May 31 -  Well, this is definitely not how I wanted to end "Batman Month" here in the ol' WOMP-Blog.  I was going to wrap up the theme with a long (boring) summation comment, but I'm still pretty bummed about Alex Toth's passing.  If you haven't already, go to WOMP's NEAT LINKS page and click on the Alex Toth Site button.  There you will find many wonderful and moving tributes to the man, and the artist, from his colleagues, fans, and family.  As for me, I guess I owe you some back-Batman characters,  Had I posted them when I should have, these would be the Batman Comics Characters of These Last Few Days: May 29 - Batgirl!  May 30 - Robin!  May 31 - The Joker!  Aw, heck.  You've been so good that I'll even give you a BONUS Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Maxie Zeus!  With that, I think I'll simply wrap this up for the month.  I hope you have a great day!  See ya tomorrow!

May 30 -  Sad, sad news from the world of comic books.  A couple of days ago, the great Alex Toth passed away.  It's fairly unlikely that anyone reading this hasn't at least heard of this master of the comics medium, and I'm sure that most of you have a specific, warm memory about his art, be it his amazing comic book work, or his iconic design work for Hanna-Barbera, or any number of his other illustration projects from his career of over sixty years.  Just in case you have no strong recognition of how Mr. Toth may have influenced your life, I'll try to relate how I believe he changed mine.  Like so many of my generation (ugh...I now feel like part of a specific, historical generation...man, I'm old...), my first exposure to the inimitable Toth style came on Saturday mornings.  That "look," that simplistic, clean style that animated programs from Josie and The Pussycats to Super Friends exuded, was all Alex Toth.  But Mr. Toth had been in comics for more than twenty years before he designed the far-ranging casts of Space Ghost or The Herculoids.  There, he developed, then refined, his distinctive minimalist style, drawing every conceivable type of story, including war comics, love stories, super-adventures, westerns, space dramas, and more, more, more.  One of those comics, Four Color #951, an unpromising biography of famous 1950's singing clan The Lennon Sisters, was among the handful of items bequeathed to my family upon the passing of one of my Dad's cousins back in the 1970's.  Because it is about a bunch of girls who harmonize, it's a wonder that it ever trickled down to me, but it did...mostly because it was also a comic book, regardless of its content.  Almost reluctantly, I graciously accepted it, and I sat down, right at the visitation, to browse though it.  Instead of girly pabulum and sub-par art, as I'd expected, I was sort of amazed to find that the book was mesmerizing and compelling in a way that I'd never experienced before.  Transfixed, I read the rather thick old comic from front to back (which, I suppose, is the usual way comics are read), oblivious to the sad undertakings around me (to be fair, I was 11 or 12 years old).  Still, as awesome as it was, the comic was unsigned, of course, so I was left with no idea who'd drawn it (and the mistaken impression that every old comic was just as awesome).  Years later (it felt like decades, but truth be told it was probably only about five years), I came across some Red Circle comics.  Yeah...exactly.  Who, or what, was Red Circle?  When I saw this mysterious publisher's logo on the magazine racks, I took notice.  When I saw the cover to Black Hood #2, however, I nearly passed out!  Even though it featured a costumed vigilante kicking a gun-toting thug in the head, it was clearly by the same artist as the Lennon Sisters biography...obvious in spite of some thirty years or so that had elapsed between publications.  And the best part was that it was SIGNED, right on the cover, "ALEX TOTH!"  Well, the actual "best part" was a back-up story inside which featured The Fox!  It is still among the absolute best single comic book stories I've ever seen.  The figures, the faces, the design, the layouts, the movement, the acting, the style, the lettering, the fun...I honestly can't recall another short story with any better examples.  Ever since that day, armed with knowledge of his name, I have sought out Mr. Toth's work like a bloodhound on the trail of an elusive fugitive.  Some of my favorite comics in my collection are a direct result of my Toth search...and so are some friendships!  Just a few years ago, at the wonderful MCBA FALLCON comics convention, I had the pleasure of being "booth buddies" with Jeff Rose, the spirit and techie-brains behind the Official Alex Toth fan-site (which has been featured on WOMP's NEAT LINKS page ever since)!  Jeff, now a fully fledged and duly deputized Official Friend of WOMP, is a great guy, and one of the people whom I look forward to seeing at each year's show (along with the rest of his family).  Our mutual Toth obsession was a great ice-breaker, and is now one of many common denominators in our friendship.  In fact, it has been my experience that the vast majority of long-time comics fans, collectors, and creators also have a strong, if silent, Alex Toth obsession.  Few other artists can evoke such emotional discussion among comic book geeks as Mr. Toth does, and all of it glowingly positive.  I have never, never heard anyone say anything bad about Mr. Toth, not as an artist, nor as a man.  From all reports, he may have been crusty, perhaps even cantankerous, but also generous and inquisitive, immensely talented, and genuinely touched beyond words by the worldwide adoration he discovered through the web-site.  Although it is somewhat sad that this realization, that he is one of the most beloved and influential cartoonists of all time, came so late in his life, we have to be happy that it happened at all.  As an artist, he exemplified something that Joe Kubert told me back in my college days; "Cartooning isn't about how much you put into your drawings, but how much you leave out."  As a force of creative influence, though, I'd have to say that his affect on the world, and on me, was something like the opposite, as he "put in" so much more than he "left out."  We've all been enriched from having lived during his career, and are so much poorer now that he has passed.  To the family and friends of Mr. Toth, I offer my sincere condolences.  I hope that you can take comfort in knowing that thousands and thousands of us loved him almost as much as you did.

Alex Toth

1928 - 2006

"Gone, but never forgotten"

May 28 -  Hola, amigo!  Another full day at WOMP H.Q., marked by the embarrassing revelation that DC has (in the last couple of weeks?) actually just updated Two-Face.  Oh...OK.  Well....good, I guess.  I'll have to check that out.  Boy, I'm sure glad that I spent a month thinking about something that I could have just read if I lived anywhere nearer to a comics shop than 120 miles round trip away.  Anyhoo, I have all sorts of little, mildly interesting tales from the last couple of days, and I can't wait to tell them to you...but I'll have to because I'm cutting my day short and heading to slumberland (the sleepy-time one, not the furniture store) so that I might get an early start on Memorial Day.  See ya to morrow!  Now, here's your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Clayface!

