Difficult Simple

Why doesn’t Marvel Digital Comics have the whole Grant Morrison X-Men run? It’s seven years old, for God’s sake!

Movies cost too much. I’ve attended movies less and less over the years because of rising prices at the box office (and because of douchebags), but usually when I see a good movie I generally feel the expense is worth it. Recently, though, my favorite theater’s matinee price hit eight dollars, and I had to start thinking about whether I wanted to go on with the pastime or let it become a relic of my past.

When I was a kid my father would drop me off at the theater on a Saturday morning and I would stay all day, watching movie after movie. I’d have a little cash for snacks — which I usually spent on video games, to be honest — and enough money in hand for probably three films. A similar day out like that would cost me an arm and a leg now, and two of the three movies would probably blow.

Until fairly recently I’d hit the movies every Friday. Then every other Friday. Now I barely go at all. I saw Iron Man (terrific) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (not at all terrific) in the last month and now a whole year’s worth of releases stretches before me. But will I see any of them?

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WizardWorld Philly is on this weekend, and while a part of me is tempted to go, another (stronger) part urges me to stay put. It’s a long drive, so there’s the whole fuel-cost aspect to consider, but mostly it’s because I don’t have product to shop.

A few years ago I was on the prowl, business cards in hand and projects ready to go. I made a lot of contacts and got a lot of things going, but as is the case when little or no upfront money is available, they all eventually withered and died. I gained a healthy dislike for artists in the months following that weekend, largely because I feel artists don’t get writing or writers the way they ought.

Let me be clear: being a comic illustrator is a real pain and I know this. The work is difficult and it takes a long time. When it comes to crafting a 22-page issue, an artist puts in more hours getting his or her part done than the writer does… at least at the finished-product stage.

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Here’s a question: would you notice if someone secretly lived in one of your closets for a year?

Happy birthday, Clint Eastwood. He’s 78 today and still going strong.

Judging from the hit numbers, my brief celebrity at Salon is done. It would have been nice if some of these folks had come for Joan Walsh and stayed for the writing.