Some doubt has recently been cast on Salam Pax, not on whether or not he was real, which seems to be less of interest right now, but on who he is in Iraq. Jim Henley's Unqualified Offerings links to some defenses of Salam as well as to the original article.

I think I mentioned the "real life superhero" in Tunbridge Wells... and even if I didn't, it turned out to be a massive practical joke. Another case of reporters jumping into a story without doing that crucial research first... but at least this one was funny.

Working at home today, which means forcing myself to ignore the fun stuff in favor of the work stuff (which is also fun, but in a different way). It occurred to me that I haven't written a blog yet, so I thought I'd drop one in just in case I don't get around to it later.

You know the weather is bad when the Seattle area gets a funnel cloud touching down. When I got out of work I turned on the radio to find out how the M's did, and the announcer was saying that there might be more tornados in the area over the next few hours. After a little while, she explained that a water spout had touched down in Commencement Bay. Nifty. And just to top it off, the M's game, which is being played in Cleveland, is on a rain delay with the Mariners up 7-0 in the fourth. Argh!

...until I get a chance to take a breath and do some actual thinking.

Neilalien points out that the Sequential Tart outreach isn't much of an outreach. Yeah, it's great that they are having a booth at San Diego Comic Con, but the only people they will really reach there are people who have already been exposed to comics and have a somewhat open mind. I agree that a booth in front of Macy's would be an interesting proposal.

I took the Dante Inferno Hell Test just to see where I would end up, and I've been sent to Purgatory. I'll leave the chart out, because I'd rather not show off my faults. I got the link to it from many sites I visit.

The Memory Hole reveals a badly botched faked photo of a jubilant crowd in Baghdad. Whether or not there was a crowd that big, this particular photo was obviously faked... and by someone who didn't know how to fake photos very well. Quite pathetic. Even if you buy the newspaper's reason for faking it, they didn't do a very good job at all.

I'm not sure what to make of this story that accuses the American military of making up the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch, including the use of blanks in guns and carefully conceived camera shots based on advice from a film producer. Link from Franklin's Findings.

Because Rick Veitch asked nicely, I'm spreading the word about the problem with Aquaman #6. And I just know that most of my readers pick up the Aquaman comic book...

When you get Aquaman #6, the last scene may not make a lot of sense. That's because a couple of lines of dialogue were accidently dropped from the page. For the full story, go to Rick Veitch's website. If you simply need to know how it should read, the final two panels on page 22 in the printed comic read like this:

AQUAMAN: KAL--I don't mean to sound like a jerk. Hell, I wouldn't even BE here if you all hadn't saved my fins in the Obsidian Age.
AQUAMAN: And that's why I know in the deepest lining of my gut...
AQUAMAN: I have to face him down alone.

The way it SHOULD read is:

AQUAMAN: KAL--I don't mean to sound like a jerk. Hell, I wouldn't even BE here if you all hadn't saved my fins in the Obsidian Age.
AQUAMAN: But this guy isn't just another nut job out to conquer the world.
AQUAMAN: The THIRST is my own EVIL TWIN. And that's why I know in the deepest lining of my gut...
AQUAMAN: I have to face him down alone.

Please note the extra bit that explains WHY Aquaman has to face down the Thirst alone. There's more on the incident at Rick Veitch's website (http://www.comicon.com/veitch/), including a theory as to how this mistake happened.

Comments (2)

My own EVIL TWIN? What's that about?

Laura, when can you tell us about the story element you contributed to? Do you know yet?

farsider | Email | 05.15.03 - 1:29 pm

I'll be able to tell once Rick Veitch is off the book. But it's so little, it really doesn't matter. It would have been a huge mistake to me, but nothing to most fans.

The thirst is drawing off Aquaman's anger, somewhat like Thanatos... Whenever Aquaman gets a bad guy who uses his own anger against him, he's in trouble.

Tegan | 05.15.03 - 1:47 pm

The whole thing seems right out of a Monty Python sketch to me. Republicans forcing through a gerrymandering, Democrats walking out. I found myself humming "The Lumberjack Song" while pricing books at work, and suddenly words starting popping into my head...

 TEXAS DEMOCRAT:
    Oh, I'm a Democrat and I'm Ok!
    I make up laws for my state all day!

 CHORUS:
    He's a Democrat and he's OK,
    He makes up laws for his state all day!

 TEXAS DEMOCRAT:
    I use big words, I make phone calls,
    I kiss some dumb babies!
    I take the lob'yists' money
    And go on spending sprees

 CHORUS:
    He uses big words, he makes phone calls,
    He kisses dumb babies
    He takes the lob'yists' money
    And goes on spending sprees

    He's a Democrat and he's OK,
    He makes up laws for his state all day!

