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