I can either go out to get more news to increase the backlog of things to post -- or post some more. For example, there's a great project in the works from Blue Line Art to benefit the American Cancer Society. I guess you can take this as a heads-up, and I'll bring you more later.

The 'Toon Tumblers special edition for the Baltimore con featured a lovely image of Gwen Stacy, saying, "I LOVE YOU, Peter -- FOREVER!" Later in the day, Steve Saffel showed me a copy of his upcoming volume on Spider-Man. It's a monumental project: a terrific combination of research and great design that will be on sale later this year. So what did we end up debating? Yep, poor Gwen. We LOVE YOU, Gwen -- FOREVER!

Another yesterday vs. today change in the world of comic-book sales is the matter of price points. They used to be vital. I remember when the difference to me between a comic book that cost only a dime -- and one three or four times as big for a quarter -- was that I couldn't afford the quarter. Never mind that it was a better value.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Classics Illustrated titles were a luxury and seldom purchased -- because they cost 15 cents, half again as much as most of the comics. There was a point at which some of the E.C. titles (or was it just one?) were 15 cents. Yikes! Pass those by! When DC in later years tried for the wonderful $1 packages, full of entertainment, Don and I predicted they wouldn't survive, because the price point was so much higher -- never mind the matter of the proverbial bang for the buck. When, indeed, the dollar line was eliminated, someone said something like, "I hope you're satisfied." To which we responded that we were not at all satisfied; we were dismayed that our prediction had been correct. Today, with prices all over the map, I wonder whether anyone makes purchasing decisions based on whether a comic book costs $3 or $3.50 or $4. Or do people just go with the titles they've "always bought"?

It turned out that both Andrew Pepoy and Franchesco were on the flight to Baltimore, so I got to extol Geppi's Entertainment Museum to them AND read the rough version of a delightful new short story starring Andrew's Simone and Ajax -- and I won't give away its jungly delights except to say that I laughed out loud several times.

Among the pleasures of the trip was the opportunity to read Max Allan Collins' first prose novel about Ms. Tree: a hard-boiled detective novel that barrels along, captivating in its own right and of special interest to comics fans who first met the gun-toting detective in 1980. Collins notes in his afterword that she's star of the longest-running private-eye comic book. This paperback from Hard Case Crime revamps her origin and brings it up to date with skill. Don't miss it. (Wah! I bent the corner by sticking it in my carry-on! Oh, wait. Yes. Books ARE for reading.)

Can you tell I haven't figured out how to italicize from my phone? Oh, the title of the Ms. Tree book? It's DEADLY BELOVED, on sale Nov. 27.