N E W S L E T T E R S

PA to LA: Day 8

June 8, 2003

June 8:
Our final day in Dallas begins with a trip to a Vietnamese restaurant--again, please don't ask me to name the place cause it ain't gonna happen. The food is good though it would be better if my stomach wasn't in an uproar. The place is light on atmosphere but the music is good and the company is better. We hang out with Jay & Karla and Jay's long-time friend, Don. Don is to comics what the Ancient One is to magic. He's also got more cockroach horror stories than Franz Kafka.

Following lunch we split--boys go book shopping, girls go shopping wherever it is girls go. Our trip to the bookstore is mostly a bust, though I manage to find a 9th Edition AMA Style Guide for the unbelievably low price of three bucks.

Afterward we watch a documentary produced in the late '80s. I believe it was called "The Great Comic Book Artists" and included interviews with such great artists as Berni Wrightson, the late Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, and others. The reclusive Steve Ditko rambles on and on about Mr. A., though the entire interview is voice only since Steve-a-rino doesn't typically do interviews. I'd have had more fun watching paste dry. The video is hosted by Harlan Ellison who introduces each artist. Ellison rambles on in the usual Ellison manner, pontificating on the viability of comics as a serious literary medium. Although Ellison has often professed that he does not smoke or drink, he appears on screen holding a pipe in each of his narrative introductions. His words become less and less interesting, and several of the interviewees--such as Dave Sim and Neal Adams--have little, if anything, of interest on their minds. The gems of the video are the Eisner and Kirby interviews. Don's comments are quite humorous--almost everything Don says is quite humorous; and again, his knowledge of comics is astounding. Perhaps some day he will write a book and share some stories with others; I'd certainly read it.

Later in the day, we meet up with Di and Karla for dinner. The day passes far too quickly and before we know it the day has ended as has our time in Dallas. We say farewell to our friends, but look forward to seeing them in July at SDCC.

Our sleep is restless--bad dreams all around. Even the pets seemed to sleep less than sound. They know that tomorrow we're packing it in and heading further west. Somehow they always know.