 TEXAS DEMOCRAT:
    I hate to lose, so now I've run
    the Rangers on my tail
    If I go back to Texas
    They'll haul my butt to jail!

 CHORUS:
    He hates to lose, and so he's run
    the Rangers on his tail
    If he comes back to Texas
    We'll throw his butt in jail!

    He's a Democrat and he's okaaaaaayyyy,
    Even though he's run away!

Thank yew, thank yew... no, I won't quit my day job.

Comments (2)

haha. you just made my day.

farsider | Email | 05.14.03 - 6:51 am

If you like that, read about how another group of legislators trying a quorum-bust got rounded up - http://www.instapundit.com/archives/009505.php#009505.

However I view this childish, and money-wasting, fight between Texas Republicans and Democrats, it appears that regular Texans are supporting them, if this article is to be believed. Strange, the more I thought about the story yesterday, the less impressed I was with the Texas Democrats. Now I don't know what to think.

Ah well. "Politician" is a swear word.

Tegan | 05.14.03 - 7:56 am

Uncanny X-Men #423: What the heck, it was only 25 cents. Of course, after reading it, I might wish I'd spent that money a little better. Let's see: the good - Marvel has a recap on their first page, which allows the casual reader to get up-to-speed on the story so far... which is good because this story makes utterly no sense without the recap, and not much more with it. It reads like a particularly bad soap opera: "Person F is going out with person H, but he's actually in love with person W". The images on the recap page at least give the casual reader an idea who each person is, but I had to read the recap a couple of times before I thought I was ready to read the book itself. Once into the book, there is an ad on almost every other page. Almost every right-hand page until the last few story pages is an ad. I'm not sure why that distracted me so much, but it did. The story itself was supposed to be dramatic, but other than a bunch of people dying because they are mutants there was very little impact. As soon as I saw that Jubilee was one of the people dying I figured it wasn't a permanent death for most, if not all, of the characters. And, while I'm familiar with some of the folks from other interpretations of the X-Men, the way they are portrayed here rang false to me. Yeah, I know, I'm not an X-fan, how would I know. But I just didn't buy any of it. It just wasn't a very good comic.

Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.

These Texans either have a lot of guts, or a lack of brains. Not that I don't support their actions. I think gerrymandering is a scumbag tactic used only by the worst type of politician. And if quorum-busting is the only way to stop it, I can't really fault them. But this may end their careers. Already, they are up for arrest if they return to Texas.

Wow.

I first heard about this story from Bob Harris on This Modern World, and more info came from Geek and Proud.

Comments (7)

Typical Democrats: sore losers. If the redistricting laws are so unfair, why didn't the Democrats change them when they were in power?

After all these years, Republicans in TX have a chance to give the Dems a taste of their own medicine, and what do they do? They hide out in Oklahoma, of all places. Cry babies. They dished it out but they can't take it.

Rich

farsider | Email | 05.13.03 - 9:17 am

Um, the current districts have been in place for less than two years. This is a classic case of gerrymandering, and I'd find it distasteful no matter which party was pulling it.

The Republicans ought to be ashamed of themselves for wasting time and public money on redistricting so soon after the last one.

Gerrymandering really ought to be illegal, it's a shame no politician will ever have the guts to make a law against it. It might weaken their party in the future. Freaking hypocrites.

Tegan | 05.13.03 - 10:00 am

In 1991, Dems controlled the TX House and Senate and they gerrymandered TX to their liking. The TX legislature was supposed to redistrict in 2001, but by this time Republicans had the majority in the Senate but not the House. The Dems stonewalled because they didn’t want the Republicans to have any input. (After all, Democrats had controlled the state for 130 years.) Because the legislature didn’t act, a judge (probably appointed by Ann Richards) HAD to issue a new one due to population increases. The old Democrat-favoring districts were essentially left in place, except that two new districts were added. The Dems hoped to get the Senate back in 2002 so they could re-district (since the TX constitution requires the legislature, NOT a judge, to re-district), but instead they lost the House, too.

They are staging this walk-out to hold on to the gerrymandered districts that favor them.

The districts proposed by the Republicans reflect changes in the population and the state voting patterns. Currently the house delegation from TX is 53% dem / 47% GOP even though over 60% of congressional votes in last election were for GOP candidates. The DEMOCRAT gerrymandering produced this arrangement that thwarts and obstructs the voting of the state population.

So, yes, the districts are only two years old, due to typical Democrat maneuvering. The “cost” of redistricting should have been paid two years ago, so the Republicans are not wasting money.

