TIME TRAVELING
Legal Dispatch 0.21
The title of this week’s post comes from two things. First, I started the draft this past Monday, I’m finishing it today (May 7) but am going to hold off publishing it until Tuesday, May 10, because I’ve found I pick up more subscribers if I don’t bury the newsletter’s publication over a weekend.
So, yeah, get ready for some non-linear newslettering…
NEAL ADAMS
It may be a few days before I publish this edition of LegalDispatch [EDIT: See? True to my word.] but yesterday (as of this writing) Neal Adams passed away. Neal’s impact on the comic book industry — and, more importantly, the art form of comic books — cannot be overstated, nor should it be. “He changed the game” is praise that cannot fairly be bestowed on many artists, but it’s not only apt to Neal, but applies to several games: Batman. Realistic art. Socially conscious comic stories. Artist rights. The list goes ever onward.
RIP, maestro.
GEORGE PEREZ
Bad news apparently comes in twos.
On Friday, May 6 (yesterday, as of this writing), George Pérez passed away after a battle — as heroic as his creations’ — with pancreatic cancer.
I never had the privilege of meeting George in person, but we did correspond via email, most often when I was working on adapting his epic Crisis on Infinite Earths to live action. To say that George was a huge influence on my own work is an understatement as huge as the epic scenes often depicted in his art. He was a master of the craft and, arguably, the greatest comic book artist who ever lived.
I was fortunate enough to collaborate with him on a ten-issue story for Justice Society of America Issue 50. It was and remains a career-highlight for me and two pages from that story hang proudly in my home.
Goodbye, George. You will be missed.
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
Yesterday [EDIT: Again, not so much yesterday.] also saw the passing of Legends of Tomorrow, a show I helped co-create and, for a time, co-showrun. Of course, I don’t mourn the loss of a show that had seven fantastic seasons. I do, however, mourn the fact it will forever end on a cliffhanger and leave the airwaves without a proper send-off.
LA LAW
Yesterday also marked the final playback of the LA Law pilot. In fact, I was on the mix stage when Phil Klemmer Legends’ co-creator/co-showrunner texted me the sad news.
For the uninitiated, television episodes and feature films under go a final “sound mix” as part of the post-production process. This is where the tapestry of the things you hear as you watch get woven together: Production sound, sound-effects (i.e., foley), “needle drops” (songs, etc.), music, and ADR (see the previous edition of LegalDispatch) all come together. It’s also typically the last opportunity to review the whole enchilada before the project is rendered complete.
So now… we wait. ABC’s upfront presentation is May 17, so we’ll have to learn our fate by then. But for now… big with the waiting.
PROJECT SPECTRE
As I write this, I realize that yesterday [EDIT: By now, you get the jist.] was a rather big day. I returned home from the LA Law playback and, that evening, finished the first draft of PROJECT SPECTRE. This is a spec screenplay (a screenplay written “on spec” — i.e., without a contract or buyer) I started while we were in pre-production on LA Law. It’s based on something I read about and then just had to write. There are many, many other projects that I should have been working on, but I just had to get this particular monkey off my back.
Next up, is polishing and rewriting, of course, but it’s a relief to have a finished draft “in the can.” I tend to polish and rewrite as I go, so that process is not usually onerous for me and I’ll be able to fit in other projects as I polish away. That said, the script’s subject matter is an industry I’m wholly unfamiliar with, so there will have to be several additional passes as I avail myself of the wisdom of actual experts who will, no doubt, tell me how flawed my internet research is.
DOBBS VS. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH
Last week also saw the “leak” of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health which, if it is published in its current form, will take the unprecedented step of violating the legal principle of stare decisis (adherence to precedent) and actually take away established rights from fifty-percent of the American population.
I don’t care what your politics are — there are arguments to be made against abortion which I don’t agree with but do respect — this decision is a stain on the Court. Of the nine justices currently sitting, four were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote. And two of those justices were confirmed under extremely specious circumstances brought about by highly cynical and ruthless — to say nothing of hypocritical — Senate machinations. Bottom line, democracy is the operation of the will of the majority, but that will (80% of Americans support the legalization of abortion) is being subverted of justices appointed by, confirmed by, and doing the bidding of a small but vocal — and powerful — minority.
Back in law school and for many, many years afterwards, I revered the Court, the one branch of our government that was beyond reproach because it was beyond politics. That is, sadly, no longer the case and that is a tragedy of irreducible proportions, a judicial 9/11.
To reiterate, this has nothing to do with politics. I don’t care whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or a Martian, if you are celebrating the curtailing of the rights of American citizens, you are not an AMERICAN.
MOON KNIGHT: BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD
Well, there was a lot of bad news in this edition of LegalDispatch, so here’s a positive note to end on: Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood drops on Wednesday, May 11. You can pre-order it here.
Jorge Fornés and I have a fun 10-page story in this which unfolds backwards à la Memento. But because of the wonder that is comics, you can also read it backwards to see the story unfold forwards should you so desire. A fun bit of storytelling.
Well, that’s it for this week (and, I suppose, last week as well).
Be good to each other.
Best,
Marc
Encino, California
5.10.22
Once again I would like to thank you for sharing all of this with us. I appreciate it so very much. 🙏🏻
Both truly great artists, creators, and people. Definitely feeling the loss of those two Superheroes. Legends of Tomorrow was an epically phenomenal show and seeing it go is hard. I’ll miss those wonderful characters and stories.