Greetings, New Backers: Thanks To You, The Ship Will Sail

Hello to you new backers who are reading this (Hi!), who have joined the site because you fell for the following chicanery:

For my birthday, a small-time money grab:  If I get ten (10) new backers on my Patreon in the next 24 (twenty-four) hours, at any level, next month (May) I'll post the story of Neal Adams' (!) science presentation (?) on the 2000 CBLDF cruise (?!?).. 

(And hello, previous backers, who fell for some other rigamarole in the past and found themselves here. Hi.)

So, the good news. The goal has been met. Yikes! The bad news: It is with a heavy heart and hand and a busy schedule that I must start planning and researching the unholy CBDLF "Making Waves" Cruise from 2000, in order to help jog my aging memories to write up the dreaded "Neal Adams Explains It All To You" event. Oof.

Interestingly, despite the cruise having a number of big-name creators (and a bunch of medium-name creators), and the hubbub raised by the cruise's announcement, promotion and the general bewilderment surrounding the whole mess, there is, like, no real information out there on the internet about our ship of fools. Like, honestly, almost nothing out there I could find using several searches. And so far, none of it substantial. And I remember back in the day it was treated in the "comics press" a bit like a Carl Kolchak exclusive. 

Considering about a hundred-plus people who smelled vaguely of old comic boxes, broken dreams and Wonder Con were on the boat, many of them creators, industry professionals and uber-fans, it's slightly stunning how we've all signed an internalized NDA on the event. An industry-wide tacit agreement has been made to avoid the matter. It makes me feel a little dirty, somehow. Like we did something wrong. Besides going on a CBLDF cruise, I mean. "A comic con you can't escape from", as we referred to it. It's like a shared nightmare everyone wanted to forget, or a mass-suppressed memory. It's the "World's Funnest" of fundraisers -- a lot of noise, a big bench of talent, and...a weak fizzle. 

Did it actually happen? Maybe we dreamed the whole thing after Wonder Con. maybe the flight crashed and we're all in a Philip K. Dick simulacrum. And you're stuck in it with me now. Hi!

Anyway, it wasn't all one big train wreck. I mean, the fundraiser itself failed spectacularly, in true comics fashion. It was messy, underfunded, confusingly promoted, lost money, and occasionally disturbed and possibly terrified everyone who was on it to some degree. Most of the industry needed physical therapy from rolling their eyes at the affair like Mario Andretti taking the curves at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix. Yes, yes, I know that it lost money, I understand there were on-board injuries, formal complaints about hygiene, that it ruined marriages and destroyed careers and it led to the deaths of twelve fans and one steward. All this I know. But it wasn't as bad as many people have heard. Because the food was decent, for one thing. And I won a Mexican-made bootleg parachute Batman toy. That balances a lot of things out. At least, for me it did. Death happens, every day, every minute, just right now a bunch of us shuffled off this mortal coil. And some more just now (Bye!). But it's not every day you get to have shrimp deluxe specials with Gilbert Hernandez. Did I mention parachute Batman? 

Oh, yeah, I did. Sorry. I get new ADHD meds tomorrow. Like a second birthday!

All this is to say, please enjoy the site and all the previous posts that you are entitled to while I cobbled together our little adventure, and the report on the Neal Adams science lecture and video presentation. I remember a few things of interest. I will couch them in some detail about the cruise, and the characters involved. A good time was had by all, especially because the wait staff was taking drink orders continually through the affair. And someone bought a round for the house at a key point. If I could only recall which key point it was. Anyway, I will write my report, and let you know where memory fails, blurs or succeeds.  Since the post will be up next month, I hopefully can ask Sarah for some details, maybe I can drop a line to a few people. Or get some folks on the record in the future, because that is where I will be posting for the rest of our lives. 

There is one thing I know for sure. It was a fucking humdinger.

Okay. Now you also know how unexciting my birthdays are, because I had an hour to spend on this flummery. I'm 57 now. Which means there's still time for me to get my act together.  Or at least work on the CBDLF Death Ship post. 

I hope you find the Patreon interesting and entertaining. There's a few years of nonsense here for you to check out. 

More nonsense coming soon. 

Thanks for being here.

Above, Jeff Smith's cartoon to promote the cruise. You may have read today that Netflix officially announced that the Bone animated series was canceled  (along with other projects, and the firing of executives/staffers ). I think this is Jeff Smith's third go-around with an adaptation, and this one seemed to be moving along. I say that as an outsider looking in, of course, and apparently the internal talk has been going on for some time as the department seems to be in a state of confusion and collapse (a bit like Netflix itself). That sucks. Unlike most cartoonists in his position, he at least has a following and won't be left scrambling for pick-up work from BOOM! or anything like that. Still, it 's a bummer for him and his fans. Hopefully one day it'll happen.