, where can you? If Vol 2 is half as good as Vol 1 you will enjoy it. If you want to pre-order it on amazon.com just go to the amazon box to the right (the box between "people" and "Fun Links" and type in "Titans Companion 2."

And this is as good a time as any to remind that if you want to buy anything, and I do mean anything, on amazon.com, please feel free to enter whatever it is (books, dvds, electronics, clothes, TVs and pretty much everything else you can think of) in that space and link to amazon through this site. There is absolutely no extra charge to you but amazon.com sends a couple of pennies this way just for the referral. It's helping this site while buying something for yourself at the best prices available.

Labels: amazon.com, Titans Companion #2

Say it ain't so. Ralph Nader is thinking about entering the presidential race... again.

Labels: Ralph Nader

In the now famous photo (above) lots has been said about Barack Obama supposedly turning his back on Hillary Clinton as she reaches to shake his hand. It was always obvious to anyone with eyes that Hillary is not looking at Obama but at Senator Kennedy. I thought this was your typical media inspired tempest in a teapot. The media really does like fights. But when Chris Wallace asked what she thought about "the snub" I assumed she'd dismiss it. Instead she said:

SEN. CLINTON: Well, Chris, I reached out my hand in friendship and unity and my hand is still reaching out. And I look forward to shaking his hand when I see him at the debate in California.

I like Hillary. I really do. But this is wrong and I wish she hadn't said that because with all the negative campaigning of late her comment becomes very disturbing to me. But on the HUFFINGTON NEWS which definitely does have an anti-Hillary bias to its coverage, they printed four photos which definitely show what happened. Do you really think she was reaching for Obama when it is so very clear she isn't? Why did she have to insinuate that she was? She could have risen above the fray and said she was reaching to Kennedy and Obama didn't snub her then move on to the economy or the somehow forgotten war in Iraq. But she didn't. The California primaries are next Tuesday and that easy-to-fix comment is now stuck in my mind. And now that I don't have John Edwards to vote for....

* A No-Prize to whoever can tell me what the heading refers to.

Labels: Hillary Handshake

Get under your door frames. An asteroid is coming right at us. Almost.

UPDATE! THERE'S A NICE INTERVIEW WITH ME ON RAVEN AT COMICON.COM/PULSE. SCROLL DOWN THE CONTENTS PAGE THEN CLICK ON 'WOLFMAN RETURNS TO RAVEN" AS THERE IS NO DIRECT LINK.

Although it's still a month away I thought I'd alert everyone to start saving their hard-earned dollars to pick up the new Raven mini-series. It's been a year-plus in the making but it finally reaches comic shops everywhere on March 5, 2008. Trust me, I'll remind you again in a few weeks and give you some inside info on it that won't be in any of the other interviews I've been doing of late. All I will say is I really like the story and the art is simply fantastic.

Labels: Raven #1

After selling out, I thought I'd let you know, Homeland is back in stock at Amazon.com (click the button at the top right) and it's still only $21.32, a whopping 39% off the retail price. Get 'em while you still can.

Labels: Homeland

Dennis Kucinich will be dropping out of the Democratic race for the White House tomorrow. Although he's been the butt of a lot of jokes because he never had any chance of winning and that he looks not unlike the Keebler Elf, which to me is not a negative. I'm sorry to see him go because in terms of what he had to say he was actually the only one running who was saying things that really mattered. John Edwards is close in many areas, but Kucinich was completely willing to tweak the establishment as they desperately need to be tweaked. Perhaps the only true liberal running, Kuncinch did one thing that will last beyond his short run; the other candidates have had to adapt to some of what he had to say since what he said often made a lot of sense. The shame of it all is if he looked like Mitt Romney, even if they disagreed with him, nobody would have laughed at his ideas. Every so often we need someone coming in from left field who wants to do the right thing (to mix my directions as well as politics).

