The rerun flood continues!

But one question first. Does anybody out there happen to know the early warning signs of carpal tunnel syndrome? The index finger on my right hand has intermittently been feeling a bit odd, lately. No actual pain, but I've been feeling some discomfort when I have it in typing position, on and off, for the past little while. Probably nothing major, but I wonder...

(I should perhaps mention that I don't touch-type. I use whatever fingers happen to be handy. As a rule, my left hand stays put, with my left index finder handing the first four columns of the keyboard, while my right hand roams all over the place, with its index and middle fingers doing most of the work. I didn't plan this, and didn't even notice it until somebody asked; it seems to have evolved that way of its own accord.)

Anyway. This next one, my column for October 5, 1998, is, um, interesting. I had only a small space to fill that week, and, with a few short hours to go before we put the issue to bed, I still had nothing to write about.

Then somebody mentioned this interesting item about Wolverine, which had been in the news that day. An idea clicked. I began typing my column, with no idea of where I was going to end up...

I will confess that I was surprised to arrive where I did. Anyway, here goes:

Well, it would seem that you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Earlier this week, a typographical error slipped through in Wolverine, and, I'm told, "the killer Sabretooth" somehow got printed as "the kike Sabretooth." Worse, it hit the stands on Yom Kippur.

Marvel immediately recalled all the comics, probably creating a valuable collectors' item in the process. One wonders whether the "kike" issue of Wolverine will reach the popularity of the Billy Ripkin card on which the f-word was printed on his bat.

One might wonder how such an obvious misspelling could get through, but, having copy-edited this paper, I suppose I can understand that. If we recalled every issue with a typographical error, you'd never see the thing.

But don't worry. In this column, at least, you need never wonder about seeing an ethnic slur. We make sure to keep it Spic and span clean. Yes, there's never a Chink in our armor; without a Kraut, we know Wop we're doing. So if anyone does accuse us of such a heinous crime, he's obviously in the Darkie about the facts, so tell him to go fly a Kike.

And please, when your rare copy of this issue sells at auction for a fortune, don't forget to give me a percentage.