May 27 -  Hey there.  Sorry for the little "vacation" from daily entries.  I just had too little "oomph" left at the end of the last couple of days to even try to post something.  Had I been able, I'd have told you about the 25th's Batman Comics Character of The Day:  The Riddler, and the 26th's Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Talia Al Ghul!  I'm getting down to the last of the Batman-characters thing, so my opportunities to talk about them, while they're still somewhat topical, are dwindling.  That's too bad, because with as much Bat-adoration as I have stored up inside of me, I could probably change the name of this to the BAT-Blog.  One thing that I did want to touch upon before this time has passed is the current trend of "up-dating" classic characters.  I'm not necessarily against it.  I touched upon the notion when discussing Two-Face, but it really struck me as I was reviewing the characters that I've been posting.  Some characters, perhaps the simplest or most classic, have been tweaked and tucked here and there over the years so that they fit with the kinds of stories being told during any given era, while others are frozen in time, goofy reminders of Batman's "novelty" period (in which he often matched wits with kooky aliens...exactly as Bob Kane originally conceived, right?).  The characters from this second group (like The Terrible Trio, Killer Moth, and Double X) are so intrinsically stupid and pathetically gimmicky that they have, so far, defied real adaptation into today's darker comics.  I know it's hard to know when you're doing something that sucks (because, usually, you either think everything you do sucks anyway, or you think NOTHING you do sucks), but many "up-dates" have been so horribly sucky that it would have been better to ignore that the character ever existed in the first place (Kanjar Ro comes to mind).  That having been said, I think that some of today's comics creators miss the boat when trying to squeeze every crazy old character into the same modern-day mold.  It's not that the character may not be usable, just not in the same way.  That's why those crazy characters were invented in the first place; to throw something new in front of readers' eyes.  So what if an egotistical dork in a polychromatic slightly-moth-themed costume doesn't fit into a story about gruesome murders and twisted motivations....he can be a device to tell a different kind of story.  Don't put him in some sort of black moth costume with razor claws and acid-firing eyes and tell us he's a mental patient who was repeatedly abused.  That's not Killer Moth.  That's...well, that's actually many different "modern" characters.  Tell a story that allows Killer Moth to somehow be what he has always been.  Off the top of my head, his costume reminds me of some of the counter-culture styles worn in Japan or at any major art school.  There might be something there.  He also looks like he's wearing a vintage costume from some sort of B movie or 'Sixties off-Broadway play.  Whatever.  These are just some possible starting points, or explanations for some of his particulars.  The real trick for updating any old character is trying to figure out just who they are, fundamentally.  That's a tall order, especially since most characters have had several different, perhaps even contradictory, personalities, depending on who was writing and drawing them.  Once you create a psychological profile, the next step would be to fill in the back story a bit.  That's where you can pull the more extraneous elements together, including name, powers (if applicable), and costume.  When you've done all that (and it might take as little as an afternoon, depending on how well you know the character and your relationship to the appropriate editors), then you'll have a nice little literary device at your disposal...a device which can be used to tell a story different than, oh, the recent interesting, but bizarre (in a bad way) Red Hood storyline (that whole thing struck me as the result of a couple of guys sitting around going "What's like the craziest freakin' thing we can do to blow fanboy minds?" without any real concern given to whether any of it made a darn bit of sense).  Even so, of the Big Two comics companies, DC seems to do this "up-dating" best.  I'm not sure why, but it probably has something to do with the generally undeveloped nature of DC characters, rather than Marvel characters which were usually more fleshed out right from the beginning.  Whatever the case, I have the feeling that the 52 series may be the ultimate example of how to properly update, and then utilize, old characters (I say I have "the feeling" because, as I noted earlier this month, there is absolutely no possible way for me to afford to purchase enough of the series to actually "know").  I guess time will tell, eh?  Speaking of time, it's about time for me to retire for the evening, so I'll wrap this up by posting one of the last of your Batman Comics Characters of The Day:  Mr. Freeze!

May 24 -  Howdy, y'all!  Howzabout that American Idol, huh?  Go Taylor!  Actually, although I was being just a little facetious there, I have watched most of this year's Idol and have enjoyed it.  The final episode, though, reminded me a bit of my days involved with our community theater.  Some performers were spot-on, some were obviously very tired, and others...well, others were drunk or something (I'm looking at you, Meatloaf and Toni Braxton).  The whole thing looked like it was conceived last night, practiced this morning, and put all together for the first time when the cameras went live.  And speaking of Live, what was up with that pathetic performance?  Those guys are usually awesome, not "OK" (as I would've rated them).  For heaven's sake, their name is LIVE!  I liked Dionne (always good) and Prince (although he came so late in the show that his TWO numbers made me nervous that they wouldn't get the final results read before the show ended), and the Idol Finalists had some good parts in their otherwise hokey and forced performances.  And why, on the last night, do they force the three judges to sit in those neck-wrenching down-front seats, yet not involve them past their introductions?  That seemed odd.  Of course, much of this year seemed odd.  Oh, well.  Here is tonight's Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Batwoman!