Labels: Dennis Kucinich

The New York Times website has an eloquent appraisal of Heath Ledger's work. Noel and I loved him in A Knight's Tale which we just saw again two weeks ago as well as other movies he'd been in. I had the fortune to see some of his footage as the Joker in Dark Knight and it's breathtaking and completely original. Police are still awaiting the autopsy report but have ruled out suicide. I never met him but his work was powerful and I think the Joker would have propelled him to even greater heights. His death, so young, like so many other great talents, leaves behind a void of possibilities we'll never get to appreciate. It's a shame.

Labels: Heath Ledger

According to The Center For Public Integrity, the Bush Administration made 935 false statements in the two years following September 11 about the threat that Iraq posed. These false statements led us into war. If true, the logical question would be, now what?

Labels: Center For Public Integrity

On his blog, my long-time friend Bob Greenberger (writer at Starlog, DC, Marvel, Star Trek, etc.) announced that his son, Robbie, has been diagnosed with leukemia. Please go to his site and read what he has to say then send him your best wishes. My heart and thoughts are with Bob, Deb and their family.

Labels: Bob Greenberger

I have no idea how long this will last, but according to my friend Mark Evanier's website Amazon.com is having a sale. I checked and my book Homeland, The Illustrated History of the State of Israel is $21.32 for the hardcover (as opposed to $34.95 at bookstores) and $13.57 for the paperback (as opposed to $19.95). I must admit I don't know how much they were selling it for last week (I don't check all that often) but at $21.32 that's 39% off the retail price which is pretty good. And if you are an Amazon Prime member, shipping is free. They only have two hardcovers in stock but say they are getting more. I suggest you take advantage and order it asap. Click on the Homeland ad on the upper right hand of this page and it will take you either to their page selling the hardcover version or the soft cover; the ad rotates automatically so I don't know which one you'll be sent to. But there is a link on whichever page that will get you to the other.

Labels: Homeland sale

No spoiler alert.
1. Maybe the best Godzilla movie ever.
&
2. Where can I get batteries like that for my camcorder?

I felt bad for Jon Stewart last night (this morning, actually, as I watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report over breakfast). The show was painfully unfunny; the first since Stewart came back that screamed the need for his writers. As I finished my first cup of coffee and put the show on pause to get my next one, I thought he's got to be squirming. As soon as I sat down again and continued watching, Stewart made a comment saying virtually the same thing. I sincerely hope shows such as this one don't turn people off to it. The writers will eventually be back.

But as the show progressed and we came to that incredible weird interview with the guy who wrote the book "Liberal Fascism" - at least I think that's what it was called, we saw what was definitely the most edited interview ever on the show. It seemed as if there was a massive cut after nearly every line. The writer was trying to make a ridiculous point that I think could be summed up with Hilary is like Hitler only less cuddly and Stewart wasn't letting him off the hook, but it was hard to tell with all the editing. It got me to think that instead of all the long, unfunny butt-squirming bits, playing the entire interview might have actually been funnier. Stewart's a great interviewer and I assume he was as sharp as ever, so I would have loved to see him skewer the guy who was unable to logically state his own premise.

While I'm talking TV and books, this coming Monday on the History Channel is a special called "Life After People." Checking the website, it is obviously not based on Alan Weisman's incredible book "The World Without Us" and instead is piggy-backing on his work (don't yet know if piggy-backing means parallel thinking or ripping off). But if it's half as good as the book - which I 100% recommend - you might want to see it. Weisman's book is frightening and yet optimistic, fascinating as well as beautifully written, and you should buy a copy whether you see this show or not.

Labels: A Daily Show, The World Without Us

I'm not a tech and I don't play one on TV, so if you are a tech let me know if I'm wrong and how wrong I am, but I think in the past week we've seen the death of video disks. All kinds of video disks. Only the brain in the tail hasn't yet told the brain in the head. We can be pretty certain H-D disks are going the way of Beta (Warners has announced it's switching to Blu-Ray which leaves only Viacom & Universal and rumors say they'll make the switch when they legally can). That means Blu-Ray is the clear winner.

