I voted "other" for the comics website question. My favorite non-publisher web-site is WWW.COMICON.COM. I also want to mention that I really enjoy your columns. I'm a longtime comics reader (30 years), so I have quite a few of your books and I enjoy seeing what you have to say about the current scene. I also really enjoy doing these polls every week. They're a lot of fun. Thanks!

I didn't look very closely at the Eisner nominees when they were first announced. But when I answered this week's TonyPolls I was surprised to find that I'd read none of the Best Short Story and Best Single Issue nominees. (I fared a little better with the Best Serialized Story category, having read the nominated AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. NEW X-MEN, and QUEEN AND COUNTRY arcs.)

I read a lot of comics--including a good number of non-super-hero and independent comics--but those two Eisner categories were utterly perpendicular to my reading habits. I wonder how typical I am of comic readers in this regard. Are the Eisners honoring comics that people loved, or are they honoring comics that people think they should have loved?

Which brings to mind the controversy over the Harvey Awards: whatever people may think about CrossGen, I'm sure a lot more people read and enjoyed RUSE than any of the Eisner's Best Short Story and Best Single Issue nominees.

Oh, well, we all know the [Usenet] Squiddies are the only awards really worth paying attention to.

On to the favorite team-up title question: I was torn between MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE and DC COMICS PRESENTS. While DC COMICS PRESENTS had one of my all-time favorite pre-Crisis Superman stories ever: issues #26 to #29 which featured stories by Paul Levitz and Len Wein with art by Jim Starlin, and team-ups with Green Lantern, J'onn J'onzz, Supergirl, and the Spectre. DCCP #26 even featured an insert with the first ever appearance of the Wolfman/Perez "New Teen Titans." But...

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE edges it out with a lengthy run by writers Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio (who comic fans use to refer to as the "Two-In-One Twins"). Those stories were just great fun, and seamlessly introduced a lot of elements still active in the Marvel Universe today. And their use of Marvel continuity stands as an excellent example for any writers working in a shared universe. They used it right; not as a storytelling crutch, nor as something to be avoided at all costs, nor out of obsession with the Marvel Universe's minutia.

As for "Which of these non-Marvel/non-DC characters would you most like to see teamed up with Spider-Man?" question, I thought it was a no-brainer. The Savage Dragon, of course. Erik Larsen has written and drawn both characters quite well. But apparently I'm out-voted...

I noticed that you didn't list "Tony's Tips" or "Tony's Online Tips" in the favorite comics website question. Just as well. As much as I enjoy your columns, I'd have voted for Comics Newsarama. It's just the best. I was surprised that at the time I voted, the extremely popular Warren Ellis Forum had only received one vote. Even though I prefer to post in less heavily-moderated environments like the "rec.arts.comics" newsgroups of Usenet, the influence and scale of the Warren Ellis Forum is pretty much unmatched in the comics arena.

I could care less about baseball, but I do have a question about the last "After-Poll Report" (for the TonyPolls for the week of April 2, 2002). You rightly took readers to task for picking Willow over Cordelia in the "favorite Buffy/Angel honey" question (WHAT WERE YOU PEOPLE THINKING?). But then you went on to make a comment that completely perplexed me

"Since Charisma Carpenter first played the character on BUFFY, Joss Whedon and his writers have taken Cordelia Chase from Veronica Lodge (sans Ronnie's redeeming qualities) to Hawkwoman (Silver Age variety)...and they have made this transition utterly believable at every stage of the journey."

Now I'm as big a Cordelia fan as the next marginally obsessed viewer--never missing an episode of her show (despite the screen time wasted on the broody guy in black). But I just don't get the "Silver Age Hawkwoman" connection. Is this something I needed to have read your "Shadow War" series to understand? Or am I missing the obvious here?

Finally, a comment on your 4/13/02 review of ALAN MOORE: THE POCKET ESSENTIAL by Lance Parkin. I'm going to hunt this down. Not only am I an Alan Moore fan, I'm also a Lance Parkin fan. Besides writing the book on Alan Moore you reviewed, Lance Parkin is the author of a number of really excellent "Doctor Who" original novels. These include JUST WAR and THE DYING DAYS (only available from used book dealers or eBay), the more recent FATHER TIME, and his upcoming TRADING FUTURES (both from BBC books).

While placing my vote for PLASTIC MAN #1 as the most desired Golden Age oldie, I couldn't help but wonder why POLICE COMICS #1 wasn't there as well. Especially after having seen the reprints by DC a few years ago. POLICE COMICS #1 and MILITARY COMICS #1 would by far be the top of the list. Does this mean a most desired Silver Age comic book poll is a few weeks away?

For the best team-up title, I voted for ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP, if for no other reason than the incredible art it has showcased month in and month out with few exceptions. What cooked it for me was the John Totleben Man-Thing issue...and the two issues of Ted McKeever's Dr. Strange, which had to be some of the most kinetic Spider-Man and Strange since Steve Ditko himself. That said, BRAVE AND THE BOLD #148 with Batman and the "New" Wonder Woman is my all-time favorite team-up issue. Race cars, I-Ching, Batman behind the wheel, Diana arrested! You've got to be kidding!!

Finally, without being too much of a suck-up, I have to tell you how much I admire your first BLACK LIGHTNING run. I picked up a complete set just before Christmas...and couldn't believe what I had missed. Thanks for listening.

I'm a loony enough baseball fan that my wife and I drove to Montreal from Chicago on our vacation to go to Opening Day at Olympic Stadium. And saw a fine game, too!

I voted to retire Chief Wahoo in your current poll, but had a comment about it. I don't think it's appropriate to get rid of all Indian-themed mascots and team names--for instance, I wouldn't dump the University of Illinois' Chief Illiniwek-but clearing out those which are offensive seems like the right thing to do. So I'd lose the Washington Redskins name as well as Chief Wahoo.

My wife notes that the only freedom we seem to have left is the freedom to be offended by what someone else is doing. I think she's a bit strident on this, but I see where she's coming from. Not everything has to be taken as offensive, nor was it necessarily intended to give offense, even if it seems offensive to a group or an individual.