Peter David's Blog, page 33

So let me see if I understand this latest Clinton thing

Some years ago, I had pneumonia. I was flat on my back for three weeks. I could barely speak. I was miserable.

Hillary Clinton has pneumonia and the worst that happens to her is that she almost faints while maintaining her public schedule. And we’re worried about HER health? While Donald Trump continues to refuse to release medical records, and IRS records, we obsess about Hillary? Are our priorities just slightly out of whack?

PAD

Star Trek turns 50

Fifty years ago today, “Star Trek” debuted on NBC.

I wasn’t watching it. I don’t recall why. Probably there was something on opposite it that my parents preferred to watch and since they controlled the television, that would be pretty much that.

I wound up stumbling onto one episode in the third season: “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” I was underwhelmed and didn’t bother to keep watching. However when I was in middle school, my friend Keith introduced me to the series through the James Blish-written books that were adaptations of the episodes. By that point the program had gone into syndication and I wound up watching “Who Mourns for Adonis?” I was totally hooked.

I met my first wife at a Star Trek convention. I met my second wife because she had made a Klingon puppet that I bought in order to use it as a prop during “Mystery Trekkie Theater,” the annual skewering of Trek that Bob Greenberger, Mike Friedman and I perform at Shore Leave convention. So basically my four children owe their lives to Star Trek.

I’ve become friends with some of the cast members. Attended George Takei’s wedding. Co-wrote Jimmy Doohan’s autobiography. Presented the Julie Award at Dragon*Con to Leonard Nimoy and, the following year, William Shatner. And I have an entire aspect of my career based on Star Trek novels.

Long live Star Trek.

PAD

So let’s see if I understand the latest Trump demand

Trump will release his tax returns if, and only if, Clinton releases 30,000 emails.

Despite the fact that every GOP candidate since Richard Nixon (with the single exception of Gerald Ford) has released his returns doesn’t weigh in. The fact that Hillary has released every one of her returns since 2000 doesn’t weigh in. All that matters is that Hillary Clinton releases emails, potentially revealing private correspondence and perhaps even secure information.

Plus does anyone really think that Trump will then release his returns? I certainly don’t.

He claims that people don’t really care about his tax returns. Uh, Donald: Yes. We do. Because you’re deliberately coming up with dodges, which prompts us to speculate as to what’s going on. Will they reveal that you’ve been lying about your net worth? That you never pay taxes? That you never donate to charities? All we can do is speculate and you refuse to clarify it. Because that’s who you want in the Oval Office: someone who refuses to ever be candid about stuff that everyone else has no problem discussing.

How in God’s name did Hillary get the reputation for being duplicitous when Trump lies more than he tells the truth?

PAD

Announcing the Birth of My Second Grandson

I would like to introduce you to Orson James Mayhew, newborn son of Heath Mayhew and my daughter, Guinevere David Mayhew. Six pounds, nine ounces, nineteen inches long.

Rumor Control

So as I mentioned earlier, someone on Reddit took the comment that I’ve made about “Young Justice” any number of times, put his own spin on it, and suddenly the Internet was alive with assertions that I had had a meeting with Netflix about a third season of YJ.

What fascinates me is the number of websites who posted reports of the guy’s false claim as opposed to the number who contacted me for verification.

The answer? None. Not a single website bothered to contact me via Twitter (until after the fact) or email, even though my email address is public.

One site recently wound up posted on Facebook and I got fed up. I wrote an admittedly scathing note stating that the writer/editor (so he bills himself) had been journalistically remiss in not bothering to contact me; that such a lapse was inexcusable and he should take the non-story down immediately. The fact that it said in the story that it was unsubstantiated rumor infuriated me even more. What was the point in printing something that you yourself declared was unreliable?

His response? He apologized profusely.

Kidding: He threw a hissy fit. He called me names, declared that he’d been a big supporter of the show but now hoped it would rot, and was no longer a fan of mine.

Now am I being old fashioned? Is it my BA in journalism or my old reporter’s instincts being applied to non-journalism? It may well be me, but I simply do not understand the point of publishing unsubstantiated rumors, especially when (1) they can be easily double checked and (2) can cause damage. As I said, if enough people believed that a third season of YJ was a go, they might well say “Mission accomplished!” and stop watching it on Netflix, which would damage the cause. So falsely reporting the existence of a third season could well ensure there won’t be one.

Say what you will about Rich Johnston–and God knows a lot has been said–but there have been a number of occasions where he has written to me in researching an article for “Bleeding Cool” and asked for verification. At which point he runs the story with my comments included or, several times, has dropped the article because it was baseless. That’s how you do it.

If you’re a private blog and you say, “I heard this was said,” yeah, okay, I can kind of see it. Not thrilled, but I understand. But if you are a general comic book blog, then I’m sorry, but I think that you have a journalistic obligation to double check something before putting it up there. Because people don’t remember that you said, “This isn’t verified.” Half the time they don’t even remember where they read it; they just remember what they read (or even better, just read the headline) and will then repeat it, and the next thing you know, damaging misinformation is being widely disseminated as fact.

PAD

Young Justice: No, I have NOT Met with Netflix!

“Mr. David, what are the chances of ‘Young Justice’ getting a third season?”

“Well, I had lunch with Greg Weisman a few weeks ago, and he said that Netflix is seriously considering ordering a third season because they’re impressed with how much people are watching it. So if you want to make it happen, keep on doing that.”