Except...

Apple announced today their new Apple TV which can download movies directly from iTunes without being attached to a computer, will be able to download HD quality movies. for those who don't know, Apple TV allows you to watch downloaded movies on your normal TV rather than your computer. Although the rental price is $3.95 for new movies, I haven't seen the purchase price, but it will probably be much cheaper to buy than current HD disks. For the foreseeable future they can only Apple TV movies 30 days after DVD releases, but I'm sure that will eventually change. Netflix promises their desktop equivalent to Apple TV will do the same. Possibly the only major difference between the two will be their subscription plans. This means people will be able to rent or buy and download HD quality movies indirectly to their TVs.

And that means within 1 - 2 years maximum, TVs will come with something resembling those devices already built into them.

Now, if I'm extrapolating correctly - and I'm sure I'll get emails telling me I don't have a clue what I'm saying - once that happens and we're actually downloading movies from the internet (which according to the AMPTP makes no money) we will probably start downloading all TV from the internet (it's pretty much available now if you want to watch TV that way). Which of course will eventually (sooner than later) mean the end of cable (except for your internet connection until wireless takes over completely) and of course satellite.

So, as Julie Schwartz used to say, "But is it good for the Jews?" Well, all this tech stuff does mean I'm probably not gonna buy anything new until something I already own breaks down. Everything we know is gonna change in the next few years so why buy an 8-track in an iPod world?

Labels: New Tech

Terminator: The Sarah Conners Chronicles, premiered tonight. I saw it last summer and thought it was the best of the pilots I'd seen. I haven't changed my mind (although I hadn't seen shows like Damages, Mad Men and a few others at that point). It's still a great follow-up of the first two Terminator movies and I hope it does well.

But something interesting happened along the way. After the tragic Amish school rampage last summer, noise was made that they were going to take out the big shoot-out at the High School. I thought that was pretty silly but okay. It's their show.

Well, they didn't change a thing. Actually, that's a lie. They did change something but not to the school shoot-0ut sequence. That stayed the same. The big change is in the opening. In the version we saw on TV, Sarah goes to John's school and sees him in the hallway, reading. She orders him to come with her. NOW! In the original, John was in his classroom when Sarah barges in and says the exact same words. That's it. There was no fighting in that original scene. No one was shot. At least not in the classroom. They just changed the location. Man, I'd love to know why that completely unimportant change was made.

Labels: Terminator

Is "No Country For Old Men" the most overrated movie of the season? And that's coming from someone who usually likes Coen Brothers movies. And how come they released all those prints without remembering to include the ending? How come nobody mentions that "Lars And The Real Girl" is amazingly sweet and will make you cry, but it was obviously filmed some place in Oz? I mean, that town, my God. It makes Star's Hollow seem like New York City after that plague hit in "I Am Legend." And speaking of I.A.L. how did she drive out of Manhattan with all the bridges down? Hell, how did she drive into Manhattan earlier? And why is he speeding through the city trying to shoot deer when there are vampire/zombies around instead of shooting them from, say, rooftops where it might be safer? Why is everyone putting down Helena Bonham Carter in "Sweeny Todd?" She is absolutely amazing. How come I didn't get the memo that said despite Judd Apatow having three hit comedies in less than a year everyone should avoid seeing "Walk Hard" ? Based on its grosses, it's obvious everyone else got it. Not having gotten that memo, I went and thought though very funny in places and having truly great performances, , it would have been better as an extended 45-minute Saturday Night Live sketch. Why are they still running ads for "American Gangster" when it's pretty much not playing anywhere? And why isn't it playing? How come "The Assassination Of Jesse James..." vanished so quickly when it was really, really good? Maybe one of the best movies of the fall. Why did "Michael Clayton" fail? Why did anyone think that when 70% of all Americans are against the current war that they would want to go see 3-4 movies about that war? And finally, why does anyone think the real guy portrayed in the movie "Into The Wild" is some kind of cult hero instead of a moron?

