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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Nov 30, 2015 18:17:31 GMT -5
I guess the one I found te best balance between originality, entertainment and consistency would be his Iron Man mini-series. Most of his work is disapointing to me beyond the initial concept. I enjoyed Stormwatch when it came out, even if I was somewhat annoyed by its existence relying too much on the pre-existance of Watchmen. In that regard, Black Summer was more successfull.
Stuff like Orbiter, Ministry of Space, Ocean, Desolation Jones or even Nextwave always fell short plotwise.
Planetary and Transmetropolitan are his two main works, but yet, i also find myself loosing interest in those too quickly. At least their long-running publication allowed for more versatility, and even if I've yet to read its end, I have more hope in Freak Angels in that regard.
Even if I've bought the issues, I've yet to read Injection, Trees, and to finish Black Mask....
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Roquefort Raider
CCF Mod Squad
Modus omnibus in rebus
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 30, 2015 19:59:11 GMT -5
I'm sure I'm unfair to Ellis, who seems to be an O.K. bloke... but the extreme enthusiasm of some of his fans over stories I find pretty ordinary prompts me to buck in the opposite direction. If it's any consolation, I have the same reaction to Neil Gaiman's prose work or J. K. Rowling's writing. It may be good, but no way as good as some seem to thik.
Some of Ellis's Hellblazer stand alone stories were quite good. Others like " Haunted" I see as the absolute nadir of the series.
In my book he's on the same page as Grant Morrison as far as the (fan reaction/actual stories) ratio is concerned*. Not that Ellis's stuff isn't good, but what I've read of it was not enough to make me want to buy more sight unseen.
Naturally, I don't mean to say his fans are wrong. His stories simply don't work for me, one reader among umpteen thousands.
*Morrison being the undisputed champ, of course.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 30, 2015 20:06:36 GMT -5
I went with Planetary. But on any given day it could be Transmetropolitan. Both are brilliant and both would easily hit my top 15 long runs of comics. Possibly top 10.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Nov 30, 2015 20:17:34 GMT -5
Ooh! Neat! I'm a huge fan. Three way tie:
Transmetropolitan! It was angry and funny surprisingly well researched and accurate take on the political process. Plus damn near Watchmen level worldbuilding. It's really hard to juggle "depressing realities" and "fun!" but Transmet pulled if off for the whole run.
Nextwave! Most mainstream comics are extremely formulaic, but it was structured, paced, and designed like nothing else that Marvel (or DC, or Image) has ever produced. The only reason it's not influential is that other creators are too dumb/conservative/boring to really grasp how revolutionary it was.
Crecy! History lecture in fiction clothing, this was marvelously entertaining despite being... well, a historical lecture. Very well researched, very politically and sociologically incisive, foul-mouthed and violent as $%^&.
I wonder if Trees might not be up there when it finishes. The first volume was all set-up and fairly slow paced, but I thought it was still engrossing. And I can imagine this being a great comic when it kicks into gear.
(I still think Planetary is boring, though.)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2015 22:26:43 GMT -5
I voted Planetary, but Injection and Trees have me excited currently. I am not as big a fan of Transmet as some around here, as I find at times Ellis lapses into self-indulgence when he falls in love with an idea that gets more play then the story needs, and Transmet does this a lot (not as much as Crooked Little Vein with the Godzilla bukkake scenes ). I did like the whole Stormwatch/Authority stuff to, but it was very much a product of its time, and I haven't revisited it much. I do like Crecy, Red, Global Frequency, Moon Knight, and a few others quite a bit too. At times, his stuff is more interesting than good (things like Strange Kiss, Stranger Killings, Gravel, Lazarus Churchyard, Fell, etc. fall in that category for me). I still need to get and read Gun Machine as well. However, as I said in another post, I became a fan of Ellis because of his columns more so than because of his comics. Come in Alone was like a nuclear bomb going off in my comic reading habits and opened a lot of doors for me in terms of trying new things, reconsidering things I didn't give a fair chance too, etc, and still has ripple effects on my reading habits to this day. I still read his weekly newsletter (Orbital Operations) and check his journal Morning Computer almost every day. -M |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Nov 30, 2015 22:29:04 GMT -5
Could you provide links for those please?
