THINGS I DON’T UNDERSTAND

Some of these things I don’t understand are of a serious nature and
some aren’t.  Some of them concern the real world and some don’t.
Don’t confuse them.

I don’t understand...why Penn State students rioted when football
coach Joe Paterno got rightfully fired for his silent approach to
the child molestation crimes committed by his defensive coordinator
Jerry Sandusky.  I don’t understand why every Penn State employee
or executive who knew of these crimes hasn’t been fired.  I don’t
understand how anyone could have sympathy for any of them.  I don’t
understand how any parent of one of those moronic rioters wouldn’t
be horrified at how little compassion, morality, and intelligence
their tuition payments have bought.

Let me make this simple because it really is absurdly simple.  What
Sandusky did was a heinous crime.  If you witness or have knowledge
of a heinous crime, especially a heinous crime against a kid, your
first call is to the police.  Let me say that again.  Your first call
is to the police.

It is not to the football coach.  It is not to the university that
employs you.  In other similar situations, it is not to a church
or a corporation or a political party.

It is a heinous crime. You report it to the police.

Because I guarantee that, if you don’t call the police, if you instead
make the call to any of those listed above, they will spend weeks
and months and even years trying to either cover up that heinous
crime or figure out how to spin it so that they will suffer as little 
negative impact as possible. 

It’s a heinous crime.  It’s a matter for the police.  It does not
get any simpler than that.

I don’t understand...the point of Frank Miller’s Holy Terror.  It
strikes me as all rage and no art, a banal exercise in brutality.
Miller’s heroes and villains are one-dimensional.  Those innocents
who die during the course of this nightmarish scenario are nothing
more than additions to the body count.  Miller’s work has steadily
diminished since he went all Hollywood on us.  He has transitioned
from one of the most interesting creators in comics to an angry and
fearful blowhard.  Holy Terror? More like holy crap!

I also don’t understand...Miller’s ranting against the Occupy Wall
Street movement.  It’s as if he’s become some field hand desperate
to be allowed to serve in the big house.  Sorry, Frank, but you’re
not one of the 1%.  You’re just a loud-mouthed sell-out.

I don’t understand...why the self-checkout machines at the Medina
Library occasionally insist that I must pay a fee of $18,790.086.31
to check out a book.  Exactly $18,790.086.31. The same amount every
time it happens.  The librarians know it’s a glitch of some sort,
but no one knows where this number comes from.  The IT folks can’t
seem to eradicate it for good.  They get rid of it, but it always
comes back.  It even gets printed on our receipts.

I don’t understand...why Herman Cain’s supporters can’t recognize
that his “9-9-9" tax plan actually raises taxes on the middle class
and lowers taxes for the rich.  Now while the 1% will call that “a
good start” to their goal of never paying any taxes, shouldn’t those
Cain supporters who are of the 99% be concerned?

I don’t understand...why anyone would join a remembrance discussion
of a no-longer-with-us comics creator to make snotty comments about
the deceased.  If you’re one of my Facebook friends, you know that
I often start such discussions on my Facebook wall.  I start these
to remember industry friends of mine and sometimes industry figures
whose work meant something to me.

Recently, I hosted one such discussion about Frank Robbins, who was
someone whose work I admired greatly and who was also a friend and
a collaborator on several of the comics I wrote for Marvel in the
1970s.  One poster correctly pointed out that Robbins was a major
part of the retooling of Batman in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The retooling was guided by editor Julius Schwartz and brought to
wonderful heights by some of the best writers and artists who ever
worked on Batman, including Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Irv Novick,
Dick Giordano, Bob Brown, and Frank Robbins.

A few hours into the discussion, some yahoo took extreme offense
that we were talking about anyone other than Neal Adams and made
downright churlish comments about Robbins.  I “politely” suggested
this surly poster shut his pie hole.  He persisted in his insults
against Robbins.  I booted him, deleted him, and un-friended him.
I ignored his private messages which basically consisted of “How
dare I do all of the above?”  I ignored his private messages.  He
had no more claim on any more of my time than he had a right to do
whatever he wanted on my Facebook wall.

