Warren Ellis... yay or a the nay? [W/ POLL!!]

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

Okay, so the Dino, he using his a vacation to catch up onna the Ultimate funny books from a the Marvel, eh? Like a the Ultimate Spiderman anna the Ultimate Fantastico Four...

I like a the first few issues of a the UFF with a the Bendis guy as a the author, but then a they switch a to Warren Ellis anna the book, she takes a the different tone, no?

I know some of a you putzes donna like a the Ellis guy, anna I was a wondering why. Personally, I think a he's got a the good ideas, but a the execution is a little onna the sloppy side, no? I like a his a whole take onna the N-Zone anna Annihilus for a the example, but a his a Reed Richards dialog is a like a the diametrically opposed a to a the character, no?

Any of a you putzes wanna to weigh in?

[burlivesleftnut]

Yes. Warren Ellis is my father.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

Yes. Warren Ellis is my father.

Like I said... he's got a the nice ideas... but a the execution, she's a sloppy.

[burlivesleftnut]

I didn't like the Ellis arc in UFF at all honestly. The first arc was so brainy and thoughtful, and then it gets to Doom and I kind of thought, "wtf".

[Colin]

I think the only thing he's really good at doing is superheroes, and I think that kinda pisses him off. He does have a lot of great ideas, but like you said, Dino, the execution is often poor.


Planetary is the best book he's doing right now, in my opinion.

[Adam Balm]

I have hated Ellis since before the seas had drank Atlantis, but his UFF turned me around. Ellis is usually desperate to look cool and 'with it', and UFF seemed the complete opposite. Silly, fun (They named their spacecraft the AWESOME! How can you not love it?) without any pretensions of any kind, and with just a tiny dose of wonder to boot. It felt just a little like Kirby/Lee all over again.

That said, Dino, the stuff about Ellis confusing heat death with cold death (heat death can occur at any temperature and has nothing to do with things cooling down) in the N-Zone arc had to piss you off a bit, right? It's shit like that that makes me want to pull my hair out reading Ellis, but then he has another zinger fly out of Johnny or Ben's mouth ("I think I broke the fantasti-can..." and I love the guy again.

[doglips]

Like Colin says, Planetary is the best book Ellis is writing at the moment. The story arc he's created is turning into a really pulpy soap opera - a real yarn and thats what I like about Ellis's work.

I can see that his habit of picking out as many cool and current ideas, both scientific and cultural to use in his books - that ultimately never get enough attention or in depth treatment - must infuriate many people. But for me if it helps him turn out an amazing story like he has with Planetary, I will always lap it up.

I have not read any of his FF issues, I will try and pick some up.

[Adam Balm]

I dunno about that. Ellis's ideas in UFF seem to me to be half baked, and a quarter understood. I don't know, I just can't stand people who open their mouths about stuff they don't understand. I'm really trying not to be a snob here, so my apologies if that's how it sounds.

But anyway, what I liked best about his UFF was the execution. He knows how to plot a tight story and, when he cares to do it, how to do great characterization and dialog.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

That said, Dino, the stuff about Ellis confusing heat death with cold death (heat death can occur at any temperature and has nothing to do with things cooling down) in the N-Zone arc had to piss you off a bit, right?

You raise a the good point paisan... But then again, there's a the reason a why they called a the "funny books," anna not a the "Scientific American," no?

I like a the idea of a the throwback to a the Kirby anna Lee, eh? It's a like a what a the whole idea of a the Ultimates is inna my mind... the stories anna characters a we alla know anna love, but just updated for a the modern age.

I gotta to say... I LOVED a the whole bit with a the introduction of Annihilus... I always a thought a the name was a silly, no? Stan Lee at a his a finest, heheh...

But a the idea of a the name coming from a the software translator? Genius, eh?

[DennisMM]

I dunno about that. Ellis's ideas in UFF seem to me to be half baked, and a quarter understood. I don't know, I just can't stand people who open their mouths about stuff they don't understand. I'm really trying not to be a snob here, so my apologies if that's how it sounds.

Adam, Adam, Adam -- not everyone can be a polymath like you (and I mean that honestly and humbly). Of course, that doesn't mean we have to pull "ideas" out of our asses (or someone else's) while making our art or craft.

I think Ellis is great at amalgamating diverse concepts, but he is, indeed, a bit sloppy. He works best when he's going over the top, as in Transmetropolitan and The Authority, except when he blows the over-the-top thing completely, as in Reload. Some of his quieter concepts are interesting, though, including Fell.

