Month / April 2006

by Edward Champion

The Bat Segundo Show #33

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[NOTE: This is the third of a three-part podcast which tackles Alternative Press Expo. This particular podcast was recorded in front of a live audience on April 9, 2005. Enjoy!]

Author: Alex Robinson

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Missing, arrested for littering.

Subjects Discussed: Why Caprice carried over in all three of Alex’s books, the appeal of cons and self-delusion, how Tricked was planned, on being influenced by and cultural references, John Lennon, why many of Alex’s women characters are taken in by dupes, messy bedrooms, Dorothy Parker, on writing small-talk in comics, the use of text, balloons, Dave Sim, work ethic, comic book influences, ethical subtext, the mystery of the one dark moment concerning Marlise in Box Office Poison revealed, loyalty, lucid crazy people, the Eisner-Pekar questionnaire, on attending comic book conventions, Alex Robinson the critic on Alex Robinson the artist, Planet of the Apes, on computers and printing, and minicomics.

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by Edward Champion

The Bat Segundo Show #32

segundo32.jpg

[NOTE: This is the second of a three-part podcast which tackles Alternative Press Expo. Our Young, Roving Correspondent walked the floor and talked with people for the first two parts. The third part will feature the panel interview with Alex Robinson.]

Authors: Anna Warren Boersig, Mel Smith and Clark Castillo, Shuji Karasawa, Neil Fitzpatrick, Jacob Steingroot, Julia Wertz, Carmen Ogden, Fred Van Lente, Matt Voss, M.K. Reed, Gary Zumie, Brandon Huigers, Sean Seamus McWhinny, Shaenon K. Garrity, Joe Canose and AK Smith, Scott Beale, Bill Roundy, Alex Dias and Daniel Clowes.

Condition of Mr. Segundo: Missing, arrested for littering.

Subjects Discussed: A different version of Oz, on what an executive producer does on a comic, the latest comic adaptation of Gumby, Bob Burden, an “Ally McBeal sense” to Gumby, Robert Downey, Jr., Hard Gay Comics, naming a comic book universe after a creator vs. coming up with a brand new name like Narnia, animals, Homeric epithets, “Fart Party” as a benign concept, an obsession with submarines, faux Esperanto, Action Philosophers, putting out a Xmas book in April, violence via croquet, Nabokov, footnotes in comics, more animals, the Stop Dating philosophy and an ironic revelation from the guy who came up with it, the scandalous world of catering, mad scientists, robot zombies, squids, bartending guides, purple fingernails, a fascinating gentleman who is organizing the world’s most exteme convention (including nonstop entertainment and dancing!), Art School Confidential, and screenplays vs. comics.

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by Edward Champion

SFPD — The Use of Force

The San Francisco Chronicle has a number of articles on excessive force and the SFPD. Reading some of the stories, I was very lucky. The police routinely beat, pepper spray, choke, club and hit citizens when it isn’t called for. And what’s worse, the Police Department does nothing about it.

According to the Chronicle, the SFPD has 100 violence-happy members among its force of 2,200. These officers are then promoted to supervisory positions and train rookie officers, thus instilling a police culture where violence is rewarded and possibly encouraged. And of course taxpayers pay a considerable burden defending all the civil suits. The City has paid out more than $5 million in judgments and legal settlements between 1996 and 2005.

Heaven knows what the costs are for the victims, both physically and mentally, short-term and long-term.