In 1960, SAG and WGA struck to force management to adapt to the new technology of television. Without that strike and the agreement it birthed, residual use payments would not exist.
My parents stole nearly all of my salary from my entire childhood. My Star Trek residuals were all I had, and they kept me afloat for two decades while I rebuilt my life. I have healthcare and a pension because of my union. The AMPTP billionaires want to take all that security away so they can give CEOs even more grotesque wealth at the expense of the people who make our industry run.
To give some sense of what is at stake: There are actors who star in massively successful, profitable, critically acclaimed shows that are all on streaming services. You see them all the time. They are famous, A-list celebrities. Nearly all of those actors don't earn enough to qualify for health insurance, because the studios forced them to accept a buyout for all their residuals (decade of reuse, at the least) that is less than I earned for one week on TNG. And I was the lowest paid cast member in 1988. They want to do this while studio profits and CEO compensation are at historic highs.
I mean, if not now, when? And I haven't even touched on AI and working conditions.
We must fight for the future of our industry in the face of changing technology, the same way our elders did in 1960. So today, my Spacemom and I went to the place where it started for us, way back when, to do just that.
I see all your support. It means so much. Thank you.
“Maybe I’ll be lucky and crack my skull soon some rocks!” Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #52 (April 1961)
Superman: Red & Blue #6 - “The Scoop” (2021)
written by Matt Wagner
art by Matt Wagner & Brennan Wagner
One member of Superman’s supporting cast that has notably been absent for most of his existence is that of Irish American cop Sgt. Casey, who back in the Golden Age primarily existed to falsely accuse Superman, Lois and Clark of various crimes on the basis that there’s some circumstantial evidence that links them to said crimes.
While it is true that towards the end of his run of appearances, he did seemingly befriend Clark and Lois as the stories attempted to frame him in a more positive light, he still WAS the guy who would open fire on Superman unprovoked in numerous failed attempts to arrest him.
Sgt Casey was largely phased out of the comics by 1948, with maybe only one reappearance in 1982′s Superman Family #219, but the ironic thing is that if Casey had become a regular member of the cast like Perry White or Jimmy Olsen, the people making the comic wouldn’t be able to portray him as dangerously incompetent as he was in the 1940s due to the rules set up in the Comics Code.
There, in the Comics Code of 1954, it’s literally one of the first rules that: “Policemen, judges, Government officials and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.“ So ironically the very rules that caused Catwoman to be subtly banned from appearances for years (under rule “Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation” among others), lead to a cop characters like Casey being removed from stories because their depiction as people who make wrongful arrests, and accuse people of crimes with little to no evidence was literally AGAINST THE RULES.
Should be said, however, that the growth in media that only depicted cops as being 100% correct and morally upstanding people was also something that carried over into the new medium of television, with shows such as Dragnet doing their part to depict the police as always being in the right and anyone who questions them as being either a criminal or, or worst, a communist.
It’s morbidly amusing that while the stereotype of Irish cops was very much of its era, considering how Superman’s creators (Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster) used Superman as a power fantasy for other immigrant kids who grew up in the 1930s, their having Superman (the Ultimate Immigrant, what with him coming from an entire other planet) being regularly hassled by a cop for flimsy reasons was maybe something also drawn from something they experienced or witnessed?
Maybe. Probably?
i knew life turned to shit when i stopped seeing the tuesday again? no problem dog every week
people saying they feel bad about reporting the new pornbots because the URLs are so good. i dont. i want to report them even harder. the URL pointless-soap needs to be liberated and reappropriated by the people
GUESS WHO'S FREE MOTHERFUCKERS
Old, but still relevant
me as a gnome: dude i am gettting so crossfaded on these raspberries blackberries and strawberries