I subscribe to "Bad Signal". Reading it for the last year has convinced me of several things:

1. Ellis has a great many ideas and overtaxes himself developing them, to the point that he's trying to sell some pretty thin material.

2. Ellis seems rather desperate to get his ideas out there, to the extent that I wonder if he's got economic problems. I wonder if they might stem from his extended illness, when he produced almost nothing for more than a year.

3. Ellis drinks a good bit too much. He seems to spend half his time in a pub, and I assume he's drinking there. He jokes about the amount of whiskey and Red Bull he consumes, but I think it's defensive joking.

Anyone else care to weigh in on those three musings?

[Adam Balm]

I've recently just heard about his health problems. Has he mentioned what they are specifically?

[The Ginger Man]

1. Ellis has a great many ideas and overtaxes himself developing them, to the point that he's trying to sell some pretty thin material.

2. Ellis seems rather desperate to get his ideas out there, to the extent that I wonder if he's got economic problems. I wonder if they might stem from his extended illness, when he produced almost nothing for more than a year.

3. Ellis drinks a good bit too much. He seems to spend half his time in a pub, and I assume he's drinking there. He jokes about the amount of whiskey and Red Bull he consumes, but I think it's defensive joking.

Anyone else care to weigh in on those three musings?

I think you're right on all three accounts. Your 2nd point could very well be the cause of your 1st and 3rd points. Even so, I love the idea of the "hard-living" comic book writer. Ellis is out-there as a person and I've enjoyed alot of his work (Transmet in particular).

I don't know. I like the guy. And I always loved his idea for a "last" Superman story. Superman contracts a deadly, pus-boiling, insanely-painful, cosmic STD. And it all goes downhill from there.

[burlivesleftnut]

O NOEEEES!

[DennisMM]

I've recently just heard about his health problems. Has he mentioned what they are specifically?

Nothing I can find, including on warrenellis.com, goes into detail. Just that he had a prolonged illness.

[Adam Balm]

I hope it's not the same thing as me. Then I'd hate Ellis more for no reason...

[Colin]

He has really bad allergies. Really bad. So it's easy for him to get sick. Which is also why he only goes on one or two planetrips a year.

[Adam Balm]

But allergies are not badass lol.

[Colin]

Neither is Ellis.

[Nachokoolaid]

Yes. Warren Ellis is my father.

Like I said... he's got a the nice ideas... but a the execution, she's a sloppy.

IPAMPILASH.

That was the first time I used that. I try to refrain.

[burlivesleftnut]

Hey I know kind of where you live, kid.

[dark wesley]

i love planetry but he is on record as saying that there was nothing cool about a gian man in a silly hat who could eat planets. I thinks hes totally fuckinh wrong, theres nothing cooler than a giant planet eating man.

[DennisMM]

The allergies do seem to fuck up his life a great deal, but you'd have to be allergic to the point of anaphylactic shock for them to be life-threatening.

[Adam Balm]

I dunno, I'm going to wait and see how his take on Galactus plays out before I criticize. I know, I could go on and on about how all the drake equation/fermi paradox stuff is yet another thing stolen from Stephen Baxter (See the Manifold trilogy), but if he can tell a good enough tale with it, it'll shut me up....

[doglips]

BUMP!

Just read Iron Man 'Extremis' by Ellis & Granov and am pleased to report that it's totally fucking BADASS!

It seems a little easy from Ellis's point of view, taking an almost Global Frequency nanotechnology storyline and dropping Tony Stark into the middle. Must have seemed like a bit of a retread for him, but it works - it really works great.

Great art by Adi Granov, he creates a nice counter balance to the Nano-tech storyline with his organic-painting illustrative style. Some ( if it's possible ) beautiful panels of burning civilians and a last issue where he takes the art to a whole new level.



Spoilers! Iron Man has to fight a terrorist super soldier, genetically altered with a stolen nano-tech serum called Extremis. Stark gets his ass handed to him big time and persuades an old acquaintance ( the creator of Extremis) to dope him up with a reprogrammed serum, made to heal his fatal wounds and provide a new man to machine direct interface between himself and the Iron Man suit.

There is a nice parallel subplot concerning Stark's past and the creation of his first set of armour and an interesting look at his industrial backstory, how it links to the arms race and how that effects Stark on a humane level.

I wasn't blown away till the last issue, it was good story telling - Ellis on autopilot - but watching Stark excrete a gold undersheath from holes in his skin and then mentally command and connect his armour from a suitcase ( nice touch ) brought a great big smile to my face. Like I said, BADASS.......Iron man then hands out a brutal and fatal thrashing to the nano-protagonist...