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised by this guy’s rude
behavior, just that I hadn’t noticed previously what an utter jerk
he is.  But his worship of Neal Adams - who I think it’s an amazing
talent, a great friend to creators, including myself, and all kinds
of good guy - has a business aspect to it as well.  This poster has
made a career of aping Neal’s style for advertising and non-comics
commercial art.  One wonders if he was “defending” Neal’s assured
place in Batman legend or his own imitative turf.  Either way, as
I close in on my 60th birthday, I see no reason to suffer such an
idiot.  I don’t regret that I have given him decent reviews in the
past, but I don’t plan on giving him another moment of my attention
beyond today’s blog.

So today’s closing moral is...learn to shut your online pie hole.
If someone is praising the late Sidney Scripter or Peter Penciller,
don’t chime in with how much you hated their work.  No one who has
loved that creator’s work is going to slap their forehead and say,
“My God, he’s right!”  They are simply going to wrinkle their noses
at your bad smell and consider you an asshat forevermore.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff. 

© 2011 Tony Isabella

I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH, BOY...

This has been a busy and maddening week at Casa Isabella.  Taking
a few days off has enabled me to deal with some odds and ends that
should have dealt with last week.  Though I still have odds, ends,
and actual writing to do, I’m feeling much less overwhelmed than I
was at the start of the week.

Last Tuesday’s election was relatively incident and surprise-free.
Okay, yes, there was a Cleveland poll worker who tried to bite the
nose off a voter, but that’s Cleveland, Jake. 

Amusingly, my brother-in-law was a poll worker at that site.  The
first inkling he had that anything was askew was when he heard the
ambulance arrive.  My mother swears my bro-in-law wasn’t the biter,
but I’ll be exercising caution around him.  Once Republicans gets
a taste for human flesh, you really have no choice but to put them
down.  We should have learned that with Cheney and Rove.

I was most interested in three state and three local issues.  The
big state issue was the repeal of a union-busting bill supported by
Governor John “Creepy” Kaisch and his GOP lackeys.  Not surprising
since Kaisch, a former Lehman Brothers executive, has been trying
to sell off the state to his business cronies.  Nothing like right-
wing billionaires trying to turn working people against each other.
Fortunately, the bill was repealed and by such a huge margin that
it gives me some hope for my home state.

State issue #1 called from raising the mandatory retirement age of
judges from 70 to 75.  Normally, I would have voted in favor of it,
but I recognized its true purpose was to keep some bad right-wing
judges on the bench longer and that it has two extraneous clauses
that had nothing to do with the main issue.  Though I’d certainly
consider voting for an actual one-issue law in the future, I’m glad
this issue was voted down.

State issue #3 was the “I hate everything Obama” issue, an absurd
vote for a constitutional amendment to allow Ohio to opt out of the
national health care laws.  It’s an amendment that won’t stand up
in the courts but will, during that process, put Ohio residents at
risk.  Sadly, it passed by a large margin.  I guess people in this
state prefer the Republican health care plan of “Don’t get sick or
you’re screwed!”

At one of that party's debates, was there anything more chilling than
Republicans cheering the prospect of letting the uninsured - their fellow
Americans -  die?

The local issues to renew levies for the Medina County Home and the
Medina County Health District passed easily.  Both do good work for
the community and I was happy to support them.

The remaining local issue was a proposed income tax for the Medina
City School District.  It failed by a large margin.  In my case, I
voted against it, reluctantly, because I have no confidence in the
district’s partisan hack of a superintendent or in the school board
to look out for all the city’s students and not just the “elites.”
Past cuts have impacted more severely on those who can afford them
least than on the ruling cliques.  That said, I doubt many of those
who voted against it did so for my reasons.

People don’t want to pay more taxes.  They especially don’t want to
pay more taxes towards a state school funding system that was ruled
unconstitutional years ago and has still not been fixed.  I’d like
to think that Governor Creepy’s lust to take funds from the public
schools and give them to charter school operators who have donated
generously to Republicans also has something to do with it.  But I
see too many middle-class people voting against their own interests
for me to assume that’s the case.

