At the San Diego Comic-Con Marvel Comics has announced that it has acquired the rights to create a limited comic book series (and subsequent graphic novel collection) based on Philip K. Dick’s seminal short story, “The Electric Ant.”  To adapt this existential masterwork, which is slated for release in 2009, Marvel has assembled an all-star team including writer David Mack (Daredevil, Kabuki), artist Pascal Alixe (Ultimate X-Men, 1602), consulting editor Brian Michael Bendis (Secret Invasion), and cover artist Paul Pope (Batman: Year 100, Heavy Liquid).

“The Electric Ant,” the influence of which can be seen in Frank Miller's Hard Boiled, is one of the most haunting stories in the oeuvre of Philip K. Dick, whose stories provided the basis for such intriguing science fiction films as Bladerunner, Minority Report, and Total Recall.  Garson Poole, the protagonist of “The Electric Ant” awakens from an accident to discover that he is an organic robot, and that his subjective reality is controlled by a micro-punched tape in his chest cavity.  He tries putting extra holes in the tape and finds he is adding things to his reality.  When he makes major alterations, his actions have a profound effect on his reality and everyone he comes in contact with, throwing into question whether he or anyone else is truly “real.”