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Jason Czeskleba
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 12:41pm | IP Logged | 1  
I still don't understand why Fleisher sued.  Ellison's comments are clearly deliberate hyperbole, and are clearly intended to be humorous.  I don't think anyone could read that and come away thinking that he was seriously suggesting Fleisher was insane.  And it's also clear that he really admires Fleisher's work ("the only one writing who is interesting").  He compares him to a lot of great authors.  In context, "crazy as a bed bug" is obviously a compliment.  Ellison would probably classify himself as "crazy as a bed bug" too.

On the other hand, the comments about the Marvel artists are, as you say, a harbinger of the attitudes today's editors have.  Ellison seems to be coming down on the side of "any externally imposed deadlines are destructive to the creative process."

It seems disingenous of him to "apologize" by saying he wasn't thinking of Heck when he made those comments.  Maybe he was not, but Heck clearly would fall into the group he is describing, craftsmen who were willing to work fast to make deadlines.  And he certainly did intend to be critical of Sal Buscema, though he couldn't recall his name.  Gene Colan also.

Interesting that he should mention Mike Kaluta as an artist who was "driven away" from comics by deadlines.  I read an interview with Kaluta a few years ago where he talks about how he was fired from the Shadow because he was frequently late with his work.  He basically acknowledges that he was young and flakey, and was spending too much time "dithering away" at his work.  That kind of puts the lie to the notion that missed deadlines are always the result of creativity over commerce. 


Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 10 October 2010 at 12:44pm
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Trevor Smith
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | 2  
"Because he turned in the work on time? Of course. That
does not deserve respect. I mean, a dray mule can do that."

**

You know, I could be wrong, but right off the top of my
head, this is the only time I can think of that I've been
completely at odds with something Harlan has said.

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Kevin Hagerman
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 2:53pm | IP Logged | 3  

It seems weird that Ellison doesn't differentiate between what he does, writing wholly original works from virgin cloth, and what comic artists largely do, which is churning out product in a monthly sandbox.  Both ways can and have produced enduring works, but in comics, "on time" is (was) paramount.  It can be awesome and on time, it can be presentable and on time, it can be regrettably bad and on time, but it's gotta be on time!

A dray mule that can produce a comic on time is  (was) better than a goose that MIGHT lay a golden egg this month; let's wait and see.
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Lars Sandmark
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 9:59pm | IP Logged | 4  

Good call Kevin!

It seems that Harlan doesn't see comics from the business/publishing side in his critcism, instead he sees just the creative medium.

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Trevor Smith
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 10:12pm | IP Logged | 5  
That's not surprising, as Harlan is notoriously terrible
with deadlines.
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Jason Czeskleba
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 10:37pm | IP Logged | 6  
What it comes down to is that missed deadlines are not always the result of a person putting in long extra hours of work to make their art the best it possibly can be.  They sometimes are the result of laziness, slacking, or lack of self-discipline.  
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Matthew McCallum
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 11:47pm | IP Logged | 7  
 Jason Czeskleba wrote:
I still don't understand why Fleisher sued.

You and I read two very different interviews then, Jason.

If misrepresenting the Publishers Weekly review was not enough, in the course of complimenting Michael Fleisher, Ellison evokes the images of Texas Tower snipers, people who keep the skeletons of their former mistresses, and people who live with their mother and then commit suicide when mom dies.
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Matthew McCallum
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Posted: 10 October 2010 at 11:53pm | IP Logged | 8  
 Kevin Hagerman wrote:
A dray mule that can produce a comic on time is  (was) better than a goose that MIGHT lay a golden egg this month...

And in the world of Harlan Ellison, obviously the promise of The Last Dangerous Visions is so much better than whatever its actuality might grant us.
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