May 23 -  Salutations.  How was your Tuesday?  I had a day off from the deadly dull "real" job, so I actually got to enjoy some of it by taking a long walk in the woods.  I think I sort of needed that, since today marked a kind of mid-point to a strange period I'm going through.  Nothing dramatic, just a sort of "drifting limbo."  This minor malaise came over me at the end of the last after-prom caricature gig a little while ago.  I feel very aimless, unfocused.  Oh, I still have plans and ideas (and even some guarded enthusiasm), but I know that I can't implement any of them due to my dumb "real" job schedule.  On the near horizon, my artwork schedule again will consume my spare hours.  Today just happened to be about halfway between engagements, so I felt the tug of fleeting time and decaying plans.  Life, as John Lennon said, may be what happens while you're busy making other plans, but no-one ever said anything about the time where you're neither making plans nor executing pre-existing ones.  That's why I've been trying to beef up my "portfolio" during the last few days.  I've had the time (sort of), so I thought I should use it, whether I felt like it or not.  And by "portfolio," I mean "theoretical assemblage of work worthy of interest," not an actual, literal portfolio.  I'll probably never again put together a traditional portfolio, and I know for dang-sure I'm never, NEVER again going to present a portfolio in one of those three-hour-wait editorial review lines at a comic book convention.  No, the "portfolio" I refer to is more for me.  I want to find a way to market myself, and the first step has to be trying to figure out just what, if anything, about me is marketable (you know, besides selling my blood).  During my drifty period, this lighthearted task has morphed into a surprising, soul-searching obsession.  As I click off the days until my schedule picks up again, I get further away from completing my mission, rather than closer to it as one might expect.  It's a "one step forward, two steps back" sort of thing, but with a countdown clock.  That's why it was so nice to just get out today, to get away (physically) from my drawing board.  Oh, well.  An electrical storm has kicked up while I've been typing, so I guess I'll get off the WOMPuter and back to work.  Here are your Batman Comics Characters of The Day:  Doctor X and Double X!

May 22 -  Hi!  You've stopped by at another busy moment for me.  As I type this, it is 4:00AM on the 23rd, and I'm still looking at another couple of hours of work before I can call it a day.  Some of what I'm doing is mildly interesting (like actually fleshing out a new comic book proposal...not because anyone is asking for it, but because I may add it, and other writing-based creations, to my portfolio, just in case...), but mostly I am packaging eBay stuff.  I'm very particular about how I pack stuff, maybe to the point of being obsessive.  I just want stuff to reach auction winners in the condition I described...so what's wrong with that?  Anyhoo, because of the workload still ahead of me, I'm going to just wrap this up early.  In honor of today's date (22), here's your familiar Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Two-Face!

May 21 -  Yoicks!  I've had an attack of the Three Mundt Certainties; Busy, Tired, and Lazy.  It's HOURS after I should have collapsed from any one of these factors, so I'm going to spare you the incoherent ramblings of my half-conscious mind by ending this entry now with your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Alfred Pennyworth!

May 20 -  'Sup?  I've been too preoccupied with attempting to survive today to do much thinking ahead for this ol' WOMP-Blog.  I won't bore you (or re-traumatize myself) with the details, but suffice to say that there may be a target painted somewhere on the WOMPmobile, my dread "real" job is choking the life out of me, and I've had a disturbing painful numbness (if that makes sense) in my left leg for a couple of hours now.  Hooray!  Oh, well...I suppose I should just call it a day and go to bed.  Of course, the way things are going, a meteor will probably fall on me while I'm sleeping, but I'll just have to take the risk.  Here is your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Bat-Mite!

May 19 -  More Two-Face musings.  Last night I laid out my thoughts about unexplored aspects of Two-Face's character.  Tonight, I want to delve into his psychological make-up.  I've been thinking about his two-headed coin.  Maybe Frank Miller was more right than re-inventive when he proposed that Two-Face was always all-monster, in spite of appearances.  Maybe the coin is a way to mentally absolve himself from culpability for his horrendous actions.  In his twisted world, he's been merely a pawn in a terrible, inescapable destiny, an agent of cruel fate who is obligated to play his part.  And he finds great satisfaction in that.  The more he gives in to capricious chance, the stronger he becomes, both mentally (as it affirms and reaffirms his disturbed vision of how things are), and physically (as he reaps the carnal rewards of his atrocities).  Deeper and deeper he falls, self-righteous madness filling him like a dark green sludge.  Moreover, the weird concoction of chemicals and acids that scarred him may have been more potent than originally imagined.  That the toxic slop did something to his brain (or, at least half of it) is seldom explored either.  People who suffer severe chemical burns often have widespread nerve damage as well, causing uncontrollable ticks or quirky new mannerisms.  Two-Face may be (along with the chemically altered Joker) legitimately, medically, blameless.  How weird is that?  In fact, I remember at least one story in which Two-Face compulsively took a knife to a new double-headed coin when he lost his old one...in fact, I think that it was during a mass escape from Arkham Asylum.  Like a man possessed, he tuned out the chaotic scene around him until the replacement coin had been "completed."  Only then did he flee.  Yep, the coin is more important to the Two-Face character than I'd originally thought.  In some ways, Two-Face may be living through the coin.  Every time he tosses it into the air, his unfortunate life flashes before his eyes; handsome and valuable, marred and worthless, handsome and valuable, marred and worthless...each time the coin flips over in mid-air, he feels the build up of tension, culminating in the sudden finale, when fate chooses a side.  It's like a ritual that both cleanses and re-opens a deep wound, like the repetitive replays of the Zapruder film in Oliver Stone's JFK movie.  Sometimes mentally disturbed people fixate on another person or object, building a fragile pseudo-personality around it.  Two-Face can operate at a high level, on a par with Batman, as long as he has that coin.  Without it, his house of cards falls, and he is forced to confront the possibility (reality) that he is responsible for what he does, not chance.  If I were writing a story about his rehabilitation efforts at Arkham, I'd focus on how the specialists would be helping Two-Face to create a personality that accepts responsibility and doesn't rely on a crutch to make it through the day.  The problem would be that his ego won't allow him to be "debased" in that way, so he'd never be able to really change.  Hmmm.  Well, I'm sure that I'll keep thinking about Two-Face for the next few days, but now I'm going to pack it in for the day.  Here, then, are your Batman Comics Characters of The Day:  The Royal Flush Gang!

