I finally got my copy of Naomi Schaefer Riley’s new book, The Faculty Lounges, and it’s great stuff. Naomi’s been doing great stuff on the market failure that is our university system (the linking of prestige to the consumption of public dollars, the questionable “value” of the college degree) and the book airs out all of this and more–and pays particular attention to the distortions caused by tenure.

If you’ve been interested in the higher-education bubble, this is must reading.

Galley Friend B.D. turned me on to Jim Shooter’s blog and it is total, complete, hotness. Unlike most of the people on the creative side of the comic book business, Shooter is (a) a grown-up and (b) perfectly willing to talk candidly about the industry, specifically about who did what, when.

It’s Matt Scully levels of awesome. You should be reading him daily.

Sample greatness, from a post titled, “Roy Thomas Saved Marvel”:

As previously mentioned, Marvel was a mess throughout the mid-1970’s and during my two years as “associate editor,” from the beginning of 1976 through the end of 1977.  Almost every book was late.  There were unscheduled reprints and fill-ins, and we still just plain missed issues here and there.  Many books, despite my best efforts to shore up the bottom were unreadable.  Not merely bad.  Unreadable.  Almost all were less than they ought to be. . . .

Then Roy proposed that we license some upcoming science fiction movie calledStar Wars and publish an adaptation.

Jeers and derision ensued—um, not within Roy’s earshot of course.  But he was in California.

The Prevailing Wisdom at the time said “science fiction doesn’t sell.”  Adapting movie with the hokey title “Star Wars” seemed like folly to most. . . .

What sold, said the Prevailing Wisdom, were male super heroes and male dominated groups, especially the marquee stars like Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four.  Not so much the “third-string” characters like Daredevil.  And there had to be lots of action against marquee super villains interlaced with some soap opera.  That was about it.  That’s what the “kids in Fudge, Nebraska” wanted.  Period.

The Great Proponents of Prevailing Wisdom were Marv and Len. . . .

There was a lot of opposition to Star Wars.  Even Stan wasn’t keen on the idea.

Even I wasn’t.  I had no prejudice against science fiction, but wasting time on an adaptation of a movie with a dumb title described as an “outer space western?”

I was told—don’t know for sure—that George Lucas himself came to Marvel’s offices to meet with Stan and help convince him that we should license Star Wars.  I was told that Stan kept him waiting for 45 minutes in the reception room.  Apocryphal?  Maybe.  Roy would know.  But if so, it still reflects the mood at the time. . . .

But, Roy got the deal done and we published Star Wars.

The first two issues of our six (?) issue adaptation came out in advance of the movie.  Driven by the advance marketing for the movie, sales were very good.  Then about the time the third issue shipped, the movie was released.  Sales made the jump to hyperspace.

Star Wars the movie stayed in theaters forever, it seemed.  Not since the Beatles had I seen a cultural phenomenon of such power.  The comics sold and sold and sold.  We reprinted the adaptation in every possible format.  They all sold and sold and sold.

In the most conservative terms, it is inarguable that the success of the Star Wars comics was a significant factor in Marvel’s survival through a couple of very difficult years, 1977 and 1978.

Must-read of the day: The AP’s long profile of “John,” the CIA analyst who handled most of the Osama bin Laden manhunt. It’s pretty great.

It’s like Riggs vs. Mr. Benjamin. Only, neither of them is an albino.

This episode highlights why so many conservatives instinctively take the side of the police whenever they get in trouble for behaving badly. Because the guy who the cop in the video beats on is a complete jackass who deserves, in the cosmic sense of things, to get beat on.

The only problem is that this punk is acting on his own dime and the cop is getting paid. (By the taxpayers.) Part of what he’s paid to do is keep the peace. Part of it is to prevent crime. Part of it is to help people in distress. And part of it is to tolerate jackasses who are not committing criminal acts.

I have tons of sympathy for the superhuman levels of tolerance it must take to do this last bit. But, on the other hand, that’s part of the job.

Galley Friend A.W.–a smark–reveals the embarrassing extent to which I’m merely a mark. Concerning the C.M. Punk off-script rant, A.W. writes,

Skimming the TV menu, I see a listing for a show called WWE A.M. Raw.  Here’s the description: “CM Punk steps way over the line.”

Ouch.

Galley Hero Phil Longman has a piece up on low-speed rail.

Another day, another instance of cops behaving very, very badly. I’d buy the Gormogons insistence that cops are by and large good people and good professionals if you didn’t see stories like this all the time. Are there good cops out there? Sure! Just like there are good journalists and trial lawyers.

Go watch this now, before WWE disappears it. It’s the new Montreal Screwjob. And C.M. Punk is the new Roddy Piper. Epic.

The Masked Man (now writing for Grantland!) has an exegesis.