Gotham City 14 Miles now Available for Order

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 30, 2010

Seqart’s Gotham City 14 Miles can be found in the latest edition of Diamond’s Previews.

This is a crucial time for the book, as we need to hit Diamond’s minimum-number threshold or they will cancel all orders for it.

I urge everyone to get out and order a copy through their local comic shops or one of the online services. The anthology is a wonderful collection of essays about the landmnark ABC television series of the 1960s which has had an indelible influence over pop culture.

Editor Jim Beard has done a lovely job on the book and has also been nicely promoting it through Facebook.  If you need convincing, check out the piece about the book at Newsarama.

Finally, several of the essayists — Jim Beard, Paul Kupperberg, Mark Waid, and yours truly among them — will be talking about the book and television series at next week’s New York Comic-Con. We’re on at 4:15 Saturday afternoon so come say hi…after you order a copy.

Thanks for your continued support.

Talking About the Uncanny Un-Collectibles

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 28, 2010

Every now and then I get invited to write an essay or guest blog about something that tickles my fancy. I was recently solicited to contribute to a project over at the Revolution SF website. Here’s the run down from the site’s Rick Klaw.

Given that Barnes & Noble and Borders stores offer extensive graphic novel selections and the existence of countless collections including seemingly limited interest oddities such as Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham, American Comic Group’s forgettable 1960s super heroes Nemesis and Magicman, and Fantagraphics’ two volumes of the wonderfully subversive works of Fletcher Hanks, one might think everything of note ever published has been compiled into graphic novel format. Remarkably, many influential and popular works remain uncollected.

With this in mind, I sent out invitations to writers, artists, critics, and the likes to write about their favorite comic that is unavailable in a collected format or graphic novel out-of-print. They could write about anything, as long as they followed two simple rules:

•    The material must not right now be available in a English-language collected edition. The material can have previously been collected but is not in print right now.
•    It cannot be something they are associated with and/or worked on.

I received an incredible response with 50 titles from 29 contributors.

Over the next six days, RevolutionSF will unveil the missing books in chronological order from their initial publications. I hope you have as good a time reading the missives as we did compiling the list.

Day one features entries by Michael Moorcock, Scott Cupp, Paul O. Miles and Rick Klaw.

Not sure what day my three essays run but they were fun and if you’re interested to see what I riffed about, follow the link. And sadly, no one wrote about my Atlantis Chronicles.

Struggling with Time Management

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 27, 2010

My sudden absence from my desk between the hours of 9 and 2:30 on Mondays and Fridays has shaken up my routines and has caused me to feel somewhat out of control. The time at school is necessary and I find that I am spending between 2-3 hours a week on home work in addition to the class time.

As a result, I am trying to fit in everything else and find myself unusually displeased with the results. I tend to be at the desk around 7:30 most mornings and try to knock off around 5 so I can read and then make dinner. I try to keep the evenings free so I can spend time with Deb, especially when she’s not traveling for work. Nights are of course when some of the town business occurs requiring my presence usually once a week. Weekends are a mix of business and pleasure based on whatever else is happening and this can be the safety valve so work can be done in concentrated doses.

Now that I am one month in, and about to send in the Graduate School application, I realize I need to restructure my priorities and lower my expectations.

I continue to work on spec material in the hopes of landing more writing work. But the novel I began writing hasn’t been touched in over a week as other matters took precedence. Other pitches and projects have required time and attention and I can’t put al my eggs in one speculative basket.

The steady columns at least get done with minimal fuss and my Patch editor remains pleased with the traffic and content. While I could drop some of the reviewing for ComicMix, I appreciate the outlet it gives me to keep my name out there and keep my critical reasoning skills intact.

I’ve been doing work on behalf of the Democratic Town Committee, where I serve as Vice Chair in addition to working on State Representative Tom Drew’s re-election campaign. Once November 2 comes along, this will bring me more time for other matters.

It does concern me, because the law of averages says some more writing is likely to come my way and when grad school begins, I will need to readjust my schedule and expectations all over again.

The President Finally asked the Question

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 21, 2010

At yesterday’s press conference, President Barack Obama finally said something I have been waiting for any politician or leader to ask. One of the shared beliefs between the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement is that they want a smaller government. While that sounds nice, he finally asked, “What will you cut?”

It’s one thing to say “I want lower taxes and smaller government” but no candidate today has really come out to tell us what they intend to do. On the local level, two of Fairfield’s three state representative districts have Republican challengers whose rhetoric comes straight from the GOP playbook. They have both decried the budget deficits in Hartford but are calling for smaller government and lower taxes without once enumerating what they would do to solve either problem.

As it is the Tea Party is a cause in search of a structure so some members of the party have advocated eliminated the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Energy and Education. The Tea Party, at least some chapters, strongly belief in state’s rights and want management of these areas returned to the state level.

One question I think should be asked of every candidate who says they want smaller government is exactly how small? One reason the federal government has grown so large (and yes bloated in spots, cumbersome in others) is because state shave proven ineffective at managing.

