Tue Apr 10, 2007 — by Dennis O'Neil

DENNIS O'NEIL: No evil lurks this week

The Four-Color Answer? #9

Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I know I promised, at least implicitly, to deliver Who Knows What Evil Lurks – Part 2 this week. But that will take some time and maybe digging, to write and, honestly, I have the luxury of neither. By the time you read this, I’ll either be at or returning from Juaniata, Pennsylvania, where I’ve been invited to be the guest of Jay Hosler and maybe shoot off my mouth in public a bit. I’ve been busy doodling notes for said mouth-shooting; hence no dissertation on lurking evil.

I thought about just blowing off this whole column thing, or delaying it until I was back here in scenic Upper Nyack, and rested. But… I promised editor Mike Gold and PR goddess Martha Thomases that I would deliver a minimum of 500 words each and every week. And I made the same promise to myself. Sternly, I said to myself that I had to respect the deadline, even if the deadline in question is largely of my own making.

By the way, I don’t hate deadlines the way a lot of writers and artists seem to. Maybe that’s just because I lived with them for so long – for over 40 years, they were a constant part of my life. What can be said against them is that they can be a pain in the ass. What can be said for them is that they can impart focus to a project and they can be an impetus to stop kvetching and worrying about your ability to leave civilization breathlessly in your debt (and maybe sit on David Letterman’s couch) and just, please, get the damn thing done.

A couple of paragraphs back – I’ll wait while you check – I mentioned Jay Hosler. Doctor Hosler teaches biology at Juaniata College, is a proponent of evolution, a comics enthusiast, a writer, and a cartoonist. He’s done two graphic novels which I found educational and very entertaining. You’ll find the titles below.

About evolution: although it is not popular with some educators and some politicians, such as the one who lives in the White House, I think it is the most important of subjects. Marifran, the goodly wife who, like me, got most of her education at Catholic institutions, says that she was taught at least something about evolution. I wasn’t. At least, I don’t remember encountering the subject in any classroom, hearing of it from any of the good sisters, brothers and fathers who issued my report cards. But I do know that, unlike some Christian leaders, the Catholic honchos never actively opposed evolution or declared it to be off-limits to the Righteous.

Score one for the sisters, brothers and fathers.

I’m off to Pennsylvania. Next week, we’ll return to lurking evil and related matters. Unless, that is, I’m lucky enough to be invited to someplace else that’s cool between now and then.

RECOMMENDED READING: The Sandwalk Adventures: An Adventure in Evolution Told in Five Chapters, by Jay Hosler. Clan Apis, by Jay Hosler.

Dennis O'Neil is an award-winning editor and writer of comic books like Batman, The Question, Iron Man, Green Lantern and/or Green Arrow, and The Shadow, as well as all kinds of great novels, stories and articles.

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