Governor Creepy and his followers have tried to spin their defeat
as the voters only disliking some parts of his union-busting bill
while those of us who support universal health care claim, probably
a wee bit more accurately, that voters only dislike some of what’s
included in the current federal law.

In the meantime, Republican attempts to disenfranchise Democratic
voters continue.  The GOP redrew state districts to benefit their
candidates and did this in such an egregious manner that the map is
being challenged and there’s a decent chance said challenge will be
successful. 

Governor “Must Balance the Budget” Kaisch’s response to this?  For
reasons I don’t quite understand, except I’m sure they are reasons
benefitting Republicans, he and the GOP are planning to split the
2012 primary elections into two primary elections.  This will cost
Ohio taxpayers an additional $15 million. 

If this becomes an issue, except Kaisch to blame the Democrats for
obstructing his total domination of the state.  After all, he has
been quoted as believing things would be better if he could simply
make the laws himself and not have to concern himself with all that
silly democracy stuff.

I was going to end today’s blog on a cheery note.  When I read the
voter participation figures in the newspapers, I was pleased to see
Medina County led neighboring counties with its 51% participation
rate...and then I realized this meant almost half of my county’s
registered voters didn’t vote. Sigh.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more of the things I don’t understand.
It might turn into a series. 

© 2011 Tony Isabella

VETERANS' DAY

I don't have anything prepared for today, though I have written special Veterans' Day columns in the past.  But what I do have is gratitude for those who have served our country, appreciation for their sacrifices, and my wish that our leaders would learn to put them in harm's way only when absolutely necessary.

Our veterans are in my thoughts and prayers, today and always.

Tony Isabella

HARVEY PEKAR LIBRARY STATUE

While I'm gearing up for a new run of bloggy things, I wanted to direct you to the following effort to honor legendary comics writer Harvey Pekar in a manner that supports his firmly-held belief that comics are art and literature.  The project is being funded via Kickstarter and you and read more about it here.

I'll have more to say about the project next week...and the project that will follow it...but I wanted to give you the link sooner rather than later.

Regular blogging will resume on Saturday.

Tony Isabella

TAKING A DAY OR TWO OFF

Following a couple days of what I can only describe as ick-ness, I going to take a day or two off from blogging.  Hopefully, this will give me time to answer all the e-mails that have gone unanswered and take care of the two dozen odds and ends that have gone un-taken care of. See you soon.

Tony Isabella

GARAGE SALES AND GIFTS Part Two of Two


From Comics Buyer’s Guide #1684:

Setting the Standard: Comics by Alex Toth 1952-1954 [Fantagraphics;
$39.99] collects the entirety of Toth’s work for Standard, a comics
publisher that closed up shop in 1954.  There will be some readers
of this column who have never heard of Standard, which did a little
bit of this and a little bit of that for about a dozen years or so.
There will some readers, far fewer I hope, who don’t know much or
even anything about Alex Toth.  However, if you fall into either of
those camps, trust your friendly neighborhood Tipster on this one.
Setting the Standard is a major book in our field.

Toth, a thinking man’s artist, approached these anthology stories
in three dimensions.  He would read the scripts - and they weren’t
all gems - over and over again, looking for moments and scenes that
could elevate the emotional and visual content of these stories of
romance, horror, and war. Few artists have ever gotten as much out
of a script as Toth did in these 62 stories, digitally restored and
cleaned for their appearance here.

Edited by Greg Sadowski, Setting the Standard introduces Toth via
Bill Spicer’s legendary 1966 interview with the feisty, opinionated
artist.  It includes the history and notes on every story.  Toth’s
comments and Sadowski’s insights will have great value to artists,
but there are likewise lessons for writers to learn.  There’s one
Toth quote that will hopefully haunt every script I write from here
until they pry my cold dead fingers from my keyboard:

“How do comic book friends and colleagues and lovers, and parents
with their kids, express good and loving feelings?  Think about it
- so rare an event in comic book fare - positive emotions -why so?
Do your characters relate to each other? Touch? In ways other than
the usual punching and pounding superjock jazz wipe-outs?  Is that
the limit? Little things mean a lot - friendly hugs and shoulder
pats and evident body English when two or more characters relate in
a scene or throughout a story - as we do in our own lives.”

