How does /co/ feel about the work of Warren Ellis? Favorite of his books, least favorite? Where does he rank next to Moore, Morrison, etc? Discuss.
>>78642143
He's fantastic. He almost always only stays with titles for 5-6 issues but every time he does he brings another level to the characters that's either mind blowing, or just gives you the feels.
Top three if I had to pick (in order): Moon Knight, Secret Avengers, Thunderbolts
He's currently writing Karnak which had a phenomenal first issue and I expect him to keep it up
>>78642143
As for your examples, I think he's better than Moore, not as good as Morrison. His comics aren't bogged down with stupid shit like the other two, though, so that's a plus.
I love the dude. I'm pretty much guaranteed a decent story if he's on it.
Personal favorite work of his is Planetary, but Thunderbolts has to be the tightest, most exciting, edge of your seat condensed run in the history of cape books.
What d'you guys make of Injection so far?
>>78642517
I really like it.
Is his Avengers the best an Avengers book is ever going to get. Answer: Yes.
>>78642744
His Avengers GN was boring as fuck
Planetary probably is the best comic series I've ever read.
penis
>>78642143
I loved all of his Wildstorm stuff, Planetary being my favorite. I enjoyed his Excalibur run, as well.
Generally speaking, I like him better than Moore, and maybe a hair better than Morrison.
I haven't read his Moon Knight (or any Moon Knight, honestly). For a fan of his work with no background on the character, is the MK run worth it as an entry point?
>>78644059
Honestly his MK is more of a showcase for the artist, it's a bunch of single issue stories.
>>78644059
Each issue spends like two seconds on a premise then is like 90% cool action with dope art. You don't need to know anything about moon knight for it
>>78642143
He is probably my all-time favorite comics writer. Transmetropolitan is probably my favorite work, followed by Nextwave, then Moon Knight.
I wish Injection would fucking get in gear already.
When he keeps his dumb politics to himself and the snide sarcasm he can write some pretty awesome shit. But when he's bad he is INCREDIBLY bad.
>>78644059
About 80% of Ellis' Moon Knight could be changed to being mind-blowing Batman stories with few alterations.
>>78644130
From secret Avengers
>>78645118
Oh yeah, and Batman/Planetary is maybe the best single issue Batman stories I've ever read.
Blue Rose was a great addition to Moore's work.
Although the ending could have hit harder.
The climax was perfect
His Thunderbolts was my favorite run of anything ever
>>78645440
I loved it too, but it was a suicide squad, not a Thunderbolts team, which makes me resentful.
>>78642143
He hates you OP
>>78642143
He's the only Kitty waifufag who managed to create a good and enjoyable relationship between her and his self insert. I respect him for that.
>>78642143
He's one of my favorites. At his best, he a very "to the point" writer. His ideas are interesting and his execution is impeccable. At his worst, he's a poor man's Garth Ennis.
>>78642143
He can't write Steve Rogers for shit (he even admitted it) but he made me like Widow, Sharon Carter, and makes Carol tolerable nit to mention his comics are always interesting.
I live near him and someone in a local book shop knows him. I must interview him.
>>78642143
I love his newsletter and blogs as well.
>>78642143
I fucking love Transmetropolitan. I don't give a shit how heavy handed the message is, the world building is great and it has hilarious moments as well as personal nostalgic value for me.
Also obligatory Nextwave and Thunderbolts mention as well as >tfw Fell will never come out of hiatus
I like Transmet but /co/ thinks it's edgy shit
>>78642143
Dude's a good writer overall. His ability to write well across genres impresses me the most. I was impressed by what he did in Planetary, Black Gas, and Orbiter.
I forgot he fucked off over to Marvel. Can't blame him. I know he has some image books, but I never got around to reading the issues I picked up.
>>78642143
I'm a massive Ellis fan and I will admit I am totally biased towards his writing.
Global Frequency is my favorite of his work.
My other favorites are: Planetary, Transmet, Nextwave, Moon Knight, Thunderbolts, Switchblade Honey, No Hero, Desolation Jones.
As for the least favorite: Down and Mek.
>>78642517
Injection has been great so far, the team of Ellis, Shalvey and Bellaire do amazing work together. I cannot wait for volume 2
>>78649069
Transmetropolitan IS edgy shit but that's what makes it great. It's very heartfelt and sincere, which is something most edgelord books lack.
Warren Ellis is a fantastic writer and almost any book with his name on it is guaranteed fun.
That said, every once in while he'll write a bowel discomfort/assault/explosion joke that feels out of place. It's like his go-to.
He's better than Moore and despite my favorite books of all time being some of Morrison's, I'd say Ellis writes more consistently good books than he does. I've never outright hated anything Ellis has done.
I've read Thunderbolts, Moon Knight, Planetary, Transmetropolitan, Secret Avengers, and what little there is of Karnak and Bond. What should I read next by him /co/?
>>78652720
His Stormwatch run, followed by the first 12 issues of The Authority. If you like Mark Millar at all, you can finish out the rest of the first volume of The Authority, as well.
