Harlan Ellison
The boys at Penny Arcade have an amusing "angry Harlan Ellison" story up (scroll down a bit). Harlan is a brilliant fellow, but tact is not precisely his forté.
OK. That's putting it mildly. Harlan is combative in a way that most mortals can only aspire to be. This is, after all, a man who mailed a dead hamster to an editor via parcel post. I can only imagine how poorly he would respond to sharing Guest of Honor status with webcomic luminaries other than - perhaps - Scott McCloud. ...and I will be the first to say that some of his work has been brilliant. His "'Repent, Harlequin,' Said The Ticktockman" is perhaps my favorite piece of short fiction. His credentials are unimpeachable. I do, however, wonder at his demeanor sometimes.
While less charitable and more inventivly insulting than I would be, Tycho's comment thatHe's a ridiculous man, a little goblin who pokes his head out of dark holes and scowls at all the Earth.
...is something that I can't honestly refute from my personal interaction with him, limited though that might be.
OK. That's putting it mildly. Harlan is combative in a way that most mortals can only aspire to be. This is, after all, a man who mailed a dead hamster to an editor via parcel post. I can only imagine how poorly he would respond to sharing Guest of Honor status with webcomic luminaries other than - perhaps - Scott McCloud. ...and I will be the first to say that some of his work has been brilliant. His "'Repent, Harlequin,' Said The Ticktockman" is perhaps my favorite piece of short fiction. His credentials are unimpeachable. I do, however, wonder at his demeanor sometimes.
While less charitable and more inventivly insulting than I would be, Tycho's comment thatHe's a ridiculous man, a little goblin who pokes his head out of dark holes and scowls at all the Earth.
...is something that I can't honestly refute from my personal interaction with him, limited though that might be.