Dream Corridor Special

Dream Corridor

by Harlan Ellison

The vicious dictator of a future world seeks refuge in the prehistoric past; a fast-gun sheriff refuses to lay up his weapon when his days of power are ended; sharp, small teeth horribly show what can happen to a stoolie; the giant body of a cyclopean Prometheus is uncovered in an apple orchard when lightning strikes; and in the year 2074, a consumer upgrades his mutant housebeast for this year's model. These are a few of the things Harlan Ellison dreams about; these are a few of the things that will chew on your soul. Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor sets a new standard for anthology comics, and would you expect anything less from a comic that boasts Harlan's name on the cover? He's written more than 60 books and over 1,700 short stories, essays, non-fiction articles, columns, film and television scripts, which have won him more awards for imaginative literature than any other living author (8 1/2 Hugos, 3 Nebulas, 2 Edgar Allan Poe awards of the Mystery Writers of America, 3 Bram Stoker awards of the Horror Writers of America, 2 World Fantasy Awards, the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, and 4 Most Outstanding Teleplay Awards from the Hollywood Writers Guild of America... and he's the only writer ever to win four for solo work). And that's just the tip of the iceberg... or the snout of the beast! Every week Harlan appears on the Sci-Fi Network as the controversial on screen commentator of "Sci-Fi Buzz"; his most recent short novel, Mefisto in Onyx, was bought by MGM for a quarter of a million dollars; Mind Fields, his story-and-art collaboration with Polish surrealist Jacek Yerka, has sold more than 100,000 copies since its release; and he wrote the most famous "Star Trek" episode, "City on the Edge of Forever." He is friends with the great Robin Williams and was friends with the late Lenny Bruce. Harlan Ellison has led a hundred impossible lives -- from working as a hired gun for a wealthy neurotic, to marching with Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery, to running with a Brooklyn street gang to gather background for a novel -- and now his first love, his lifelong connection with comics, takes physical form in a project kept absolutely secret for two long years by Dark Horse and the famous author. Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor won't merely be published or released... it will escape and run loose like candy-coated lightning.

Genres: Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Comic Book

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1995

About the author

Harlan Jay Ellison (1934-2018) was a prolific American writer of short stories, novellas, teleplays, essays, and criticism.

His literary and television work has received many awards. He wrote for the original series of both The Outer Limits and Star Trek as well as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; edited the multiple-award-winning short story anthology series Dangerous Visions; and served as creative consultant/writer to the science fiction TV series The New Twilight Zone and Babylon 5.

Several of his short fiction pieces have been made into movies, such as the classic "The Boy and His Dog".

Reviews

[EmBe · Rating 3 out of 5]

In seinen Begleitworten, den Zwischentexten und dem Interview wird Harlan Ellisons Nähe zu den Comics deutlich. Im Interview am Ende des Bandes erklärt er noch einmal seine Liebe zu den Comics. Sie standen am Anfang seines Leserlebensweges. Er hat auch keines weggeben, so dass er 1994 eine millionenteure Sammlung besaß. Für Comics hat er aber keine Stories geschrieben. Mit diesem Band startete der Verlag Dark Horse eine Heftreihe, in denen namhafte Comic-Künstler:innen Stories von ihm in Comics umsetzen. Ellison bezeichnet sich selbst als "Fantasist", er schrieb nicht nur Science Fiction, sondern allgemein Fantastische Geschichten, aber auch Crime und Western. So findet man hier ein böse Rachegeschichte im Gangster-Millieu "The Rat-Hater", In "The End of the Time of Leinard" übt ein Sheriff, die mehr ein Killer mit Sheriff-Stern ist, so lange sein Amt aus, bis die Bürger der Stadt es ihm auf grausame Weise unmöglich machen, das zu tun."Quicktime" und "If this is Utopia" sind zwei sehr unterschiedliche Stories, und sehr unterschiedlich umgesetzt. "If this is Utopia" ist im Grunde nur ein länger Witz, aber Ellison gefiel, was der Autor daraus gemacht hat. "On the Slab" ist Ellison nach eine Allegorie: Auf dem Land wird ein beerdigter Riese gefunden, dessen Anblick alle Menschen verändert. Diese mythische Gestalt ist kein anderer als der Titan Prometheus, der den Menschen das Feuer und das Wissen gebracht hat.
Complettiert wird der Band durch eine Erzählung, die durch Cover und Backcover inspiriert wurden, und Ellison direkt für diesen Band geschrieben hat: "Midnight in the sunken Katedral".
Eine faszinierende Lektüre, die Geschichten sind mal pulpig, mal anspruchsvoll. Sie gehören nicht zu Ellisons bekanntesten. Die Bandbreite ist faszinierend. Und immer haben sie eine Pointe.
Erwähnenswert noch, dass in der Beschreibung des Bandes Faye Perozich vergessen worden ist, Ellisons Lieblingsautorin, die gleich zwei Stories adaptiert hat.
Wie ich in den Besitz dieses und der vier Folgebände kan, weiß ich nicht mehr genau. Aber ich habe sie so gut wie vergessen, als ich vor Jahren den Nachruf auf Ellison schrieb, was ich nun bedauere, denn Comics kamen dort überhaupt nicht vor. Aber ich werde die anderen Hefte natürlich auch noch lesen, hoffentlich mit zunehmenden Vergnügen.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrated by Harlan Ellison himself, this comic features some of the most bizarre and macabre of Ellison’s short stories. He was known as the bad boy of science fiction, with an irascible personality that he freely acknowledged, Ellison wrote some of the most memorable short stories in the areas of horror and science fiction. His twisted imagination knew few bounds, one wonders where he managed to unearth some of his plots.
Ellison freely admits that some of these are not what he considers his best stories. Yet, when rendered into the comic form, they pack an emotional punch that will raise and keep your attention. My favorite is “On the Slab,” a modern adaptation of the myth of Prometheus. It is a puzzling story until the giant bird appears. What comes later is a plot twist from a genius.
As a lifelong fan of science fiction, it is my hope that many other classic short stories will be “translated” into comic form. The work of Harlan Ellison is one of the best places to start.

[Zachary Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someday, these will all be movies.