THE STRANGE WORLD OF MY DREAMS

Scott Edelman, one of my Marvel Bullpen buddy of the 1970s, has a great blog where he discusses writing, life, food and restaurants and much more. Once a month, he also posts a list of dreams he had the previous month. Dreams like...

I dreamt I discovered my Dad had been in movie musicals with Lucille Ball, and when I asked Mom why no one ever told me … she shrugged. Nov 18

And...

I dreamt I visited Harlan Ellison and we ended up singing tunes from Broadway shows, which was fun, only — I don’t remember which songs! Nov 4

Inspired by Scott’s keeping track of all his dreams, but much less committed to writing down all of mine, I do keep a pad of paper on my night stand. When I wake up from a particularly weird dream and remember it well enough to jot down a few notes, I save said notes for use in the occasional bloggy thing feature I call...The Strange World of My Dreams.

My dreams tend to be fairly involved. I usually can’t sum them up in a line or two. Sometimes, they play out like complete stories. Other times, they seem like springboards for stories I should write someday. This one is more of the latter.

The night of December 5:

I’m in a hovercraft that looks like a big van. Indeed, it’s known as a Battle Van and is the chief operation vehicle for the American Food Protection Agency, a quasi-military government agency formed to protect our nation’s farms from radical Christian terrorists who  believe famine will speed the coming of the Second Coming. This is a serious thing in the world of this dream.

Piloting the Battle Van is Niecy Nash, who played Denise Hemphill on Scream Queens. Hearing the call of President Bernie Sanders, she gave up her acting career to join the AFPA. She was one of dozens of entertainers who did this, including George Clooney and Britney Spears.

I’m Niecy’s partner. I’m a Story Consultant. Government studies had shown that classic comic-book writers of the 1960s and 1970s were best suited to devise clever solutions to any situations that might arise when terrorists attack. We’re in radio communication with a second Battle Van. I don’t know who was piloting the second Battle Van, but Roy Thomas was that unit’s consultant.

Assisting each team is a computer network programmed with all the stories of even more classic comic-book writers like Bill Finger, Gardner Fox and Otto Binder. Between the living consultants and the story databank, the Battle Vans are ready to combat the terrorists,  device clever escape plans when necessary and follow clues to the hideouts of the terrorists.

Our uniforms look like the Jack Kirby-drawn uniforms from Harvey’s The Three Rocketeers. We look damn fine in them.

What I remember from the dream is all background and not an actual mission or story. However, as I’m sharing these background details with you, there’s a part of me that wants to write an American Food Protection Agency graphic novel.

This has been a visit to...The Strange World of My Dreams.

That’s all for now, my friends. Hug your loved ones and keep them close. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2015 Tony Isabella