Harlan Ellison was a firebrand author of New Wave speculative fiction who wrote everything from sci-fi to fantasy, short stories, novels, television shows, film criticism and much more. Ellison’s “The City on the Edge of Forever” is widely-recognized as the best episode in the original Star Trek series and his Outer Limits episode, “Soldier,” was the inspiration for The Terminator. Ellison’s Dangerous Visions anthologies defined the edge of speculative fiction for two decades, and he was also an early champion of the writing of Octavia Butler. Ellison was an outrageously prolific writer, a champion for author rights, and he won the Hugo eight times. He was also something of a professional asshole and his groping the breast of fellow writer, Connie Willis, and his violent tendency to punch first and ask questions later in at least a few cases has writers wringing their hands at Ellison’s legacy. Again, Ellison was an asshole. He was also an inspiration to two generations of writers and a tireless champion to those who benefited from his lifetime of activism. He was a complicated man with a complicated life, and he’s probably the last person who’d want his story to end neatly tied-up in a bow.

Here’s a great “Masters of Fantasy” episode about the irascible scribe…

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Harlan Ellison is one of the greatest authors of science fiction and fantasy ever. He’s written more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts, teleplays, essays as well as criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. He edited and anthologized two groundbreaking science fiction collections, Dangerous Visions (1967) and Again, Dangerous Visions (1972). Ellison has won multiple multiple Hugos, Nebulas and Edgar awards.

In 1993, Ellison was tapped by the then-nascent SciFi Channel to provide commentary on the science fiction scene during it’s “Sci-Fi Buzz” segments. In this seventh installment, Ellison rails against internet trolls on “PC bulletin boards” three years before I had my own desktop computer. The man has always been ahead of his time…

A few weeks ago Ellison suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. According to this Los Angeles Times story, he’s already improving and complaining and ranting the way only he can. Here’s to a speedy recovery, Mr. Ellison. See you back at the front.

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While I’ve been posting all year about the William S. Burroughs centenary, I have yet to mark this illuminated text with the dark shadow of Batman who is celebrating his 75th anniversary this year. “The Caped Crusader,” “The Dark Knight,” “The World’s Greatest Detective,” first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939.

Batman earned his own storylines as he was unique among comic book heroes in that he never had any super powers. Batman honed his intellect and built his body into a crime fighting machine fueled by his vow to avenge the homicidal death of his parents and restore justice to Gotham City. Batman’s lone vigilante origins also contributed to recent, noir interpretations that blur the line between the good and evil in the Batman universe. Questions like “Is Batman insane?” are common to the telling of his tale in a way that they could never be in the pages of Superman or Captain America.

Here is the history of Batman from his inky origins to his cinematic debut, featuring commentary by Harlan Ellison, Kevin Smith, Frank Miller and more…

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