The Lost Art of Longhand, by Elayne Riggs
8:30 AM, Bx7 bus southbound to subway: It’s favored by Luddites and techies alike. Early adopter Neil Gaiman, for instance, writes all his first drafts this way, using various fancy pens. (Me, I use my Uniball blue roller ’cause it’s what I carry in my pocketbook.) It’s physically draining, at least if you’re not used to it. It requires both concentration to keep your hand steady, and a heightened awareness of your surroundings, particularly on moving vehicles. It certainly isn’t for everyone; I’d rarely recommend it for myself. But a pad of paper is a lot lighter and more flexible than my laptop, and not having the distractions of checking email and blogs and playing online games forces me to focus on the here-and-now of completing this week’s column. Besides, I need the practice in transcribing relatively illegible handwriting.
My Dad had beautiful longhand. Which amazed me, because he was naturally left-handed which was a no-no in hyper-superstitious Romania in the ’30s. His schoolteachers beat that left-handedness out of him — not entirely, I think he still shaved and did a few other things lefty, but he became right-handed for purposes of writing. I inherited his “sinister” gene, but by 1960s secular America children were allowed to retain such peculiar proclivities.
8:55 AM, “1” train southbound into Manhattan: Unfortunately, I never inherited Dad’s longhand flair. I can add a few flourishes here and there, but only if I slow down and write very carefully and deliberately, and that starts my hand aching again. I figure I’m okay as long as I’m just legible enough to make out a check (I’m mired enough in the 20th century to still use checks on occasion). Damn, I have to put this away now, someone just sat down next to me and I can no longer comfortably use my right arm to prop this up… (more…)
breaks that rule. By allowing me the room to figure out the entire movie through footage oversaturation, I didn’t have a huge urge to run to the theaters, hence the late review. But alas, seven days after the film’s release, I was able to go into the theater without a hint of outside ruination, no real mention of the big twists, nor who was evil and why. So to keep the film pure, and leave any future audience members unscathed, I’ll try to keep the dignity of the film intact and not give much away in the review.
Computers are one of the greatest inventions of all time. I love ’em. They make so many things possible and help us get things done more easily and efficiently. In fact, if it wasn’t for computers, you woudn’t be able to enjoy all the great content right here at ComicMix.
Chances are if you love comic books, sci-fi, fantasy and other great things like these, you’ve probably also played Dungeons & Dragons at one time or another as well. I’m not embarrassed to admit I used to play it quite a lot and before the days of the sophisticated computer and console games we have now, it was a great way to get together with a bunch of friends, roll the 20-sided-dice and kick some Beholder butt.
Glenn Hauman was born on March 4, 1969. He’s been involved in comics since junior high school, when he studied under the legendary John Buscema. Years later he joined the industry officially, working in production at DC.
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In today’s brand-new episode of Mike Grell’s 
In days of yore – my yore anyway – I briefly wondered if my particular literary backwater, the writing of comic books, would be properly remembered. It seemed to me that young snots such as myself were getting attention – interviews and the like – and the guys who were around at the beginning, the guys who virtually created the form, were pretty much ignored, although many of them were still alive and frisky.