May 18 -  Howzit goin?  As you know, it's sort of "Batman Month" here in the WOMP-Blog.  I've been posting the names of Batman's supporting cast for about three weeks now, so they've been on my mind lately (even if only on a mental back burner).  One character who keeps crossing my mind is the often overlooked Two-Face.  How simple, and how obvious, a character he is.  To me, Two-Face is one of the most "pure" of the Batman villains, along with The Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and Riddler.  I have no idea why he never made an appearance in the 1960's TV series (seems like he'd be perfect for the campy vibe it had), but, judging from the vacuous and inconsequential portrayal turned in by the otherwise flawless Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever, maybe they knew something that I don't.  I think some of the problem may come from his inherently convoluted and lame "two" themed crimes.  I mean, the Penguin steals birds and umbrella stuff, and that seems to be OK.  But, Two-Face steals, what...pairs of things?  That...that pretty much describes a lot of, well, everything.  I guess he wouldn't be interested in the Hope Diamond, for example, because there is only one Hope Diamond, but he'd gladly steal two jewels of lesser value if they were somehow "twinned."  Ugh.  Personally, I'd have played him more along the lines of The Joker, who commits terrible crimes (that are not usually playing-card-themed) with unique Jokeresque touches.  But, what is a "two face," and how could it inspire (and guide) the development of a comic book character?  Well, the term originally was an unflattering description of someone who is nice to you in person, but rotten to you when your back is turned.  Being called a "two face" was an insult akin to being labeled a "back-stabber" or "Benedict Arnold."  That's probably why he was designed as having first been public-serving District Attorney Harvey Dent.  I also think about Frank Miller's take on ol' Harv in the classic Dark Knight mini-series.  In that series, set in the "future," Dent has been given rehabilitative reconstructive surgery, which restores his appearance to what it was before he became Two-Face.  To the public, he has been reformed, but the wise and aging Batman knows the truth; Two-Face might have once looked like he was half monster, but, inside, he was always all monster.  That rings true, but the comics of my youth (the 1820's) portrayed him as a decent, even noble soul trapped in a schizophrenic nightmare.  Driven by madness, his chemically damaged brain involved him in many strange and gruesome crimes, but that tiny part of him that was still good was able, barely, to assert its influence by means of the double-sided coin.  Many a sticky situation was resolved by someone goading Two-Face into "consulting" the coin for a decision.  If the good side came up heads, Robin was cut loose.  Again, lame...but not without some room in which to work.  I recall one episode, in fact, where the coin came up "good side," so Two-Face decided to just shoot Batman in the head instead of torturing him to death.  That was cool.  Still, though, Two-Face has seldom been utilized at his full potential.  Think of the plotline and character development angles.  First, you have the whole dichotomy, Yin/Yang thing.  Aren't we all divided beings, just about half good and half bad?  Couldn't Two-Face be used to delve into that (especially in regards to Batman, who tilts just this side of the good/bad divide)?  Also, there's the original "two face" inspiration element.  Taken to extremes, he could even be a sort of anti-hero, who does ostensibly positive things in a way that also benefits him and his baser nature.  That reminds me a bit of another angle, the Jekyll/Hyde aspect.  Could he sometimes live more as weak-minded Harvey Dent, constantly in fear of (and attracted to) what he might do as the coarse Two-Face?  And, as a D.A., he had to have had both political skills and the probative mind of a prosecutor.  Couldn't these specific traits be twisted into sick motivations and surprising stories?  For me, though, the unique, and virtually untapped, aspect of Two-Face that has been rolling around in my brain this month is that he should be less of a gnarly thug, and more of a mastermind.  Think "Godfather."  Obviously once a man of intelligence and impressive interpersonal talents, Harvey Dent, affected externally, internally, and psychologically by a tragic accident, could be a character of more manipulative nuance...but always with the gross green side boiling just under the surface (maybe I should compare him then to "Scarface").  I mean, he's already got the custom-tailored suits going on.  It's too bad that he's already used as an outcast type (who'd instantly be picked up by local cops if he were spotted on the street), because he could be more like what Lex Luthor is now.  Hmmm.  I'll think about Two-Face some more over the next few days, I suppose, but, for now, I'm off to dreamland.  Here's your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  The Mad Hatter!

May 17 -  Is there hope?  Regarding the L. Frank Baum short story that I illustrated, which was then cut from what would otherwise be his complete collected works, O.F.O.WOMP Marcus Mebes, talented art director for the project, dashed off this brief e-message (even though he is right in the middle of an extreme deadline crunch); "CHROME YELLOW is tied up in red tape... legalities... but it looks like we'll get copyright permission to put it in a second edition of the book, so never fear!  I'll write more later when I'm not overwhelmed."  So, I guess I'll have to keep my fingers crossed until then (an action which I can then blame for my crappy artwork and poor typing skills).  Other than that little tidbit, I have nothing else to talk about, so I'll quickly rehash the few on-going pleas I've made for your involvement recently.  First off, it's still not too late to join the people trying to fight a crazy proposed new law which would permanently scar, if not destroy, the very nature of the Internet.  Just click the SAVE THE INTERNET button above.  While you're clicking away up there, I remind you to enter the WOMP's Super Secret Identities Contest as well.  Finally, I'll ask again for your recommendations of any good comic books you've read lately.  I have been out of real comics collecting so long that I need help to get back in to it.  If you are so inclined, please e-mail me by clicking HERE.  With all of that out of the way, I'll leave you with your Batman Comics Characters of The Day:  The Terrible Trio!

May 16 -  I finished four last minute extra drawings, for the L. Frank Baum short story book, in record time, e-delivering them about the same time David Letterman appeared on my TV.  I haven't heard back yet as to why the one story, entitled Chrome Yellow, was cut, but I have since remembered some buzz about the possibility of its omission as much as a year ago.  Like I told O.F.O.WOMP Marcus Mebes, I've had my artwork cut before, but this time it really hurt.  As some of you may know, I have a tradition of sneaking my wife's name into all major works (something I've done since the day I met her).  Because I saw these dozen or so Baum illustrations as part of a larger single work, I only hid her name in one drawing...from the now-cut story!  Oh, well.  Maybe it still will be printed at some point in the future.  One way or another, I guess, for better or worse, my artwork is now linked historically to the story, regardless of whatever may happen to either in the future.  Sigh.  Well, here's your sexy Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Catwoman!

