• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

In after Baud. Damn.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Books are my comfort food!

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

Republicans do not trust women.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

The willow is too close to the house.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Come on, man.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Evening Open Thread: Wily Card

Sunday Evening Open Thread: Wily Card

by Anne Laurie|  February 20, 20226:30 pm| 73 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Popular Culture

FacebookTweetEmail

King shit. Glorious. https://t.co/d0sudRbaEK

— zeddy (@Zeddary) February 20, 2022

Maybe Martin just wants the popcult version of an EGOT…

#GameofThrones creator George R.R. Martin is joining forces with Marvel Comics https://t.co/ENPcPp5oOV

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 19, 2022

… Marvel is adapting Martin’s first Wild Cards book, which kicked off a long-running anthology series in 1987 with stories by Martin, Howard Waldrop and Roger Zelazny.

“As my fans may already know, the Wild Cards World holds a special place in my heart,” Martin said. “So to have the privilege of announcing that an industry titan like Marvel is going to produce the narrative from the beginning as a comic book brings me no end of joy.”

The Wild Cards series tells the story of an alternate post-World War II history where Earth is home to super-powered individuals. When a human is infected with the alien Wild Card virus, the odds are that they will be killed — referred to as “drawing the black queen.” Of those that survive, the bulk becomes “jokers” — left with some strangely mutated form. A lucky few are “aces,” those gifted with superpowers they can put to use towards heroic goals … or villainous ones…

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: «A Little Kindness To Begin The Week A Little Kindness To Begin The Week
Next Post: Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Food »

Reader Interactions

73Comments

  1. 1.

    Frank Wilhoit

    February 20, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    My latest: Symphony No. 7 . Enjoy!

  2. 2.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    Just what we don’t need – any more fantasy fake hero’s. God, more shit. And a singing musical about GoT? Really? Sorry, this is all just more worthless crap to act as opioids to smooth the masses

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    @Cermet:  At least if they are imaginary, they can’t be unpersoned by the Party .

  4. 4.

    Jerzy Russian

    February 20, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    I don’t have a TV, and don’t have a cable package (apart from internet). I do enjoy watching superhero and science fiction movies on airplanes, though. I have seen perhaps 10 Marvel movies, and at my present rate I should be caught up in 15 years or so. If this project by Mr. Martin makes it into the airplane rotation I might just catch it at some point.

  5. 5.

    HinTN

    February 20, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    High on his own supply.

    Maybe he has bills to pay…

    He DEFINITELY needs an editor.

  6. 6.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    Since Marvel is Disney and Disney is theme parks, cruise ships, and resorts, should we expect red weddings there soon??

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  7. 7.

    Brachiator

    February 20, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    George R.R. Martin is joining forces with Marvel Comics

    I think that a lot of his fans would rather hear that he has finished the Game of Thrones saga, and provided a better ending than the HBO series.

  8. 8.

    kindness

    February 20, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    I did watch the whole Game Of Thrones.  That ending…..it could have been better.  But since George RR Martin has been working on the final book of the series for about 10 years now and can’t seem to finish the damn thing HBO wrote that ending themselves.  So….George has time to help adapt a stage version but he can’t finish his last enstalment of the series?  Huh?

    (for the record the GOT books are all 900 pages long.  I started one and said screw it!  I’ll watch the HBO version and I think I made the right call)

  9. 9.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 6:47 pm

    GoT Musical Hits

    • Killing in the Rain
    • I’m gonna wash my bro right out of my hair.
    • Hello, Dragon.
    • Don’t cry for me, jaime Lannister
  10. 10.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    February 20, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    @kindness:  yeah I read the first few books and enjoyed the world building but by the last few I thought he desperately needed an editor. And some characters went off and have never been seen again ( Rickon Stark and Osha for instance I was really interested in finding out about the Isle of Faces ) it’s his series if he doesn’t want to finish it that’s his call I guess…)

  11. 11.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    @Cermet:

    Just what we don’t need – any more fantasy fake hero’s.

    Fine. No free tickets to Baud! The Musical! for you.

  12. 12.

    kindness

    February 20, 2022 at 6:54 pm

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone: ​
     I sympathise with him. It’s already been done (by some other writers).

  13. 13.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    @kindness:

    I read the first book. Wasn’t that taken with it so I didn’t continue.  Same with the TV series.

