Bent Corner

Starting next February, a new Maryland law will eliminate indoor smoking in most public places, including bars and restaurants, as well as in private social clubs and fraternal organizations.

I don’t think the law says anything about the immediate doorways to public places.

The chain restaurant Ruby Tuesday has banned smoking at their restaurant for a few years now. Before smokers would sit in the bar area and blow their smoke at each other. They didn’t bother me. Now because they cannot sit at their table and smoke, they go outside and stand at the doorway and smoke. That means that I have to walk through their smoke just to get into the restaurant. It makes me think twice before going there to have a broiled talupa fish sandwich. They are very good, but I don’t know if they are worth having if I have to walk through a gantlet of disgusting cigarette smoke both entering and leaving the restaurant.

With Maryland’s new law, it looks like I will be faced with this same problem not only at Rudy Tuesday, but at every other restaurant too.

I’m not against smoking. I’m just against doorway smoking.

I’m also against smokers that roll down their car window and throw the butt out the window. Just who do they think is going to pick that butt up? Why don’t they just use the ashtray in their vehicle? I assume it’s because they don’t want anything as nasty and disgusting as a cigarette butt in their vehicle. I cannot say that I blame them for feeling this way. It’s the same reason I don’t want cigarette butts all over the ground. They are nasty looking and disgusting.

I will be totally honest and admit that I used to smoke. In fact, I smoked a lot. I quit about eight years ago. It wasn’t the first time I tried to quit, but I hope it turns out to be the last. Nicotine is truly a powerful and addictive drug. The cigarette companies actually make it more addictive that it is naturally. With that said, I have a hard time understanding why people that smoke just cannot quit like I did. If someone as pathetically weak willed as myself can sever the addiction to nicotine, I have to believe anybody can.

(photo by Justin Shearer )

I’ve been reading on the Internet for years that Wizard magazine is aimed at teenage boys. Critics of the magazine – and there are many – like to say this almost any time they want to put the magazine in a bad light. The inference is that if you enjoy reading Wizard magazine, you have the mind of a teenage boy.

It’s dismissive and more then just a little pretentious.

It’s also something that has never made much sense to me. It reminds me of the ignorant folks that say comic books are for children. As it turns out, the actual demographics for Wizard magazine tells a much different story.

Echo Media, founded in 1992 is an industry leader in direct response advertising. At least that is what their website states. They have released information about Wizard magazine, including the demographics of its readers. It’s interesting stuff:

• Average Income: $60,000
• Average Age: 21 – 34
• Percent Male: 90%

In other words, Wizard’s readership looks a whole lot like the people you would expect to see in your local comic book shop on a Wednesday afternoon. Imagine that. If Wizard magazine was truly targeted at teenage boys, the people at Wizard are significantly missing the mark.

Dirk from Journalista makes mention of my favorite podcast, The Comic Book Haters. What makes today’s mention even better is that I have a segment on this week’s episode. I submitted an audio report of my recent experiences at the 2007 Pittsburgh Comicon:

“If you ever get a chance to walk behind Chewbacca, don’t pass it up.” This is one of the stranger things said in this week’s Comic Book Haters podcast (20.9MB downloadable MP3 audiofile), which features even more Free Comic Book Day anecdotes, a report on the recent Pittsburgh Comicon, and a takedown of the first issue of John Byrne’s Man of Steel miniseries from the mid-1980s. It’s comic-book culture for people smart enough to know better.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I’m no stranger to saying (or writing) strange things.

I think Dirk does a nice job summing up the feel of the show. He seems to get the show when others don’t. Too many comic book nerds take one look at the title of the podcast and dismiss the show as being something it is not. That’s a shame. The show is really good. It’s entertaining and not pretentious or ostentatious.

If you have ever spent time reading the comment section of this blog, you are already familiar with the two hosts, DJ Sloofus and Schooly G. They frequently weigh in here on the stupid stuff I write about.

Give the show a try. Even if you’re not into comic books. An interest in comic books is not required. Only a sense of humor.