May 15 -  I guess it was Triple Whammy day yesterday.  Whammy One; a particularly unpleasant evening of work at the dread "real" job, marked by hours of working alone (instead of with co-workers as might be expected) on Mother's Day (traditionally one of the busiest days of our year).  Whammy Two; something in the air at the dumb "real" job, which includes handling poisonous chemicals, made me so dizzy and sick that I even had to excuse myself (to no-one, since I was there by myself) momentarily to review my lunch in a sink.  Whammy Three; mentally and physically drained, I had nothing constructive to talk about.  These three factors led to my intentional lapse in posting anything on the WOMP-Blog.  Had I mustered the gumption, I'd have told you about the 14th's Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Captain Stingaree!  Tonight, though, I have had a MUCH better day.  What a difference a day makes!  I've completed all sorts of work around the house, and now I've been working on some last minute extra illustrations for the L. Frank Baum short story book, as per request from Official Friend of WOMP, Mr. Marcus Mebes.  I'm happy to have the opportunity, especially since he also informed me that one of the stories I illustrated, Chrome Yellow, was cut from the book!  Ugh!  And I was hanging my hat on that one!  Of the stuff I did for the book, that was by far the best.  Now, it's just some nice artwork that Marcus and I have looked at.  Sigh.  Anyhoo, I should be getting back to it since I told Marcus that I'd have them done by tomorrow night (the book goes to press at the end of the week).  I'll let you know how that goes in the next entry, so I'll wrap this up by posting your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Ra's Al Ghul!

May 13 -  It was complete anarchy, I tell ya!  Anarchy!  In a bold coup, the extended WOMP Staff stormed WOMP H.Q. and commandeered the mighty WOMPuter yesterday, and I was exiled to my Elba-like office!  While I cowered in my bunker, they cavorted and pillaged until far past my ability to stay awake.  Had I been able to post anything here in the WOMP-Blog, I'd've at least told you that the 12th's Batman Comics Characters of The Day were Tweedledum and Tweedledee, but, alas, it wasn't to be.  Today, as the smoke has cleared and the WOMP Staff has settled back down, I've reseized control.  Even at that, I'd better just wrap this up, lest my position is given away (can't be too careful).  When they write of this in the history books, I hope they leave out the part about the "extended WOMP Staff" being a group of nursery school teachers.  Sigh.  Here's your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Joe Chill!

May 11 -  Ugh.  I'm just wrapping up a deadline crunch.  I've been awake for just under 23 hours at this point, so I think I'll skip any lengthy diatribes in favor of merely posting your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  The Scarecrow!

May 10 -  What?  Am I supposed to always be a peppy cheerleader for comics?  Is there someone paying me to say nice things about comic books?  No, of course not.  Comics are, even to me, just another medium.  That I railed on the state of comics right now shouldn't be a surprise.  To some of you, however, I guess it was.  Sorry.  I'm just trying to blog about what I'm feeling...and what I'm feeling can shift from moment to moment.  For example, I've gone through a rollercoaster of emotions in just the last hour as I've briefly contemplated topics ranging from my pathetic cartooning "career" and Prairie du Chien's history, to fast food and Family Guy.  Up, down, up down...my emotions fluctuate more than do those of women in stand-up comedians' jokes.  Yesterday, I was genuinely frustrated with my inability to follow comics like I once did.  Today, with the perspective of time, I've started realize that my real challenge is finding a way to adapt.  During my early forays into real comics collecting, I was told by old-timer collectors that I'd go through many stages in my comic book collecting.  I seem to remember it going something like this; 1) reading, 2) saving, 3) filling in gaps, 4) buying everything possible, 5) weeding out of the duplicates and unwanted, 6) fading interest, 7) massive divestiture, 8) regret, 9) re-sparked interest, 10) lather, 11) rinse, 12) repeat.  I'm somewhere near #10, I think.  I guess that explains why I sometimes get worked up into a lather (insert groan here)!  So, I should be finding a way to fit comics back into my life as both have changed.  Maybe I just have to miss out on some stuff.  Maybe I have to be happy with just a small handful of comics per year.  I don't know...but I'll figure it out, I suppose.  It's not like it's some sort of actual problem or anything.  So, that all having been said, I'm going to ask a favor of you!  Before you can say "Oh, no...not again," just hear me out.  All I'm asking for is your recommendations.  What's out there?  What's good?  I trust you.  If you have a favorite new title, writer, or artist, please drop a line to me HERE at WOMP Central with their names, won't you?  I've got some ideas, but I don't have enough money to be wrong.  Thanks!  Here's your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Killer Moth!

