Three Items O' the Day

First of all, a small correction: Jason (my editor) tells me that Crown/TRP is a division of Random House, not whatever garbledygook I was talking before. Please correct your press releases accordingly.

Second, I have been reading The Essential Dr. Strange because I suddenly decided I had to have it, and wow, Steve Ditko may be a scary Objectionist Ayn-Rand worshipper, but he's also a pretty awesome artist/plotter/head-messer-with-er. This stuff rocks, right up until the point where he quit. Remember back when I asked y'all what comics characters you'd like to get your hands on? For me, it'd be the Defenders in some wise or another; not so much the Hulk/Sub-Mariner/Silver Surfer incarnation, but the bunch of weirdo second-stringers that Doc Strange used to send around to deal with messes they really weren't qualified to handle. Nighthawk! Hellcat! Valkyrie! Devil-Slayer! Anyway. Now I got to find me some more Ditko.

Third, but MOST IMPORTANTLY: Strange Horizons is having their Fall Fund Drive! We love SH 'round these here parts, not just because they are lovely (in every sense of the word) people, or because they are run by volunteers, or because they pay their writers and artists pro rates, or because they know how to throw a tea party. When it comes right down to it, we love them because they bring us great stories and columns and reviews and poetry Every Damn Week. Give them money. That's an order.