Four Old Guys Talking Comics

(l-r) BobRo, Alan Gold, Bob Greenberger, Paul Kupperberg

  Laurie and I hosted a barbecue on Saturday that split along gender lines pretty quickly. Not so surprising, since four of the guys -- Bob Greenberger, Alan Gold, Paul Kupperberg, and yours truly -- have more than a combined one hundred years in the comic book business, most of it at DC Comics.

  We talked about our days in the DC offices, folks we had worked with who we wouldn't mind seeing again (and some we never want to see again), the state of comics today, and various crazy things we'd been a part of.

  At one point, while the other ladies were occupied, Deb Greenberger ended up with the four of us. She quickly retreated, saying, "I don't want to talk about comic books."
  "How about this whole situation with ISIS?" said Paul. "What should we be doing in the Middle East?"
  This did not entice Deb to stay, so, not missing a beat, Paul said, "Every time I hear something about ISIS, I think of The Mighty Isis (a 1976 TV series that DC published a comic book version of)."
   And we were right back on topic...

Bucket Brigade

Yes, I was invited to take the Ice Bucket Challenge.
No, you won't see any video of me getting doused. Anyone who has seen my cell phone knows that it doesn't take pictures, let alone videos.
What you also won't see are the checks we've written over the years to sponsor a friend who takes part in the annual Walk to Defeat ALS in New York City.

It's great that the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral and that many millions of dollars have been donated to the fight against ALS.
One giant influx of cash is unlikely to solve the problem, however. It is a steady flow of donations that keeps the fight going, so it will be great if everyone who donated this year does so again next year... and the year after that... and the year after that.

Preferably without having to have another bucket of ice water poured on them.

Hey, Look! It's Dr. Wolfgang!

Dr. Wolfgang tells the class about examining the glowing students

  Dr. Wolf W. Wolfgang, "ze head of Science at Vashington College and an expert on ze Marianas Trench, vhich, as you know, is the deepest part of ze Specific Ocean," has been a mainstay of my summer teaching stints since the very beginning. Every year, his bioluminescent jellyfish samples from the Trench end up in the dining hall refrigerator, from which they are served up as Jell-O by Ima Server and eaten by CTY students. When said students end up glowing green in the middle of the night, the writing prompt begins.
  For the past few summers, Giselle, our Assistant Academic Dean, has been trying, unsuccessfully,  to photograph Dr. Wolfgang. By the time she showed up with the camera, the good doctor had invariably wandered back to his lab. That was not the case this year, as she arrived in time to catch the professor answering questions about his examination of the glowing children.
  Many students notice a resemblance between Dr. Wolfgang and Mr. R., the writing instructor, but it is quite easy to tell them apart. Wolfie wears a lab coat (with a name tag that clearly identifies him) and glasses.

Dr. Wolfgang (Note glasses and lab coat with name tag)

Mr. R.

  Surprisingly, no one seems to notice any similarity between Wolfie, Mr. R. and Ulysses S. Feedum, the head of Dining Services. Maybe it's the hat.

Ulysses S. Feedum, with his assistant Ima Server