May 9 -  First, let me start by telling you that the blackout yesterday was caused by a faulty switch.  When power was transferred from the North side station to the nearby South side station, the weak element blew up.  Thankfully, no-one was there at the time, and no-one was hurt.  According to reports, the bad switch had probably caused rolling blackouts "for months if not years."  HOORAY!  Finally, they've found the problem that's been plaguing WOMP H.Q. for so long (and all it took was an explosion).  That out of the way, I have to respond to a rhetorical question posed recently by the venerable Comics Buyer's Guide.  In issue #1617, John Jackson Miller asked us finicky comics fans "Happy Now?"  Well, no.  I'm not happy.  I should be...but I'm not.  Right now, without much doubt, we may be in a second Golden Age of comics.  That's a shocking thing to say, but I think that it is true.  The number of good comics has gone through the roof, the amount that are great may be more than fifty percent of all that are printed, and of those, literally hundreds per year are classics.  For an old school comic book geek like me, this should be the best time of my collecting life.  But it is not.  And why?  Mostly because I can't afford more than a few of them.  The cost of collecting has pushed me to the furthest fringes of the hobby.  For example, I would dearly love to read and collect DC's "52" series, but that alone would cost me at least $130.00 (not including tax or price increases).  OK...so let's say I cough up the weekly $2.50 for the series, and I somehow pay nothing extra to get it to my house (by the way, which do you think would be cheaper; driving 120 miles round-trip to get them at one of the two nearest comic book shops, or paying shipping and "handling" charges to get them from eBay sellers?).  The "52" comics are a known factor.  I heard about the series, thought it would be cool, and have made a decision to buy it.  But how the heck can I choose from the other awesome stuff that's out there?  It's almost as if a collector needs to buy everything that comes out just to learn what is their favorite.  It used to be that you'd find out through the grapevine, or by reading the reviews of trusted insiders, or by carefully perusing the racks of your local comics dealer.  Well, the grapevine evolved into The Internet, and it bears so many freakin' grapes that you'd choke to death if you'd try to eat them all.  There are now so many comics reviewers, even trusted ones, that their opinions have melded into a nondescript hum.  As for looking through what's on the racks (always a risky prospect since, as has been said since time began, comics shops "ain't a library"), that would require 24 hour shelf-monitoring, generous quantities to ensure a complete sampling, no shortages because of lost shipments or missed deadlines, and probably a pair of white conservator's gloves.  And that brings up storage.  Space for a collection of any sort is always at a premium, but the cost of comics storage and preservation, even at a basic level, adds at least 10% to the cost of collecting (more over a comic's "lifetime").  And don't get me started on "slabbing!"  You're not even safe collecting only works featuring a favorite character or creator.  Batman, for example, makes more appearances than President Bush, and today's comics creators work on several titles at a time, adding up to dozens and dozens per year...and who could pick just one artist or writer anyway?  That's called "stalking."  And the time...UGH!  The time it would take to do even a tiny amount of any of this would itself be fairly prohibitive.  I'm all for getting lost in a great comic, but who, outside of those paid to do so, can research, shop for, read, and archivally file thousands of comics per year?  Some sort of obsessed millionaire shut-in, that's who.  No...I'm not happy at all.  Oh, how I wish I could somehow bring back the days of comics for sale in every other business in town.  Those wonderful days are gone, when a handful of pocket change could get you the latest Teen Titans, Justice League of America, and Batman comics, or a bit later when just a few bucks could provide artwork by Sienkiewicz, Perez, Byrne, and Miller, as well as stories written by Claremont, Moore, Wolfman, and, well, Miller.  I guess that makes me officially old.  In hundreds of words, I have just stated that "things were better back in my day."  Ironically, my boyhood dream of a future filled with great comics has become my waking nightmare.  I'm a penniless kid in a well-stocked candy shop.  I don't know exactly why, but this all reminds me of a story from my less and less likely childhood.  I talked about it here in the WOMP-Blog before, back when I counted down the ten greatest cartoon characters.  The point of the story then was "Snoopy," but now it's "The more things stay, the more they change the same."  Here it is in a nutshell; I was about six years old, and my Grandma Mundt had taken me to "the best toy store in the area" (whichever place in North-Eastern Iowa that was).  In genuine generous spirit, she told me that I could pick out ANYTHING in the store and she'd get it for me.  To my six-year-old eyes, the store was full of nothing, so I weighed my options, and went with a small plastic Snoopy figure (the remnants of which I still have, of course).  I loved that stupid figure, literally to pieces, but not because I was the biggest Snoopy fan.  No, it was because I was a Grandma Mundt fan, and my Snoopy figure always represented her grand gesture and doting love.  In a way, the comics from back in my youth are like that tiny doll.  I could buy all the plastic Snoopy figures in the world, but they'd never mean as much to me as the one I got when I had no other real choices.  Maybe...maybe, underneath it all, the real reason why I'm not "Happy Now" is because it's "Now."  Hmm.  Well, here's your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Dr. Phosphorus!

May 8 -  I don't want to make light of what may have been, for all I know, a terrible accident, but I have to tell you that I think we've discovered the source of all of the power outages here at WOMP Central.  Around 1:00 this afternoon, I heard a loud "BOOM" just as I was about to bite into a cracker.  Instantly, we lost power.  I ran out into the street to see what was going on, and saw a puff of blue smoke rising from an area about three blocks away.  Something had happened to the major power station nearby, knocking out power not only to WOMP H.Q., nor even just Prairie du Chien, but an area roughly thirty miles long and fifteen miles wide!  For some area towns, this was a minor inconvenience of about ten minutes, but we here in Prairie du Chien didn't regain electricity until about 3:30PM.  Like I said, I don't yet know the cause, nor the damage, of the explosion, so I don't want to be flippant about it.  I have to believe, though, that this is connected to the monthly blackouts we've been having.  I guess I'll know more tomorrow.  For now, though, I'm going to wrap this up by first pointing out the little WOMP's Super Secret Identities Contest button above, then by letting you know that no-one has won yet, and finally by posting your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Poison Ivy!

May 7 -  Holy crud...what a long day!  Remember when I told you about the remodeling that was mandated by the WOMP Staff?  Well, in another vote (to which I was, yet again, not privy), the Staff decided that the bulk of that work would be done today...BY ME!  I won't bore you with details, but suffice to say that I have done at least a little bit of everything today (you know...electrical work, demolition, woodworking, construction, plumbing, etc.).  Oh, and about mid-day, to take a "break," we went on a four mile hike in the woods of Pikes Peak State Park!  Yeah...not the day of rest and recuperation I was envisioning when I went to sleep after posting the "6.5" entry below.  Now, with an unfortunate stretch of days coming up at the dread "real" job, and several small elements of the remodel work still to be completed, I am already starting to feel very tired.  Sigh.  I guess that's the way it goes, eh?  Oh, well...I suppose I'll wrap this up by posting your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Killer Croc!

May 6.5 -  Just a little update from the entry I posted a few hours ago.  After watching the rest of the NASCAR race from Richmond, VA (won by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), and the first part of Saturday Night Live (hosted by Tom Hanks), I shaved, showered, and hit the road to Fennimore, Wisconsin.  I arrived at their After-Prom event at exactly midnight, then set up, and sat down, within minutes, and drew caricatures non-stop until 3:30AM.  Oh, and to no-one's surprise, my arm is a-KILLIN' me!  I somehow managed to make it through the last two or three faces with pain reminiscent of being stabbed in the shoulder with a crooked nail, and still I feel guilty about turning away the handful of kids who remained waiting in line.  I tried to draw everyone, but I just couldn't.  Still, I have to be happy with the 65 faces that I did draw.  Anyhoo, I reluctantly packed up my gear and drove home through the blotches of fog and swarms of deer, just to post this update for you!  Now, here's a Bonus Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Anarky!