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    February 20, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    @EmbraceYourInnerCrone:

    but by the last few I thought he desperately needed an editor.

    It is often amusing to see when authors have become so successful that they can shrug off editors.

    But then again, back when novels were serialized in newspapers and magazines, you could detect padding and stretching.

  15. 15.

    cain

    February 20, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    This is so remarkable to get so much out of a book series that isn’t even finished and likely never be finished. I suppose that those who get bent out of shape on canon will have to keep mum since the endings can be whatever the fuck it is.

    As for me, I’m re-reading the Wheel of Time. The first 4 books is just great stuff. After that it’s a bit of a slog, but picks up a bit after another 5 books, lol. He could have definitely made that book way shorter than it was.

  16. 16.

    cain

    February 20, 2022 at 7:02 pm

    @Another Scott: Prefer on a nice day, to have a white wedding.

  17. 17.

    raven

    February 20, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    Anyone done a Fluorouracil treatment? Thoughts?

  18. 18.

    senyordave

    February 20, 2022 at 7:05 pm

    I saw this yesterday:

    Eric Trump today claims that when he was at Georgetown he had a professor who said that all white males should be castrated.
    There was a comment on twitter that was perfect:
    He’s confusing what the professor said with what his mother said.
    https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1494805345562152960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1494805345562152960%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdigbysblog.net%2F

  19. 19.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    @Baud: Uh, wait; I think that musical I would actually like … certainly after reading his song titles.

  20. 20.

    Frosty Fred

    February 20, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    @raven: I do fluourouracil treatment on my forehead and scalp roughly every other year. Not sure what I think about it <G>, maybe you could ask questions?

  21. 21.

    Frankensteinbeck

    February 20, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    I have no enthusiasm for Martin’s writing, but hey, the chance to get wealthy is in front of him and I have no problem with him seizing the opportunity.  Good for him.  May we all be so lucky.

  22. 22.

    CaseyL

    February 20, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    I read the first, what, four or five Aces Wild books when they first came out.   The concept was novel (at the time), but the series palled for a reason that has become familiar and standard for any George RR Martin work:  all the characters were varying degrees of dislikeable-to-hateful, all the societies were bleak, and there was no joy to be had anywhere by anyone.

    Since Marvel, even at its darkest, has a strong thread of hopefulness, it will be interesting to see which variety of dystopia prevails.

  23. 23.

    Kelly

    February 20, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    At last ethically sourced crypto I can support:

    https://theneedling.com/2022/02/15/portland-startup-to-mine-artisanal-bitcoin-using-only-slide-rules-and-graph-paper/

  24. 24.

    geg6

    February 20, 2022 at 7:41 pm

    Good to know.  Now I can ignore them both all at once.  To say I’m not a fan of either Marvel or GoT/JRRM would be an understatement.  And don’t get me started on Disney.

  25. 25.

    Anthony

    February 20, 2022 at 7:43 pm

    I assume Martin is afraid to finish Game of Thrones — how could it be as good as people have hoped?

  26. 26.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    @raven: Topical, on the crown of my head for pre-cancerous flaking. Two weeks on, two weeks off, repeated 3 times.

    I’ve done 3 rounds of it this way, and everything was pretty knocked down after the 2nd. Did the 3rd just to make sure. My dermatologist was OK with that regime.

  27. 27.

    Frosty Fred

    February 20, 2022 at 7:47 pm

    @Spanky: Not exactly my same regime, but yes, the reaction does decrease after each round.

  28. 28.

    Mike in NC

    February 20, 2022 at 7:50 pm

    Just spoke with our friends in Tampa Bay. They plan to retire this year and are having a new house built in Asheville, NC where they grew up. I asked if they had to get permission in writing from Governor Death Sentence before departing Florida.

  29. 29.

    Mike in Oly

    February 20, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    Well I, for one, am super excited about Wild Cards going to the comics. I’d much rather see it going into a live-action HBO series, but I will take what I can get. I loved the books and the premise. I think it was helped that GRRM was not the sole author, but it was farmed out to many authors to build the world. So many fun characters and storylines over the years and over all the novels and short story collections. Never got the appeal of GOT, but this I loved. Super excited. Cannot wait!

  30. 30.