Nextwave, Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, and Global Frequency are worth it, as well.
>>78652978
>Ellis' Authority
I read it for the first time recently and was surprisingly unimpressed. Like, it's a neat book, but I'd be hard-pressed to recommend it to anyone. What did you like about it so much?
>>78653425
His Authority run hasn't aged well at all. The Brubaker/Giffen stuff was much better.
He liked us even after we creeped on his then underage daughter. He's cool in my book. Also he's a pretty damn good writer too. Don't fuck with him though.
>>78653797
What? Tell me more, anon.
>>78642143
When he is on his game - "Global Frequency", "Transmetropolitan", superhero trilogy - he is fucking amazing.
His grasp of science is tenuous at best.
>>78642296
>I think he's better than Moore, not as good as Morrison
So you judge by the amount of hair, I gather.
>>78655713
>>78655745
>not getting the joke
>>78655704
I mean, look at it.
>>78655761
Isn't Stone's joke also basically just "tipsfedora.jpg"?
>>78644059
Millar did it better
>>78655820
Without knowing Tucker's beliefs, you'd assume that there isn't anything wrong with the first one.
>>78655680
He pretty much reads issues of Popular Science then writes fiction about the articles.
I really love Ellis' body of work, and that despite the fact that pretty much every single one of his originals characters can be summarized with the phrase "bitter and sarcastic genius". If you read a lot of his stuff all at once, you start to notice the pattern, and it becomes kinda grating.
>>78655761
What joke
>>78655820
>>78655876
He's essentially the stereotypical fedora tipping hipster
He's hit and miss. When he's good his stuff is very good but contrary to a lot of the posters in this thread I do not think I am guaranteed a decent story if he's on it. I think he fucks up a lot and when he fucks it up it can be really bad. No Hero is probably one of the worst comics I've ever read. His themes can be repetitive and he has a tendency to devolve to pithy/'badass' dialogue sometimes rather than actually fleshing out a character.
He's also too British, like a lot of top comic book writers came over from British stuff and injected their Britishness into the comic, but Ellis does too many British references/witticisms even when he's writing characters who really shouldn't do that. I think it's a lack of editorial control on what he does, or maybe he just has a very bad reaction to editorial control, that causes this. Obviously no one is seriously editing his scripts to remove the dialogue or references he makes like that.
tl;dr - good but overrated. Planetary is a must-read for anyone.
>>78655761
>>78655820
>>78655876
>>78656385
https://twitter.com/factualopinion/status/532563937125203968
I'm still not getting what joke that isn't to be gotten.
>>78656439
Oh, and also you kind of have to watch out for his endings sometimes. Transmetropolitan as an entire run is really let down by its poor finish, despite having some incredible single issues and stories in there. But you could say the same for Sandman or most of Urasawa's manga; it's not a big failing just something to be aware of.
>>78642143
Used to like and follow his stuff, but I get the impression he hasn't done much of note recently. A middling crapshoot since and around the Doktor Sleepless fiasco?
His two or three books are lazy but have their redeeming jokes. Unremarkable writing style, weak plotter. If he does a manic pixie girl thing again I'll puke.
Better than Morrison and Millar at least, but doesn't play in the same category as Moore, come on.
>>78657035
I think you mean Miller, because it's not hard to be better than Millar.
One of my favorite writers.
Though his work does seem formulaic after you read enough of it, doesn't stop me from enjoying it if it's good.
>>78657506
Yeah, he's not a writer you can read forever, he has a limited bag of tricks that gets disguised by working with visually interesting artists.
The sarcastic and cynical asshole in a sharp outfit (probably white) who has a clear dependancy problem on cigarettes / scotch / violence / made-up drugs and likes the sound of their own voice thing became a bit much, and I had to stop reading Ellis comics.
Of course, it took about ten years for that to happen, so that single character archetype he uses is clearly a pretty good one. I kind of miss reading Warren Ellis comics, but once the formula of 'the stock Eliis character plus whatever is the current talking point in popular science discussion' nature of his work becomes clear, you're kind of fucked.
Crecy was interesting because it was a historical, but it was an Ellis character 'I know better than you and btw being British is great' moment stretched to a full book.
He could also do with leaning back slightly on the whole British = English thing, it's slightly obnoxious and a blind spot for someone that wants to appear on top of his subject to the reader.
>>78642143
As good as Morrison, slightly worse than Moore, miles above Caiman, who's been trying too hard since day 1
He has a drinking problem and will never finish Fell
>>78657897
Gaiman*
>>78657770
>that single character archetype
His name is Hunter S Thompson.
>>78658557
I don't think he's ever denied it.
>>78642143
Like anyone who's been around for as long as he is, he's written a lot of shit.
However, he's also written some of the best comics ever.
I think I enjoy reading Ellis more than Morrison or Moore, both of them are perhaps a bit more meticulous and esoteric
I picked up Transmet #25 new because Jim Lee did the cover. I was instantly hooked. I've been reading Warren Ellis, basically anything he writes, ever since. Even his novels are good. Crooked Little Vein is just a fun read. Comics, I like his Gravel stuff like Strange Kisses. Freak Angels was gorgeous and free. Marvels Nextwave was incredible. Basically, you cant realy go wrong with Ellis at the helm.
