Avengers #88 Cover (Sal Buscema) (1971)

As one of my all-time favorite Avengers covers, this cover is special to me for a number of reasons. I was too young to read this issue when it first came out but picked it up in back issues (and when it was reprinted in 1980) and loved not only the cover art but the interior art and story from first read. The cover has Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, a funky monster/alien villain and a (sort of guest) appearance by the Hulk. And I was really a fan visually of the Clint Barton Goliath. The interior art was cool with some nice battle pages and a great semi-splash page that stuck with me. Although the ending was a bit rushed, the story was interesting too with some horror overtones and the Hulk being shrunken to microscopic size (where he then meets the Hulk's first love Jarella for the first time as continued on in Hulk #140). I'll upload a better scan sometime soon.

You can stop reading this long posting now if you want. :)

Even better when later I realized the comic was written by Harlan Ellison, an author who adult themed short stories I was just discovering back then. From a teenager, my interest in Harlan Ellison grew as well, such that he became one of my favorite authors and my shelves became lined with signed first editions of his books, most of them inscribed to me in person by Harlan at various science fiction or comic cons he attended or purchased directly from him through the mail. I met him a number of times over the years at the various cons--besides being a great short story writer, he was quite a character. Unfortunately, Harlan died last summer.

I later discovered through a friend that he knew where this cover art was and somewhat ironically it had been owned all these many years by Harlan Ellison, and now by his Estate (ie, his wife). And they may be willing to part with it. I thought--it's going to be super costly but how cool if I could acquire this cover from Harlan Ellison/his Estate given not only how much I loved the cover but how much I was a fan of Harlan Ellison.

What's that cliche about not meeting your idols? Although I had met the man (and once or twice his wife in a cordial Con setting), that wasn't the same as "meeting" his Estate (wife) and its (her) Art Representative. The process proved painful. Caveat Emptor. I enjoy the cover notwithstanding and have let the past recede. In the end, I'm very happy to have acquired one of my all-time favorite Avengers covers.