Like I say, just asking.

Labels: Just asking...

My non-fiction book, Homeland The Illustrated History of the State of Israel has just won the big one! The National Jewish Council 2007 book award in the category of Children and Young Adult Literature. This is an incredibly prestigious award, pretty much the Oscar in that field. Homeland has been receiving a number of awards, and I'm thrilled that they are coming from non-comics organizations. I honestly believe this proves that comics and the comic technique, is something that everyone can appreciate.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my fellow Homeland winners. The book was magnificently illustrated by Mario Ruiz who brought incredible depth and realism to this project. Mario also acted as art director for the book. Mario has worked on other religious based comics including Testament and Sampson: Judge of Israel. Homeland was the brainchild of William J. Rubin who, when he was much, much younger, read my 1986 book, The History of the DC Universe, and realized that format could be used to tell the history of a real nation instead of just a fictional one. That was a great leap of faith, and with all the awards we've been getting as well as the incredible reviews I've read, it's paid off in spades.


If you'd like to see more of the Homeland art, CLICK HERE.


And if you're interested in reading Homeland, click on the Amazon.Com box to the right.

Labels: Homeland Award

As much as I enjoyed seeing The Daily Show and The Colbert Report last night, I find myself having incredibly mixed feelings about the shows coming back during the current Writers strike.

First, both shows were solid, and I think that's actually the problem. I know with time we'll see how not having writers weakens the shows, but so far we don't see that (nor do we with the Tonight Show or Conan to any great degree). Demonstrating that a show can go on without writers only weakens the writers' case, and except for Letterman, who does have a WGA agreement, I really do wish the others wold have remained off the air in solidarity.

Second, both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were actually too well produced. That required people sitting down, working out details, setting up punchlines (ie. Colbert's "The Word" segment) etc. I'm sorry, but that degree of production requires writing, whether words are typed, processed or just discussed in a group meeting. That "The Word" graphic came up with no word to be shown, that Stephen kept trying to magically create the word to no avail, had to be thought of, developed and decided upon. In effect it had to be written, even if words were not put on paper.

Writing isn't the end result of a process, where there are tangible words; it's the process itself. It's the evolving of ideas into an end result. I don't write just when I sit at my iMac. I'm writing when I think about what I want to do. I set up my idea. I develop that idea. I structure the idea so it has the strongest impact I can make. I sometimes do this while watching TV or walking through a mall, or walking my dog, not only when I sit hunched over my keyboard.

Now, there's no doubt a lot of both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report was ad-libbed, but, as I say, the shows themselves were too well structured, too well set up, too well everything just to have been decided on the spot. Graphics had to be created which meant thought had to go into what to show and how best to show it. To me that is writing. To just not have a punny caption under a photo does not mean writing wasn't done. In fact, on the Daily Show someone had to think of putting the "add punny caption here" idea and then someone had to write it down (physically or not) in order for the graphics department to put it on screen.

Though all the shows so far have had strong anti-management jokes throughout, it is still writing when no writing is supposed to take place. Further, the very existence of these shows on the air means the companies will be making money. They don't care if Jon Stewart makes anti-management jokes. Frankly, they know the audience, generally young, loves hearing that sort of thing. Stewart and company can make anti-Viacom jokes from here to doomsday and as long as Viacom makes money off it, they're happy and have less reason to negotiate with the Guild.

Do I as a viewer want to hear both Stewart and Colbert make the jokes we need to hear during the ongoing primary season? Absolutely. We need to deflate the politicians as well as the news people who report on them. But, as a writer and WGA member, do I think the very existence of these shows hurts the writers cause and delays any possible settlement, and do I want The Daily Show and the Colbert Report, two of my absolute favorite shows, to go away until the end of the strike? I'm afraid the answer is yes. I do. We need solidarity. We need to shut down Hollywood until an agreement is made. We need to show the companies that they will make NO money until they share that money. Anything less hurts us.

