Todd’s Blog

Went to bed last night with no reply from Travel Planners about my room reservation request, and I have to admit I didn’t sleep well, silly as that sounds. This morning I found the reply email saying I have a room at the US Grant hotel for $300 a night. I believe that was the 12th choice on my 12 hotel choices, I threw it on when the Hyatt wasn’t listed. More than I really wanted to pay, but it’s 8 blocks from the convention center, next door to the Westgate, where I’ve enjoyed staying several times, so I’ll take my punishment and be happy. I don’t think the time-stamp system worked for me, or wasn’t honored, as I submitted my form as soon as I could physically fill it out, minutes after it went online, so I can’t fathom how my first 11 choices were full. As always, the prices are a convention dates rip-off…a room at the Grant this weekend can be had for $170 a night, and I see that they charge extra for internet access in the room (unlike the Westgate, where it’s included, though like all the other SD hotels I’ve stayed at), but it keeps me close to the con. If you have a car and want to deal with the traffic (which I don’t), you can stay in surrounding towns for about $100 a night, but that’s not for me. I want to walk (or take the Con shuttle). A look on Hotels.com reveals that only two downtown hotels are listed as available there for under $300 a night, and both are farther from the convention center than I’d want to be.

The reservation isn’t final until I make a deposit, and the website isn’t open for that until this evening, but when it is, I’ll be doing that. At least I got a good deal on airfare: $400 round trip on American Airlines from Philadelphia through Travelocity. (A similar itinerary on the AA website was $1000!) Well, this con is my one splurge for the year, and it is a business write-off at least, as it’s my main chance to talk to my DC editors about work. The real reason I’m going, though, is I love the con and the city it’s in. This will be my 18th straight year, and I can’t imagine missing it.

Just filled out the online form for a reservation for Comicon in July. This year it was at least easy to get that far, and since they required 12 hotel choices up front, and forms are supposed to be time-stamped and processed in the order received, it seems likely I should get a room, and maybe even one on my list. They’re supposed to reply by email in 3-5 hours. I’ll report back when I hear from them.

UPDATE: Over six hours since I filled in the form, have heard nothing, and getting anxious, so I just filled out another one. Is that allowed? Will anyone check? We’ll see.

© Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson.

As I said when I reviewed the first two issues of this mini-series, BEASTS OF BURDEN is a delightful story about a group of talking animals in the haunted town of Burden who solve eldritch mysteries and fight evil sorcery. Sort of a Scooby Gang made up of all animals. In issue 3 the cats of Burden finally get center stage on a mission into the sewers full of possessed rats, and then in the fourth issue finale everyone pitches in to defeat ancient horrors in the town graveyard. Great stuff, wonderful art by Jill, entertaining writing by Evan, nice lettering by Jason Arthur. I imagine it will be collected soon, and it looks like more are planned. Hope sales are good enough to warrant that, I highly recommend it!

© The International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc.

It’s kind of unfair to review this, as you have to join The International Wizard of Oz Club to get it. I’ve been a member since the late 1970s, which means I’ve received and read about 100 issues of the Bugle, and I still enjoy them and find they have new insights and things to say about the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and others, as well as all things Oz, like movies, TV shows, books, sound recordings, and so on. If Oz interests you, it’s well worth joining.

This issue focuses on “The Road to Oz,” the fifth book in the original series by Baum. Unlike all the others, this one did not come with color plates. Instead, all of artist John R. Neill’s drawings were printed in black and white (except the dust jacket) on a variety of different colored papers, meant to represent the different color themes of particular regions of Oz. I always thought that was a cool idea, and I finally found an early edition on the colored paper. It’s kind of a novelty trick, and I was a little disappointed to see that the colors of the paper don’t correspond perfectly to the areas of Oz the text is about, but it is clever. Later editions dropped the paper colors to cut costs, and Neill’s pictures only saw print in color once in a Rand McNally junior edition, which is what the cover of the magazine is taken from.

If you’re a fan of Neill’s art, the lead article features “Hidden Details” in the art for this book, many of which I had never noticed. There are also some interesting errors, as where Jack Pumpkinhead appears in the Emerald City’s royal palace illustrations a day before he arrives there in the text. Plus there are contemporary reviews of the book when first published.

Then there’s an article by Peter Maresca on his lavish Sunday Press reprinting of Oz comic strips from the early years of the 20th century, primarily one called “Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz.” As a long time reader of the Bugle, I’ve seen all those strips, but the Sunday Press edition reprints them in color and at the original huge size, and it’s a stunning book which I’d like to buy someday.

judy Bieber and Eric Shanower (known to many for his comics work) both review a recent book about Oz and Baum by Evan Schwartz, and basically rip it to shreds. Not a book I’ll be reading!