Setting the Standard is one of those must-have books for anyone who
is serious about comics and the creation of comics.  It’s a perfect
gift for an artist or a writer.

ISBN 978-1-60699-408-5

I subscribed to Heritage Magazine for the Intelligent Collector on
a whim.  I’d recently signed up on the Heritage site to investigate
the possible value of original art I had rediscovered in my - say
it with me - Vast Accumulation of Stuff.  A subsequent newsletter
offered a three-issue subscription to the magazine for $21 with the
cost of shipping included.  With a cover price of $9.95, I thought
that was a good price and well worth spending to indulge my slight
interest in high-end collectibles. When the Summer/Fall 2011 issue
arrived, I upgrade “good price” to “great price.”

Heritage Magazine is a big [11" by 9"] beautiful publication with
writing that is both entertaining and informative and photos that
are glorious to behold.  I flipped through the magazine excitedly,
then settled down to read those pieces in which I was interesting.
That turned out to be most of them.

The cover feature on John Wayne and the once-in-a-lifetime auction
of items from his personal property offered a fascinating look at
the man behind all those great films.  Because I feel like sharing,
I’m mention that Wayne was the star of my all-time favorite movie,
The Quiet Man, and that no actress ever looked more beautiful than
Maureen O’Hara, his co-star in that classic. My enjoyment of this
section was enhanced by the personal recollections of Ethan Wayne,
the actor’s son, on growing up with a legend, as well as a pull-out
poster of magnificient movie posters. 

The magazine covers auctions and prices over an impressive range of
collecting interest: comics, coins, guitars, history, signatures,
sports memorabilia and more. It’s a great magazine to have around
for reading now and then, perfect for those times when you need a
few minutes off from your busy life.  I think a subscription to the
magazine would be a suitable and welcomed gift for a whole bunch of
people on your holiday shopping list.

Every one knows the Batman.  Not nearly enough people know Michael
E. Uslan, executive producer of all the Batman films from Batman to
The Dark Knight Rises...and they should.  Which is why I recommend
The Boy Who Loved Batman [Chronicle Books; $29.95], Uslan’s breezy
account of a comics fan’s quest to bring his favorite character to
the big screen.  The book is equal parts autobiography, comic-book
history, cultural anthropology, and inspirational guide to hanging
on to one’s dreams and, more importantly, keeping at them until you
make them reality.  It is the saga of a life well spent and a life
far from over.  I don’t know what other triumphs Uslan will achieve
in years to come.  I just know triumphs there will be.

ISBN 978-0-8118-7550-9

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2011 Tony Isabella

GARAGE SALES AND GIFTS: Part One of Two

From Comics Buyer’s Guide #1684:

“Do you really want to spend two dollars for something that will 
take you five minutes to read?”

- Unpleasant garage sale customer to her son, 2011

When I wrote about my plan for a Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage
sale in last issue’s column and also online, I never expected the
vast number of e-mails and other online comments I received before
and after the sale.  With editor Brent’s kind indulgence, I’ll try
to summarize what happened with the sale and what I’ve learned from
it.  Take notes if you want, but I promise you there won’t be any
quiz at the end of the column.

Although my poor planning torpedoed my hope of having other comics
artists and writers setting up at my sale, the sale itself was an
amazing success.  I was looking to make $500 over the two days of
the sale and made nearly three times that...and I did it with around
30 customers.

The key was social media.  My son Eddie and I placed a classified
ad in the local Medina newspaper.  We put a notice on Craig’s List.
We hung a note on a local supermarket bulletin board.  But we also
talked about the sale on our respective Facebook pages and, in my
case, in my blog and on my message board. 

One person saw the newspaper ad and one saw the Craig’s List post.
A few customers drove by and saw our signs and the Superman poster
we’d hung on a lamppost.  The rest of the customers came because of
our Facebook and other online posts.

The key to the success was our ridiculously low prices.  Two comics
fans drove nearly two hours from Columbus to come to the sale and
were so delighted with their purchases that, on hearing we planned
to restock overnight, decided to come back for the second day.
One comics pal bought boxes of 2000 AD and related titles. At far
less discounted prices, I even sold and signed multiple copies of
1000 Comic Books You Must Read (now in a second printing) and Grim
Ghost.  About the only things that didn’t sell well were old VHS
tapes and Shonen Jump. 

