In Which I Hate The Media

OK, as a point of order, let's note the fact that the "Batman" TV show ran from 1966 to 1968. That's 42 years ago.

Let's also note that catchphrases usually run their course within 2 years.

Given all this, there is no earthly reason why headlines about comic books have to lead with "Biff! Bam! Pow!"

"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" ran far longer than "Batman," yet articles about comedy don't lead with "Sock It To Me!" You never see, "Watchoo talkin' 'bout? Madonna adopts African baby." And any writer who leads an article on animation with "Ay, Carumba" would be drummed out of the press corps.

Yet, when it comes to comics, a 42 year-old show is still king. It's become so prevalent that it wouldn't surprise me to one day see "Biff! Bam! Pow! Explosion at Comic-Con leaves hundreds dead, many injured" or "Biff! Bam! Pow! Comic creator arrested for sleeping with underage student" or "Biff! Bam! Pow! Stan Lee dead at age 280 from heart attack."

TV news has its own blindside when it comes to comics. Every year at Comic-Con, news vans are parked outside all day and camera crews roam the floor. There are many legends in the field available to interview, many stories to cover, a lot of normal people having a good time. Yet if you watch the coverage, all they show is the freak show side of the con. I have never seen anybody who was not in a costume being interviewed by the media. Mark Evanier could host a panel where he resurrects Jack Kirby to do sketches for everyone and the media would rush by the room to catch a heavyset guy stuffed into a spandex Green Lantern outfit.

Last year, one moronic TV reporter felt the only way she could report on the con was to dress up in costume and ignore any ignore any part of the convention that didn't revolve around costumes. Look, we understand that reporters are a superstitious and cowardly lot and that we strike fear into your hearts. But the nerd or geek is really not that much different from you. If you cut us, do we not bleed? If you punch us in the face, do we not cry "my glasses!"?

I'm not saying don't show the costumes, I'm just saying make it a part of the story not the entire thrust. Keep in mind that this is an event that draws over 125,000 people and pours an estimated $60 million dollars into the local economy. Even Glenn Beck could find a compelling story in all that.

I know doing actual reporting is hard, just like math. I know that the news media has lost its desire for serious reporting, opting for an endless stream of talking heads and offering no objective analysis themselves. But maybe if you start small by finding out why that guy is sitting at that table, it might give you an appetite for bigger and better things, like integrity and truth.

And one final thought, GDFE (Google Does F---ing Exist.) The guy who created Peanuts is Charles Schulz, not Schultz or Shults or Schuls. The two men who created Superman were Siegel and Shuster not Steven Seagal and Schuster or Rodgers and Hammerstein. Spider-Man is spelled with a Hyphen, Superman is not.

If the media can't be bothered to do the most basic of fact checking, why should I believe they can be trusted to report on the bigger issues of the day.