Been itching to know what’s behind the Fantagraphics Books vs. Harlan Ellison case from, I think, a very even-handed source NOT related to the business of comics: Sample this very lengthy, very good and very balanced Seattle Weekly piece by Brian Miller.
Whichever side you’re sitting on, there’s no disputing Miller did a great job of tip-toeing through the mine field that is this legal feud, giving both sides plenty of space to air their dispute and a few jabs as well.
Be sure to scroll down to the end of the story, and you’ll get Miller’s impression of the battle, one that may reflect the opinion of many others watching from the sidelines…
March 30th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Nice piece. It will be interesting to see how both sides react to the coverage, though.
The line that really hit me:
“Both parties admit that Ellison may not live long enough to see a trial.”
March 31st, 2007 at 10:12 am
I find it odd in that the end essentially seems to agree the suit for defamation is baseless yet this isn’t reflected in the rest of the piece. Also, this is nonsense:
Besides, if it’s already up on the Web, what’s with all this First Amendment stuff? What’s done is done, bra. Let it go.
One can’t “let it go” if one is being sued, only the person suing can do that. And of course something (which may or may not be one in the first place) doesn’t stop being a First Amendment issue because one is free to post it to a website at one point and later get sued out of existence for it.
It’s also IMO needlessly antagonistic and trying its hardest to work up the grudge match angle and downplay a serious discussion of the merits of the matter, but that’s modern journalism.