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Again, I pay tribute to the late comedy writer Goodman Ace for creating this character.
The skies are crowded again. I would not enjoy this normally, as it makes my midnight missions more
difficult. But after the empty, forlorn airways of last year, I actually enjoy dodging airliners now. I steer my
sleigh with its eight reindeer through the skies.
Yes, I'm Santa - one of the many Santas that make this journey. Did you think there was only one? But my
mission is different from the others. I am Conditional Santa. My gifts go to those in the entertainment industry,
and they come with a requirement. They are gifts only if the recipients behave properly in the next year.
Otherwise, they turn into something hideous.
Well, it's time to floor this sucker. I yell encouragement to my team. Because some of my team were
educated in Florida schools, I have to hyphenate the words so they'll understand that the lines scan properly:
"On, Ser-ling! On El-li-son! On, Al-an Moore!! On, Row-ling! On, As-i-mov! Time to go soar! Stra-czyn-ski and Dick-son, take flight and don't fail! Go, Fog-li-o Fe-male and Fog-li-o Male!"
The Cape and Cowl Conundrum
The first stop I make is to the executive suite at Warner Brothers Studios. The biggest names Warner could
hire have failed to do anything with the Superman and Batman movie franchises. Films about both characters
are still struggling in Production Hell.
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The beautiful Huntress of Birds
of Prey may be cancelled, due
to WB Network's itchy trigger finger.
©The WB.
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But, with minuscule budgets and stars with little clout, Warner produced two series that are the best thing to air in this dismal TV season. Starting with last year, Smallville
brought back the joy of the old Superboy stories written in the 1960's, updated for today's introspective,
troubled teen audience. And now, Birds of Prey has brought back Batman, in a manner that is not camp and not
sleazy. Unlike the last two Batman theatrical features, Birds - about three heroic women trying to live up to the
legend of the absent Dark Knight - takes superheroism seriously, and respects its audience as much as its
characters.
But WB and Warner Brothers are showing
cowardice. Word is that, despite its exceptional
premiere, Birds of Prey will be killed
after 13 episodes. The cast is trying to save
the series, as are fans, but it looks like the
old story of suit stupidity. WB is picking up
episodes of a lame sitcom to put in its place.
Even more tragically, Warner has been unable
to get a movie featuring Superman or Batman
- or both together - out of the gate.
It isn't simply that unknown
and uncaring people are being assigned to these
projects. It's that the companies themselves
still think "comic book movies"are
a cheap way to get audiences full of kids, but
they're not "serious movies"- as serious
as, say, I-Spy, Shallow Hal or Bubble
Boy. These crappy parodies get executive
support and massive DVD releases, not because
they're good (they aren't) but because they're
"original." In other words, some cokehead
in the executive suite ripped off the concept
from a comic book or novel, filed off the serial
numbers and forged his name. They can't do that
with known properties like the superheroes.
This conditional gift which I drop down their air conditioning vent (no chimney, of course) is a successful
Batman or Superman movie, if Warner comes to its senses and hires the Batman/Superman animators, or the
Smallville/Birds of Prey producers.. Heck, they might even do a movie with both heroes - the long-awaited "World's Finest" movie, named after the classic World's Finest Comics that teamed both characters.
If this is not fulfilled, this conditional gift gets dark. The management of AOL Time Warner gets demoted to
warehouse clerks, and has to stick clearance-price labels on the DVD's of their failed movies..
No, It Ain't Cool.
My second delivery is to Austin, Texas. It is the modest home of Harry Knowles. This is the guy who,
several years ago, shook up the entertainment world with his Ain't It Cool News web site
(http://www.aintitcool.com) He broke stories, reprinted gossip and allowed nerds of all kinds (including the guy
who pays for this web site, Tom Reed) to post commentary and reviews.

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Knowles's book, a great read,
but the web site is nowhere near
as honest or mannered.
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Although other sites permitted the general public to post - notably the Internet Movie Database
(http://www.imdb.com) - Knowles's site was suffused with the fanboy in full regalia. Knowles and his "spies"
(which were often Knowles himself posing as other people) spread rumors, leaked production secrets and offered opinions
with the glee of movie lovers. At the height of the dot-com boom, Knowles let it be known that the ads on his
site did NOT control him, they paid him a small fortune, and he had reached the height of film critic prestige; he
had co-starred with Roger Ebert on his TV show.
Sadly, the influence is creeping back in. Knowles's co-critic, egotistically calling himself "Moriarty," let it
be known his real name was "Drew McWeeny" (sure it is, and my real name's Maria Montez!) and let it be
known that he was selling scripts to studios. Taking money from the people he's supposed to impartially
critique - and he claims to be a critic? Then, the prospect of wading through posts from retarded high-school
kids with pretentious pseudonyms, just to find some hints of intelligent comment, became daunting.