Ellis has written an intelligent new beginning for Iron Man and it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Has anyone read the next arc?

[doglips]

PLANETARY #26
Written by Warren Ellis
Art and cover by John Cassaday

Discover what it’s all been building to! Jacob Greene is lost in space. William Leather is…not well. It all comes down to Elijah Snow and Randall Dowling — the architect of Planetary vs. the mastermind of the 4 — for the first and last time! Plus, one huge surprise. If ever there was an issue of Planetary you shouldn’t miss, this is it!
On sale October 25

FUCK YEAH!

[Keepcoolbutcare]

PLANETARY #26
Written by Warren Ellis
Art and cover by John Cassaday

Discover what it’s all been building to! Jacob Greene is lost in space. William Leather is…not well. It all comes down to Elijah Snow and Randall Dowling — the architect of Planetary vs. the mastermind of the 4 — for the first and last time! Plus, one huge surprise. If ever there was an issue of Planetary you shouldn’t miss, this is it!
On sale October 25

FUCK YEAH!

TOO LATE!

and what about Sue Stor...err, Kim Suskind? I want Jakita to bitchslap her somethin' fierce...

[doglips]

I think there will be much bitch slapping. Can't wait to see how Ellis wraps this up in a single issue.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

I think there will be much bitch slapping. Can't wait to see how Ellis wraps this up in a single issue.

I thought the plan was to do 27 issues?

[doglips]

27 is going to be an epilogue, so as far as I know the main arc ends in 26.

[Shane]

yay

[Keepcoolbutcare]

It appears that I’m going to be attending the San Diego Comics Convention in 2007.

I was talking to William at Avatar last month, and he was saying I should do SD again one day. So I said, sure, get me a business class flight, a decent hotel room, and security because Niki’s convinced one of us is going to get shot at a big convention one day, and you’re on. Knowing full well that all that would not happen.

Which is my usual mistake.

He came back a week later and said, I’ve sorted all that, you are now a guest of Avatar Press at the 2007 San Diego Comics Convention.

Shit.

When I touch down, it will have been ten years since I attended SDCC. It’s more than doubled in attendance size since then. I said for years that I’ll never go back, but dogma is ugly, and I should take another look
and see what’s changed. I’m trusting that William won’t lock me to a table for nine hours a day. Given the insane lines for me to deface books at Heroes Con this past summer, I would probably die. Three hours is about my limit: after that, my right hand gets pulped from having to shake with everyone who brings a book.

So there you go. I will be a guest of Avatar Press at San Diego in 2007.

I will, of course, require nurses.

(You KNEW I was going to say that.)

heh.

[The Ginger Man]

Shit, KCBC. I saw your new av and about died, thinking Burl was back.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

Shit, KCBC. I saw your new av and about died, thinking Burl was back.

HAHA!

I even confused myself after I put it up.

plus, all these fascist avs mucking about, I figured I'd show these clowns what a REAL fascist looks like...

[Leckomaniac]

For those of you who enjoy NEXTwave as much as I do...there is some sad news. Ellis announced today that NEXTwave will stop at issue #12. However, he did say that some mini-series would be on the way for the NEXTwave crew.

I really thought that this book should have lasted longer. It would be awesome to have tons of continuity in a humor book such as this. But I suppose all good things must end. You can read more right here

[DennisMM]

He does say he intended to leave after #12 until Marvel offered the no-Immomen deal. The blow shouldn't hurt fans quite so much.

[doglips]

Get ready! Ellis says Planetary 26 ships next week.

[DennisMM]

Which leaves only the postmortem in #27. Hmm. Who wins? Does anyone win? Has Snow been a pawn all this time?

Gods, I don't want to see this series end. It could have run for another arc or two and remained solid.

[doglips]

I'm going to miss Planetary a great deal, but I'm dying to read what Ellis has come up with.

[doglips]

So, Planetary 26. How good is this book? Can't believe we are down to one issue to go.

That has to be the best ever issue in dialogue terms, Ellis has been saving himself to give Snow a real send-off. Every bubble is verbal pwnage! There are not many books that make me smile from ear to ear - Planetary is definitely one of them.

Cassaday's art is fantastic as usual, Snow has never looked so good. Love the 3 pages of desert meeting. Dowling's expressions are priceless.

Spoilers - I would have liked a little more Jakita action but I'm glad Ellis wanted to end this on the perfect archaeological note -

"You're thinking like Dowling. Shoot something. Destroy something. That was his concept of power. Knowledge towards destruction.

