Fiction: Buying Dark Horse Presents #1 (which features an all new COLOR Concrete story) will make you as cool as me.

O.K. so it may not make you as cool as me, but it is packed from cover to cover with amazing comicy stuff by Richard Corben, Frank Miller, Harlan Ellison, Howard Chaykin, Neal Adams, and more.

Oh Lordy! Just buy it already…

“Since this has apparently leaked onto several film-oriented websites, I should probably confirm the information and preclude distortion: I have optioned, and adapted into screenplay form, Harlan Ellison’s “Repent Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman.” It’s out to producers, studios and directors now. We hope to find a director who has always wanted to make this story into a movie. More as, if and when it develops.”

Ellison’s most beautifully written ode to free-will and non-conformity, “Repent Harleqiun!” was first published in 1965, has been re-published and translated in dozens of editions, and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards, science fiction’s two most prestigious.  It’s a humorous SF romp, with little linear storytelling.  Not necessarily standard Hollywood fare, but it could be phenomenal if executed well.

Searching around the webs about this story (which FP customer and fellow Ellison fan Michael Skloff hipped me to) I came across a good point made by Devin Faraci of Badass News:

It’ll be intriguing… what name the purchasing studio slaps on the film. No way they’re releasing it with a title that interesting. It’ll probably end up called On The Clock or Out Of Time or something.

To whatever suit gives the greenbacks and the green light  to this film- kudos and have a bag of jellybeans on me.

To whatever suit slaps such a title on this film- GET STUFFED!

According to his lovely (some might say saintly) wife Susan, “It’s been more than two years since the last book purge and we’ve found, acquired, and assembled more Ellison goodies from his personal “underground” archives.  HE can’t stand it.  He runs off with obscure items I’ve freed from his vault and hides them!”

Up for sale through the Ellisons are a treasure trove of  signed books, rare first editions, magazines, comics, CDs, DVDs, Posters, and a myriad of curiosities to pique the interest of any fan.

View the complete catalog of what’s available and ordering details here. Be aware that The Purge only runs through Thursday, July 8th.

Oh, and if you’ve got any scratch left over and are still hankering for more Unca Harlan, may I highly recommend picking up the recent documentary Dreams With Sharp Teeth DVD from FPNYC. I screened it in the shop tonight at a volume not normally afforded the litany of flicks and cartoons we play on that big-ass screen of ours and sold a copy within its first 4 minutes.

And ‘cuz it came up in conversation with the next customer after that…

To the young lady to whom I lent my signed and personalized copy of the first edition of Shatterday (my favorite all-time book and one I had previously lent to dozens of appreciative new fans- friends and complete strangers alike-  by means of introducing them to the author’s prose) and who then kept/stole it and had the guts to amble back in the shop some years later and remind me of who she was and her transgression, then demand I take her on a dinner date as ransom for the prized tome she still possessed…

You can still bite me.  I ain’t calling.

• Harlan Ellison’s lawsuit against CBS/Paramount has concluded to his apparent satisfaction, with an “agreed-upon statement” from both parties forthcoming in the next few days.  Wait for it.

• CBR has an exclusive first look preview of Corey Lewis’ Longshot (a personal fave!) story for the next ish of Marvel’s Strange Tales.  “Hmmm… ‘Disco-Mecha Infernus’ Could be Dazzler’s style!”

• Hosting a Halloween party in NYC? Looking for a a swell, geeky conversation piece of a pumpkin? Look no further than FP buddies maniacpumkincavers.com.  Commission them before they’re booked for the heathen holiday, you pagans.

• Andrew Wheeler reviews David Small’s Stitches, recently nominated as a finalist for the National Book Award in the young people’s literature category, over at ComicMix. It has otherwise been very well received, though I’ve not taken the opportunity to check it out yet.

• If you’ve not been keeping up with them you simply must check out Tor.com’s recent interview series with writer sui generis, the magnificent Mr. Ray Bradbury.  Up on the site today is the segment “They’re all Graphic Novels.”

• Finally, The Beat reports on Nickelodeon’s purchase of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for $60 Million.  Oy!  That reminds me of a recent conversation I had this past weekend with FPNYC staffer and Blue Beetle enthusiast Josh Weisbrod.  Y’know what would be a killer Halloween costume?  Krang in the strong man body!

If anybody out there has pulled this off before The Daily Planet wants to hear from ya!