Just in case anyone didn't know, Harlan Ellison--literary great and all around spiffy guy--has written the intro for the "Fallen Angel" trade paperback, due out in June. I figured I'd present an excerpt from it:
"While (FALLEN ANGEL) is neither the capstone nor the culmination of a writing career that will continue to enrich us for decades to come, it is as one with Moore’s WATCHMEN, Wein and Wrightson’s SWAMP THING, Jack Cole’s PLASTIC MAN, Frank Miller’s DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and Busiek’s ARROWSMITH. That is to say, the germinal creation that conjures its own venue. It is a rara avia, with writing both imperial and darksided. In the event I’m being less than pellucid here, I am a big fan of the writing of Peter here in this strange ville of fearsome night."
By the way, for those folks who found one particular aspect of issue #6 (the climax of the Beast storyline) as particularly ambiguous, you'll be pleased to know that this is addressed directly, and at length, in issue #10 which should be out before too long. So if you have a nagging question left over from that storyline (and if you do, I suspect I know what it is) you'll need not wait much longer for the answer.
Harlan's intro is copyright (c) 2004 the Kiliminjaro Corporation. All rights reserved.
PAD
I'm pretty sure I agree with Harlan's high praise for the book. I just can't find my dictionary to find out or not. :)
Now get the next trade paperback out. My shelves look so empty without them.
PAD, I trust you secured permission (written, witnessed, notarized, in triplicate, signed in blood) from Harlan before quoting his introduction? Friendship is one thing, but this is Harlan we're talking about here...
J.
(who attended the Three High Verbals in Boston, had his ass threatened with a kicking during PAD's intro of Harlan, and cheered at Harlan's story of tracking down and suing the swine who was posting Harlan's stories to Usenet...)
"PAD, I trust you secured permission (written, witnessed, notarized, in triplicate, signed in blood) from Harlan before quoting his introduction? Friendship is one thing, but this is Harlan we're talking about here..."
Actually no, I didn't ask. However I quoted a short enough portion that it easily falls under "fair use," and I made sure to run his copyright information. Harlan's a reasonable guy, despite some belief to the contrary. As long as you treat him and his material with respect, there's no problem.
PAD
... and as I came here directly after pimping FALLEN ANGEL on the forum adjunct to the Ellison Webderland website, we are come full circle. Selah.
Jay: You wouldn't happen to know who that particularly stunning young woman in green at the High-Verbals show was, do you?
There used to be a show on Sci-Fi that had commentary from Harlan. I miss listening to his curmudgeonly rants. They were definitely the best part of the show. Congrats on the TPB. I'll continue to get the monthly as long as you continue to write it.
Alex, I'd like to say that was my girlfriend (who took me as a birthday present [that I ended up paying for when they wouldnt take her credit card]), but 1) she wasn't wearing green, B) she is older than I am, and I kinda passed the "young" stage a little while ago, and III) we've since parted ways.
Sounds like she left quite an impression, though. Happy hunting (in a non-creepy-stalkerish way)!
J.
I have a minor question over the quoted bit: Did you copy-and-paste the quote or retype it?
I'm curious because of the phrase "rara avia" used in the excerpted intro. I can't imagine that someone as usually exacting with his vocabulary as Harlan would make such an error (the phrase being "rara avis"). If the section were retyped, then an understandable typo would be sufficient explanation--I think most typos in English result from striking an adjacent key or inverting letters.
Other than that minor quibble, I can't disagree with Harlan's words of praise.
I'll be honest when I say the only thing of Harlan's I've ever read is his introduction to the ol' Doctor Who novels.
And even then I realized that the man speaks a different English than the rest of us. :)
Karen,
The show was Sci-Fi-Buzz.
Harlan's comments were the only reason to watch.
Great. Another slam in the face to those of us who support the monthly instead of the "I'll wait for the trade" group.
Why do they always get the bonus stuff when, without us, the title would have been cancelled long ago?
Congratulations on getting the intro. It's got to be a good thing for sales...
(And unlike the previous poster, I've got the individual issues and am not bothered by the fact that I don't have the intro to the collection.)
Hope you enjoy "To Be Continued" next weekend. I'm already committed to be off to Minicon, so...
Ahem...I can understand Mr. Ellison being willing to engage in a little "logrolling" for a friend. (No, that's not something dirty. That's where the two people standing on the log, floating in the water, mutually cooperate in standing on the log instead of trying to throw each other off.)
But even though I regularly buy "Fallen Angel," it's because it's very different from what people consider "standard Peter David stuff." It's the first comic book work of his that delves into the shadows. Ranking it with "Watchmen" and "Dark Knight" is laying it on a bit too thick. Both those works were the culmination of their respective creators' long work in ominous, monumental, dark comics. This is Mr. D's first dip into the murky end of the pool.
Although suggesting that Mr. Ellison calm down a bit is like asking a sugar-fed kid not to jump on the babysitter, maybe he should have limited himself to simple, unadorned praise.
Copyright (C) My Infected Left Foot, Inc. All rights removed. Absolutely harmless unless discontinued.
Did DC pass out a memo saying that everything should be compared to or at least mention Watchmen for now on?
"Great. Another slam in the face to those of us who support the monthly instead of the "I'll wait for the trade" group.
"Why do they always get the bonus stuff when, without us, the title would have been cancelled long ago?"
Believe it or not, I'm sympathetic to your annoyance. I even considered the notion of including no extra material specifically so as not to annoy folks like yourself.
But the bottom line is this: A lot of what keeps many of the Vertigo books around is the trade editions, particularly in terms of their penetration into other markets such as mainstream book stores. If "Fallen Angel" is going to continue to be published, it has to be able to play in that paradigm. Unfortunately we don't have the recognizable Vertigo label because, y'know, why should *anything* about selling this book be easy? So hopefully the intro will help sell copies. If the trade isn't successful, then there's not gonna be a series to buy, monthly, collected or otherwise.
As I said, I sympathize with your annoyance...but ask for your understanding. The intro isn't intended as a "slam in the face," but simply part of the ongoing endeavor to keep the book so you can continue to enjoy it monthly...or at all.
PAD