For both 2007 and 2008, everyone at Gemstone Publishing was given pre-filled ballots (typically leaving one or two blank spaces for our own personal choices) to sign and send in. Nobody was required to submit the ballots (I didn’t either year; mostly because I was disgusted by the scheme), but I’m sure we still had two- or three-dozen nearly identical ballots sent for both of those years.

The worst part is that they were so pathetically obvious about it. In 2007, completely blank ballots were e-mailed to Gemstone employees… and then we were told to not touch those, but to instead wait for the “J.C. Vaughn-approved” (pre-filled) versions to be passed around.

In ‘08, after the pre-filled ballots were given to us, Vaughn had a member of the Scoop! editorial staff e-mail everyone in the company, looking for a tally of who all was going to submit ballots. (Now maybe I’m just clueless, but why would he even want to know… unless they were planning on submitting forged ballots “on our behalf”?)

Spammy, attention-grabbing behavior like this from the people in charge is one of the many reasons why I got off that sinking ship. (Sigh.)

I really don’t know what to suggest in the way of fixing the Harveys. Maybe a ballot system where you aren’t allowed to nominate any project you were involved with? You’d still get backscratching, but it wouldn’t be as much of a “biggest publisher who cares, wins” nomination process.

(This post originally appeared as a comment at Heidi MacDonald’s THE BEAT.)

UPDATE: Not only did my remarks influence a follow-up article at THE BEAT, but I’m getting incoming links from CBR’s Robot 6, Comics Worth Reading is quoting me, and I landed a mention in TCJ’s ¡Journalista! Nuts, I tell you! NUTS!

• I’m stepping down as Art Director for Gemstone Publishing’s line of Disney Comics. My last day will be Wednesday, November 26th.
• Two days later, we’re loading up a truck and moving to Columbus, Ohio! (Thanks in advance to Rae Whitlock, who’s already agreed to round up some strapping young church men to help us unload the truck over the weekend.)
• I’m looking to take on some additional freelance web design and optimization clients. If you know anybody who’s looking for that, you can get yourself a 10% referral bonus (because I’m cool like that—also because I hate cold-calling). Just go on over to the “Feedback” page and pick your favorite way to get in touch with me.

UPDATE: According to Google Maps, this might be where we’re moving:

I also can’t help but notice that a far greater proportion of my posts focused on Gemstone Publishing’s Disney comic books. Nowadays I’m far more likely to talk politics. (Hey, I found it interesting!)

But you know what I found even more striking? Back then, I would tend to just post a quote from a book, article or sermon. You know, the way Josh Sowin likes to blog. These days I tend to feel guilty if I don’t inject some of my own commentary.

But tough noogies, Travis! Because as part of my plan to celebrate these past three years of blogging, I’m going to goof around get back to my roots with Quotes Week! “What is Quotes Week,” you ask? Silly human! Each day I’ll post a quote (maybe a couple if they’re closely related) and very little personal commentary. You will then be led to marvel at the intelligence of others, rather than marveling at my own intelligence (which, let’s face it, is what typically happens around here).

Hopefully y’all don’t notice this is a dumb excuse to not write much enjoy it as much as I do!

Ooh! Ooh! And there’s a special, secret surprise in the works! I don’t want to reveal too much about it right now, but something super-fun will be happening on April 10th! So mark your calendars, folks! You heard it here first… primarily because nobody else knows about it.

I feel extra goofy all of a sudden. I wonder if it’s more from the lack of sleep, the Benadryl, or the giddiness that is writing whatever the heck I want to!

Woo-hoo! Go, diphenhydramine, go!

If I’ve seemed absent lately, it’s because I’m working on a bit more “comic booky” stuff than I usually tackle in a given month. I even took some work home this past week (which is something I typically try to avoid). It’s fun and all, but I just can’t get into the blogging groove with Damocles’ dagger dangling overhead…

Anyway, I’m almost done and I’ll be back soon. Besides, the next version of WordPress (2.5) is going to be released soon, and I have some template cleanup work to do if I’m gonna be ready to upgrade in time!

(Pictured: Me at home. Late at night. Drinking coffee, looking over [H 95040] “The Mysterious Mustachio. Thinking of witty things to say…)

Uncle Scrooge #375

by Carl Barks, Cesar Ferioli & Terry Laban

Scrooge blasts off for Carl Barks’ “Twenty-Four Carat Moon.” Next, he seeks “The Laurels of Julius Pecunius,” an ancient crown with the power to hypnotize its wearer. Then the Beagle Boys swindle Scrooge with Cesar Ferioli’s “Oracle Turtle” — and Terry Laban (Edge City) pits Scrooge and Magica against each other in “Curses!”

What you won’t find in this listing is that this book is #4 of 12 in our “Scrooge’s 60th Anniversary” series, which features pinups by Don Rosa on each back cover. Here’s a peek at what you’ll find when you flip over this bad boy:

Now like I said, it’s #4. That means if you want the entire set, you’ll want to grab these other issues, too:

• Uncle Scrooge #372
  In honor of Uncle Scrooge’s 60th anniversary, celebrate in high style with several extra-classic McDuck adventures! Carl Barks’ “Christmas on Bear Mountain” marks Scrooge’s 1947 debut…
• Uncle Scrooge #373
  Why did the Scottish tycoon join the French Foreign Legion? Find out what “Special Agent Scrooge” hopes to gain in a feature-length adventure by fan favorites Romano Scarpa and Giorgio Cavazzano…
• Uncle Scrooge #374
  When Scrooge finds “A Gal for Gladstone” on Valentine’s Day, he doesn’t realize he’s fixed his impossibly lucky nephew up with evil sorceress Magica De Spell…

If you want to see all the pinups we’ll be featuring throughout the year, just head on over to the INDUCKS summary. You can use it like those baseball card checklists we used to get in every other pack. Wasn’t that always a bummer, when you’d get ripped off by having a whole card wasted on a card checklist? It was almost worse than getting that 7th “Ricky Baggs” card when you were only 3 shy of a complete set. Nowadays we just put that stuff on the web!

I know I haven’t posted much (at all) since our OBX vacation. I’ve got a few more design/development projects in the works (which, quite frankly, are taking far longer than I had anticipated) and Nicole & I are looking at homes in the York area. In other words, busy, busy, busy!

I’ve got a few ideas planned for near-future posts, and I’m always tinkering with the blog’s design. It’s a bad habit, actually; I’m never content with how it looks, so I spend all my time polishing the layout instead of writing. Meanwhile, my wife’s favorite blog post here continues to garner a disproportionate amount of my blog’s traffic. Perhaps I should listen to my wife more often…

Geppi announced that… Gemstone Publishing will be… relocating to York, PA effective the first week of October 2007.

[snip]

“York has an exciting dynamic to it. It’s definitely a city and a region on the move, and we’re excited to be a part of that. This is a terrific entry into a rich marketplace, both in terms of the history to be found and the collectors with a vibrant interest in it. I am personally very pleased to be able to create this opportunity,” Geppi said.

Yup, that’s right: moving from Timonium, MD to York, PA in just a couple of weeks: “The new facility, located at 3679 Concord Road, York, Pennsylvania 17402, is expected to be fully up and running by the first week of October 2007.” Gemstone is now under the “Geppi Entertainment” banner, along with Diamond Intl. Galleries, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, Hake’s Americana & Collectibles and Morphy Auctions.

For all the details, visit the Free Comic Book Day official web site.