The trick in creating different visions in the future always comes down to knowing the breakdown of the human condition. Harlan Ellison understood this across the board while maintaining a sense of the absurd. Here, unlike the recent interpretation of “Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas”‘ the idea becomes finding new visual bridges for a story that was always separate. In “Night And The Enemy” [Harlan Ellison & Ken Steacy/Dover/96pgs] the war is what keep the stories all congruent but each are told in their own specific style.”Run For The Stars” is more linear in its texture but examines the reality in a visual sense of the war. The aliens look like us except for their yellow tinge which seems to make the progress more ethnic in struggle which gives it just as much pertinence today as when it was written. “Life Hutch” is the most well executed collaboration here in that it has a sequence of events where almost nothing happens but like the fight with HAL in “2001”, everything is at stake. The balance of the words and the almost ticking visuals moving every so slightly makes the tension pop. “Adolescents” and “Trojan Hearse” which could be used as bookends in a Twilight Zone structure perfectly represent the notions of miscommunication and crises of conscience from reverse sides of those being destroyed and those doing the destroying. The burned oranges which permeate these two tales give unmistakable relevance while behooving a darker underside. “Our Glorious Dead”, the final tale, is presented as all prose but it is more about an internal struggle. The graphic novel overall does an interesting job of giving different perspectives within an almost anthology format. While some aren’t as effective as others, the overall effect maintains a distinct and worthwhile ride.

B-

By Tim Wassberg