One of the high points of the weekend for me was selling copies of
the suitable-for-all-ages Marvel Adventures to a woman whose kids
love Spider-Man.  She was unsure of buying the “regular” Spider-Man
titles for the boys, which is when one of my online pals directed
her to the Marvel Adventures digests.  She was enormously pleased
with her purchase.

The only sour note was the woman quoted above.  Her son wanted to
buy a trade paperback that was cover-priced at $9.99.  Whether she
was disdainful of comics in general or just try to haggle over the
price, she did eventually let the boy - “It’ll take me at least a
half-hour to read this.” - buy the book.

Several comics fans and industry professionals have requested tips
on running their own garage sale based on my extensive experience
of having held one more garage sale than they have.  I’m happy to
share my meager wisdom.

Don’t be shy about using your “comics celebrity,” however minor in
your advertising.  A few customers came to my garage sale because
they wanted to meet me.

Plan far enough ahead so that you might be able to get some other
comics writers and artists to participate.  Then, use that kind of
semi-carnival vibe to attract the attention of your local media and
get some publicity for your sale.  I utterly failed to do this, but
my pal Chris Yambar succeeded when he held Lawn Con on the
lawn of his Youngstown Ohio home. 

Check with your local government to make sure doing something a bit
more than a garage sale doesn’t violate any local ordinances.  It’s
better to be safe than sorry in this regard.

Recognize the sad fact that, for many people, comic books are still
just kids stuff.  I got some nice comments from customers who were
not themselves comics readers from a disclaimer I had posted at the
entrance to my garage.  It read:

Not all comic books and other items are suitable for all ages.  We
will be happy to answer any questions as to the appropriateness of
the items being sold here. We reserve the right to REFUSE to sell
items to minor age customers if we deem them inappropriate to the
age of the customer.

Here’s the most important advice:

Price whatever you’re displaying to sell.

It’s a garage sale.  You’re not going to be paying off your house
mortgage or putting your kids through college.  Even so, if you’ve
got quantity, variety and insanely low prices, you can do well for
yourself.  While your own Vast Accumulation of Stuff might not be
as vast as my Vast Accumulation of Stuff, you probably have a lot
of stuff you can live without.  Embrace that concept.

Happy selling!

******************************

It’s never too early to start your holiday shopping, so, for the
duration of this issue’s column and all of next month’s, I’m making
with the recommendations.  These items would make terrific presents
for avid and casual comics readers alike.

Anyone who has ever read Archie Comics will love The Best of Archie
Comics [$9.99], which reprints over 400 pages of great stories from
the past 70 years of Riverdale wonderment.  Adding to the sheer fun
of this collection, the publishers include historical mini-essays
and comments from Archie creators and fans.

The scope of this book is breathtaking.  Nearly every major Archie
writer and artist is represented, often with stories that haven’t
been reprinted in decades.  Secondary characters like Super Duck,
Ginger, Wilbur, and L’il Jinx get their chance to shine alongside
more major players like Katy Keene, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and
Josie and the Pussycats.  Some of the odder Archie Comics concepts
from the past, like Jughead’s Diner and Faculty Funnies get a nod
in the form of cover reproductions. 

The first Sabrina story by George Gladir and Dan DeCarlo is here,
reprinted from Archie’s Mad House #22 [1962]. There are a pair of
heartwarming Little Archie tales by Bob Bolling.  There is clever
wordplay, laugh-out-loud slapstick, keen characterization, and the
kind of body language and staging that only the very best artists
in comics have ever been able to master.

Knowing something of big projects than span the history of comics
in America, I was impressed by how well the editors of this volume
included so many high points from Archie history.  They might have
left out some of my personal favorites - Cosmo the Merry Martian,
for one - but to get so many incredible material in one book is a
major accomplishment.  I just hope they don’t make me wait too long
for The Best of Archie Comics Volume Two.

ISBN 978-1-879794-84-9

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2011 Tony Isabella