After all, one example I can use is the Race to the Top. The White House dangled millions in education aid, but only if states raised the bar on educational standards and demanded better accountability from the faculty. Our country’s children will benefit as a result, but the states didn’t decide to do this for themselves.

Would the Republicans and Tea Party advocates really want the government to stop testing drugs before they go to market or inspecting farms before produce is sold to consumers? Should manufacturers and financial institutions really have to conform to as many as 50 different state standards of conduct? What would that wind up costing us?

On the subject of taxes and the deficit, I have yet to hear our state rep candidates or federal politicians actually present plans to deal with the deficit (and the looming time bomb of social security).

How on earth can a voter properly decided between candidates if all they hear is lower taxes? Sure it sounds good, but dig deeper. Ask the questions they hope you won’t because then they have to commit themselves. Here in Connecticut, Senatorial candidate Linda McMahon (of the WWE empire), has told the press she didn’t want to get into specific programs during a campaign so we have no idea how to judge her positions against her opponent, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

Wherever you live, please, ask the questions and don’t let them sidestep you. Get them to commit so they can be judged, and if elected, held accountable.

Talking Atlantis Chronicles

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 20, 2010

I have always stated that The Atlantis Chronicles is one of the projects I edited at DC Comics that I am most proud of. Fortunately, it added elements that remain in use throughout the DC Universe and has been fondly recalled by readers.

Sadly, it’s never been collected.

Robert J. Kelly manages the delightful The Aquaman Shrine and conducted a solid interview with me, as we swam down Memory lane. Anyone who is curious should click over and give it a read.

Presenting The Spider-Man Vault

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 14, 2010

Many people consider a comic book historian, a title I wear proudly. People often reach out to me with questions and I happily answer since I have a good working knowledge of the field, above-average knowledge of Marvel’s history and a superb command of DC’s corporate history. Some of that has found its way into projects like last year’s Batman Vault and I am pitching some other notions to mine that territory.

In 2009, Peter David asked me if I had spare time to help him do research and be his on-call call for The  Spider-Man Vault, the next in Becker & Mayer’s line of museum-in-a-book releases. He’s a pal, I’m a freelancer, and after the Batman experience, I certainly knew what was involved.

Much of the research work took place during the first half of 2009. That June, I received a call from art dealer Spencer Beck who had just been handed a treasure trove of material to catalogue and sell. The lovely and talented Marie Severin was finally emptying her closet of stuff and there were scads of amazing things to behold.

As you might imagine, she had more than a few things related to the Wall-Crawler. I spent hours sifting through the material, pulling out sketches, thumbnails, original artwork, color guides and even photographs that might help illustrate the project. The most colossal find was a set of Photostats of Steve Ditko’s pencils to Amazing Spider-Man #31, some of which were lettered. Seeing Ditko’s twice-up artwork is cool and seeing his pencils from that fertile period was a rare treat, perfect for the book.

While Spencer was scanning everything I picked, the Ditko stats were brought to Marvel, where David Bogart, my successor over there, arranged to have the oversized pages scanned and cleaned for the book.

Peter completed his work on the book, Marvel approved the manuscript, and later in the summer, I was asked to handle the captions. That was a fun weekend, although that meant I also noted the Ditko pages were not there. Clearly, an oversight, and more tweaks would be made so we hoped they would be included.

A few months back, Peter called, asking for some additional help. The final pass on the book’s text was so comprehensive, that he found himself in a time crunch. Under most circumstances he would have been able to handle this on his own. Unfortunately, that was the weekend Peter was scheduled to appear in Uruguay for a convention. Could I make the revisions? When a pal’s in need, you never say no and I spent a weekend reviewing what needed to be done and rewrote as necessary. A week later, we had the final approvals.

As a reward, in addition to cash, Peter asked Becker & Mayer to let me share the book credit with him.

I hold in my hands the printed book and it is a pretty spectacular thing (even if the cool Ditko pencil work didn’t make it). There’s a ton of information, many anecdotes from Peter who of course helped market the character before becoming one of his best-remembered writers.  This is really his sweat and tears, his take on the Webhead and his world. I helped fact-check things, cheer from the sidelines and pitch in as necessary. Peter’s graciousness in sharing the credit is much appreciated.

Small World

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 9, 2010

The world continues to prove how small it can feel despite there being over six billion of us. Last week I made one incredibly bizarre connection linking disparate people from various aspects of my life while Deb also had a similar experience. Then there was the son of a pal in Stamford who just enrolled in Staples High School in Westport and I helped connect him with a teacher who is a neighbor.

Before he took ill, Robbie attended Housatonic Community College for a semester and I was wondering when I would feel his presence. Turns out it didn’t take long. Yesterday, there was a campus fair to show off the various student activities and it had a festive, carnival-like feel.

After checking out the various booths and grabbing some lunch, I walked a bit and ran into Chad, who performed with Robbie in numerous Fairfield Teen Theater productions. We caught up a bit and it was nice to see him still willing to lend a hand at HCC, much as he did throughout Fairfield.

