Dangerous Visions!

I've finally done it. I've finally read all of the 1967 anthology Dangerous Visions edited by the rambunctious Harlan Ellison. For science fiction fans of a certain age this is who's who in the field. It's a crossroads of sorts with plenty of classic names from science fiction's "Golden Age" such as Asimov, Del Rey, Sturgeon, and Pohl. And fresher faces who went on to become a new generation of renowned talents such as Spinrad, Zelazny and Delany. And lots of talents who fall in between such as Farmer, Knight and Dick. The collection garnered two Hugos and two Nebulas for the stories within. Not a bad showing at all for novice editor Harlan Ellison.  

As much as I enjoy Ellison's fiction, I think I prefer his nonfiction better. And this collection offers up some dazzling little essays introducing the various talents. His snark is full on display as he praises and pinches the writers within. Those who are his friends get especially sharp barbs. Each story is also accompanied by an afterword from the author. They range from a single sentence to much larger reflections. 

Here is the table of contents: 

"Foreword 1 - The Second Revolution" by Isaac Asimov'

"Foreword 2 - Harlan and I" by Asimov

"Thirty-Two Soothsayers" (Introduction) by Harlan Ellison

"Evensong" by Lester Del Rey

"Flies" by Robert Silverberg

"The Day After the Martians Came" by Frederick Pohl

"Riders of the Purple Wage" by Phillip Jose Farmer (Hugo for bet novella)

"The Malley System" by Miriam Allen de Ford

"A Toy for Juliette" by Robert Bloch

"The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World" by Harlan Ellison

"The Night that All Time Broke Out" Brian W. Aldiss
"The Man Who Went to the Moon -- Twice" by Howard Rodman

"Faith of Our Fathers" by Philip K. Dick

"The Jigsaw Man" by Larry Niven

"Gonna Roll the Bones" by Fritz Lieber (Hugo and Nebula for best Novelette)

"Lord Randy, My Son" Joe L. Hensley

"Eutopia" by Poul Anderson

"Incident in Moderan" and "The Escaping" by David R. Bunch

"The Doll-House" by Hugh Jones Parry

"Sex and/or Mr. Morrison" by Carol Emshwiller

"Shall the Dust Praise Thee?" Damon Knight

"If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?" by Ted Sturgeon

"What Happened to Auguste Clarot?" by Larry Eisenberg

"Ersatz" by Henry Slesar

"Go, Go, Go, Said the Bird" by Sony Dorman

'The Happy Breed" by John Sladek

"Encounter with a Hick" by Jonathan Brand

"From the Government Printing Office" by Kris Neville

"Land of the Great Horses" by R. A. Lafferty

"The Recognition" by J. G. Ballard

"Judas" by John Brunner
"Test to Destruction" by Keith Laumer

"Carcinoma Angels" by Norman Spinrad

"Auto-da-Fe" by Roger Zelazny

"Aye, and Gormorrah" by Samuel R. Delany (Nebula for best short story)

I haven't the inclination to review every story. But some that stood out were "Eutopia" by Anderson, "The Happy Breed" by Sladek, "Test to Destruction" by Laumer, "The Night that All Time Broke Out" by Aldiss, and "Evensong" by Del Rey. I found all the stories enjoyable in their own way, but I will have to say I'll need to read "Riders of the Purple Wage" by Farmer again to fully grok it. The stories were selected because in most cases they pushed boundaries at a time when boundaries desperately need to be pushed. (Actually, they probably need to be tested all the time.) I wasn't shocked especially by any story, but I'm reading these tales in 2025, over half a century from when they were concocted and first published. That the stories feel fresh at all is a triumph for the collection, but perhaps a sad commentary on society. 

As tall peak as Dangerous Visons was, it's sequel Again, Dangerous Visions is even more daunting. I've already dived into it and expect a report when I get get through with it. That's going to take a spell. 

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The MAD Readers Ride Again!

