InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "My fandom has golden gardenias"

jlroberson (jlroberson) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-07-28 21:53:00

Current location:	Seattle
Current mood:	guh
Current music:	Durty Three
Entry tags:	char: e-man, char: michael mauser, char: nova kane, creator: joe staton, creator: martin pasko, theme: religion

E-Man Meets the Church of Scien--Er, I Mean Technolography

Back in the early 80s First revived E-MAN with, for a while, everybody's go-to guy for unsatisfyingly reviving old properties(he also preceded Alan Moore on SWAMP THING, which he was also writing at this time--remember the "Quincy"-ish "punk vampires" story?The first one I mean), Martin Pasko. With E-MAN he decided to turn it from a lighthearted and comedic superhero book to a parody book. Which had its moments, and was certainly more enjoyable than the ones Staton did by himself later, sad to say. For instance, his 2-issue X-Men parody helped get me the hell away from them. Here's another: an early assault, at the height of its malevolence, on the Church of Scientology. It's not very hard-hitting(Steve Gerber did a better job on them in STEWART THE RAT, along with Werner Erhard and a few others) but here are some of the better moments. With sweet cartooning goodness from the under-appreciated Joe Staton. Meet Elrod Flummox.

The reference in the first panel below is to Paulette Cooper, who was targeted by the Church of Scientology for writing "The Scandal of Scientology", one of the first major exposes of the cult, in 1970, by, among other things, framing her as a terrorist with false bomb threats.

Obviously here they're referring to former NY mayor Ed Koch and his PLAYBOY interview that lost him the Gubernatorial nomination to Mario Cuomo.

Mods: this is less than 1/3 of the comic, well within limits.

(Post a new comment)

	box_in_the_box 2009-07-29 05:50 am UTC (link)
	Oh, God, the dialogue is so dead-on Scientology-speak that it hurts. And who does the unmasked archvillain look like? (Reply to this) (Thread)

jlroberson
2009-07-29 02:23 pm UTC (link)

It was fairly gutsy of them to do this at the time, considering the COS was very, very good at crushing their critics back then. But then, who the hell read these comics? Just teenagers like me at the time, who were therefore inoculated against the Church when it appeared. I lived in the South, so I would never have heard of them then otherwise.

Pasko, on the other hand, lived in LA, and only someone in that city could have written this with such familiarity.

As far as how dead-on it is: one thing I find fascinating about some of the words L. Ron Hubbard made up is how they seem designed to test credulity, like you can detect in them a joke on those he's fooling. One example? A planet of one of those ancient races "Xenu" enslaved is called "Arslycus." I know how they prefer it pronounced, but somehow I found a different way more plausible.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	daggerpen 2009-07-29 11:26 am UTC (link)
	Never seen this comic before, but I think I like it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	jlroberson 2009-07-29 12:16 pm UTC (link)
	The other issues (at least the Pasko ones and most of Staton's but his are softer) are actually funnier. I have scans of the X-Men parody and maybe I'll post some of them. (With John Byrne as "Companyman," the henchman of "Stanley Presents.") (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	crinosg 2009-07-29 02:39 pm UTC (link)
	I have an issue of E-Man where he fights a bunch of Hawaiian Gods (I think that's what they were, they may have been Indonesian Gods, point is E Man kicked their asses; even overpowering their Sun God in a contest of raw power). (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jlroberson 2009-07-30 10:40 am UTC (link)
	That's because E-Man is the greatest superhero of all time(and when I was little I always got him and Ralph Dibny mixed up) and is more powerful than God. The only thing that really limits him is that he's...kind of too nice, and naive. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	tavella 2009-07-29 02:00 pm UTC (link)
	Wow, E-man, that's a blast from the past. I'm faintly recalling the X-Men parody now; wonder if anyone still has that to post it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	silverzeo 2009-07-29 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	X-Babies? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	espanolbot 2009-07-29 06:44 pm UTC (link)
	Warren Ellis once said in his column at SFX magazine (I think that was where it was) that Hubbard came up with the idea for Scientology when he was having a discussion with Harlan Ellison about "how to make a million dollars and keep it". (Reply to this) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-07-29 08:11 pm UTC (link)
	An interview in which Ellison himself tells the story is reprinted here. Also present at the conversation (if Ellison was remembering right) were Alfred Bester, Lester Del Rey, and Cyril Cornbluth.. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mania21 2009-07-29 09:30 pm UTC (link)
	I've heard this too. That the entire reason Hubbard founded Scientology is because he wanted to keep making money after his writing career fizzled. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	timgueguen 2009-07-30 12:56 am UTC (link)
	Didn't expect to see an E Man post. Now if someone could just hunt up some Doomsday +1 to post. (Reply to this)