May 6 -  Greetings!  I'm just sitting here, watching the NASCAR race, trying to relax as I count down the hours until I have that caricature gig in the wee hours of tomorrow morning.  I don't really have anything to talk to you about, but I don't know whether I'll have energy to post something afterwards or not.  So, just to be safe, I am just going to go ahead and post your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Ace, The Bat-Hound!

Cinco de Mayo -  Hey there!  I'm going to keep this short because I have a LONG day ahead of me tomorrow (or, since it's already 1:30AM, should I say "later today?") and I want to get as much sleep as is possible.  About this time on Sunday morning, I will be drawing caricatures for the last After-Prom of my season.  After that, I'm back to scrabbling around to pick up "odds and ends" art jobs again.  Oh, well.  I suppose I should be used to it by now.  Here's your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Tarantula!

May 4 -  I'm definitely a hardcore, old school, old core, hard school Batman fan since back in the day.  I've already told you (probably far too often) about how influential the character was on me as I grew up, but I don't think I've ever talked much about the other citizens of Gotham City.  As a character, Batman needs an extended cast of support to ground him, whether they be villains who continually vex him, or friends who both sustain and involve him.  And I think that the "involve" aspect is pretty important, because he'd be pretty detached otherwise.  I mean, a driven guy like that would pretty quickly move on to other things if he didn't have some personal connections to the "public" which he'd vowed to serve.  Batman is basically a pragmatist.  He knows (whether true or not) that people are generally rotten, barely held in check by fear of punishment.  If he had no-one else in his life, he'd become...well, he'd become the Punisher (the old school Punisher...not the warmer and fuzzier one who has evolved into a hero).  As a literary tool, that is one of the main reasons why Robin came into existence (that and the whole "I could be Batman's buddy" wish fulfillment).  Originally, "The Batman" was a guns-ablazin' vigilante, a Depression Era Judge Dredd who meted out justice with as much hard, cold cruelty as did the villains when they committed the crimes he avenged.  That was cool...for a while.  Soon, though, he became a one-note song (which is my problem with fellow crimefighter Dick Tracy, to whom Batman, with his Rogues Gallery, is sometimes compared), and even if the public might not have yet minded the monotony (which they probably did because of the sudden explosion in super-crimefighter competition), the comics creators were searching for something to do to give the character some depth.  In comics history, no character, not Scrooge McDuck, not Richie Rich, not even Superman has an extended mythology as layered and particular as that of Batman.  From the complete contents of his utility-belt, to the trophies in the Batcave, to the plethora of colorful capers and cunning cases which he solved, Batman, as a character, has more facets than the Hope Diamond.  One of the most faceted aspects is that extended cast.  And what a cast it is!  Just think of a sidekick, and who first comes to mind?  Robin.  How about a comic book villain?  Probably The Joker.  What about a Police Commissioner?  Well, duh; Jim Gordon.  Heck, even Alfred is arguably among the three or four most famous butlers of all time (right up there with Jeeves, Cadbury, and the un-named butler who "did it").  These characters are more than just support, they are an integral part of Batman himself, as evidenced by their appearance in every other media incarnation of The Dark Knight.  It just wouldn't be "Batman" without a chiding, intuitive, and, well, supportive Alfred Pennyworth holding out a dark cape at the exact moment when Bruce Wayne realizes that he needs it.  People have criticized just about every post-Golden Age version of Robin, but, like it or not, Batman just wouldn't be Batman without the Boy Wonder.  Of course it makes absolutely no sense to have a little kid, dressed in bullseye-red, jumping off of buildings into the middle of a gun fight, but Batman isn't always about what makes sense.  Batman is about what's right deep in your gut.  If he made sense, the real world would be filled with Batmen and Batwomen...but the fictional Batman is all about that primal core in a person's soul, from which joy and pain, love and hate emanate.  Batman is what a twelve year old thinks being an adult is like.  The only real grown-up in the world of Batman is James Gordon (recently played brilliantly by Gary Oldman on the big screen).  His relationship with Batman is similar to that of an adult's with an imaginative, yet troubled, child.  It reminds me of the Woody Allen line about his uncle believing that he was a chicken, but the family doesn't try to cure him because they need the eggs.  As long as Batman is helping, Gordon lets him do what he wants.  Besides, normal cops are no match for over-the-top murderous psychos like The Joker.  Only someone as dark as Batman can operate on that plane with any effectiveness (sort of like enlisting Hannibal Lecter to track down serial killers).  It's a psychological juggling act, balancing a character who interacts with such a diverse cast, but that's why Batman is so much fun!  Without all of the competing and conflicting influences of other well-established and recurring characters, his one-note act would have faded away along with the thousands of other superheroes who've come and gone in the nearly seventy years since Detective Comics #27.  In that spirit, I'll wrap this up with tonight's Batman Comics Character of The Day:  The Penguin!

May 3 -  Did I shock you with last night's entry?  Sorry.  I know that my rants are seldom, well, relevant, but I feel pretty strongly about this issue.  Apparently, so do lots of other folks, as another quarter-million people signed the  "Save The Internet" e-petition in the last 24 hours!  The ol' WOMP-Blog is just one of about two-hundred blogs to talk about Network Neutrality over the last few days.  I guess a lot of people, from Gun Owners of America to Alyssa Milano, feel the same way I do.  I think that a good rule of thumb for issues like this should be "If the extreme right, the extreme left, and everyone in between agree on doing something, then it should probably be done."  For me, it's all about democracy, fairness, and justice.  Think of it this way; replace the word "Internet" with the words "Public Library" or "Public Education," and it will quickly become obvious why this proposed change of regulations is stupid, if not subversive and evil.  In fact, think about how you'd ever even hear about something like this if the Internet wasn't as egalitarian as it is right now.  The whole mess gives me the shivers right up my spine.  How many secret deals are snuck though Congress because everyone is looking elsewhere?  It reminds me of a great newspaper clipping that I found in an old book a few years ago.  It was from about 1850, reporting on the New York State Fair.  One of the events covered was a speech from Henry Clay.  He was described as being so mesmerizing that hundreds of cases of picked pockets were reported to police when he was done.  Sound familiar?  BUT NOW...now I just want to get back to my normal idiotic WOMP-Blog.  For a while, I'm done talking about the Congress and laws and such, in favor of Batman!  Yes, it's Batman Cast Month, so I wanted to talk about characters like The Joker and Alfred...but, honestly, I'm still too worked up and depressed.  Ugh!  OK...let's make a deal; tomorrow, it's back to normal.  No "issue" stuff, just geek stuff.  Tonight, then, I'll just leave you with another plea for you enter WOMP's Super Secret Identities Contest (details of which are listed below in the May 1st entry), and your latest Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Vicki Vale!

