Daily Archives: 22 January 2007

Okay, I don’t know who the joker is out there, but here at Casa Dos Morrows, we’ve been getting an awful lot of mail addressed to one “Stan Kirby”. Several have him listed as an MD. Others are offers for everything from credit cards to timeshares. A recent really nice one came from Lamborghini, for a car I didn’t even know existed (I’m more of a Honda kinda guy, but being in advertising, I could at least appreciate the work that went into the elaborate mailing piece). So whoever went to the Amalgam Universe and filled out the paperwork, your efforts have been rewarded by stuffing our mailbox full of junk mail for a guy who doesn’t exist. Nice work. (But man, if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had ever merged into one, imagine the ramifications for comics. Although if they’d been born as conjoined twins, they’d have probably killed each other.)

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A few issues ago, Wizard Magazine ran a full-page feature called “Body Count”, listing all the characters who died in 2006 in the “Civil War” and “Infinite Crisis” series from DC and Marvel. They even listed the gruesome details of each character’s demise. And we wonder why kids aren’t reading comics anymore?

Yeah, I’m risking sounding like an old fart, but who’s reading this stuff? (Not Wizard, but the Big Two’s annual events; although I wonder about Wizard‘s audience sometimes too…) In my day, in between walking 12 miles to school, barefoot through the snow, with no TV or indoor plumbing, I actually enjoyed reading about the lives of my heroes, not their deaths. The occasional offing of a character was an event, and it really meant something to me emotionally. Looking at that list, I’m glad I didn’t pick up either of those series; I mean, how depressing to know the companies are croaking these characters en masse, just cause it’s time for their annual free-for-all to outdo the other. Really, what’s the point of killing the Trigger Twins, who may still have a couple dozen fans (assuming these are the same ones I remember from my childhood)? It just ticks off those fans who have fond memories of them. Wouldn’t it be more fun to try to revamp them for a series that might draw in some new readers? Just a thought. Of course, I still miss Earth-2, and Earth-S, and Earth-X, and Earth-whatever-Julie-felt-like-this-month, so what do I know?

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Yep, the ol’ 20th anniversary dinner went off without a hitch. Pam hounded me all day Saturday to tell where I was taking her, but I didn’t crack. I did sneak out mid-afternoon to drop her anniversary ring off at the Fujisan Japanese Steak House, in the custody of Ping, the general manager. He couldn’t have been nicer about it, refusing the tip I offered, and telling me I didn’t look old enough to have been married 20 years (maybe he meant I didn’t seem mature enough…). Unbeknownst to me, they even added a nice ribbon and bow to the jewelry box, and while the chef was chopping off shrimp tails and tossing them into his hat, he reached in, pulled out the box, and handed it to my quite surprised better half. Ping did tell her later that she should settle for nothing less than 4 karats next time, but hey, comics mags don’t sell that well…

Great eats there, by the way. If you’re ever in Raleigh, stop by!

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