Me? I discovered and saved these people, located a lost ship of the bleed and pulled it from it's tomb.

Archaeology."

Perfect.

I'm now going to have to read 1- 26 so I can try to fathom what the one last loose end might be.

I was worried that one issue would not be enough to tell Snow and Dowling's last act but Ellis really delivered.

10/10.

[DennisMM]

As I wrote in New Comic Wednesday, the directness and essential simplicity of Elijah's plan for Dowling and Susskind amazed me. It took some doing, but dropping them several thousand feet to their deaths was not what I expected.

The wrap-up has to do with the flower, doesn't it?

[Keepcoolbutcare]

As I wrote in New Comic Wednesday, the directness and essential simplicity of Elijah's plan for Dowling and Susskind amazed me. It took some doing, but dropping them several thousand feet to their deaths was not what I expected.

The wrap-up has to do with the flower, doesn't it?

saw it coming. Maybe not the drop, but I knew he had to use the Carri...err, the Shiftship.

I was kinda "meh" on the whole issue. Anti-climactic.

But I guess Elijah would say climaxes are sooooo 20th Century, so I kinda gave it a pass.

Speculation for the wrap-up...

Elijah says "we have so much more to show people, now. And so much more to sift from the ground." I couldn't help but flash to Opak-Re, the "stack of hard drives / information repository of 196,833 angles", U.S. Science City Zero, and, of course, finding out just where the fuck Ambrose Chase disappeared to.

But I'm very curious as to the fates of Anna Hark, Stone, Bass and whatever became of that "thing" that escaped the fictional reality. Hope some, if not all, of those questions, get answered...

[Keepcoolbutcare]

oh, and Dennis...I know you're not a NEXTWAVE(is love) stan, but I'm pretty sure you would've found the last panel of #9 amusing...

Elsa Bloodstone points to her shirt, which has an E in the middle of the European Union flag's 12 Stars...

"Do you think this letter on my chest stands for America?"

[Leckomaniac]

oh, and Dennis...I know you're not a NEXTWAVE(is love) stan, but I'm pretty sure you would've found the last panel of #9 amusing...

Elsa Bloodstone points to her shirt, which has an E in the middle of the European Union flag's 12 Stars...

"Do you think this letter on my chest stands for America?"

Ha! I can't speak for Dennis, but that sure did crack me up.

[DennisMM]

oh, and Dennis...I know you're not a NEXTWAVE(is love) stan, but I'm pretty sure you would've found the last panel of #9 amusing...

Elsa Bloodstone points to her shirt, which has an E in the middle of the European Union flag's 12 Stars...

"Do you think this letter on my chest stands for America?"

That's pretty fucking funny. Wonder if Millar reads the book?

[buster00]

I recently got turned on to Ellis' Global Frequency, thanks to the miracle of trade paperbacks. Good reading for people who like espionage stories.

No powers nor capes involved, it's just about an organization of present-day ass-kickers and the fucked-up situations they help prevent.

[doglips]

Have you read both tpb's yet Buster?

I love 'Big Wheel' and 'Invasive'

[buster00]

Have you read both tpb's yet Buster?

I love 'Big Wheel' and 'Invasive'

Those two stories must be in the first trade.

I've only read the second one. It was going for half price at my local shop (they didn't have the first one), so I picked it up on a whim. I will be seeking out Volume One for sure.

Thankfully, each episode seems to stand alone (connected only by the overall concept), so it was OK to start from the middle.

[silentbobafett]

YAY! BIG FUCKING YAY!

Why?

Transmetropolitan


oh you want more?

Well everything else the guys touched!

[DennisMM]

Global Frequency is the best non-powers adventure comics in many years. What I like particularly is how Ellis thought the idea through far enough to realize that this is Mission: Impossible in the "real" world. An IMF team doesn't have time to fly halfway around the world to deal with a crisis, so Miranda Zero has her thousand agents ready to move ASAP, with Aleph at the center to coordinate. A beautiful idea. My favorites are #3, "Invasive" with art by Steve Dillon (even if, like much of Ellis, the tech ideas are lifted); #6, "The Run" with art by David Lloyd; and #8, untitled with art by Chris Sprouse, which deals with the kidnapping of a GF operative.

[DennisMM]

YAY! BIG FUCKING YAY!

Why?

Transmetropolitan


oh you want more?

Well everything else the guys touched!

Have you read City of Silence? lol.