The Mad Reader is one of those truly important books. EC Comics made a big splash in the heyday of comics, both critically and financially. So much so, that the furor around them eventually caused them to disappear from the comic racks. But MAD survived, and in fact thrived for decades after becoming a cultural touchstone for millions of kids trying to find a way to interpret adult society. Soon after its sales success in the early 50's, Ballantine Books stepped forward to bring the distinctive humor brand to a broader audience in the first paperback comic book reprint, The Mad Reader. The Mad Reader, first published in 1954 went through many editions and spawned many subsequent collections. It was the perfect fusion of the wildness of MAD with the surge of paperbacks which came to dominate book sales in the decade. 

Some years ago, IBooks under the direction of the late Byron Preiss returned these vintage classics to the market in handsome and faithful reproductions. As you can see, the leering mug of Alfred P. Neuman guarantees MAD-level quality. In point of fact, this was the first time that Alfred's famous puss ever graced a MAD publication, but as we all know it be far from the last. IBooks went on quickly to publish other of the 50's MAD paperbacks. There are later volumes in this esteemed series, but these five from Ballantine Books (MAD moved to Signet with the sixth volume) are the core upon which the long MAD paperback tradition lives. It's exceedingly neat to have most of these clever reproductions in my sweaty mitts. I've seen and read many of the stories in more lustrous volumes, yet the crazy way they are presented in these volumes makes them oddly fresh. 

IBooks made reprints of all the volumes above which originally were published from 1954 to 1961.  (I think I have the order right, but please correct me if I got it wrong.) MAD was in its heyday and seemed indestructible until it fell on hard times in recent years following the demise of the publisher Bill Gaines. There is sure no shortage of MAD paperbacks out there, ninety -three to be exact. Check out this link to the MAD Museum to get a look at the ones IBooks never got a chance reprint. 

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Havoc Is The Headmen!

I don't know that it ever got weirder in superhero comics than when the Defenders were battling the bizarre and utterly dangerous Headmen.

Larry Lieber and Vince Colletta

The seventh issue of Weird Wonder Tales was a book that was on my must-find and must-buy list for a few years after I learned that in those zesty reprint pages the vintage tales which spawned the notorious Headmen, of Defenders fame, first showed up together. It was this particular comic, which according to Marvel lore, inspired Steve Gerber to take a trio of the characters and fabricate a gang of opponents for his Non-Team.

The trio (Dr.Arthur Nagan, Chondu the Mystic, and Dr.Jerry Morgan) were joined by Ruby Thursday a few issues after their debut and the Headmen were complete. This gang of completely oddball but still dangerous personalities first battled the Defenders in issue twenty-one. The Headmen apparently too strange to feature on the cover.

Gil Kane and Klaus Janson

The original trio first showed their...ahem...heads in the following Atlas classics.

(Dr. Jerry Nagan - Gorilla Man)

(Chondu the Mystic)

(Dr. Jerry Morgan - Shrunken Bones)

The Headmen were wildly entertaining, bizarre and compelling. I miss villainy of this truly weird type, and I find from time to time I miss the offbeat writing of Steve Gerber.

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Amazing X-Ray Vision!

I now have super-powers thanks to the generosity of my two daughters and the wonderful present they gave a few years ago. I love my new set of X-Ray Spex [sic] which makes a man to be dealt with. 

This new ability to see through things, especially the garments of shapely, beautiful women (gasp) makes me darn near delirious with anticipation of wandering the streets and discovering a whole new world.

What do you mean it's an illusion? What do you mean that I really cannot penetrate the privacy of beautiful dames with my lusty glare? What do you mean I'm a perverted old fart for even wanting to do so? I am so disappointed!

But at least I'll look exceptionally cool.

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Behold...The Vision!

(The dates for 1975 and 2025 are identical.)