The Democrats are the ones who are “wasting time and public money” by their little temper tantrum. I’m glad that at least some of the Democrats had the decency to stay and do the job they were elected to.

farsider | Email | 05.13.03 - 11:58 am

(sarcasm on) It was nice of all those stories to avoid giving the backstory to this. (sarcasm off) Scumbag Democrats and scumbag Republicans playing politics instead of doing their job.

By the way, farsider, I was actually agreeing with you (er, partly). "Freaking hypocrites" was referring to the Demos. I just didn't realize the extent of their hypocrisy until you filled me in.

Tegan | 05.13.03 - 5:01 pm

Most current news stories avoid giving enough background information for the 'whole truth and nothing but the truth'

Maggie | Email | 05.14.03 - 6:15 am

Actually, having been a reporter for two of the longest quarters in my entire school career, sometimes the background material gets left out because you don't yet have it in the scramble to get the scoop. If there was more prestige in getting the story right than there was in reporting it first... well, a lot of stories wouldn't get written.

Tegan | 05.14.03 - 7:18 am

Yea, I know. I was a stringer for the Provo "Daily Herald" for about a year. Which is why I always take the media with a grain of salt or two. It always amazed me that two or three people could be at the same meeting and not hear the same things. Hmm...I see that trend in some of your other posts, too.

Maggie | Email | 05.15.03 - 8:56 pm

As you should be able to see, if the changes went through, I've reorganized my archives a little. I've never trusted the Blogspot Archive system, and so I've always kept my blog archives on my own page. Unfortunately, I was spending too much time trying to keep them neat and orderly. So I've changed how I've got them set up a little to make them easier to update. Enjoy.

The rumor monkeys are flying around in my e-mail, so I'm going to post about this ludicrous rumor that keeps growing. For those of you who aren't comic book fans, you can stop reading right now.

Basically, this is a silly rumor. It is almost as insubstantial as air, but it keeps coming back to me. I won't name my sources, but I'll tell you that they shouldn't be believed in this. Basically, I'm about to spread a rumor that I don't believe in. Take that as you will.

The rumor goes like this: After Rick Veitch ends his run on Aquaman, Peter David will be taking over. The significance of this lies in the fact that Peter David wrote Aquaman from 1993 until 1998, with a mini series before that in 1990.

You would think that PAD is done with Aquaman. That he's said all he wants to on the subject. But that's not true. I wrote an e-mail to PAD to ask if he would consider returning to Aquaman to be retreading old waters, or if he'd want to write Aquaman again... and his answer was "Sure, I'd do it."

In and of itself, that wouldn't be enough to get me speculating on a possible Peter David return to Aquaman. But there have been other flying rumor monkeys landing in my e-mail box, and some have been more... interesting, shall we say? than others. But I still don't believe that they add up to anything more than wild speculation at this point.

Still, that's the rumor, and it's not the rumor specifically that I want to address in this blog entry. It's my unexpected reaction to it.

To say I have mixed feelings about Peter David possibly returning to Aquaman would get you an understatement of the year award. One side of me thinks it would be incredibly neat to see where Peter David would go with the character after the changes Aquaman has been through in the last five years, while the other side is terrified of going back to the pre-Jurgens and pre-Veitch days. I like what Jurgens did with the future Atlantis, with Cerdia and all. And I like how Veitch removed the harpoon... with both reason and understanding instead of just replacing it off-panel with a golden hand (like some other "writer" did).

So I have to wonder, if PAD were to take over Aquaman writing again, would he "undo" what has been done in the last five years, or find a new direction to move in? Would he try to go back and finish his infamous "water elemental" storyline that everyone (including myself probably) misinterpreted, or would he try something completely new? While I think of Peter David as an excellent writer who is always amazingly sensitive to what has gone before (sometimes to things the fans even missed), some part of me is really scared that he would undo the last five years to make up for his premature departure from the book back in '98. I may be doing him a grave injustice, but there's a lurking fear there that won't go away.

But then, as one fan put it, Aquaman as written by Peter David was always a fascinating book. A rippin' good yarn. It just wasn't always what a fan would want or expect from Aquaman.