>>78657943
Apples and oranges. Gaiman is a wordsmith, his writing is fucking sexy poetry. Ellis is inventive and has his finger on the pulse of the future. Both are fantastic writers.
>>78653834
http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=6645
>>78642143
Pretty crap to be honest.
>Where does he rank next to Moore, Morrison, etc?
Way bellow those two and most of the other british guys of that period.
>>78658706
He has his duds, dude. Guy has a long career of original material, not every idea is a winner. Jack Cross springs to mind, what a load.
His fiction has been pretty good, too. Dead Pig Collector was great. Gun Machine and Crooked Little Vein were enjoyable in different ways.
>>78642143
He's very plebby and entry level which is why he's so popular. Favorite of his works is probably Planetary, it was alright. Worst? I don't know, one of his Avatar works, throw a darts at em.
>>78658859
There is necessarily nothing wrong about being "plebby". It's mostly just a statement that he's shit is accessible. And most cape-shit is accessible.
>ctrl+f "ignition city"
>zero results
>>78657770
>that gets disguised by working with visually interesting artists.
It is probably no surprise that his Avatar comics, with trademark shit Avatar art, is his worst work.
>>78642143
At his best, he's the best. Morrison and Moore simply do not compare.
He's done some less-than-amazing stuff, though.
>>78642143
I loved everything he did when I was a little younger. I still like him, but feel that most of his views are simplistic. He may be a futurist who has a passing interest in science, but most of his characters are still the kewl know-it-all hacker archetypes (without necessarily being hackers). He thinks he's mind-blowing, but he only is mind-blowing on a very superficial level.
Still like his stuff, though.
>>78659630
This
i love Ellis's work but to claim he's a better writer than Alan fucking Moore is simply bonkers. Ellis has no Watchmen, Swamp Thing, or From Hell level work. even his latest stuff, Injection, Black Cross, & Trees, pales in comparison to Moore's recent Providence and Crossed +100 Avatar stuff.
while it's okay to like Ellis better than Moore, declaring he's the better writer is simply nonsense. Moore is the Master, Morrison the Prince, and Ellis the Knight. Ennis is the Joker.
>78656465
i thought Sandman ended splendidly. i agree on Trans less than stellar ending. those one and one issues peppered throughout the series are fantastic, though. or were, haven't read them in a while.
>>78657035
he really hasn't. his latest work, apart from Moon Knight, has been simply okay to damn that sucked (looking at you, Trees). i won't even get into his really, really, really awful prose work.
Been reading Crooked Little Vein recently after finding it in a box at a car boot sale.
S'fun.
>>78663179
What's Gaiman?
>>78663179Millaris the Minstrel
A guy who writes this is a God in disguise:
My daughter is now 13. You can tell this by the way she presents herself for dinner at a restaurant wearing red and black striped fingerless gloves, a black puffball skirt and tights, a t-shirt that’s the dilute 2008 iteration of an idea Vivienne Westwood scrawled on the back of a fag packet in 1976, and a pair of boots that appear to have been fashioned from the hollowed-out legs of a particularly unfortunate black bear. Also, by the way I’ve gone from being called “daddy” to being called “shut up, Ellis.” She bitches that she can only hold something like 500 texts (three days’ worth of use, it would seem) on her hideous KRZR phone, and bitches that it’s “not fair” that my Nokia has eight gigs onboard. I’m faring better than her mother, who is incapable of even comprehending the previous sentence (her phone is so old that it’s essentially a Morse tapper). When she actually places a phone call, she goes out into the garden, so we can’t hear her Secret And Important Conversations. Which mostly sound like “yeah… cool… yeah… creepy… yeah.” She wears her mp3 player in the car so she doesn’t have to listen to “old, creepy” bands on the CD player. And then berates me for not listening to “dad music” in the office. Which is also often termed “creepy.” Most things are either “cool” or “creepy.” Having accounts on social network services is evidently “sad.” She’s forgotten her email password and messages her friends through game and fashion sites. She uses YouTube to listen to music. Nouns have seemingly become optional: “I need to thing about thing with thing and thing.” Her mother understands every word. I do not. This may be why her mother is “cool” and I am “creepy.”
I’m loving every minute of it.
(too long to be in one post )
Also, due to some fluke in their protection, her school’s web connection can access this website. (Yeah. I know, right?) So, one day soon, Lili or her friends will find this post.
Lili, you are an annoying toad with a mutant power for belching loud enough to set off car alarms in the next street.
I love you, little angel.
Her life will be HELL when they find this…
>>78653797
>we
>>78642143
Just read Orbiter, fucking fantastic sci-fi comic. No action at all, just scientists doing science in a world jaded by space flight and now grounded.
>>78674423
I should say, the same day I checked out Two-Step from the library and it was utter garbage.
