A DOUBLE DATE WITH HEDY

Patsy Walker was Marvel’s other long-running female headliner and
every bit as popular as Millie the Model.  In addition to her own
title and a few spin-off titles, she starred in Miss America Volume
7 #44 [March 1952].

The cover of this issue was penciled and signed by Al Hartley...and
that’s the only credit information I have on the issue. Inside this
36-page comic book were three short Patsy stories, one short Hedy
Wolfe story, a text story and a couple house ads.

In recent weeks, when I didn’t know anything about the contents of
one of these comics from my birth month, I've been making up strange
stuff.  That would be pointless in the case of Patsy Walker.  After
reintroducing her into the Marvel Universe as an abused wife in the
short-lived Beast series in the 1970s, Marvel writers have turned her
into a super-hero, made her a member of the Avengers and Defenders,
married her off to the Son of Satan, have her commit suicide and
become a gladiator in Hell, bring her back from Hell and back to life,
have her willingly register with the government during that Civil War
storyline and who knows what else.  I know when I’m outmatched.

More vintage comic-book covers to come.

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Random notes on a quiet weekend...

I’ll be a featured guest at The Akron Comicon on Saturday, November
10 in the University of Akron Student Union Ballroom.  I’ll have a
table where I’ll sign books and comics I’ve written, answer polite
questions, accept review copies and chat with artists who might want
to work with me while selling copies of 1000 Comic Books You Must
Read and perhaps some other stuff.

The convention has a great guest list for a one-day event.  I hope
to see a lot of my bloggy thing readers there.

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My incentive checks from Marvel used to be under the account name
of Marvel Entertainment with a little Spider-Man figure as part of
the logo.  Now the checks are from Marvel Worldwide and that makes
me sad.  Mostly because I’ll miss that momentary look of surprise
when a new teller saw the old checks.

I assume the tellers weren’t allowed to comment on the checks I was
depositing, but Spider-Man often brought smiles to their faces and,
you know me, I love to spread sunshine wherever I go.  One teller
Google-d me after seeing one of these checks, something I learned
when I ran into her at a grocery store.  I think she was far more
impressed that Tom Batiuk (Funky Winkerbean) lived in our town and
that I knew him. 

Alas, Spidey is gone from my incentive checks.  I’m not complaining
because the important thing is that Marvel pays me when it reprints
my stories and never makes me chase it for that money.  I wish all
publishers dealt with me as honestly.

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POLITICAL COMMENT WARNING

Watching Thursday’s post-debate edition of The Daily Show with Jon
Stewart was painful.  Stewart was fair and balanced in a manner Fox
News has never been...and he did so without sacrificing the humor.
He correctly pointed out President Obama’s poor performance and the
many lies told by Governor Romney during the debate.  In the case
of the latter, fact checkers have claimed over two dozen such lies
during the debate.  Given the standard dishonesty of the candidate,
that didn’t surprise me.  What did bother me was that Obama allowed
Romney to get away with accusing the President of stating “your own
facts” without Obama pointing out the Republican’s egregious lies
and distortions.

Bill O’Reilly was Stewart’s guest and the Fox News star managed to
temper much of his usual arrogance and keep the outright lies to a
minimum.  But, as it usually does when Fox News folks do this, it
sickened me that O’Reilly couldn’t even respect the office of the
President enough to call President Obama by the proper term, which
is, of course, President Obama.  Calling him “Mr. Obama” was a sign
of O’Reilly’s utter disrespect for our president and shouldn’t be
allowed to pass without comment.

It’s inevitable that I’ll be making political comments in my blog,
especially when I do these “random notes” entries.  But, whenever
possible - that is, whenever I remember - I’ll try to preface them
with a warning.

POLITICAL COMMENT OVER

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I get over a dozen requests to publicize Kickstarter projects each
and every month.  My answer is...no.  It’s not an absolute no, but
it’s pretty darn close.

Just as I don’t run press releases in this blog, I won’t direct my
readers to projects I haven’t seen.  I have and will make the rare
exception for really close personal friends.  I will occasionally
allow someone to promote their Kickstarter project on my Facebook
page.  But I have so many things I want to write about that I don’t
easily sacrifice my space and time to promote someone else’s not-
yet-in-existence work.

In the same way, I get several requests each and every month from
people who want my help on one thing or another.  Sometimes they
want me to look over something they are working on and advise them
on how they might improve it.  Sometimes they want me to comment on
some subject they are writing about.  Sometimes they want me to do
some free writing for them.  Once again, in almost every instance,
my answer is...no.

I’ve done a lot of favors for a lot of people over my four decades
in comics.  I think I’ve pretty much paid my dues in those years.
I’m concentrating on my own projects and don’t think anyone should
begrudge me that.

This year, I’ve gotten involved in exactly one mentor-type thing.
Because the creator’s idea tickled my fancy and because it didn’t
requite a great deal of my time.  Indeed, it was kind of fun to be
exercising my old editorial skills.  But that was a rare situation
of someone catching me on exactly the right day.

I still answer an awful lot of interview questions.  I’ve answered
so many questions for Back Issue writers alone that the credits of
that magazine should end with “and also starring Tony Isabella.”
When magazine writers have questions about my work, I do my best to
respond in an honest and timely fashion.  But I’m not interested in
talking to reporters about comics events of which I’m not a part.
If I want to comment on comics movies or story arcs or things like
that, I’ll do so in my own venues.

By the way, that “also starring” line is a joke.  Like when I said
that if I were elected president I would declare DC Nation to be a
terrorist state.  Though I totally might.

I still sign comics and other things I’ve written for fans who send
them to me with return packaging included.  That doesn’t take a lot
of time and I’m happy to accommodate such requests.

Don’t be offended if I ignore requests or, as is more likely, send
you a short note declining the request.  My days are already full.

All that said, it doesn’t hurt to send me a short request.  As long
as you understand my answer will most likely be...no.

On the other hand, my “40 Years and a Mule” offer from October 2 is
still in effect and I think that’s a fairly generous and very cool
thing I’m doing.  Also, come tomorrow, I’ll be giving bloggy thing
readers a chance to share in the wacky fun of my Vast Accumulation
of Stuff garage sales. 

Maybe I’m a dick sometimes, but not all the time.
  
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2012 Tony Isabella