Random Reflections On Ellison (& Ellis)

As noted last time, i've been off reading through old Harlan Ellison and Steve Ditko tales.  I find it difficult to speak comprehensively about either of them in any way at the moment. Instead i'll just be touching on various things that occur to me while perusing their old works.

I'm just going to assume that you know who Harlan Ellison is/was - right? Big time  scifi   science fic- speculative fiction writer - Outer Limits, Star Trek, Starlost and such for folks who don't read. (What are folks who don't read doing reading here, hm?) While Harlan had a long career in prose, television, and movies, he also had a tangled history with comics. In fact, his first published writing was in comic books.
Though perhaps not what you were thinking, it was a letter to Real Fact Comics back in 1947, way back around the time of his Bar Mitzvah -

And so began an adversarial relationship with editors that lasted seven decades. Every word revealing Harlan's own personal feelings and evaluations cut & tossed for the bit the editor liked about parental approval. Makes it rather easy to see how he learned to be so defensive of his words.

Here's another odd little bit i stumbled across today.
As far as i can tell with my currently crippled archive access, Harlan Ellison's first credited story for comic books (newsstand magazines like Creepy counting separately) was the plot for Avengers #88 in May of 1981 -

Should you decide to go looking for it, be aware that the story continues in The Incredible Hulk #140:

What makes it Odd is - that same month, May of 1981 (in both cases, cover date) the Justice League of America ran this tale:

Okay - that doesn't seem too odd. I mean, beyond the fact that the two titles started out 3 years apart but are now only 1 issue apart in numbering. But this was the Silver Age, which means that cover is lying - unless YOU are Harlan Ellison. (To add confusion to the premise, the narration addresses you as though you were Black Canary.)

So, in the same month that Ellison debuted in Marvel's big team book, he also debuted as the 'villain' in DC's big team book. Most passing strange.
It being comics, everybody likes to have a special identity, so we'll call him Harlequin Ellis in this tale.

Harl'n has met and fallen hard for Black Canary, and the two seem to connect a bit - much to the anger of Ollie Queen, who breaks things up and all head their separate ways. But Ellis, son? He's in a deep mood and heads straight to his outlet - the typewriter...*

A Note: One thing that is semi-required when reading any comic book stories adapted from or about Harlan Ellison is a solid working knowledge of the titles of his stories and books. They're not really dangerous dreams - they're Dangerous Visions. That would likely slip by unnoticed, but without the key to play the game, you'll encounter strangely clumsy dialogue, like a reference to Shattered Like A Glass Goblin -

...or I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream...

Okay - continuing on...

Canary's questions force him to try to act as Superman, but he fails to rescue the JLA members from his own manipulations and, in the process, he causes the death of his dream version of Aquaman. (Leading the "glass goblet" breakdown above.)
This leaves him temporarily shattered by his own unworthiness and unintended crimes, but...

...and so...

...and this time trying directly to remove Green Arrow from the equation. But when Dinah moves to rescue Oliver...

...and once again he's forced to foil his own plans.  In the end, he realizes it can't work and they embrace the '70s -

Nor shall Harlan Ellison ever be forgotten.
(EDIT: But i forgot to credit Mike Friedrich with this story. Sorry, man. And sorry things didn't work out with us - timing was just bad.)

Actually, i doubt he'll let us forget. There's probably a data line being laid to his resting place so that when he gets angry enough, he'll start sending out more words into the world. A little thing like death of the body could hardly stop him...

I'll be eagerly awaiting that magnificent outburst.

page art by Dick Dillin and Joe Giella from Justice League of America #89 (1981) and Avengers #88 (1981), Ellison portrait by Ben Templesmith from Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse # 4 (2006)

===
*(No apologies - bad puns like that are de rigueur for Ellison based comic tales)

Artist Arcana Mysteriosa

One of the great Oddities to emerge from the classic days of Heavy Metal magazine was the previously mentioned series, Tex Arcana, and its mysterious creator, John Findley.

I'd like to tell you a bit about Findley, but nobody seems to know anything. Tex Arcana is nearly his only known work (there was something in Canine/Feline Classics #25, but i've never seen it and the Grand Comics Database doesn't know it exists), but clearly the man has done some other drawing in his life. The detailed inks on (most of) Tex Arcana brought words like "insane" to the mind of my younger self when first viewing the work. A glorious, painstaking, and beautiful insane - the mind boggles at the thought of how much work went into some pages. But this work seems to have sprung fully formed from the aether. Even the "Official Tex Arcana Website" lists nothing but the books, only acknowledging Findley's existence with a copyright notice.

As to the odd nature of the story...

Quite happily, the first several episodes which i had been prepping were on one of the data sticks when the system erupted and died, and so they're easily accessible. Here's the first dozen pages (two 6 page chapters), including the previously seen page from last week's Friday Fun & Games. Now with context, my comments on the page might make a bit more sense:

Some would say we haven't gotten to the odd bits yet.

the works by "John Findley" for Heavy Metal (March, April 1981)

Saturday Solutions, Once Again

Quick answers to yesterday's Quick Quiz -

1>

From Larry Elmore, a name all old school D&D fans should recognize, comes Gidget Meets The Squirrel Dogs From Outer Space.

2>

The man tormented by the whispers is Doc Mason from John Findley's tolerably awesome Tex Arcana, a tale of which i've been a fan long enough that back in the '80s, before going full time into the artwork the electronics technicians with which i worked were called the Techs Arcana ("We're so good, we're magic").

3>

The might of Marveldom assembled was gathered to end the threat of...  the F.F.'s mailman...?

I told you there was something odd about Willie Lumpkin.

page art from Heavy Metal (April 1979, March 1981) and The Fantastic Four Roast (1982)

Widow, Black & White

A lot of us are waiting for Marvel to catch up to DC in one of the very rare areas in which it leads in the cinema. Ant-Man & The Wasp will finally give us a female hero headliner, and Captain Marvel will at last deliver a female solo superhero, but the one many have been eager to see is, of course, the Black Widow.

While we're waiting...

Back in 1981, Ralph Macchio and Paul Gulacy showed us what a Black Widow film of the time might have looked like in the first issue of Bizarre Adventures magazine - in glorious Noir (et blanc) -

I hope that helped.
If not, maybe try that Black Widow/Punisher animated movie team-up for a temporary fix. (Avengers Confidential - 2014)

pages by Ralph Macchio & Paul Gulacy for Bizarre Adventures #25 (1981)