The forward movement of Aquaman through the years has been interesting. There's been a chip on Aquaman's shoulder since his Silver Age Angst days, since his son died. Peter David did his best to put that chip away by first taking the character into totally savage realms. By the end of the PAD run, Aquaman was at peace with his past and willing to be the leader, the King, that he was born to be. That was mostly undone in the year after Peter David left, when the follow-up writer was told to "make him happy, but have him jealous about his ex-wife" which didn't work on any level. Jurgens restarted the romance between Aquaman and Mera, and re-established the Peter David status quo to some extent, but the series ended too quickly for any character development to hold. And Aquaman had always been treated by other writers in other books, such as JLA, as "Mr Grumpy with a pig-sticker on my hand" which stunted his growth in the eyes of anyone NOT reading the Aquaman title. The whole thing was basically thrown out the window when Poseidonis was sent back into the past for 15 years. Veitch was working with a character who had been in solitary confinement, unable to communicate with ANYONE for 15 years, and a supporting cast who had gone through 15 years of slavery.

So Veitch has taken his year of Aquaman to recover the character from his imprisonment. Where will the next writer go from there? What sort of stories does the future hold? And are the flying rumor monkeys giving me pretty misdirection or the scoop on the Aquaman story of the year? Time will tell.

I keep thinking about Bill Bennett. Christians should look at him closely, because he illustrates a Biblical incident quite beautifully. See, there was a group of nasty religious guys who wanted to prove that Jesus wasn't the Messiah, so they kept setting up moral traps for him. In one case, they caught a woman involved in adultery (John 8:4) and brought her up to Jesus to make him condemn her to death. He mostly ignored them, and finally said only one statement to them: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (John 8:7) So these guys all thought about it, and then they left. The oldest first, then all the rest. They couldn't throw the first stone because they knew they were guilty of other things. There's a moral here, on both sides of the issue. But the side I find most enlightening is how Bill Bennett's stone-casting is coming back to him. I guess if you throw enough stones, one of them is bound to bounce back and hit you. There's another biblical scripture for that, from the Sermon on the Mount: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7:1).

It's a shame that more of the most vocal Christians don't practice the advice of their own scripture.

Ok, so I didn't get a lot of credit, but I got enough to order a couple of things from Amazon.com. So I took the plunge and ordered the Smallville soundtrack (lots of good songs) and the Superfriends DVD. Yes, the Super Friends. I know, I know... it's not that good, it's the series that made Aquaman a joke... I just couldn't resist. Especially since I didn't actually pay any real money for it, just credit I got from people using my website to go to Amazon. I turned it on the other morning as some background noise and light while I got ready for work, and it was very refreshing. Took me back a few years.

I'll be reviewing the four episodes and the DVD features soon. I promise you that I won't go gentle on it out of nostalgia.

And my Mother's Day song didn't get played. Bummer. I still wuv you, Mom.

Comments (3)

Hey Laura, where do you go on Amazon to start one of these stores? I might like to do this myself! I clicked around here and there but don't see any directions...

Johnny B | Email | Homepage | 05.12.03 - 4:02 pm

(I'll take this one, dear!) Go to Amazon's main page and click down. Keep clicking down. Eventually, on the left hand side, there should be a side bar about "Associates". That's the box you want! Click on the highlighted text and it should get you started.

Hubby | Email | Homepage | 05.12.03 - 6:14 pm

Thanks! I found it, no problem. Now I gotta figure out what I want to put on it!

Johnny B | Email | Homepage | 05.12.03 - 7:25 pm

Batman: Nevermore #2: Have I mentioned that I think Batman and Poe are the perfect match? This is definitely a natural story, but so far the execution has surprised me a little. Overall, this is working up to be an interesting and different sort of Batman Elseworld. I like it.

Justice League Adventures #19: Someone referred to this as an "after-school special", and I'm afraid I mostly agree. While the message is important, it seems to be a little forced. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but it was a bit disappointing.

Way of the Rat #13: Boon isn't terribly intelligent, no, but he has a certain street-smart that apparently has kept him alive and successful as a thief in the past. So when he says he doesn't trust magic, you just know that something bad is going to come from magic for him. I particularly like the sing-song speech balloons when Boon is intently not listening.

That's it for this week... or is it? Is there one more book hiding in my stack? What could it be? Will I even read it, much less review it? Tune in next time to find out... *ahem* As for comic books for this coming Wednesday, we've got Powers, Superman & Batman Generations III, Aquaman, Green Lantern, JSA, Power Company, Titans and Young Justice Graduation Day, and the new Crossgen mini Silken Ghost listed as coming. We'll find out what really does come in in a few days.

I have no idea when I got up this morning, except that it was late. Nor am I entirely sure where the day has gone. It is nice and sunny outside. But nothing is getting done. Definitely a lazy day.

Comments (1)

Yeah...wonderful, wasn't it? Despite the laziness and general inertia, at least I managed to finish off another application and send off inquiries about my status in a few other districts. And I got my ironing done! The Simpsons was kind of lame tonight...

Hubby | Email | Homepage | 05.11.03 - 9:41 pm