Author: Glenn Hauman

Did you know that in the English speaking world, there’s a tradition that women may propose marriage on leap years? Yep. Surprise!

While it has been argued that the tradition was initiated by Saint Patrick or Brigid of Kildare in 5th century Ireland, it is dubious as the tradition has not been attested before the 19th century. Supposedly, a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland (then age five and living in Norway), required that fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a pound (money, nothing kinky– they didn’t have S&M in the 13th century) to a silk gown, in order to let the girl down easy.

Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to the modern leap day, February 29.

In modern times, of course, we knows this as Sadie Hawkins Day, made famous by the denizens of Dogpatch in Li’l Abner— although that takes place in mid-November, one can never be too careful when being chased by dames. You’ve all been warned.

Oh where, oh, where, could Simone & Ajax be? They’re taking a quick one-week breather so that they can thrill you and chill you with their next exciting all new adventure: "The Case Of The Maltese Duck!"

Action! Adventure! Amazing Fantasy! All in color for less than a dime! All starting next week!

I think this card sums up my feelings about the end of the Writers Strike with disturbing accuracy:

If you’ve ever said something happens once in a blue moon, well, today’s the day.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac definition of the third full moon in a quarter of the year when there are four full moons, today is a blue moon.

So now you need a new excuse.

This musing was brought up by an article in the Wall Street Journal, blogged by Jeff Matthews, on how Staples was no longer going to be doing business with Asia Pulp and Paper because of environmental concerns.

The article detailed why:

In the past, [Asia Pulp and Paper] has said it is moving toward relying for all of its wood on plantation trees but needs to cut natural forest to maintain production levels.

APP last year sought permission to use an environmentally friendly logo issued by the Forest Stewardship Council. In October, after inquiries from The Wall Street Journal about APP’s planned use of the logo, the FSC barred the company from using it.

The problem is that a lot of comic books and graphic novels are being published in China, South Korea, and Indonesia, from a variety of smaller printers that are bundled and sold by larger printing firms here in the United States to publishers of all sizes, from the smallest of independents up to Marvel.

Does any production person for any company want to shed any light on this? More to the point, with multiple layers and language barriers between the comics publishers and the actual printers, can anybody reliably answer that they’re sure their books aren’t made from clear-cutters?