Labels: WGA strike

As a life long Democrat I actually feel that pretty much any of the Dems running this year would be more than acceptable to me, certainly compared with the Republican choices . Since I began voting at 18, umphity umph years ago, the Dems have rarely had that strong of a line-up and the GOP has rarely had that bad a group of potential candidates.

But...

I was watching CNN this morning and they were airing a live Obama speech from New Hampshire that really bothered me to the point I turned it off. He was talking about the typical Obama speech where the people watching him would suddenly see a light come down from wherever and have an epiphany that they would have to vote for him. It was sort of creepy. Later, I was reading SLATE MAGAZINE and they happened to mention the same speech. Take a look at their article then come back.

Hi, again. As they say, Obama probably was being humorous, but, boy, as you watched it, he didn't seem that way. I've long believed that to want to run for President requires a Messiah complex. Usually it's better disguised. I had also been turned off to the nasty campaigning done by him near the end of the Iowa politicking. He had been far more positive until then. What he has to say is generally good, but after Bush and currently Huckabee, I can do with less pontificating, humorous or not.

Hillary has been a different kind of problem. I think she's been tarred much too much by people who simply don't like her, but few can clearly and logically explain why. People say they don't want 8 more Clinton years, which is kind of weird because although flawed, those were generally decent times. I can understand, right or wrong, that after Bush-2 the concept of family royalty might be frowned upon but the hatred shown to her is far beyond that. She's been hated for years now. You might not like her voting record - I don't. But then in my lifetime I've never agreed with nearly every vote even the candidates I was 100% for voted for. I'm not positive that her attitudes would be forgiven or ignored if she were a man but I do think they are analyzed and criticized far more than male candidates. Men coming on strongly are rarely described in the way she is. Also, the so-called pundits, who usually get mostly everything wrong, keep saying with Hillary you get old-school politics. I'm shocked. Shocked. Politics from Politicians. Others talk about the fact that she's not immediately likable, although they also admit that in person she is. I guess I don't care if she's TV-likable or not. I don't vote for a President based on wanting to go out for a few drinks with them any more than I do on how religious they are. I want a solid manager who can lead a country - and yes, occasionally inspire us - but primarily one who is smart and open to different solutions on how to fix the problems besetting us. I think we've seen what voting for a C-student has done. Let's get some A-students back in charge. Someone who reads and thinks and isn't told by God what they should or should not do. Hillary isn't my favorite choice but I'd have no qualms about voting for her if she was the candidate.

I like Dennis Kucinich but he hasn't a hope in the world of getting elected in this television-ready world, which is a shame. But my choice has been and is John Edwards. I like what he has to say, and unlike some of the others, even as a lawyer he spent his life on the right side of many issues. I like his positive approach but it's backed up with specific plans for what he'd do. I'm pretty sure he won't be nominated either - he seems to be everyone's second choice - but I still like him.

Tomorrow is the actual first primary of the election season which these days seems to extend from the day after the Presidential election to the morning of the next election, four years later. Many of the decisions that will affect us will be made there. While it should be interesting, I have to say I cannot understand why any Dem would want to run this year. Thanks to the current administration, we are so much in debt and so hated by so many countries, that there will be no way to begin to solve any of our problems without heavily raising taxes and changing the very way we conduct foreign business. We can't continue to cut services which have already been cut to the bone. And you know if/when taxes are raised, four years from now the GOP will return to their old standby, "Those tax and spend Democrats" even though it was this administration that caused the debt.

I don't have answers, but I am pleased that at this point at least we have a number of candidates I could at least back. As they say, we live in interesting times. I don't know about you, but frankly, I could do with a little less interesting and a little more peace and tranquility.