    There go two miscreants

    February 20, 2022 at 8:02 pm

    @Kelly: Maybe they can develop a nomogram as a shortcut!

  31. 31.

    JML

    February 20, 2022 at 8:04 pm

    @CaseyL: Not the first time Marvel has adapted WildCards; they did a limited series under their Epic imprint with art from Jackson “Butch” Guice, Tim Truman, Larry Stroman, and several others. It was pretty good , IMHO. Told new stories in the Wild Cards universe…back in the early 90’s, I think?

    Also, The Dabel Brothers published a limited series in the Wild Cards universe…boy, that’s got to be a decade old now too. (Dabel Brothers were doing some good adaptations, but clearly seemed to have some problems with financing)

    Be interesting to see if they actually adapt the books or just tell stories in the Wild Cards universe?

    It’s a bummer for people who jumped on A Song of Ice & Fire when it was first published  that it’s probably never going to be finished. I mean, it’s a running gag in fantasy literature now. Who’s going to finish a new book first: Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, or Scott Lynch?

  32. 32.

    raven

    February 20, 2022 at 8:11 pm

    @Frosty Fred: Thanks!!!

     

    @Spanky:

  33. 33.

    Shalimar

    February 20, 2022 at 8:19 pm

    @Mike in Oly: Considering they’re basically stitched together short stories, the first 6 Wild Card books were excellent. Not sure I need new versions as much as to re-read the books though.

  34. 34.

    JAFD

    February 20, 2022 at 8:24 pm

    Met GRRM a few times, at SF conventions back in the 80’s, when we were both equally unknown.  Thought he was pretty nice guy, haven’t had reason to change that – even tho he recycled my name for a GoT character who – believe it or not – meets a gruesome end.

    Anyway, JAFD’s Three Laws of Economics:

    It’s a free country

    Everybody’s got the right to try and make an honest buck

    You pays your money and you takes your choice

    Have a happy Presidents Day, everyone !

  35. 35.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 20, 2022 at 8:28 pm

    @HinTN: ? I enjoyed GoT. Not sure how much of it he actually wrote though since I’ve heard that the HBO series is different from the novels.

  36. 36.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 20, 2022 at 8:29 pm

    @JAFD: You’re famous!!

  37. 37.

    scav

    February 20, 2022 at 8:40 pm

    @Another Scott: Why stop there? Entire Disney Storyliving towns based on his plots.

  38. 38.

    Bill Arnold

    February 20, 2022 at 8:44 pm

    @geg6:

    And don’t get me started on Disney.

    Looking forward to a proper Disney rant. :-)

  39. 39.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 20, 2022 at 8:47 pm

    Reuters: BIDEN AND PUTIN HAVE ACCEPTED “THE PRINCIPLE” OF A SUMMIT OVER UKRAINE- STATEMENT FROM FRENCH PRESIDENCY— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 21, 2022

  40. 40.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 20, 2022 at 8:49 pm

    Or less hopefully

     

    New: Jen Psaki confirms the summit news."President Biden accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin … again, if an invasion hasn't happened. We are always ready for diplomacy."— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 21, 2022

  41. 41.

    Heidi Mom

    February 20, 2022 at 8:54 pm

    @Brachiator: After a writer on Slate or Salon, can’t remember which, said that Tyrion Lannister was the most interesting fictional character they’d encountered since Stringer Bell of The Wire, I had to read the books (because Stringer Bell was fascinating).  Although not usually a sci-fi/fantasy reader, I liked the books so much that I read them again.  Then I watched the show, and loved it from beginning to end.  And it dawned on me that Benioff and Weiss had not only streamlined the plot down to the essentials, but they’d managed to write an ending for the damn thing!  Maybe not a perfect one, but certainly good enough for me–everyone ended up where they belonged (= where I wanted them to be).  So GRRM can do whatever he wants for the rest of his life, because I have no desire to read two more weighty tomes filled with minor characters who go nowhere.

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    February 20, 2022 at 9:01 pm

    @raven:

    I’ve had a lot of cryosurgery (liquid nitrogen) but not Fluorouracil. Sounds like it might be a touch less painful but it also may be for different types.

  43. 43.

    Librarian

    February 20, 2022 at 9:04 pm

    @geg6:  I haven’t seen GOT either. I hate it because it’s a bastardization of history. People would rather watch fake history than real history.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 20, 2022 at 9:09 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: still very interesting, and hopeful

    I wonder where they’ll meet.