That’s what I’ve been saying for the past month, countless times, ever since I had lunch with Greg before San Diego. Seems pretty straightforward.

And suddenly I’ve been getting barraged with tweets and emails from fans asking me if it’s true that I’ve had a meeting with Netflix about writing the third season. Why? Because someone asked me the question at the recent Terrificon in Connecticut and, rather than report the answer I’ve given at least a hundred times, he instead provided his own version. I’ve no doubt it was an innocent mistake, but it’s caused a MAJOR headache for me.

Furthermore I’m now worried it could do damage to the cause, because people might think, “We did it! There’s gonna be a third season, done deal!” and then stop watching. Which would then cause Netflix to say, “Hunh, people have stopped watching, guess it was just a passing fad,” and that’s that.

So I will say it once more: It is NOT a done deal. So continue watching “Young Justice” if you want to have a hope of a third season.

PAD

Suicide Squad: WTF, People?

Perhaps it was because my expectations had been so lowered. The reviews for Suicide Squad were almost relentlessly negative. People just seemed to hate it. Maybe folks had staked so much belief that it would somehow make up for the mess that was Batman vs. Superman that no film could possibly have lived up to it. I dunno. All I was sure about was that it was likely going to suck. That the story would be incomprehensible, the performances phoned in, the directing indifferent.

Instead what I got was a perfectly fine superhero–or more accurately supervillain as hero–movie. A big adventure where a modern day magnificent seven has to ride to the rescue against yet another supervillain who seems determined to rip a hole in the sky with some sort of energy force beam and end the world.

Is it brilliantly original? No. Does it raise the bar on comic book movies? No. Will it change anyone’s life? No.

Was it entertaining? Hell yes.

Writer/director David Ayer has given us two hours of what may well be the best DC Comics movie since The Dark Knight. We are introduced in the first act to the film’s reluctant protagonists, all jailed in a hell hole and eventually extricated by Amanda Waller to form a first-strike team against super powered threats. It should be noted that Waller has turned up previously in several different dramatic incarnations, but Viola Davis leaves them all behind. Her Waller is without question the scariest individual in the film: manipulative, cold blooded, putting the “less” in “merciless.” Waller enlists Colonel Rick Flag (a stoic Joel Kinnaman) and Katana (an intense Karen Fukuhara) to lead the heroes (?) against the threat of an unleashed Enchantress, who happens to double as Flag’s main squeeze, June Moon (Cara Delevingne). Ayer tries the best he can to give us character moments threaded through the remarkably simplistic plot, and it works as well as it can when you have that many characters to introduce in one movie. Will Smith is the nominal leader, Deadshot, who has a weak spot: the requisite daughter on loan from Ant-Man. Also gloriously demented is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, as devoted to her puddin’, the Joker (Jared Leto in full loon) as she was in the animated series. Strutting around with a baseball bat, she has most of the best lines, puncturing pretensions while clearly enjoying herself. But the real standout is Jay Hernandez as El Diablo, the villain who wins the most tragic backstory competition and captures your attention whenever his tatted self is on screen.

Again, it’s not the most perfect movie. Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) could have been excised from the film entirely and not missed in the slightest since he contributes exactly zero to the plot. Nevertheless, the film accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: Take up 120 minutes of your time as an entertaining summer diversion.

And boy, did the trailer for Wonder Woman rock.

PAD

The Death of Bruce Banner

Fans are asking me about my opinion on the death of Bruce Banner as portrayed in Civil War II. What do I think of the abrupt passing of a character on whom I spent twelve years of my writing career.

I pondered a response for some time and ultimately I have come to this conclusion:

Seriously, guys? As 2016 progresses and beloved person after beloved person dies, THIS is what you ask me about? The death of a fictional character whom I could bring back to life in three panels? And would not hesitate to do so if Marvel asked me?

Sheesh.

PAD

Jerry Doyle

I would be lying if I said I knew Jerry particularly well. Somehow I never wound up discussing politics with him, which was probably a good thing. But there was one thing I really enjoyed, and that was writing for him. It’s odd that someone who effectively backed into the acting profession and did not hesitate to fabricate stuff in order to accomplish that (he listed a stint as a performer with the Dance Theater of Harlem on his resume and no one ever questioned it) was so damned good at it. I will never forget the scenes I wrote for him in “Soul Mates,” particularly the ones with him and Keith Szarabajka, and how they just crackled when the two of them went at it over the affections of Talia (Andrea Thompson, Jerry’s wife at the time). He was always a fun presence on the set and his fellow actors just adored his company.

He will be sorely missed.

PAD

My San Diego Comic Con Schedule

Want to know where I’ll be the next few days? I’ll tell you right now, then Tweet it which will crosspost it to Facebook. And I’ll *still* read dozens of posts from people saying, “I couldn’t find you at San Diego!”

My regular hangout: Artist’s Alley, table HH16.

My panels:

Thursday, 10:30 AM, Room 4: “Spotlight on Peter David”

Saturday, 10 AM, Room 7AB: “I Read It Before (And After) It was a Movie”

Sunday, 11:15, Room 5AB: “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends”

Also, Caroline will be on a panel as well:

Thursday, 11 AM, Room 29AB: “Spotlight on Maggie Thompson.” Maggie is going to interview Caroline and two other kids of “Nerd Families.” Naturally with five days of programming, they scheduled my daughter against me. * sigh *