I started writing this blog for last Saturday, then decided to take a couple days off from blogging so I could enjoy some time with my wife and kids. I also wanted to finish the pitch for a comic-book project I’m developing for a famous friend of mine.
As I said in Friday’s bloggy thing, this is an update on the things going on in my life. This is the most efficient way of getting my information out. I thank you for your indulgence.
CONVENTIONS. This year goes into the books as the year in which I only attended one convention, the always wonderful
Pensacon. If I could only attend one event this year, I’m happy it was my favorite convention. I’m even happier that Saintly Wife Barb was also able to attend. I’m hoping there will be a Pensacon 2021. If they build it, I will come.
Akron Comicon was the only remaining convention on my schedule and that was cancelled last year. The show promoters are putting on a one-day show at the request of their vendors, but, after thanking them for thinking of me, I passed on their invitation to be one of their guests. I hope there will be an Akron Comicon 2021.
I have accepted a couple convention invitations for 2021, but I’m not going to talk about them until January or thereabouts. We are still a long way from reaching the point where I think conventions are safe for fans, guests and vendors.
I’m concerned about air travel. At the best of times, the airlines cram passengers into small spaces, charge us for everything but the recycled air we breathe and treat us like dog droppings. Come 2021, I’m considering driving to every convention I attend, even if those events are across the country.
Barb has been circling retirement for a while and, if she pulls the trigger, we could make vacations out of my convention travels. We would take our time getting to them, doing vacation stuff along the way, and do the same on our return trip. Should Barb not be able to accompany me, I’ll find friends who can put up with me for several days in a row and bring them to the events.
If you are a promoter or anyone else who wants to book an Isabella appearance, e-mail me and we can discuss the details.
DON’T CALL ME MAYBE. If the only phone number you have for me is my land line, you’re not going to be able to get through to me on it.I’m unplugging all of our land lines until well after this year’s election...and it’s not even the election with its inevitable flood of candidate come-ons that has prompted this decision.
Since the start of September, I have been bombarded with all manner of annoying and usually fraudulent phone calls. Health insurance. Warranty renewals. Credit card deals. Warnings that the government has found criminal social security fraud on my account. Pleas for donations, including bogus police organizations. Even sales pitches in Spanish, which I don’t speak or understand.
I know why I get these calls. I’m 68 years old so many scammers are assuming I’m easily fooled. I live in a mostly white city, so the fake cops assume I’m okay with police murdering people of color and getting away with it. My last name derives from a Spanish name and so they assume I can speak Spanish. I should get a DNA test; I may be more Spanish than Italian.
Enough.
There are lots of other ways to get in touch with me. Many of these bloggy things include links to my e-mail. I can be reached through Facebook and Twitter. If you’ve ever been given one of my business cards, my cell phone number is on them. Use any of those. You’ll make my life a wee bit easier.
FACEBOOK. Speaking of Facebook, I have four different pages and/or groups going at present. Let me tell you about them.
My
Tony Isabella page is my personal page. It’s where I post more content than can possibly be good for me. Every day, there will be birthdays and remembrances of comics people and folks from history and popular culture. There will be historical notes from comics and entertainment and...um...history. There will be links to articles, comic strips and videos I find amusing or interesting. There will be news of my latest projects. There will be posts on things I feel compelled to comment on. And, every day, you’ll see an installment of “Things That Make Me Happy.” Not everything I post will interest everyone, but I believe you’ll find a daily visit well worth your time.
Caution. I am a proud and loud progressive liberal. If your drinks of choice are GOP guzzlers or Trump coolers, you won’t enjoy some of what I post. You’ll also find my page isn’t a forum for right-wing rhetoric. You’re welcome to check out what I post, but leave your nonsense on your own pages.
I’m closing in on that 5000 friends limit, but the page is open to the public. If you’re not one of my Facebook friends, you won’t be able to post on my page. However, unless I’ve blocked you for being a jerk, you’ll be able to see my content.
This is a mostly non-political group. The only exceptions are links to the occasional political bloggy thing, the occasional mention of something political in my daily “Things That Make Me Happy” posts and links to editorial cartoons in Bob Ingersoll’s “In the Comics” feature. The group’s main rule on political posts is...unless your name is part of the name of the group, you’re not allowed to post political content.
Members requests need to be approved by me. I approve those as soon as I see them.
Kaiju Cathedral is the new incarnation of the old First Church of Godzilla page I had. Friends of mine remade the page into a group that’s easier for me to moderate and easier for the members of the group to post comments and content.
This is where you’ll find Kaiju-oriented birthdays, remembrances, historical notes, news items, article links and even video links. Posts to this group must be approved by the moderators, but we do our best to approve them as soon as possible.
This growth of this group has been slow. As I write this, we have 73 members. If you are interested in Godzilla and other giant monsters, Japanese or otherwise, I think you’ll have fun with this group. New member requests will be processed as soon as I see them.
Tony Isabella’s Authentic Black Lightning Group was launched last September. This group is dedicated to authentic portrayals of Black Lightning, the iconic super-hero created by me. At present, you can only find authentic portrayals of Black Lightning in my own comics stories and the TV series airing on the CW. This doesn’t mean the group won’t discuss other aspects of the character, but the focus will always be on the portrayals noted above.
Anyone can see who’s in this group and what they post. However, if you want to post, you have to be a member.
We have just over 400 members as I write this blog. We will always be more interested in quality than quantity. There is new content in the group every day. There are things I post here before I post them anywhere else. I also post exclusive content to this group, which, in the past, has included live question-and-answer sessions. I’ll be resuming those sessions as soon as I finish the book I am currently writing. Probably mid-October.
As with my other groups, I approve content and new members as soon as I can. When I’m not around, my magnificent moderators will do the job for me.
Truthfully, I don’t post that much on Twitter. I repost some of my Facebook stuff. I plug my bloggy thing and anything else I’ve done that has recently been published. The latter is usually reprints of stories I wrote for Marvel, DC and other publishers.
Sometimes I respond to tweets from folks I follow. I try to follow people who follow me and who seem legit, but I’m sure I don’t see all of their tweets.
I often get direct messages from people I’ve just followed and they respond with a private message sales pitch for whatever they’re up to. It’s like they were a salesperson who managed to get their foot in my front door before I could close it. I almost never respond to such messages.
Twitter has its interesting tweets. I like being part of it. But I enjoy my Facebook pages more.
That covers everything I want to say today. I’ll be back as soon as possible with more stuff. See you then.
© 2020 Tony Isabella