As a horror writer, I don't ask for much. I just hope I've changed then way you think about life.

I continue to be frustrated beyond all belief at my utter inability to comprehend to appeal of SCOTT PILGRIM.

These comics are constantly met with critical praise and a passionate devotion from fans that is somewhere just above Paul Pope, around Alan Moore, and with an intensity that is increasingly matching Joss Whedon's followers. I keep giving it a fair read every few months or so, trying yet again to see what the big deal is, how is this so brilliant, what am I missing?

It wouldn't be driving me this nuts if it weren't for the fans and reviewers who constantly say things like, "If you don't like this, there's something wrong with you. You have no soul. You're from Mars." etc. A customer, upon learning my inability, said, with disappointment, "There's no hope for you."

You're. Not. Helping.

This is just going to continue to drive me nuts as long as I work in the comic shop and rabid hipster-geek hybrid customers come in, foaming at the mouth as they ask "IS IT IN, YET?! HAS IT SHIPPED?!?! TELL ME SO THAT MY LIFE MAY BE COMPLETE!!!!"

Then again, I am the one and only person in the entire world to be left cold by Homestar Runner. It's a very sad thing, realizing that you're losing touch with your own generation, much less the next.



In similar news, who in the name of God keeps giving Tim & Eric TV shows? Who watches this, and who the hell finds it funny? I mean, while unstoned? I don't want to out myself as terminally unhip with, twenty years from now, Tim & Eric are hailed as bold comedy pioneers, but god DAMN, I am sick and tired of this lame-ass anti-comedy bullcrap! This show is an assault on all forms of good taste. It curdles my soul.

On the other hand, thank God [adult swim] has finally imported Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Halfway through the second episode, I fell deeply and thoroughly in love, particularly with everything about this show. Particularly Dr. Lucien Sanchez. Gotta love a man who packs two guns, in case one turns on him.

Editorial cartoon in the Gotham Village, page 14

So behold what utterly dork-tastic thing I've been up to today, will you?

Let me first explain... I have a large book of Jules Feiffer cartoons, bought in London back when I was on the cusp of doing an entire play/movie/interpretive dance based on the work of Feiffer. I even managed to track him down to get his permission, which he granted, but alas, college life took over and I lost interest. A part of me still thinks I should get back to it before the man, you know, dies... but that's another story.

For those who don't know who he is, Jules Feiffer is a great cartoonist who contributed to the Village Voice for decades. His work was as often about the dark side of everyday New Yorker neurosis as it was political. One of his most famous from his era came in 1968, when he did this cartoon about Robert F. Kennedy:

( These are the Bobby Twins... )

And so, reading Ellroy's AMERICAN TABLOID and several Rat Pack biographies, I started getting interested in RFK. Here was a man hailed even by a bitter cynic like James Ellroy as one of America's greatest crime-fighters, a good-hearted man haunted by demons and deep-seated moral complexity, and to this day remains a deeply controversial figure, divided by camps who remember "Good Bobby" and "Bad Bobby."

Perhaps you can already see where this might interest me.

Anyhoo.

Ever since I read that Gotham Times Newspaper website, I've started thinking about his depiction in the movie, and noticing how they've really been pushing the controversial-figure angle. And so I started to work that in my novel's revisions, having him read the paper and see all the criticism and slander against him, which only fuels his hatred and resentment against the people of Gotham, many of whom start believing the bad press.

And one of these things he reads... could be a political cartoon.

( These are the Harvey Boys... )

All hail King Dork.

quis custodiet ipsos custodes

Oh.



Oh. Snap.

( Not friendly for dial-up or non-geeks. )

Am I still apprehensive? Of course.

Am I excited? Hell yes.

I don't know how he could possibly pull if off, but now I'm actually hoping he does.