  45. 45.

    Citizen Alan

    February 20, 2022 at 9:11 pm

    In my personal opinion, the “problem” with the ending of GOT was that the female semi-protagonist, who had always been depicted as low-key crazy with messianic tendencies and a strong desire to follow in the footsteps of her megalomaniac dictator forebear, ended up acting exactly how you’d expect a person with those traits to act if she weren’t a cute blonde who viewers insisted on viewing through a “girl power” lens, and then she got put down before she could go “Mad King 2.0,” and everyone got bent out of shape over it. My head canon is that immediately after the series ended, Bran and Tyrion started quietly laying the groundwork for a democracy. No more of this King bullshit.

  46. 46.

    raven

    February 20, 2022 at 9:19 pm

    @Ruckus: Yea I’ve had that and blue light. I’ve put this off for 6 months but I started it today. I’m assuming all the internet horror stories are like all the other shit I’ve been through that are not as bad as “some” say.

  47. 47.

    Geoduck

    February 20, 2022 at 9:23 pm

    I’m not a huge fan of the series, but I still hope some sort of conclusion gets released, even if it’s just a summary of GRRM’s post-humorous notes. Sadly, I can totally see him being a big enough troll to leave a will ordering all of said notes are destroyed.

  48. 48.

    Mike in Oly

    February 20, 2022 at 9:26 pm

    @Shalimar: Agreed. I’m not looking for anything new out of them so much as I want a visual retelling of the original stories. We finally have the SFX tech to do them right. I’ve waited for this point in time y entire life and now I want to see all my favorite books and comics from my childhood done well in visual formats. I would also kill for a TV series based on Piers Anthony’s Xanth novels, and a version of Magic Kingdom: For Sale/Sold! And can we please do The entirety of John Varley and Alan Dean Foster’s work as movies/series as well? 20 years ago I would have tossed in Orson Scott Card, but he turned out to be a hatemonger so fuck him.

  49. 49.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 20, 2022 at 9:27 pm

    I read the GOT books as they were released. I really enjoyed the first few, but after a while, it felt like he was still branching the whole story out and not drawing it together toward an ending. Still, GRRM owes me nothing.

  50. 50.

    Heidi Mom

    February 20, 2022 at 9:33 pm

    @Citizen Alan: Yep.  “I will take what is mine with fire and blood” since Season 2, over and over and over again. Meanwhile the mantra of the male semi-protagonist is “I am the shield that guards the realms of men.”  Anyone who thought those two could ever rule together wasn’t paying attention.

  51. 51.

    Brachiator

    February 20, 2022 at 9:41 pm

    @Citizen Alan:

    In my personal opinion, the “problem” with the ending of GOT was that the female semi-protagonist, who had always been depicted as low-key crazy with messianic tendencies and a strong desire to follow in the footsteps of her megalomaniac dictator forebear, ended up acting exactly how you’d expect a person with those traits to act if she weren’t a cute blonde who viewers insisted on viewing through a “girl power” lens, and then she got put down before she could go “Mad King 2.0,”

    Okay. I can see that. For me, the idea that the Dragon Queen would just go nuts was not interesting, and not set up adequately. And in the end, Jon Snow’s history turned out to be irrelevant. The series seemed to set up a conflict between three powerful women, and then said “screw it, let’s pull something out of left field.”

  52. 52.

    Heidi Mom

    February 20, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    @Librarian: It’s a fictional story about the struggle for power and what it does to people.  Some of the characters and incidents are inspired by historical events:  Robb Stark is Edward IV (or would be, if he’d been successful); Tyrion has elements of Richard III (far more capable than he’s perceived to be); the Red Wedding resembles the Campbells’ slaughter of their guests, the Macdonalds; etc.  I think the presence of dragons and the undead make it clear that this is not intended to be even a fake historical narrative.  It did, however, inspire me to do considerable reading of English history.

  53. 53.

    Heidi Mom

    February 20, 2022 at 10:00 pm

    @Brachiator: Jon Snow’s history should be irrelevant, that’s the point, or part of it.  Rule based on lineage is a stupid way to govern a country, because sometimes it will produce a Jon Snow and sometimes a Joffrey, and you have to take what you get. Better to reject that whole system and at least try to choose good rulers. (And don’t get me started on “Jon Snow deserved better”–what’s better than living the life you want as a free man?! It’s downright un-American to think otherwise.)

