"I've Got a Bill of Sale, Made Out to Me, for One Space Worm"

"Murvyn the Magnificent."
By William E. Fark (1918-2010).
Illustrations by Scott Mavor (HERE).
First appearance: Fantastic, January 1980.

Short story (10 pages; 2 illos).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).
(Parental caution: Some strong profanity.)

     "Who would care about the feelings of a 'space worm,' a creature with no real form or place to call home? His strange abilities made money for people, but he wanted something more . . ."

A meditation on show business, slavery, and love . . .

Characters:
~ The narrator (unnamed):
  "In this racket, you're only as good as your current billing, and mine was never higher."
~ Murvyn the Magnificent:
  "The green material stirred and I met Murvyn."
~ Hank Milby:
  "As a third-rate comic, Hank was bearable; as a success, he was a first-rate bastard."
~ Hlassa:
  ". . . a dark, quiet girl from the Middle East, pretty in an unobtrusive way."

Resources:
- Murvyn's wild talent is covered by an article at TV Tropes (HERE).

- The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDb) credits William E. Fark with only two stories: "Hessie and the Spaced-Out Demon" (Fantastic, July 1979) and "Murvyn the Magnificent." See the extensive obituary for him in the San Diego Union-Tribune (HERE).
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