We spent the weekend getting Lost.
Nikki received the DVDs for season one for her birthday, so we’ve been using every available hour since to learn more about the 48 47 46 castaways on an uncharted desert isle. Since Saturday, we’ve burned through nine or ten more episodes, leaving us with one more full DVD out of the original six. It’s imperative that we finish the set soon, as it is severely limiting the amount of conversation we can have with folks that have actually seen the series. I’ve come close to threatening officemates with bodily harm for even mentioning that there was a new episode for the second season last week, lest they trip over their own tongue and reveal something better left unknown. But not to worry … we’ll finish this last disc tonight. Then we have to just find time to watch the new season premiere between now and Wednesday night. Tomorrow? Oh, tomorrow is out of the question …
Tomorrow night, we get to see Serenity. Finally. Our last opportunity was a few weeks ago, but those efforts were thwarted by Katrina and her initial wave of panic-stricken gas-junkies. Maybe the plan was overly optimistic even without the fuel fiasco. Did we honestly think that we could see a 6pm press screening at Phipps, then go immediately to trivia at the ‘Shroom? Yes. Yes, we did. But all that is behind us. Tomorrow is the screening for Joss Whedon’s Big Damn Space Rodeo, and we’ll be there. The rest of the world gets to see it Friday. Of course, they might decide to see something else …
Neil Gaiman’s (and Dave McKean’s) Mirrormask opens on the 30th, right alongside Serenity. This convergence of dedicated fandoms is not lost on either of the two creators. In an extensive interview with both men in Time magazine, Neil has declared this coming Friday as National Geek Day. Personally, I’m all for it. If only I had time to make some t-shirts with slogans like “Say It Loud, I’m A Geek and I’m Proud” or “We’re Here, We’re Geeks, and No, We’re Not Going to Fix Your PC.”
That reminds me. Someone within earshot mentioned having never read Neil’s reworking of Snow White. I think it was someone at dinner, back on Friday night. Well, whoever you are, you’ll find the incredibly disturbing “Snow, Glass, Apples” in its entireity over at The Dreaming. The story is online courtesy of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
That reminds me again. When I was in college, I got my comics locally from a guy named Gordon Lee. Gordon ran (and still runs) a comic book shop on Broad Street in Rome called Legends. He kept me supplied with copies of Sandman and other Vertigo titles. He had long brown hair that was straight like Jan Brady and a mustache that was quite unlike Jan Brady. We’d talk occasionally, but never more than might be usual for a comics fan and a shop owner. In my assessment, he was a decent guy, even if occasionally he forgot my name. After I graduated from Berry, I had no reason to return to Legends. Within a year, I had moved to Atlanta. When you live here, you go to Oxford Comics. There’s a rule. Nevertheless, I saw Gordon again in 2000. He was at Dragon*Con. He remembered me (and my name). It became a yearly thing, running into Gordon at ‘Con and saying hello.
These days, Gordon is in trouble. The story goes something like this: “Lee, the proprietor of Legends, in Rome, Georgia, faces multiple charges stemming from an incident whereby a minor participating in a community Halloween celebration inadvertently received as a trick or treat gift the 2004 Free Comic Book Day offering by Alternative Comics.”* The free comic book includes a historically fictional excerpt called “The Salon” by Nick Bertozzi. The controversy stems from a handful of comic panels that show a young and naked Pablo Picasso. Under Georgia law OCGA §16-12-81, Gordon faces two felony counts. Specifically, he is being held to account for the last letter of that particular law: “c. A person who commits the offense of distributing material depicting nudity or sexual conduct, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than three years or by a fine not to exceed $10,000.00, or both.”
A guilty verdict could result in heavy fines and possible jail time. Originally, initial hearings were to begin on September 8, but the date has been postponed until December 1. The CBLDF has been assisting Gordon with his legal fight since February of this year. Their stance is that the comic itself is neither obscene nor illegal, and furthermore that Gordon had no intention of distributing the comic to a minor in the first place. In other words, Gordon made a mistake, but committed no crime.
I suppose this is where I should say something about how such mistakes could’ve been avoided and how such laws are patently ridiculous, but this post is long enough already.