Damn, forgot about Fell, another series of his I bought but felt didn't mach the hype either....
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2015 22:34:56 GMT -5
Could you provide links for those please? Damn, forgot about Fell, another series of his I bought but felt didn't mach the hype either.... Not sure if they still work, but these are links to the old Come In Alone Column page at CBR Come In AloneThose columns were collected in print, used copies on AmazonAvatar has a collection of even earlier columns he did... From the Desk of Warren Ellis-M |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Nov 30, 2015 22:38:36 GMT -5
Do you read azarus in the floppies? It has a lot of extra material from Rucka. I wonder if it is similar or inspired by those writings.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2015 22:48:59 GMT -5
Do you read azarus in the floppies? It has a lot of extra material from Rucka. I wonder if it is similar or inspired by those writings. I did, but it was a back before I relocated from New England to Ohio, and those books were in the box that got misplaced during the move (I think it went flying off the back of my brother-in-law's pick up somewhere in the wilds of Pennsylvania) and I haven't seen the floppies in over 10 years. -M |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Dec 1, 2015 6:14:03 GMT -5
Sorry, I meant Lazarus, the Greg Rucka series... Because the back material is maybe even more interesting than the comic book part itself.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2015 13:29:33 GMT -5
I read the first 2 arcs in floppies, the third in trade. I plan on getting the deluxe collections on that at some point because they include the back matter.
-M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 1, 2015 16:33:59 GMT -5
I haven't read more than 1/2 of those, but for me it's a real toss up between Doom 2099 and Transmet. I think if I was going to pick my favorite it would be Doom 2099, but Transmet is a better comic on alot of levels.
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 1, 2015 17:29:31 GMT -5
I voted Transmetropolitan but it was very close with Stormwatch / Authority. Very close.
Planetary was great as well but definitely third behind both of those.
Ellis is interesting. I'll pick up Karnak when I can get it on sale.
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Post by earl on Dec 1, 2015 18:32:20 GMT -5
I've read a good bunch of Ellis' comics and quite a few I got out of the dollar bin in Lexington which used to have boodles of Wildstorm back issues.
The bad thing about Ellis' stuff is that his best comics just didn't sell well enough to keep going, which is why they DOA (more than laptop attacked by lightning or werewolves). Fell, Desolation Jones and Doktor Sleepless had really interesting setups and I think if they would have played out to a longer length where you get a series arc, they could have been his best projects. As is the first trade of Fell and Desolation Jones are excellent and interesting reads. I would have loved to seen how the PK second abandoned Desolation Jones arc would have ended. Doktor Sleepless was being setup for a fairly long form series and just died cold in the lengthy first act. Anna Mercury and Ignition City are a couple of other good premise just barely scratched series. I think Ministry of Space, Red and some of the short mini's really could have been even better reads if exposited a bit more with more details on the backgrounds of their worlds.
Ellis' wrecks to the side of the road are still interesting, but maddening as a reader you are curious how it was supposed to really play out. I haven't been reading any of his stuff for a couple years, I'm kinda waiting until it is done for checking it out.
Of the big series, I think with the artwork and everything that Planetary is the best comic series that Ellis has done. Transmet's last act wasn't as good as the early part of the series to me. I liked the first two trades of FreakAngels but never read the last parts, so I can't really gauge that one. Ocean is a nice read.
I'm not sure but I think Ellis is almost best at writing single issue issues, which is why I voted for Global Frequency. I wish there was 60 issues of that book. I also really liked the Apparat Singles project Ellis did. While intended to be one off comics, I definitely would have liked to have read some more of a couple of those.
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Dec 1, 2015 19:45:59 GMT -5
I voted Transmetropolitan but it was very close with Stormwatch / Authority. Very close. Planetary was great as well but definitely third behind both of those. Ellis is interesting. I'll pick up Karnak when I can get it on sale. Just read the first issue of Karnak, and sadly, the art was extremely disapointing... Zaffino Jr tries to mimic his father's amazing stle, yet, his anatomy lacks to be desired, massively so. The plot and characterization are very basic. Even the concept of hte Wsdom Tower which should be exciting falls flat. I'll give it a couple more issues, just in case the art dramaticaly improves. |
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