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    February 20, 2022 at 10:00 pm

     

    @Heidi Mom:

    Although not usually a sci-fi/fantasy reader, I liked the books so much that I read them again.  Then I watched the show, and loved it from beginning to end.

    Some people in my office were fans of the show, people with wildly divergent tastes. I jumped into the series before the red wedding. I really liked many of the characters, liked watching them grow up and thought that the tv series did a great job with small character details that would be important in later episodes. Even though I was disappointed in the concluding episodes, I enjoyed the overall journey so much that I am not as unhappy with the show as are many fans.

    @Librarian

    I hate it because it’s a bastardization of history. People would rather watch fake history than real history.

    I never thought that GOT was meant to be history. Some of the least useful commentary about the show viewed it as a knockoff of The War of the Roses or other aspects of English history.

  55. 55.

    Brachiator

    February 20, 2022 at 10:13 pm

    @Heidi Mom:

    Rule based on lineage is a stupid way to govern a country, because sometimes it will produce a Jon Snow and sometimes a Joffrey, and you have to take what you get. Better to reject that whole system and at least try to choose good rulers.

    One of the things I find amusing, that affects various fantasy works from Game of Thrones to Star Wars, is the insistence of some fans that the fictional universe must end up with some kind of American approved form of democracy.

    So, for example, Leia could not remain a princess. She had to become a general, if not the president of the rebel alliance.

    I didn’t expect Jon Snow to become the King. But it was odd to make his parentage a mystery and then throw the revelation away. But I also did not buy the idea that Arya could train to be an assassin and take away secrets from the House of Black and White without consequences.

  56. 56.

    dnfree

    February 20, 2022 at 10:24 pm

    @raven: we have used Fluouracil or however you spell it. It has worked well on precancerous spots. (We have both had different forms of skin cancer.). Most recently for me some tough skin spots by my lips that I really didn’t want to have surgery on.

  57. 57.

    James E Powell

    February 20, 2022 at 10:25 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I read the GOT books as they were released. I really enjoyed the first few, but after a while, it felt like he was still branching the whole story out and not drawing it together toward an ending. Still, GRRM owes me nothing.

    I read the first four after watching the first season because I saw them for a two bucks each in a used book store.

    had the same feeling. It seemed to me that GRRM didn’t have any particular ending in mind. He was continuing this ever-expanding narrative with no deadline within the story itself and no real need to write an ending.

    Four books were out before A Song of Fire & Ice became a popular HBO series. After that, people wanted an ending.

    And you’re right, he doesn’t owe us one or one we like.

  58. 58.

    Heidi Mom

    February 20, 2022 at 10:28 pm

    @Brachiator: I agree that Jon’s true parentage received a lot of emphasis, especially the shot in which the newborn baby’s face becomes Jon’s.  And the way the show was marketed didn’t help–“Who’ll take the throne?” etc., as if the dynastic outcome was all that mattered.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    February 20, 2022 at 10:50 pm

    @kindness:

    So….George has time to help adapt a stage version but he can’t finish his last enstalment of the series? Huh?

    One interpretation is that he’s so distracted with side projects he doesn’t have time for the ending of the main series.  Another interpretation is that he is having a lot of trouble bringing the series to a satisfactory conclusion, so he’s working on other things where he has less of a problem with the plotting.

  60. 60.

    Johannes

    February 20, 2022 at 11:02 pm

    @Heidi Mom: I always saw Robert Baratheon as Edward IV, with the weight gain…Cersei as Elizabeth Woodville (but nastier). But, yeah, that’s half the fun of the first book for me.

  61. 61.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 11:08 pm

    ObOpenThread…

    I read the fox news site everyday. For the past week (including yesterday) Sec. Hillary Clinton has dominated all the headlines.

    But, after Sec. Clinton mused about suing fox, every Clinton article has disappeared from the web site.

    Every. Single. One. https://t.co/aPLDcOpWIX

    — Abby Normal (@ABBYinFLA) February 19, 2022

    Imagine that.

    (via eclecticbrotha)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 20, 2022 at 11:13 pm

    Wasn’t Danaerys pregnant with her nephew Jon Snow’s child at the end of the show? I assumed that baby would be the Kwisatch Haderach or Keyser Sose or whatever of that world.