The fairness of the ringmasters of this mental hospital is in question. Mr. Reed, who allows me to post this
every year, has been kicked out of Ain't It Cool News twice. Once, he insulted McWeeny personally, an error for
which he apologized - but got no word back. He entered the site under another name, and got kicked off for
unexplained reasons. Mr. Reed will never post there again. He has been thrown out of far better dumps than this.
Meanwhile, other lunatics - using language that approaches the anger and disgust of Fucked Company
(http://www.fuckedcompany.com) can rant, unchecked.
Knowles is an intelligent man. His love of movies is unquestioned. His knowledge of cinema history,
especially that of world cinema, is astounding. But he mistakes being a critic with being a filmmaker. You
cannot be both. A critic must always be outside the world of celebrity, not part of it. A critic cannot love money
or fame. A critic must love his medium, love it enough that he will protect it from crap artists who want to
demean it and money men who want to prostitute it. Knowles hasn't shown the will, the wit or the wisdom to do
this. And he has not passed this wisdom on to the hordes of high-school egotists who fill up his "talk
back"posts.
This conditional present is continued support and fame for Knowles, McWeeny and Ain't It Cool News - if
they start acting like critics, instead of This Year's Blonde. If they fail, they will become Last Year's Blondes.
They will become like Mr. Blackwell, that flamingly gay fashion critic who insults people a thousand times
more talented than he is. They will become like Criswell, the TV psychic who spouted lunatic predictions to an
audience that mocked and hated him. They will become the burnt-out bulb on a theatre marquee, once glowing,
now just dead glass.
Hungry Like the Lupin
Back to California, there is a special present being delivered to FunImation. This little company - like most
production companies, little more than an office - is an anime releasing firm. They hit paydirt when they
provided the translated Dragon Ball to local stations. The series flopped. But when it appeared on Cartoon
Network, the show and its sequel Dragon Ball Z became hits.
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Lupin III (in the red coat) and
below, from left to right, Goemon,
Fujiko, Gigan and Inspector Zenigatta.
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Flush with that success, FunImation bought the rights to one of the greatest anime series never seen in the
States. Written by a Japanese cartoonist with the pen name Monkey Punch, Lupin the Third is a combination of
James Bond, Topkapi, Smokey and the Bandit and every other thrill film you can think of. The reason that
Monkey Punch hasn't gotten rich from it is that the character is slightly plagiarized. Its origin was the short
stories about a gentleman thief, Arsene Lupin, created by writer Maurice LeBlanc
in 1905.
Arsene Lupin III, the anime character, holds to the same morality as his father and grandfather. He is a
skilled thief. He does not kill. He uses his high intelligence and daring to pull off his heists. He steals from the
rich, who don't have any real need or use for their possessions. He keeps what he steals. But he also does pro
bono work, helping the innocent and poor who are in dire straights. He enjoys humiliating the law, who can't
catch him and who make a mess when they try.
There are several years of the Lupin the Third TV series already made, plus several theatrical movies - Lupin
III: Dead or Alive, Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamu, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro are a few of the titles.
The reason that these are only available on bootleg tapes is that Monkey Punch didn't clear the use of
Arsene Lupin and his past with the LeBlanc estate in France. No one wanted to mess with the French courts (hell,
no one wants to mess with the French, period). Some products have crept out with the character re-named
"Rupin." But apparently, FunImation got the money to smooth over everything, and announced that they would
soon be presenting the adventures of Lupin the Third in America.
So, where are they? Will they show up on Cartoon Network? When? After a lot of noise about the Lupin
release, where is it? Earlier this year, the newly animated Speed Racer wound up butchered on a minor cable
network. Speed Racer Enterprises couldn't come to a deal with CN, and now their pride and joy (their only real
product) is being dribbled away to a minuscule audience. Will Lupin the Third suffer the same terrible fate?
And how intact will the shows be? Like most anime, Lupin contains nudity and sex, but censoring that isn't
a problem. The violence is. Lupin, although he never kills, does carry a gun. His assistant Gigan is a former
Chicago hitman who foreswore killing, but is still a crack shot. Goemon has a mystic sword that can cut through
anything. Will FunImation be as squeamish as Steven Spielberg was with his own E.T., and digitally exchange
the pistols and rifles for walkie-talkies and toilet plungers?
This present is more money and success for FunImation, if they bring Lupin the Third with most of its
virtues intact to American television. If they cut it to ribbons, if they remove the thrill and adventure, if they take
out the firearms, if they castrate Lupin - their present turns to a pile of non-functioning walkie-talkies and toilet
plungers.