I then encountered Conrad, who was my tour guide during orientation. In between seeing him, I realized he was the older brother to a guy Robbie bonded with during treatment. When I brought this up, Conrad suddenly realized we had met at the hospital and got talking. Fortunately, his brother seems to have recovered from his disease and is back at school and getting on with his life.

As we talked through, a woman was listening in and then interrupted with, “Are you Mr. Greenberger?” She was the younger sister of one of Robbie’s classmates in Fairfield and part of his social circle since elementary school. She has grown up quite a bit since I last saw her and it was also nice to hear how she has been doing.

I managed to talk about my son during this campus break without getting upset or upsetting others. There’s something sort of neat following in his footsteps at HCC.

Correcting an Error on my Part

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 5, 2010

Win Scott Eckert, co-editor, of the forthcoming Green Hornet Chronciles, sent me a note, kindly reminding me that I actually did see the galleys to my story, “Go go Gone”. Apparently, despite reading and correcting them on  June 24, I blokced it from my mind and owe Win and publisher Joe Gentile an apology.

Win also informs me that the book has been to the printer since the second week of August, so we’re that much closer to having printed copies to enjoy.

Green Hornet Chronicles Finally goes to Press

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 3, 2010

The Green Hornet Chronicles, originally announced as being released in June, apparently went to the printer this week. I was never sent galleys to proofread so can only hope someone else read through the pages.

The collection was co-edited by Joe Gentile and Win Scott Eckert with covers by Glen Orbik and Rubén Procopio with interior illustrations by the very talented Mr. Procopio.

Here’s a rundown of the contents and as you can see, I am in some very good company.

* “Reflections on The Green Hornet”: Introduction by Van Williams
* “The Night Car” by Will Murray
* “I Had The Green Hornet’s Love Child!” by Greg Cox
* “Weakness” by C.J. Henderson
* “Topsy-Turvy” by James Chambers
* “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Richard Dean Starr
* “Just a Man” by Thom Brannan
* “The Cold Cash Kill” by James Reasoner
* “Flight of the Yellow Jacket” by Howard Hopkins
* “By Scarab and Scorpion” by Mark Ellis
* “You Can’t Pick the Number” by Rich Harvey
* “Eyes of the Madonna” by Ron Fortier
* “Stormy Weather” by Patricia Weakley
* “The Auction” by Terry Alexander
* “Go Go Gone” by Robert Greenberger
* “Mutual Assured Destruction” by Bill Spangler
* “The Crimson Dragon” by Mark Justice
* “Fang and Sting” by Win Scott Eckert
* “The Inside Man” by Matthew Baugh
* “The Soul of Solomon” by Harlan Ellison
* “Life at 90 MPH”: Afterword by Dean Jeffries
* “The Green Hornet’s Hunch” by Dennis O’Neil (bonus story in Limited Editions only)

So Far, So Good

Posted by Bob Greenberger on September 2, 2010

Returning to a classroom setting proved easier than expected. Maybe it was all the time spent participating in panels at Stony Brook’s campus during countless I-Cons or I was over-thinking the whole thing.

With two days of classes under my belt, I will state that I think I can do this. I am certainly disciplined enough to manage my time and fit it all in. The trick, though, seems to be timing things so I can actually find a parking space in the multi-level parking garage and still make the 9:30 class. The line to enter the structure then the slow snake through the levels requires more time that it does to arrive there from home.

The Statistics class has about 26 students and there’s another 52 year old present along with some in their 30s and 40s even though the average age is about 20. In fact, we used the class ages as raw data so the teacher could show us how many different ways it can be charted, quantified and analyzed.

The catch has been MathXL, the online program where we will do our homework and communicate with the teacher. In addition to the overpriced textbook, you need an access code which is either bundled into the cost of the book or purchased separately. The used copy I bought online had an intact access code and I figured I was set. Apparently not because Pearson cleverly offers three different sites tied to the same book and I had the wrong one, which was learned when unsuccessfully logging in to all three sites. Pearson’s crack customer support (e-mail only) promised 24 hour turnaround to questions and I am at hour 60 and counting. I wrote the teacher who looped in her Pearson rep who explained the difference and said I had to buy a MathXL access code. I complained that the teacher should have specified which code was required with the text book.

Yesterday, I grumbled, paid the price, and did the two homework assignments awaiting me. So far, I seem to be getting the basics of statistics although the logic in problem solving will daunt me now and then (I just don’t think that way).

On the other hand, History of Theater looks to be tremendous fun. We’re a far smaller class and most of the students know one another and there’s an energy to the room. Our conversations have been lively and our teacher encourages dialogue and questioning. We’ll be reading play excerpts in class and reading about the international history of theater which will prove fascinating.

I have about 90 minutes between classes so I sit with coffee and a bagel, reviewing class notes or reading a magazine. I admit to people watching as well, seeing the interactions, fashion, technology and the like. This aspect could be as educational as the coursework.