    @Johannes: Who was the original Olenna Tyrell?

  63. 63.

    Johannes

    February 20, 2022 at 11:29 pm

    Well, that’s tricky, but I’d go outside the War of the Roses and say she’s very like Eleanor of Aquitaine.

  64. 64.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 11:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Weren’t they brother and sister?

  65. 65.

    Gabe

    February 21, 2022 at 12:06 am

    Authors have opinions on people who try to dictate what and at what pace they write

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5vw9RTVky4

    At this point he has enough money, he can have fun and assume someone will piece something together from his notes after he is dead.

  66. 66.

    BigJimSlade

    February 21, 2022 at 12:18 am

    @Frank Wilhoit: Thanks!! I’ll give it a listen tomorrow!

  67. 67.

    Ten Bears

    February 21, 2022 at 1:33 am

    For many years it was my conviction L Ron Hubbard’s Invasion Earth decalogy were the worst set of books I had ever read. I was mistaken. Read five of them, ones and zeros: it’s about raping little girls.

    Game of Thrones is where I lost faith …

  68. 68.

    evodevo

    February 21, 2022 at 5:51 am

    @debbie: Nope…she was the younger sister of his putative father…

  69. 69.

    Connor

    February 21, 2022 at 5:58 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I have no enthusiasm for Martin’s writing, but hey, the chance to get wealthy is in front of him and I have no problem with him seizing the opportunity.  Good for him.  May we all be so lucky.

    George is plenty wealthy. Has been for quite a while now. This is other folks taking a chance to cash in on his name, not vice-versa. It’s also a chance for George to hand a lot of his fellow WILD CARDS creators a healthy paycheck, which I’m sure they and their families appreciate.

    The Marvel deal is poetically sweet, given that his very first published anything was a fan letter to Marvel about FANTASTIC FOUR #17.

    Have no idea if the Broadway project will work out or not, but no one should begrudge George the opportunity. What smart, nerdy kid from Bayonne, NJ could pass up a chance like this?

  70. 70.

    Robert Sneddon

    February 21, 2022 at 6:06 am

    When Wild Cards started over 40 years ago the superhero genre was still in “Truth, Justice and the American Way” mode. It was easy to differentiate the heroes from the villains, Batman was unconflicted and not dark at all really! and Watchmen had just been published. Things are different today and the Wild Cards concept doesn’t come over as edgy and wrong as it used to.

  71. 71.

    J R in WV

    February 21, 2022 at 10:00 am

    @raven:> ​
    For a bump on my head. Took a V long time, but it did go away.A month on, a month off, several cycles.

    Used about half the tube. Am I remembering all that right? Didn’t go look at my tube, still resting in the bathroom with all the other tubes of goo an old guy can accumulate.

  72. 72.

    J R in WV

    February 21, 2022 at 10:23 am

    @debbie: ​
     

    Weren’t they brother and sister?

    There was enough incest in the video version to embarrass an Egyptian pharoh… they also did Brother/Sister marriages. Explains a lot when you think about it.

    The Hapsburg ruling family did the same thing, mating close cousins over and over for generations to keep the power in the family, til it nearly killed off the whole line.

  73. 73.

    tam1MI

    February 21, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    The backlash to the GoT ending can be summarized in four words:

    IT’S

    THE

    MISOGYNY

    STUPID.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - beckya57 - Copper Canyon, Mexico, April 2025 6
Image by beckya57 (6/19/25)

Recent Comments

  • Alex on Late Night Open Thread: Another Musk Rocket Goes Boom (Jun 20, 2025 @ 12:57am)
  • Harrison Wesley on Late Night Open Thread: Another Musk Rocket Goes Boom (Jun 20, 2025 @ 12:56am)
  • YY_Sima Qian on Late Night Open Thread: Another Musk Rocket Goes Boom (Jun 20, 2025 @ 12:50am)
  • Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom on Late Night Open Thread: Another Musk Rocket Goes Boom (Jun 20, 2025 @ 12:50am)
  • Jackie on Late Night Open Thread: Another Musk Rocket Goes Boom (Jun 20, 2025 @ 12:49am)

Personality Crisis Podcast (Cole, DougJ, mistermix)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!