May 2 -  First off, I have to tell you to check out the contest I announced last night.  So far, I have no entries, so YOU could be the grand prize winner!  Next, I'm going to deviate a bit from my usual pointless blatherings.  I promised a friend that I would post a little something about a secret backdoor deal that Congress may make to abolish Network Neutrality (a guiding principle of the web since Day One), which would allow big phone companies to act like lawless highwaymen of the Internet.  It's a little difficult to understand what's going on, so I'll quote directly from Snopes.com, which monitors various causes that crop up on the Internet.  Here is how they recently explained this issue;

"Simply put, network neutrality means that no web site's traffic has precedence over any other's...Whether a user searches for recipes using Google, reads an article on snopes.com, or looks at a friend's MySpace profile, all of that data is treated equally and delivered from the originating web site to the user's web browser with the same priority. In recent months, however, some of the telephone and cable companies that control the telecommunications networks over which Internet data flows have floated the idea of creating the electronic equivalent of a paid carpool lane."

The gang at MoveOn.org explains it thusly;

"If companies like AT&T have their way, Web sites ranging from Google to eBay to MoveOn either pay the equivalent of protection money to get into the "fast lane" or risk opening slowly on your computer. We can't allow the Internet—this incredible medium which has been such a revolutionary force for democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech—to become captive to large corporations."

They go on to give specific examples, adding...

"If Congress abandons Network Neutrality, who will be affected?

Advocacy groups like MoveOn - Political organizing could be slowed by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay "protection money" for their websites and online features to work correctly.

Nonprofits - A charity's website could open at snail-speed, and online contributions could grind to a halt, if nonprofits can't pay dominant Internet providers for access to "the fast lane" of Internet service.

Google users - Another search engine could pay dominant Internet providers like AT&T to guarantee the competing search engine opens faster than Google on your computer.

Innovators with the "next big idea" - Startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay Internet providers for dominant placing on the Web. The little guy will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service, unable to compete.

iPod listeners - A company like Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service that it owned.

Online purchasers - Companies could pay Internet providers to guarantee their online sales process faster than competitors—if BarnesandNoble.com was much slower than Amazon.com that would distort your choice as a consumer.

Small businesses and tele-commuters - When Internet companies like AT&T favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your office.

Parents and retirees - Your choices as a consumer could be controlled by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, planning vacations, etc.

Bloggers - Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips—silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets."

Normally, as you know, I shy away from posting politically charged stuff here on the ol' WOMP-Blog, but this issue is not about Democrats, Republicans, nor really any group other than big businesses with deep pockets.  With one little vote, Congress could, perhaps even unwittingly, change the Internet from an international express freeway to a bureaucratically clogged toll road where every lane is slow, but some are slightly faster if someone has paid to let you in.  And who needs that?  I've said it here before, and I'll say it again; without any doubt, the two most remarkable advances made during my lifetime are the Moon landing and the Internet.  When Neil Armstrong planted his bootprint into the lunar dust, he said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  That attitude, that the advances were being made on behalf of everyone, has also driven the wild success of the Internet since inception.  And, ever since that inception, corporations have wondered how they could tame that wild success for their own needs.  The truth is, though, that a level playing field is the best way not only for us little consumers to get the best prices and service, but for those same corporations to make gobs and gobs of cash fairly.  And there is a real-world economic impact to consider.  If this stupid thing passes, we here in the U.S.A. will be struggling to wade through e-muck, while citizens of other nations will be blazing down the information superhighway at light speed!  The whole situation sucks, and it's so ridiculously unnecessary that I truly believe that it can be defeated with a few strong messages of opinion sent to the right people.  That's why I placed the orange "Save The Internet" button toward the top of this page.  Take a moment to check it out, won't you?  As for me, I signed an e-petition, joining about a quarter million others who've done the same.  It's not much, but I feel like it could help.  Well, I suppose I should crawl back down off my soapbox for now.  Sorry to have bent your ear like that, but, like I said, I made a promise.  I guess there's nothing left to do but remind you to enter WOMP's Super Secret Identities Contest, and to post your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Cat-Man!

May 1 -  OK, so here's the contest that I hinted at recently; as you probably know, last month was Comic Book Character Secret Identities Month here in the WOMP-Blog, and I posted a different one for each day.  That leads us to

WOMP's Super Secret Identities Contest!

The contest is open to everyone, and entering is super-easy.  The first person to send me a list of the "super" identities all thirty secret identities posted will win a fully inked character study of their favorite character from that list!  I'll produce the original artwork on 11" x 17" Comic Book Pro illustration board.  The contest begins as soon as I post this entry, and ends on May 31st, 2005 (or as soon as I have a total of six correct entries).  To review all of the secret identities, click HERE to re-read April's WOMP-Blog entries.  To enter, click HERE to e-mail your answers to me (just put "Secret Identities" in the subject line, and list the characters from 1 to 30).  AS A SPECIAL BONUS, the first five non-grand-prize winning entries will win smaller drawings of their favorites from the list!

So, crack to it!  No one is exempt from eligibility, from Official Friends of WOMP to total strangers.  This month, the nightly "Of The Day" feature will focus on the world of one of my favorite characters of all time!  And here's the first, your Batman Comics Character of The Day:  Police Commissioner James W. Gordon!