the wall street journal

The lawyers thought about it and said, “Yes, if the show is called Bullshit! anyway, let’s go with heavy, heavy obscenity. That will cut down on lawsuits.” We were the only show that would get official marginal comments back on our scripts by lawyers that said, “Can you please call this guy a cunt-pickle instead of this because we don’t want to get sued.” The obscenity, in a sense, was a kind of legal dodge.

And one of the things that strikes me most about superheroes as they currently stand, is that these are heroes, as the term implies. These are people who stand unflinchingly against tyrants and oppressors, who protect and support the underdog, who are fearless and noble in everything that they do. I’m starting to feel that the most significant part of the superhero makeup is that part which is not talked about, the fact that these triumphant paragons are being created by an industry of people who are frightened to ask for a raise, the rights to their work, and, especially after seeing what happened to Gardner Fox and the others, to form a union.

This is why I split from the comics industry.

Advertising consultants may argue that the marketing statistics actually make the NASCAR project worthwhile, that it’s great “bang for the buck” in getting the Army slogan in front of millions of young auto fans salivating at the masculine thrill of modern sport…

That being said, when a smart, young high school student from Connecticut is considering enlistment, what sort of “ad placement” do homeless veterans on his neighborhood block present? What does that high school student think when he sees veterans unemployed or without health insurance?

Punk rock’s most widely recognized defining characteristic is a complete lack of finesse or talent. This deficiency, or quality, depending on your perspective, tends to be either worn proudly on the sleeve (or tattooed where a sleeve would be), or it is hidden by volume, speed, stage stunts, and/or other creative acts of distraction. When you set out to judge punk rock music, the first thing you have to do is decide for yourself if it’s fair to the artist to separate their substance from their style. You always risk taking the art more seriously than the artist does… and maybe that’s something that needs to be done.