And another article I enjoyed greatly is one by Paul Bienvenue on how collecting rare books has been impacted by the internet. Sadly, the days of finding great treasures in dusty old used book stores are pretty much over, but online treasures can now be found, and much easier.

A fine issue, as most are, and highly recommended.

© Kelly Link, illustration © Shelley Jackson.

A few years ago I read a short story by Kelly Link called “The Faery Handbag.” Grandmother Zofia seems like an old-world character full of crazy stories to her granddaughter, and she has this odd handbag that she never parts with. Gradually we find out that inside is an entire village of people that went into the bag’s magic opening to escape from war, centuries ago. Zofia took on the job of keeping the handbag safe, but what will happen when she dies? A good read, it was creative, different and fun, and I thought I’d like to get more by her, so when I saw this collection recently, I bought it. It’s the first story in the book and I still like it a lot. The rest of the stories not as much, though the title story is almost as good. Link walks a boundary between mundane “New Yorker” prose and surrealist fantasy, much of it dark. She writes well, has an ear for dialogue and dry wit, but many of her stories have one major flaw: they don’t really end. They have a good set-up, go on for a while in a direction that seems to be heading toward a resolution, but before they get there, they stop.

This is even true of “The Faery Handbag,” though I was so taken with other elements I didn’t notice the first time through. I found it a little frustrating as a reader because at times the end seemed within reach, I could see what it would probably be, but I was left unsatisfied. It seems to be part of Link’s style, she even comments on it and almost makes fun of her own work in the final story, “Lull,” where there are stories within stories, intertwined, but no resolution. “This probably isn’t a true story,” one of the characters says, “I probably won’t get all the way to the end, and I’m not going to start at the beginning, either. There isn’t enough time.”

I can see where one story like this might stand out of the crowd in a magazine or anthology, and it does get one thinking about what might happen next, but a whole book of them is kind of tiresome. I did like some of the ideas, many of the characters, and much of the dialogue, but—call me old fashioned—I prefer some kind of resolution at the end of a story. Therefore, I can only mildly recommend this book.

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

Here’s a short logo study about an unusual comic. PLOP! was very odd for publisher DC, a mix of humor and horror with some of the most grotesque covers by Basil Wolverton ever published over a frame of tiny cartoon figures by Sergio Aragones. Sergio was the creator and driving force behind the book, also contributing all the framing stories and many others as well. Between were stories of comic horror or dark humor by comics greats like Berni Wrightson and Nick Cardy. I assume Sergio also came up with the name; perhaps he just thought the word was funny. As a comics reader I found the title off-putting, suggesting bathroom humor, and the Wolverton art unappealing (I like it better now) and I never picked up an issue, thereby missing some enjoyable content.

Sergio also designed the logo, according to his friend Mark Evanier, who asked Sergio about it for me. Mark reports that Sergio “did the PLOP! logo and doesn’t think anyone changed what he did in any way.” Editor Joe Orlando must have enjoyed Sergio’s humor and art, giving him lots of freedom on the book, including with the logo. Above is the original from the DC files. My guess is that Sergio designed it to go well with the weird cover art of Woolverton, as it uses some of the same sort of rounded shapes and shading made up of small ink dots that Woolverton favored. In blue pencil at the top is a tagline, “Can You Still Laugh When Everything Goes…” This certainly sounds like Sergio to me. It was never inked, and is crossed out in blue pencil, so I guess it didn’t go over well with someone, and instead they put the lower tagline at the top on the finished cover. It may also just have been a matter of height, with the logo pretty tall already.

Here’s a detail from the logo showing some of the dot shading and tagline. It’s hard to say what the drawing tools used were. I’d be tempted to say markers, except that marker ink tends to turn blue over time, and this hasn’t. So it’s probably india ink applied with pens of some kind.

Here’s a later issue with a reconfigured trade dress adding three character heads by Sergio of the hosts: Cain, Eve and Abel, all borrowed from Joe Orlando’s other mystery/horror books. The tagline is now part of the top banner. Replacing artist Basil Wolverton on later covers was Wally Wood doing his best to keep the grotesquerie going, though his drawing skills show through the weirdness.

The last few issues used this different version of the logo, more cartoony and balloonlike, and not as interesting to my eye, while the cover art reaches for a MAD magazine painted approach. In all, a pretty long run for such an odd book, especially for DC at a time when they would often cancel books after three issues when they didn’t seem to be selling well. Sergio’s idea must have been appealing to some readers! And certainly his humor and art are still popular today.

