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TALKING COMICS WITH WARREN ELLIS By BRUCE MacINTOSH
Although one of the big news items at this year’s San Diego Comicon is that Warren Ellis will be writing Astonishing X-Men for Marvel when Joss Whedon concludes his tenure on the title, we can’t let get lost in the shuffle the fact that he has two new series and a graphic novel coming out from Avatar Press this summer. I was able to sit down and have a brief chat with Ellis in his hotel room this afternoon, and we talked about these terrific books.
Ellis is best know for his groundbreaking comics like The Authority or Transmetropolitan, or the oftimes acerbic sociopolitical commentary of his own blog, www.warrenellis.com. But those who know him, and I found out this afternoon in my brief interview, Ellis is really a soft- and well-spoken man who is enthusiastic about his interests and projects.
The two new series from Ellis coming out through Avatar are Doktor Sleepless (with art by Ivan Rodriguez) and Black Summer (art by Juan Jose Ryp). Both titles involve a dystopian future where human bodies have been electronically and chemically modified – but with disastrous and terrifying effects.
Although one common theme is body modification, Ellis’ approach is different in each title. He described it as “two sides of the same coin”. In Doktor Sleepless, society feels cheated that they haven’t gotten the flying cars and jet packs they were promised with “the future”. But the good Doktor is there to remind them that their future has arrived in an unexpected way: Through the technical enhancements to their own physical bodies, such as cell phones and contact lenses.
Ellis elaborated for me: “This is where we’re headed. Anyone who wears contact lenses or headphones is a cyborg.” He is reminding us that it would have been shocking just ten years ago to see people walking around with Bluetooth headsets attached to their ears. If that is the kind of “progress” that has occurred in such a short time, think what the near future will hold. (Ellis cited an example of someone “who was traveling by plane and told to unplug all this stuff.” After being forced to do this, he simply collapsed: “He couldn’t function anymore!”)
Black Summer also deals with the sci-fi bent of technological bodily enhancement, but takes a different (and a bit bloodier) tack. The eight-issue limited series takes a different look at heroes versus villains, when Tom – an “outdated” version of a physically-modified war machine, is hunted by the newer version. This is, however, where the resemblance to the Terminator franchise ends: Tom had past connections with a superteam called the Seven Guns, and they will need to find each other and defend themselves from both the government and another group of super-modified villains.
Ellis said he has been influenced with these books by a growing trend in bodily modification. He didn’t have time to elaborate, but there is a growing presence in society and on the web of people who are taking steps to physically enhance themselves - essentially to the point of becoming a “cyborg”. He noted that there are “a lot of very interesting things going on in the area of body modification.” For example, many people install magnets in their fingertips to “detect security fields” and make them generally more sensitive to magnetic fields.
Ellis’ one-shot graphic novel from Avatar is called, a story of how on August 26, 1346, the English army changed modern warfare forever. Ellis’s eyes lit up when I brought up this book, which is a fascinating and very accessible look at some little-known details of the English victory over the French, who had oppressed England for almost three centuries since the Norman invasion of 1066.
However, the most interesting aspect of the book, which I made a point to note to Ellis that I “got” – was that it took pains to gently describe day-to-day life, custom and language in medieval England. The story is narrated in the first person by an archer, who periodically breaks the “fourth wall” of comics to describe interesting facts about the origin of some modern customs and even swear words! I mentioned to Ellis that he should consider promoting these books to college history classes: It would not only promote literacy through comics, but make dry facts and dates interesting enough to keep the average student awake through class!
I asked Ellis whether he would follow up Crécy with another “historical” graphic novel, and he beamed about his work on an upcoming story involving the “real Robin Hood.” He said that research has been made available – mostly through the internet – of someone bearing a similar name and performing similar deeds. There is evidence, he said of the fictional archer “possibly having been a real person”. He said that now the web “turns up a lot of interesting stuff” regarding hitherto unknown historical details.
Although there may not have been a real “Sherwood Forest”, according to Ellis a journal from a “Robert Hood” of Barensley may point to this person as the one who theoretically plagued the (actual) Sheriff of Nottingham, and possibly stole from the rich and gave to the poor. When asked, Ellis explained that this journal was not from a time that would coincide with Prince John, but instead “one of the Edwards, who would have been doing a royal progress through the country” around the 14th century.
He also cited an unusual turn of language that would indicate the origin of an actual Maid Marion. Apparently, at the time a Catholic abbess (from an abbot) was often termed a “marion”. He also described new sources that talk about Guy of Gisbond, a knight who wore a suit of “armor” that was entirely leather.
Ellis is excited about the newly available research, including that ledger of Edward’s courtier named “Robert Hood”. The details now available afford “all kinds of sources that you could build a story around”. I’m excited, too, since this will finally help me make sense of that undergraduate degree in English History!
If you’re a fan of Warren Ellis’ prior work on series like Transmetropolitan, The Authority or Planetary, you will definitely see elements from those series in Doktor Sleepless and Black Summer, and even Crécy. But even if those titles or Ellis himself don’t make you go googly-eyed, but you still like gripping and intelligent writing and interesting stories – then you absolutely should be picking up these three titles.
Also fans of Ellis' work are going to see his first ever webcomic launch at Avatar Press later this year. The project, called FreakAngels, features artwork by Paul Duffield. You can learn more about it here: http://www.freakangels.com/Posts: 21381 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
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I dug Doktor Sleepless, although it's kind of languishing in Transmet's shadow.
Then again, it's only been one issue so far. I'm sure it'll find itself a singular and unique identity as the series progresses.
I also enjoyed Black Summer, although not as much. My comic shop didn't have Crecy, which is disappointing because it sounds like the most interesting book out of the three.
That Robin Hood project sounds cool too. Will that be for Avatar, or has Ellis not found a label yet?
-------------------- Read my own comics at myspace.com/comicbookshowcase Posts: 312 | Registered: Feb 2006
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The Robin Hood project is definitely cool, Ryan - and I could tell he was really excited about it. It sounds like it will also be for Avatar. Avatar is turning out to be a nice outlet for Warren's projects.
-------------------- See Bruce write...Write, Bruce, write! My website about Me: Comiczar.com Posts: 109 | Registered: Aug 2006
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