BURIED TREASURE | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Jul16

BURIED TREASURE: Harlan Ellison and Marshall Rogers’ DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Jul 16, 2026

BURIED TREASURE: Harlan Ellison and Marshall Rogers’ DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND

From The Outer Limits to the printed page… By PETER STONE When the name Marshall Rogers comes up, the first series people mention is his late-’70s run on Detective Comics with Steve Englehart, plus stories written by Len Wein and Denny O’Neil. These are tales that are trendsetting to this day: The wonderful interactions with the gorgeous Silver St. Cloud, the creation of Clayface III, and the infamous Joker Fish! The redesign of Deadshot! It’s one of the best Batman runs in history. But Marshall Rogers did a lot of other comics as well. Harlan Ellison is thought of as one of the greatest science-fiction writers of the 20th (and 21st) century. His work was tremendously influential among novelists and screenwriters alike. He wrote the A Boy and His Dog series, which was made into a cult-favorite film starring a young Don Johnson. He wrote a plethora of teleplays for various shows, like The Outer Limits, The Man From UNCLE, Alfred Hitchcock and Star Trek. (The Trek episode, The City of the Edge of Forever, veered in key ways from Ellison’s original treatment, but is considered one of the series’ best. That treatment was adapted by 13th Dimension’s Scott Tipton, his brother David, and artist J.K. Woodward.) But Harlan Ellison wrote a ton of other things as well. In 1986, Ellison and Rogers were paired for the fifth issue of the experimental DC series Science Fiction Graphic Novel. The ish was an adaptation of Ellison’s 1964 Outer Limits episode, Demon With a Glass Hand. (The book series also featured the likes of Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Gene Colan and Keith Giffen.) Ellison gave the Demon With a Glass Hand teleplay to Rogers, who adapted and expanded it. The TV episode stars Robert Culp as an amnesiac named Trent, who has a hand made of glass and is being hunted by humanoid aliens called the Kyben. It was filmed at Los Angeles’ landmark Bradbury Building (called the Dixon Building in the episode and the Seeleg Building in the graphic novel). Moody and shadowed, the building features an elevator constructed with metal filigree so the interior can be easily viewed from the outside. The chase scenes are vertical, not horizontal, which adds a unique feel to the action, and the roof is made of high, vaulted glass. It is such a...

Jul07

BURIED TREASURE: Bruce Jones, April Campbell and Brent Anderson’s 1980s SOMERSET HOLMES

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Jul 7, 2026

BURIED TREASURE: Bruce Jones, April Campbell and Brent Anderson’s 1980s SOMERSET HOLMES

A six-issue thriller that was part of a revolution… By PETER STONE In the 1980s, the entire world of comics exploded: The industry, which had long been dominated by Marvel and DC (not to mention Archie, Charlton and Gold Key), saw a proliferation of new publishers boasting creator-owned work, much of it well beyond the world of superheroes. Companies like Dark Horse, Eclipse, Comico, First Comics, Mirage, and Pacific Comics emerged, with titles such as Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Matt Wagner’s Grendel, Baron and Rude’s Nexus, and Chaykin’s American Flagg!. It was a bona fide revolution (often in black and white). One of the first that hit with a bang was Pacific Comics, run by two brothers who started as retailers, moved into distribution, and then finally took a shot at publishing. To gain fans, they went right after top talent and landed creators like Jack Kirby (with Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers); Sergio Aragones (Groo); Neal Adams (Ms. Mystic); Dave Stevens (The Rocketeer); and Bruce Jones and April Campbell, with Twisted Tales, Alien Worlds — and, our subject here, 1983-84’s six-issue, color miniseries Somerset Holmes. Jones and Campbell, who were married, worked with artist Brent Anderson to create a noir-inspired story featuring an amnesiac woman who finds herself the target of some very dangerous men. Although Jones loved the noir movies of the ’40s, I found that Somerset Holmes drifted into more of an Alfred Hitchcock-style ’50s-and-’60s suspense movie. I was reminded of North by Northwest, or perhaps The 39 Steps, or even Suspicion. The people you think are helpful turn out to be working for a mysterious organization bent on making a fortune or collecting secret information. Somerset Holmes is struck by a car as she walks along the side of a dark road. Her identification is lost in the woods, and she awakens with no memory of her identity or past. She makes up a name based on the housing community she is driven by, getting a ride from a kindly motorist. The local doctor offers to examine her for any internal hemorrhaging or concussion. But, sure enough, he is killed by a mysterious man, forcing Somerset to flee. Thus begins her adventure to stay alive and discover her real name and past. (Unfortunately, Pacific Comics went out of business in 1984,...

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