The actor that will always be Mickey Mantle to me has backed out of the sequel to ‘Punisher’. He says that he isn’t happy with the way the movie seemed to be going. He writes to Ain’t it Cool News that he doesn’t want to spend months of his life sweating over a movie that he just don’t believe in. I cannot say that I blame him. Most actors would be more then willing to sign up for a movie even if they knew it was a turd - if it meant yet another paycheck.

And yes, I am referring to Ben Affleck.

What interested me the most about this story was something I read on Comic Book Resources:

The property has had a checkered history on screen, with 1989 version starring Dolph Lundgren has never been a critical nor fan favorite, and Jane’s film being compared negatively to the much more brutal Denzel Washington revenge film “Man On Fire,” which was in theatres at almost the same time. Jane’s departure is likely to send this film back into development hell, from whence it may never return.

I thought I was the only one to make comparisons between ‘Punisher’ and ‘Man On Fire’. Both came out around the same time, but I don’t remember reading or hearing anyone else comparing the two flicks to one another. Though ‘Punisher’ has some very good parts, ‘Man On Fire’ just did a much better job telling a very similar story. ‘Man On Fire’ didn’t have any real kooky parts, while ‘Punisher’ had more then it’s fair share. It could have used a lot less John Travolta. As in none at all.

I thought Thomas Jane made a convincing Frank Castle. Too bad he won’t be in any sequels.

This is the kind of thing that makes me glad I have an iPod. XM Satellite Radio has pulled the plug on Opie and Anthony (O&A) for 30 days. This stems from crude sexual jokes about Condoleeza Rice, Laura Bush, and Queen Elizabeth made by a homeless man on their show.

I read the press release on the XM Radio website. It sounds as though they suspended them not for the crude comments made last week, but because O&A didn’t seem overly contrite yesterday while talking about the incident.

Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday’s broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.

This seems extremely petty on XM’s Radio’s part. If they were going to suspend them, they should have done so after they made the comments. Then again, they were NOT the ones that actually made the comments. Now it seems they are being suspended for not sucking up to XM Radio management.

XM Radio may want to punish Opie and Anthony, but I feel like I’m the one that’s being punished. I will still be required to pay the monthly $12.99 subscription fee. I just wont get to listen to content I usually enjoy listening to. I guess I could cancel for the month, but they would then turn around and charge me a $10 connection fee to reestablish my account next month. That’s assuming O&A ever return to XM Radio.

XM Radio wins no matter what I do.

I’m not going to pretend that the comments weren’t extremely rude, crude, and in bad taste. The thing is, that’s what Opie and Anthony do. It’s what their show is all about. It’s a funny show that is often times extremely raw in nature. You never really know what you are going to hear. Because the show is on satellite, Opie and Anthony are free from FCC restrictions on content.

This makes me wonder why XM Radio didn’t have a problem with any of the other things they have done the past three years. Was everyone else fair game, but Condoleeza Rice, Laura Bush, and Queen Elizabeth off-limits? If I didn’t know any better, I would think this had something to do with the possible XM/Sirius merger. The one that would require the Federal government to step in and change the law to allow both satellite radio companies to merge.

The Internets are a blazing over something comic book writer Mark Waid said in an interview posted on Comic Book Resources. He was talking about how sales for BRAVE AND THE BOLD dropped between issue #1 and issue #2. In fact, they dropped about 30%.

He blamed this drop in sales on people not wanting to read it after reviewers used the word “fun” to describe the book.

Seriously, that’s what he said:

“Fun, fun, fun” being our rap makes me worried. Sales were strong on the first issue, but the second issue drop-off was a little steeper than we’d predicted. And I honestly think that was because every reviewer said it was “fun.”

“Fun” automatically kills off a lot of your sales. Don’t get me wrong; the book’s still a success in the current market, and no one at DC has expressed anything but enthusiasm. We certainly seem to have a hit on our hands, George and I. I just hope that the “fun” label doesn’t hit us too hard. If so, it’s just another sign that current readers don’t want “fun” comics.