Labels: The Primaries

I was just notified that my non-fiction book Homeland, The Illustrated History of the State of Israel was recognized as a 2008 Notable Book for Teen readers by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee for the Association of Jewish Libraries.

What's interesting is our first award was the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards in the Young Adult-Non-Fiction category. The second was given out by USAbooknews.com under the category of History:Political and is an adult award. This latest recognition is for teens. That means what is basically a comics presentation has now been recognized for all ages by non-comics groups. I can't tell you how proud I am of this. I think it proves that even non-comics people can see that comics can be used and enjoyed by people of all ages.

If you're interested in picking up Homeland, click on the Amazon ad to the right or go to your local bookstore and demand they order it.

Labels: Homeland Award

There's a short but interesting interview with me on CLIFF METH'S blog. You might want to take a look.

Labels: Interview

National Treasure, the original movie, is one of Noel and my guilty pleasures, although there's little to be guilty about. It's very much the same movie as, say, The DaVinci Code (but 600% better); it uses bits and pieces of history as we know it and history we don't know but think we do, and, in the case of N.T. sticks tongue firmly in cheek and takes us on a new journey that may not make a lot of sense but is fun to take part in. The first N.T. was a lot of fun because as implausible as it may have been, the story kept me going but more than that it was filled with characters I really came to like. They were intelligent, funny, dedicated, caring and mostly not stupid. I have a thing about characters who are portrayed as intelligent only to, at the last moment, turn stupid in order to advance the plot. Anyway, as I say, Noel and I really enjoyed the first National Treasure and often catch it whenever it's on cable.

So I fully expected after reading some of the reviews for National Treasure 2 to dislike it. Every review in one way or another put it down as mindless. But yesterday, New Years Day, before we went to an annual Games party two of our friends always host, we stopped by the brand-new Arclight Theater in Sherman Oaks. The Arclight has really good screens and great sound, charges a little more than the typical theater, but discourage kids (children under two pay adult prices). They also have reserved seating so you don't have to get there early. They also have ushers who take you to those seats and hang around for awhile to, as they say, make sure the sound and picture are good (but more likely to discourage those people who sneak into a second or third movie after paying for only one ). The ushers also return now and again to check on the theater.

Anyway, Noel and I went to N.T. 2 and found that although it is filled with more refrigerator moments than my sturdy Sub-Zero, once again it was a lot of fun. It was funny. It sounded reasonably intelligent. It had fun set pieces - although the chase scene in England makes no sense - and the characters - with the possible exception of Ed Harris' villain - never act too stupid (Harris did a great job but his character wasn't well defined and seemed to switch characterizations throughout. His character's scheme is also the movie's biggest plot flaw) . This time the story moves from Washington to Paris to London back to Washington and finally to the west (I won't say where in case you haven't seen it yet).

If I do have any quibbles it's that all those refrigerator moments I mentioned above could have been resolved so easily with a line or two of dialog at most. Fixing them would not have slowed down the movie, or changed it, so I'm not quite sure why it wasn't done. I can tell the filmmakers knew that at least one plot point wasn't answered because they throw in a single line to explain it, but that line - which is out of place - actually doesn't answer anything. Refrigerator moments for those who don't know, are those moments after you see a movie when you get home, open the refrigerator door to, say, make yourself a sandwich, and the light - literally and figuratively - comes on and you say, "But wait. Why did that happen?" or "Wait. That didn't make any sense." Refrigerator moments are those plot points you miss or let wash over you while you're watching them but think about later.

NT2 is filled with far too many to ignore, but, strangely, because the movie itself is so much fun, and the actors appear to be having a good time, and the characters are fun to watch, and the story moves, that you can basically ignore them and just go for it. National Treasure 2 is the dictionary definition of what I call bigdumbfun movies. That's one word. It's worth seeing.

You won't come out enlightened, but you will come out entertained. Least we did.

Hope you all had a Happy New Year.

Labels: National Treasure