Artificial life has long been a staple of imaginative fiction. Robots populate hundreds if not thousands of science fiction stories, both those in print and on the screen. The most famous of these, Adam Link created by "Eando Binder", had many a story and then has been adapted to comics several times and to the small screen a few. Bozo the Iron Man was created in the Golden Age. And the most successful of the artificial lifeforms must've been The Human Torch from Timely, who alongside The Sub-Mariner and Captain America formed the focus of the company's output. 

The first artificial man who made a strong impression on me is a close call between DC's Red Tornado (more about him tomorrow) and Marvel's The Vision. When the Vision emerged from the shadows in the pages of The Avengers #57 it rocked my world more than a tiny bit. I'd been an Avengers fan for no more than year, and solidly so since the arrival of the Black Panther. But this character, with a grim red face and a spectacular array of powers was simply magnetic. 

He was yet another revised revival from Marvel's Golden Age Timely days like Ka-Zar, the Black Knight, and others. That Vision had been a creation of the famous Simon and Kirby team. 

This Vision was the perfect fusion of a character and an artist as no one has ever drawn The Vision as well as "Big" John Buscema. In a couple of issues of The Avengers we see The Vision attack the team and by the end become a member, the first original character the book had seen do so. And despite a cold demeanor he became in many ways the heart of the title with his concerns and challenges often form the basis for stories. The fact that he was fashioned by Ultron-5, an Avengers foe who himself had been built by the always troubled Hank Pym didn't hurt. Here was a character whose very existence drilled to the epicenter of the team. 

Eventually we'd see The Vision battle to become "normal" and he would fall in love and marry and even have children of a sort. He like so many other heroes has become a part of the Marvel movie universe. Every step toward this typicality robbed him of some of his mystique, a mystique birthed from the very first panel of his existence in print. John Byrne attempted to bring back that weirdness when he effectively rebooted the Vision in West Coast Avengers. Where the Vision is at these days, is anyone's guess. 

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The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide!

I have to confess I was sorely tempted to pick up this latest The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide with its outstanding homage to Avengers #3, the comic I argue is the single best Marvel ever produced. But I held myself in check as I have done now for many years. That doesn't mean I haven't picked up a lot of these though over the years. 

One of the most important events in the history of comics was the publication in 1970 of Robert Overstreet's first Price Guide. It was a work which he did with the crucial assistance of legendary fan Jerry Bails, and this incomplete but significant work transformed a ragged two-bit pastime into a full-blown hobby and a shiny new industry. All yours for five bucks. (Forty smackers today.)

Robert M. Overstreet (Pick Your Poison.)
Whatever came from that, good and ill, can be traced very much back to the impact of "THE Price Guide".

My first Guide I bought was the fifth volume (found it on a newsstand), but it would be many years before I saw or bought another. Once I found comic shops, it became a regular thing. I personally have lost some interest in it as an item itself. It has become like so many of the comic books it tracks so self-conscious of itself as a collectible that it undermines the charm of the activity it lionizes.

But, I do rather love old Price Guides, the ones from the early days, when the format was still relatively simple, and the text could be read easily by people of all ages and didn't require me to break out the magnifying glass which came with my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. The early guides speak to the fan in subtle but specific and effective ways.

Here are the first twenty-five of those early lovely covers, by some of the industry's true talents. The earliest three covers aren't much, but the ones that followed for many years are masterpieces in my estimation and it was a huge thrill waiting to see just what who would be featured and how the cover design, logos and all, would reflect the specific subject. Sadly, the later covers become more and more bland as the material and logos become standardized.

The price slips up to six bucks on the next two Price Guides, but we get color covers. 

In 1974 we get this beautiful cover by Don Newton of the Justice Society of America. I don't know when I fell in love with the JSA, but they were the first and remain strong contenders. It costs fifty cents more. 

In 1975 we are treated to a portrait of Tarzan of the Apes by Joe Kubert. This is the first one I found, but it was not the last. I still remember buying it at a classic newsstand in Ashland Kentucky. It's only a nickel away from seven bucks now. A big outlay for me at the time. 