I have a hard time believing that sales dropped simply because reviewers used the word “fun” to describe the book.

Issue #2 of BRAVE AND THE BOLD came out March 22, but retailers had to decide back in December of 2006 how many copies they wanted sent to them by the distributer. Retailers typically order books three months ahead of time. That means they placed their orders for issue #2 a couple of months before reviewers ever referred to the book as being fun.

What then caused the drop? Maybe it’s because DC Comics employed a sales gimmick to increase orders for the first issue. The first issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD had a 1:10 variant cover. For every ten copies retailers ordered of issue one, they were shipped one variant cover version. The second issue did not have a variant cover. There was no incentive for retailers to over-order the second issue.

Most retailers will bump up orders for comics that have a variant cover to they can turn around and charge customers more money for the variant cover comic. The higher the ratio between regular covers to variant covers, the higher the retailer mark up.

Since the second issue of BRAVE AND THE BOLD didn’t utilize any type of variant cover gimmick, retailers only ordered what they actually needed.

Imagine that.

Comic book writer Alan Moore and long time significant other comic artist Melinda Gebbie were married this past weekend. Not only did fellow comic writer Neil Gaiman introduce these two, he took this picture.

I hereby declare this to be the coolest wedding photo ever.

I don’t understand why Marvel Comics would give the go ahead for something like this.  Is this really how they want one of their main properties to be displayed?  All sexed up?   I was under the impression that they kind of liked Spider-Man and valued the entire Spider-Man property.  If that’s true, why resort to making Spider-Man’s wife a bare foot, thong wearing laundry tub slut?

I’m no prude.  I’m also not one to get offended.  I just think this is stupid and even a little hypocritical.  My favorite monthly Marvel comic Alias was supposedly canceled because writer Brian Michael Bendis was not allowed to use top-line Marvel characters such as Spider-Man.  Alias dealt with stories more of an adult nature in content.

Just because there are statue companies out there that make sexed up weirdo friendly Japanese anime figurines, doesn’t mean Marvel Comics needs to do it too. They should let other companies, companies not called Marvel Comics corner the creepy pervert adult figurine market.

Marvel Comics should be above this.

Ok, I’m back.  After typing the above sentence I broke out in uncontrollable laughter which resulted in me falling down, hitting my head, and blacking out.

I feel much better now.  What was I blogging about?  Oh yes, the pervert Mary Jane statue.  I’ve been reading that people have been letting both Marvel Comics and Sideshow Collectibles (the company that is making the perv statue) know what they think about this statue.  People have been leaving comments on both Marvel Comics and Sideshow Collectibles websites detailing their displeasure with this statue.  Both Marvel Comics and Sideshow Collectibles have been responding by deleting these comments.  They have allowed all the other comments to remains.  The comments left by pervy men wanting to buy this statue.

What’s Marvel Comics trying to do, attract even more weirdos to the medium of comic books?

Ragnell over at Written World blogged about someone leaving a comment on Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada’s blog asking him if he’d please write about the approval process for this figurine.  Regnell writes that two hours later, the person’s comment had been deleted.

Talk about dealing with a problem head on.

I think this statue is disrespectful.  Not only to women in general, but to one of their own intellectual properties.  So what will Marvel Comics do next, approve the making of a collectible statue showing Spider-Man putting on a condom?

There is a fellow Hagerstown blogger that has a phenomenal blog worth checking out. It’s called Steve Likes to Curse and it’s quickly become one of my most favorite daily reads. Yesterday Steve wrote about visiting the County Museum of Fine Arts conveniently located smack dab in our city park. The following is an example of why I love reading his blog:

Ashley and I went to the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts at City Park today. The school art exhibit was up, with drawings and photos and sculptures from students in elementary school through high school all over the county. Some of it impressed me. A few girls from Boonsboro High are eerily talented; they might have futures as great artists or airbrushers of motorcycles.

Airbrushers of motorcycles? I almost shot coffee out my nose when I read that. Normally you have to pay money to read something that funny.