Tim Russert

I was very saddened to hear of Tim Russert's death last week. He was one of the precious few journalists with the integrity to nail politicians with tough questions and demand an answer. A huge loss for us as a country.

Last Christmas, I did a cartoon about Tim in collaboration with a comedy writer friend, also a fan of his, Andy Cowan. Days after it appeared, Tim's best friend wrote to me and asked if he could buy the original art and give it to him for Christmas. I agreed and sent the cartoon to him. A couple of days later, Tim's wife wrote and asked the same question. I told her who had bought it with the same intention and she was happy that Tim would get it, one way or the other. A couple of weeks later, Tim mentioned it briefly on Meet the Press, clearly flattered that he had made it to the funny papers. I have long since forgiven Tim for getting my first name wrong.



Sometimes it really seems only the good die young.

FCBM4 Wrap-up

Free Comic Book Month 4 wrapped up a couple of weeks ago; general real life business has kept me from doing the wrap-up post until now, but here it is!

I had 47 entries this year, down just slightly from last year's 49. I have to admit that I'm always surprised that more people don't enter, especially since my daily readership is up about 50% from last year! Unlike previous years, I noticed nary a blip in a traffic increase--except for the day that Mike Sterling linked to me--but that's probably because the regular traffic level is so high these days that FCBM doesn't have as big an effect as it used to.

Once again everyone who entered received a free comic. Once again postage went up in the middle of May, though not nearly as bad as it did last year. I gave away 106 free comics this year, nearly on par with last year's 111.

Here's the traditional list of most popular comics that were given by entrants:

6 people: Criminal

5 people: Batman

4 people: Justice League; Invincible; Daredevil; All-Star Superman

3 people: X-Men; Walking Dead; Top Ten; Runaways; New Avengers; Incredible Hercules; Immortal Iron Fist; Hellboy; Green Lantern; Fables; Ex Machina; Captain America; Blue Beetle; Amazing Spider-Man; 100 Bulelts;

2 people: Y, the Last Man; Uncle Scrooge; Thunderbolts; The Boys; Swamp Thing; Starman; Scalped; Sandman; Punisher; Nana; Mighty Avengers; Midnight Nation; Locke & Key; League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; JSA; Johnny Hiro; Iron Man; Invisibles; Fantastic Four; Doktor Sleepless; Buffy; Avengers; Astro City

plus another 114 titles listed by one person each.

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and everyone who helped publicize this year's Free Comic Book Month. I'll most likely be back with more free comics in May 2009!

The National Coffin

Today's Bizarro is brought you by Pessimists Amalgamated. "The glass is half full, but it's half full of poison!"

I'm not a pessimist, but I'm very pessimistic about certain things. Like many pessimists, I call myself a "realist."

One thing I'm realistic about is the upcoming election. In a reasonable world, Obama would win in a record-breaking landslide: Bush is the least popular president in nearly 100 years, the economy is in the toilet and a finger is pressing on the flush handle, our reputation worldwide is in the gutter, gas will be $5/gallon by November, according to legal experts, our constitution is in crisis, McCain's policies are the same as Bush's or MORE in the direction that nailed us into our current coffin. It's a no-brainer.

A part of me thinks Obama will win in spite of the combination of stupid, blind patriotism and racism that will account for 90% of the votes against him. But the realist in me is bracing for another close election that the Republicans can steal at the local level. I'm not an alarmist, but that would be national suicide.

If McCain wins, it will change this country for a very long time. Forget what disasters will befall our economy, our troops, our international reputation – the Supreme Court will become a fascist juggernaut for decades to come, and nothing short of an armed uprising will be able to stop them.

If you don't already have a passport, you might want to apply for it before the election. If Obama loses, those offices will be mighty crowded.