Will Eisner offers up a real treat for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration cover. I have to admit I'm surprised to see such a late appearance of Ebony without some modifications. The price jumps to seven dollars and fifty cents. 

Carl Barks stepped in to give us a bizarre scene featuring Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig for 1977. Another forty-five cents is added to the price. It's to be remembered that these were years wracked by very high inflation. 

Bill Ward knocked it out of the park with this splendid Good-Girl contribution for 1978. The price holds steady. That's not all I'd like to hold. 

Wally Wood is the main man on this retro sci-fi classic for the 1979 edition. The price jumps a full buck. So many of the classic Woody tropes are here -- the bubble helmets, the girl in the might-as-well-be-naked outfit, and bug-eyed aliens. 

Alex Schomburg revives Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner battling those skanky old Nazis in 1980. The price for the guide leaps up yet another dollar. 

L.B. Cole provides a bizarre and spooky piece of art for the 1981 volume. The good news is the price held steady. 

In 1982 we get a nod to MAD Magazine with Norman Mingo showing us what it's like for Alfred E. Newman to get some special clothes. Price stays the same for three years in row. 

Don Newton returns in 1983 with DC's Big Three in a wonderful infinity cover. It's a fourth year for the price. 

Bill Woggon provided this tasty image of Katy Keene for the 1984 offering. My daughter still holds a grudge against the Archie outfit because when she tried to join the Archie fan club, they sent her Katy Keene stuff instead. The price holds for a half a decade. 

For the fifteenth guide in 1985 we get a cover by C.C. Beck featuring the Big Red Cheese and the other members of the Marvel Family, just before the explosion. The price has exploded and rises one dollar. 

The Price Guide joins in with Marvel's twenty-fifth anniversary celebration 1986. Johnny Romita and his gang provide the cover. At ten dollars and ninety-five cents the Guide would cost you a little over thirty bucks today. Things are improving on that front. I can't calculate anymore prices because in wily move keeping the price obscured would be wise, so as to cut down on sticker shock, I suppose. 

Ron Dias offers up a nifty painting celebrating Disney's Snow White with Mickey and Donald along for the ride on the 1987 guide. 

In 1988 L.B. Cole returns, this time promoting the Man of Steel on his Golden Anniversary. Comic books have become very aware of their legacies in these years. 

1988 gives us a Jerry Robinson rendering of Batman and Robin battling Robinson's creation the Joker. I notice that the Joker is packing heat in this one. I'm a little confused by the perspective on this cover, but Robin seems to enjoy it. 

Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson join forces once again in 1989 to offer up a fantastic cover featuring the Justice League of America. Even though I can't see him I'm sure the Atom is in there somewhere. 

Alex Schomburg returns in 1990 with a fabulous painting with Timely's Big Three rounding up torpedoes. The cover celebrates fifty years of Cap. 

Mark Bagley and John Romita join forces in 1991 to gives us the first Guide cover to feature Spider-Man (I know he's on the 1986 but he's not featured necessarily.) It's Spidey battling the Green Goblin. 

The twenty-third edition from 1992 has the Flash and Green Lantern up front with their Golden Age counterparts bringing up the rear. Carmine Infantino returns to do the honors. 

In 1993 it's the X-Men on the twenty-fourth edition of the Price Guide. The artist is Mike Parobeck, who left the world much too soon. 

It's the X-Men again in 1994 by John Romita Jr., this time they are held at bay by the legendary Yellow Kid created for newspapers in 1895. The Overstreet Comic Price Guide celebrates its own anniversary. 

And that's a wrap. The Guide has gone on to become a very complicated affair, available in all kinds of formats for all kinds of needs. Though I collected these Guides for a time, I rarely if ever checked the prices. My comic are pearls without price, though I know that one day, sooner than later I will have to sell them off. 

Heavy sigh. 

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