Old Business
On my way to the East Coast, I check the status of previous conditional presents. I look in on Todd
McFarlane. His mistreatment of Spawn and his audiences has cost him. He lost a lawsuit to writer Neil Gaiman,
whom he cheated out of royalties and credits for work he did on some Spawn subsidiary issues. The judgment
was a few million dollars - or, another World Series baseball for McFarlane's collection.
Even sadder is the fate of the conditional present left to Cinefantastique Magazine. CFQ has declined from
the outstanding, independent critical voice of science fiction fandom, into a pretentious copy of Starlog. It has
fawning reports about upcoming productions, but its reviews have gotten milder and have nearly disappeared
from the magazine. It's become another fawning PR outlet.
Sometimes, conditional presents bring their penalties in obscure ways. Michael Eisner's firing of animators
and other talents last year has boomeranged. Both the ABC Network and his theme park revenues have declined.
Firing your creative people when you need creativity is not a wise choice. Eisner cut back even more by firing
the "imagineers," the technical folk who dreamed up unique rides and effects for Disney. Disney will go to
conventional ride engineers, the guys who supply the other theme parks - which means that Disney parks will
look more and more like Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens and the others. The result: income declining
even more. Eisner's time as an extraordinarily well-paid CEO may be limited.
True Disbelievers
My final conditional present is dropped down a nicely appointed house in New York, owned by Stan Lee.
It's been known that the former Stanley Lieber has always been a publicity lover. However, his desire for ego
satisfaction - and financial remuneration -has grown embarassing.
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Stan Lee, with the microphone,
promoting Stripperella at
Comic-Con in San Diego - a series
which now appears stillborn.
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Lee still has fans who love the characters he helped to create. Notice I say "helped to create." The Spider-Man movie credits the reclusive, right-wing-nutcase, but talented artist Steve Ditko along with Lee as the
creator of Spider-Man. The story of Lee's work with the greatest creator in comic history, Jack Kirby, is
legendary - as are their battles over credit and remuneration.
Lee got tremendous media attention from the media when Marvel Comics first took off in the 1960's. He has
attempted to keep in the public spotlight ever since. Within the last five years he has become embarassing.
First, he was the front man for Stan Lee Media. He provided "creative consultation"on some non-memorable
Flash-animated internet cartoons, the most visible of which was 7th Portal. Before the rest of the dot-coms fell,
the business head of the company was arrested for defrauding his investors, and the entire enterprise collapsed.
Lee had nothing to do with the criminal charges. However, he had much to do with the pathetic quality of 7th
Portal, which looked like forty years of comic book writing had never occurred.
Then, he began promoting Internet comics with comic book creators like Steve Gerber, the creator of
Howard the Duck. This was badly timed, starting in the middle of the dot-com collapse.
Third, he promoted the launch of a cartoon show for The National Network
called Stripperella. I've talked about this before. There was no cartoon. Pamela Anderson didn't show up for the
press conference. Lee did all the talking, and I mean ALL the talking. The project has fallen apart. Not only is
Anderson not providing the voice of Stripperella, she has come down with hepatitis. (Some people, not
confirmed, say that "hepatitis" is a code word for AIDS.) Lee's ever-present enthusiasm for this project looked
like nothing more than whoring after attention (whoring is a good word to use in conjunction with Anderson,
isn't it?)
Most recently, Lee has sued Columbia Pictures, the people who made the Spider-Man theatrical feature. It's
the oldest game in Hollywood. Lee was supposed to be paid from the profits of the movie. Thanks to creative
accounting, there are "no profits" for the movie. People who've been around for a while know that you never
take money from the film's net profits: you take money from the film's gross. Lee is now suing for honest
accounting of the film. It will never happen, and Lee will never get his money. Could this be another ploy to
stay in the public spotlight?
Conditional Santa will be the first to say that Stan Lee is talented. But his contributions to comics and
entertainment are being eclipsed by his hanging on the lapels of the media, trying to get noticed. Lee is starting
to replace Jerry Lewis as the most embarassing attention-grabber in show business.
This conditional present is a place in comic book history, and respect from the public - IF Lee stops
embarassing himself in public. Otherwise, the present turns into one of his infamous "No-Prizes" that he gave
out when he edited Marvel Comics. The No-Prize is an empty envelope mailed to people who caught mistakes
in the comics. It was a joke on Marvel's supposed cheapness. This No-Prize envelope will say on the outside,
"Please find enclosed the enduring place of Stan Lee in entertainment
history."
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