I am may be a fanboy geek but I am not self loathing! This idea that all comic book fans see ourselves as the pariah outcasts of the "X-Men" is as much a stereotype as saying that all young black men love gangster rap or that all single white women love "Sex and the City". I would expect someone who writes about comics for a living would have some better understanding then that! Perhaps all those who look upon this medium with scorn and self rightous arrogance would do well to look into a few recomendations:

Along with the afformentioned "DK Returns" there is also

"Watchmen"

"Strangers in Paradise"

"Love and Rockets"

"Rusty Brown"

(if you can find back issues of it)"Hepcats"

"Marvels"

"Sandman"

"Maus"

I'm sure there are a lot more that I haven't even thought of. I ask you this: is an obsession with any one of the sequintial TV shows now flooding the airwaves like "Lost" or "Jericho" or "Desperate Housewives" or "The 4400" and especially the obvious "Heroes" any different then a comic book fixation? I don't think it is. They both seem to follow the same basic principle, slowly reveal information about the characters and their histories and where the story is going over time and through multiple episodes or issues. It's the same thing. Even "Sopranos" would fit this mold.

Yes, I will admit that most of what is out on the shelves is crap not fit to carry the title of "novel", but lets remember that this title was created for a good reason. Because there is a lot of good material out there that deserves to get noticed and respected as real art. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go re-read my copy of "Ultimate Galactus Trilogy" I just picked up yesterday. And I shall feel no shame as I do.

PS

The only Superman I care to read is "pre-Crisis".

I felt the same way when I first heard about the "runaway bride" and the death of Anna Nicole, and Rosie leaving "The View". These things are not news and at best deserve to be put at the bottom of the crawl screen on CNN. Perhaps Curtis' point is that while this stuff may have a place on his site, it has no place as the headline of nightly news.

For me the revelation that the MSM doesn't take seriously the things it should came in 2003 with the "Lawrence v. Texas" case. Here you had right wing nutjobs tripping over themselves to justify keeping a law on the books that didn't protect anyone from anything just so they could have an excuse to criminalize gays. These people went on national television to try and justify this law by saying that society needs to have moral absolutes in order to function. Here was a missed opportunity to discuss the real agenda of what is arguably the most powerful political force in the country and the one pulling the strings of the current (then and now) administration. The next day it was like this never happened. Two years later, a woman runs away from her wedding vows and it's on the air for a solid week! Ditto the death of some bleach blonde bimbo hawking speed as diet pills!

I don't care who points out the folly of this kind of prioritization, just so long as someone does it!

I love how all of us who don't want our lives run by the religious right are referred to as "christian haters". I guess that would make all of you gay haters because of how your always trying to villify them for religious and political gain huh? I live in the bible belt and I know better then to buy the claim that you people are "victims" of some kind of persecution. If you don't like something you just try and take it away from everyone else, real victim mentality there! The "culture war" is proof that the so-called party of less government is a joke! This is what happens when you ignore economic issues and the problems surrounding them, you have to replace them with something else and the only thing left is other people's private behavior and interests.

Let me ask you people some questions: If you'r not trying to turn america into a theocracy then why are you still bitching about forced prayer and bible readings being taken out of the schools? Why are other people's sex lives the most important thing to you? The three biggest issues among the religous right are gay marraige, abortion, and pornography, three things that are none of your business if other people do them. Why are you trying to pull evolutoion out of the schools and replace it with creationism? Why are you pushing "abstinance only" sex ed after years of bitching about teaching sex ed in the first place? I guess it's easy to change you mind about "indoctrination" when your guys in charge huh?

If you all are so sure that Hillary is all these things you say she is, how come you couldn't see that same phony pandering when it came out of George W. Bush? Everything you described about her I saw in him in 2000. Perhaps you were just ignoring it because he told you what you wanted to hear. Did you know he didn't even buy that famous ranch of his until he ran for president? Real cowboy isn't he?

And finally, do you support censorship? If a movie or book or magazine or TV show shows something you don't like are you going to try and get it taken out of the stores? In my experience, the answer to that question is yes. I would be curious to see your responses to this question in particular.

I look forward to your responses.