The countdown to San Diego has begun. You can tell because Mark Evanier is starting to post his great stories about San Diego cons of the past.

I’ve really been enjoying his tales of the con that involve Ray Bradbury and Julie Schwartz (and MAD Magazine’s Al Feldstein). One of the things that’s being revealed is that Julie, a longtime DC Comics editor and later company ambassador, doesn’t come across as a likeable guy.

This will not come as a surprise to anyone who’s read about Evan Dorkin’s repeatedly unpleasant encounters with Schwartz.

Or to people who are familiar with Colleen Doran.

Speaking of Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl remembers his friend of 75 years.

ICV2 has a sneak preview of Robert Greenberger’s new Chaykin book, The Art Of Howard Chaykin from Dynamite. I’ve made no secret of my fancrush on Howard, so this is a must-buy item for me.

Robot 6 makes the case for collecting the forgotten DC Comics mini-series, La Pacifica.

Comic Strip Of The Day breaks down its love for a subscription to DailyInk, and I gotta say, it makes a lot of sense to have one.

I love looking at cartoonist Rowland Wilson’s work and thankfully, Michael Sporn at Splog has just posted a bunch of it.

Paul O’Connor at Longbox Graveyard celebrates a birthday.

I’d forgotten that Malibu Comics produced something called Malibu Sunspots. Fortunately, the internets remembered.

Retailer Mike Sterling reports from the trenches on how Before Watchmen is doing in his store.

Rich Johnston reports on Grant Morrison’s MBE.

Alex Toth wrote some letters to Irwin Hasen and Mike Lynch shares them.

And finally, Spongebob #9 came out this past week.

Use your internets responsibly!

[Artwork: Ray Bradbury]