For anyone who might be interested in lists of what I worked on last year, I’ve just updated the LETTERING ARCHIVES pages on my website to add 2009.

It’s a very rainy Saturday afternoon. The house cleaning is done, which kept the cats busy this morning either running away (from the vacuum) or following closely (the mop and duster). Now things are boring again, and Tigger is chewing on the guitar case handle, not a good thing. I take the camera and put a ping-pong ball in my pocket, then the kittens and I go upstairs. I have an idea. I’ve been trying all week to get pictures of them chasing the ping-pong ball in the downstairs bathtub, a game that often keeps them entertained for a while, but every time I try, they find me and the camera more interesting. So, I’ll take them to the larger tub upstairs, maybe that will work.

Leo does chase the ball some, but not with enthusiasm. I guess they’re tired of the game.

Tigger keeps looking up instead, not really interested in the ping-pong ball. He’s listening to and watching the rain falling on the skylight. Tigger is fascinated by water, and every time either of us takes a shower, he’s waiting outside afterward. He jumps into the wet shower and plays with the water drops running down the sides.

This gives me an idea. I turn the cold water on a little in the tub. That gets their attention.

Leo jumps in to have a closer look, but the bottom of the tub is now wet and slippery, and he slides right under the water stream! Then he’s frantic, trying to get out, and unable to, constantly sliding back to the middle. This is so funny that I can’t stop laughing…

…snapping two quick pictures before I can grab the wet kitten and pull him out. Ellen comes in at this point and berates me for torturing poor Leo, saying he’ll be traumatized. I tell her he did it to himself, but am now sorry I didn’t act quicker to get him out. It was just so funny…

Ellen dries Leo off on the sink, comforting him, then gives him a hug.

I’ve turned the water off, and Tigger now jumps in to get his feet wet. He manages much better, since he doesn’t panic, and gets in and out without much fuss.

Leo spends the next five minutes washing all that nasty water off and replacing it with his own saliva. He’s fine, and doesn’t hold a grudge. He may not venture into the big tub again, though. At least for a while we all got some entertainment.

© Stacey O’Brien.

This is the third animal biography I’ve read in the last year, the first being about Dewey the library cat, the second being about Alex the super-intelligent parrot. All three share some qualities: a woman finds herself taking an animal into her care who turns out to be far more challenging and complex a personality than she had expected. Like Dewey, Wesley the barn owl was orphaned and injured, unable to survive on his own. Like Alex, Wesley comes from an animal research background, though in this case the owl did not undergo years of scientific testing. Instead his owner and companion, Stacey, merely documented his life and ways thoroughly for owl researchers that she initially was working with. Though Wesley doesn’t learn to talk like Alex, he proves that the owl mind is full of intelligence, and Stacey learns to communicate with him amazingly well.

Owls are solitary by nature, and that meant only Stacey could really get to know him intimately, but through this book, we all can share the insights into owl ways. And like Dewey, caring for Wesley pulls Stacey, an interesting personality in her own right, through personal trials and health problems. I enjoyed this book, and though I wouldn’t ever try to take on a task like raising a wild owl, it was very entertaining reading about this one. Recommended.

This week has been sunny and springlike, a welcome change from the snow and storms of February. Yesterday afternoon I went out with my camera to search for signs of spring. In our yard, daffodils were emerging from the fall leaves…

…and this rosebush was showing new growth. Didn’t know if it had made it through the winter, so I was glad to see it.

Down the road some naturalized crocuses were open in someone’s yard. We used to have them in ours, but they all got eaten by voles. As I walked around the neighborhood I listened for the calls of birds and frogs. It’s too early for migrating songbirds, but resident Cardinals and Tufted Titmice were singing their territorial calls. Carolina Wrens were too, but they call all year, so that’s nothing new or seasonal. No Spring Peeper frogs calling yet, but I did hear a few others, I think they were leopard frogs, but I’m not sure.

It’s a bit further than I usually walk, but I went to a place where I had once seen Skunk Cabbage one spring years ago, and sure enough, they were still there.

This woodland plant is one of the first in our area to emerge in spring from the wet, muddy streamsides and marshy spots it likes. The green shoot is the beginning of the cabbagy leaves that will spread out much more soon. The plants were already emitting a strong odor, not as unpleasant as a real skunk, but it does get your attention! I’ve never actually seen the yellow flowers that come later, I’ll have to try coming back in a few weeks to see if they’re out. In any case, when I was a boy this plant’s appearance in the woods was a sure sign of spring, and so it remains.