In Saturday's chat someone (I can't remember who - Kalleh maybe ?) said they would like to see the editorial that I once had published in DC comics.

It was inside the front cover of the April 1987 issues of Outsiders, Vigilante, Legion of Superheroes, Infinity Inc., New Teen Titans, Question, Spectre and possibly a couple more - in a column called "In My Opinion".

Some of the references (well most of them in all liklihood) won't make sense to people who don't read comics but they weren't the audience it was intended for. The intended audience would have understood all of the references.

Anyway, here it is.


In My Opinion - Robert Hale

This year I attended two conventions.
I have listened to discussions about Batman the Watchmen, the X-Men, the state of the American industry, creators' rights, the state of the British industry, past projects, present projects, and future projects.
I have watched interviews with Gil Kane, Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, and a host of other British and American artists and writers, including of course the ubiquitous Chris Claremont, who seems to be at every convention I hear about.
I have talked earnestly to collectors of every title from every publisher for the. past 30 years.
I have seen fans aged from six to sixty spending amounts of money from too little to buy a chocolate bar to more than enough for a medium-sized automobile, on things as diverse as Maxwell The Magic Cat and THE SHADOW.
I plead guilty. I take it all just as seriously as anyone of them but I always have the suspicion that we have got things the wrong way round.
At the second convention I visited (the UKCAC in London), there was a moment of disbelieving silence from the audience when one of the panel {I think it was John Bolton) replied to a question:
"It's only a bloody comic!"
I have forgotten what the question was but not the answer.
"It's only a bloody comic!"
He was right of course, it is exactly that. In all the serious, intense discussion at conventions, in the letter columns and in the fan press, it is a fact that we seem to lose sight of. Comics are supposed to be fun.
One of the symptoms of the way everyone has forgotten this is the current obsession with continuity. At the same convention, Frank Miller was asked solemnly if the DARK KNIGHT stories really happened. His reply-that no stories really happen, they are all made up-did not meet with universal approval. Obviously the fan wanted to know if the regular BATMAN title is going to work toward the events of the DARK KNIGHT. Frank did in fact expand considerably on his initial reply, but that first comment made a valid point. It doesn't matter if the Batman writers work toward the DARK KNIGHT or if they ignore it totally. It is still a great story and that is the thing that counts.
To take a further example, the whole of DC's CRISIS, excellent as it was, was ultimately an unnecessary exercise. For that matter, the whole Earth-l, Earth-2, Earth-XYZ structure that caused it was also unnecessary.
A story is a story is a story. The only necessity is that it should be internally consistent or it will not be a very good story. Beyond that it doesn't matter if it fits into any larger context or not. It may be nice to play around with it and try to fit it in with other stories but it certainly isn't essential.
The point that I am trying to make is that the more we become obsessed with the trivial details of which characters know what about which other characters, the more we spoil it for our- selves. We take all the fun out of reading comics. The fun isn't in trying to catch the writer in a mistake and get a "No- prize" from Marvel, it is in reading an entertaining story and looking at some pleasing art.
I am not trying to suggest that writers should not take care with their work or that artists should start drawing Superman's "S" upside down on every fifth panel just for a little variety. That would be silly, the internal logic would be gone and it wouldn't be a good story anymore. What I am suggesting is that we should try not to .get so pedantic about it all. If something in the July issue of the TEEN TITANS apparently contradicts something in the June issue of THE OUTSIDERS, so what? Does it really matter as long as both issues were good to read?
It sounds contradictory, but I like continuity. I am happy if it is maintained and I like the sense of flow that it brings. There is nothing quite so elegant as a cleverly done story with a tight crossover to another title. I like it but I am not fanatical about it. I am happy when it happens but not unhappy when it doesn't. It's no big deal to me. It shouldn't be any big deal to anybody, but that is what I have been trying to say al along. People will insist on taking it all too seriously.

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

It was I who asked, and thanks. Excellent, Bob--and right on!

We in the states get way too serious particularly about political cartoons. Sheesh-- as you say, they are just cartoons!

Shorty Long (the abridged version)

This is a short story about Shorty Long.

A long, long time ago, on Short Street, in Longview, there was a short long-winded guy named Shorty Long. In winter, he always wore his long johns, but in summer he wore short shorts.

Shorty’s name, Long, was really not long, since it was so short.

His favorite food was short ribs, along with lots of shortening. For his birthday his mom made him a shortcake. It didn’t take Shorty long to eat it. Shorty longed to play baseball -- shortstop. That was Shorty’s long-range goal. But when Shorty tried to join a team, they said, “Since you’re short, you cannot belong!”

He liked to make long-distance phone calls, but they were always short. His short-sighted friends called him Long, for short, but not for long.

Since he always felt as if he could not belong, Shorty decided to change his name to Something Else. "It won’t be Long now!" he said. Well, not very long, anyway.

To make a long story short, Shorty is now gone -- long gone.

That’s the long and the short of it. !!!!!!! .

Reactions to this might vary, but they won’t vary very long. Maybe they’ll vary very shortly.

Huh?

Vescere bracis meis.

Read all about my travels around the world here.

Does that short story belong in this thread?

It might belong, were it not so short.

As Bart Simpson would say, "Eat my shorts".

quote:

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Originally posted by BobHale:
"It's only a bloody comic!"

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People take the frivolous things in life far too seriously and the serious things far too frivolously. Of course, who decides what's serious and what's frivolous? Tell a baseball (or football, rugby, ect.) fan, "It's just a game!" Or try telling Richard, "It's only a bloody beer!"

Tinman

[This message was edited by tinman on Thu Feb 27th, 2003 at 23:01.]