Dear Kellogg’s and Subway:
Guys. I get that you have to raise a hue and a cry when your spokesperson is caught smoking pot. It is illegal, and you’ve got to show parents and such that you don’t condone illegal activities and whatnot. You’ve got to defend the family integrity of your brand.
But we’ve got a real opportunity here for a serious discussion in this country:
Okay, this has come up a couple of times in conversations that I’ve had. It’s part of the reason why I actually…am bothered by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s come up when I’ve talked to friends about upcoming Wonder Woman movies. Judith Berman mentioned something like it on the Black Gate blog, recently. And it came up again when I saw the promo for this week’s episode of Burn Notice, and Gabrielle Anwar was walking around on the beach in her bikini, then knocked some guy out and took his gun.
This irritates me. I will explain.
As an adult male in his late 20′s, who is in a happy, long-term relationship, the way to spend a Tuesday evening is probably not watching a romantic comedy, alone, while eating a deep-fried cheeseburger and drinking Boddington’s (the 
greatest beer ever).
And yet, here I am. I feel I may be developing a theme, called “Your Late 20′s: How They Might Surprise You.”
Okay, I keep thinking I’m going to write a post about how I lost my job, but really I haven’t got a lot to say about it. I’m mad that they just yanked it out from under me–they’d think themselves ill-used if I didn’t give THEM two weeks notice, and train my replacement, and make sure everything was organized before I went. But they don’t have any trouble laying me off, then locking me out of the computer system before I even have time to get back to my desk. This was inconvenient for me–I was in the middle of refinancing my mortgage, and a little flexibility or forewarning about my impending doom would have gone a long way–and it was inconvenient for them, since I’m the one that knew where all the files were, and kept my bosses’ records, and they’re going to NEED those.
But, whatever. I want to try out a new idea.
Here’s the deal: I know comic books. I know them very, very well. And I know some of you like them. And some of you think you might, if only you had someone to guide you to the good stuff. So I’m going to look at some recent reads and some Important Works, and see if I can’t recommend something to you.
Over the weekend, I was reading some books by writer Ed Brubaker, and I 
started to wonder: What separates a good writer from a great writer? Where’s the line?
