Books: The Avengers: Secret Avengers: Run the Mission, Don't Get Seen, Save the World

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Secret Avengers: Run the Mission, Don't Get Seen, Save the World
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Jamie McKelvie, Kev Walker, David Aja, Michael Lark, Alex Maleev, Stuart Immonen
2012



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


Even before I had even started one single word (or image) of Secret Avengers I opened up a new document so I could note down the stuff that came to me as I read it [1] and wrote down: "Good old Warren Ellis." At this point - that's how confident I am that having his name of the front cover of a comic means that - at the very least - it's a book that will be worth the time it takes to read: and - hell - if he's on form: then the sky is much less than the limit.

Of course: seeing how this is a mainstream marvel book (and not even a proper stand-alone one: I mean: at the start I was confused by the fact that it started at issue 16 and wondered if I was missing important story-stuff by starting at the middle [2]: but after deciding: "what the hey" I jumped in and realised that none of this was even an issue: and that the Vol 3 thing is a bit of a misnomer: seeing how it reads as a collection of short stories more than anything else: but we'll get to that in a bit) it's Ellis working for a (what I assume is a fat) paycheck more than trying to set the world on fire: but there's enough here to keep your brain (well - my brain at least) ticking over and twisted in knots: plus the fact that the artwork is (at points) pretty cool (I'd classify it as B-list [3] - which is several letters above the type of thing you normally get in your typical mainstream superhero comics so - you know: that's something at least): or - to put it another way: ok - yeah: it's basically just bubblegum - but it's well made bubblegum: with a lot of interesting flavours.

What that means: it's got a robust vocabulary (which means that you get lots of lovely words like "stellify" and "indubitably." [4]), Ellis' typical gonzo dialogue (with "Where is your Bluddy Steve Jobs Tricknology now, rich yankee pigs with your tight pants?" on one side and "People always forget that a time machine is also a space machine." on the other) with a healthy smattering of ideas (including: how to use city as a bomb)   and a deft touch with superhero characterization (with basically just means everyone gets to say one cool line at some point): like it says in the book: "it's clever and insane at the same time."

What's even better is that (taking a cue from Planetary): each issue is it's own self-contained little story: which means that it's really easy to dip in-and-out (because - you know: reading a whole comic can be such a major chore). In fact - forget Planetary: a much better example would be the short-lived Global Frequency: I mean - all you need to do is swap Miranda Zero for Steve Rogers and it's practically the same - only with the science-fictional volume turned all the way up (hey: I mean - it's superheroes so that's expected - right?): compact little action-adventure tales poking holes in the fabric of the world: short stories that are all quips and teeth.

I mean: for me - if you wanted to know what would make it better then I'd suggest that it cut down on the fighting (and: man - there is a lot of fighting) and ramped up the M C Escher style craziness: but that's just niggles. But like I said at the start: it's Warren Ellis - so (at this point) you should know exactly what it is you're going to get. And - hell: I'm always game for whatever good time he has to show me: even if the next day I can barley recall what it was that we got up to: but that's bubblegum for you.

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[1] Here's my tip for anyone out there thinking of reviewing stuff - it helps a lot if you write down your thoughts are you read it / watch it: trying to remember the things you were thinking of afterwards isn't really a viable option.

[2] And nosing around I discovered that there are two volumes of Secret Avengers that came before this (courtesy of Ed Brubaker): plus a tie-in to the Fear Itself blah: not to mention the Rick Remender series that comes directly after. However: I don't think I'm gonna bother to read either of them (let alone write them up on the blog - so (for the time being) this is as much Secret Avengers insight you're going to get from me: so enjoy it while it lasts.

[3] Notable artists (for me anyway) include: Kev Walker (a 2000AD graduate done good), Michael Lark (best known for his work on Gotham Central: and his lean, mean drawing style), Alex Maleev (the guy who did all the heavy lifting on Bendis' Daredevil run: who's even better at that realism feeling: and messing around with different drawing old-fashioned styles) and Stuart Immonen (who worked on the tail-end Ultimate Spider-man: and whose artwork looks like it would bounce if you threw it up against a wall).

[4] Which - obviously - reminds me of this. 

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Links: Forbidden Planet Blog Review.

Further reading: Global Frequency, Thunderbolts: Faith in Monsters / Caged Angels, The Avengers: The New Avengers: Illuminati, Ultimate Comics: Iron Man: Armor Wars, Gotham Central, Daredevil (2001 - 2006), Ultimate Spider-Man, Planetary, S.H.I.E.L.D..

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Book: Crécy

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Crécy
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Raulo Cáceres
2007




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


You ever see Goodfellas? No? Really? I mean - come on. At this point everyone's seen Goodfellas - right? "We were good fellas. Wiseguys." "No more shines, Billy." "What am I? A schmuck on wheels?" etc. Come on.

Well - ok. If you haven't seen Goodfellas then I suggest you turn away now - because I'm about to talk about the ending. Ok? And I don't wanna spoil it for any of you unfortunates who haven't seen it. And if that means you - well - just skip all the next five paragraphs and we'll see you at the point where it says "But anyway"... (But do me a favour - and go and watch it as soon as you possibly can - ok? Yeah. Ok. Good).

...Ok. So - the thing which has always bugged me about the end of Goodfellas [1] (and this is something that has somehow lead to - well - colossal arguments between me and my esteemed literary-minded flatmate as well as a few others who were unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire) is the way that it breaks in the fourth wall in the last - what? - five minutes. You know the bit I mean right? When they're in the courtroom and all of a sudden Ray Liotta is talking directly to camera (""Didn't matter. It didn't mean anything. When I was broke, I'd go out and rob some more. We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges." etc) as he jumps down from the witness box - walking past everyone else - none of who notice that this guy is (for some reason) talking to an invisible audience [2]. And god - everytime I see it - the aesthetical muscles in my brain (that's a thing right?) just start to spasm. It's like - god - I dunno: the rest of the film has been this beautifully constructed temple of pleasure: the Sistine Chapel with better dialogue - and there's this bit that's like it's been lifted from a school play. I can't stand it.

And I mean - it's not that I don't get what it's doing: yeah - it's the slow disintegration of the mobster dream: and by breaking the fourth wall it's breaking the spell that the film has managed to cast over you: but - damnit - it's just so ugly and well (summing up all my feelings in two words) - tonally inconsistent with the mode of storytelling set up by the rest of the film: and (slight understatement) - it bugs me.

It's not that I don't like a little bit of talking to the camera here and there [3]: in fact - yeah: really it's not that at all: I guess the best way to put it is that - in storytelling terms only: I just don't believe in miscegenation [4] so late on in the proceedings (because yeah - like I said: it's literally like the last five of the film): I mean - if it had opened with some fourth-wall breaking or had it lightly smattered around the place then I wouldn't be fussed at all - but (damn it) it's the fact that it happens in the closing moments makes it feel such a (as silly as I know it sounds) betrayal.

I mean: as I write all this stuff down I can a second voice in my head going: but come on man: Scorsese is a smart guy - he knows what he's doing: and if that ending left you feeling somewhat deflated - well: you know - maybe that's the point: to give you this wild rush of a roller-coaster ride for a couple of hours - and then to dump you off at the end unceremoniously: like a sack of rubbish being thrown in the bin - that's why it feels like such a shift in gears and so incongruous [5] with all that came before. Because fourth-wall breaking (or whatever you want to call it) isn't just a little sprinkle of extra storytelling off or whatever (like having a new character coming in wearing a top hat or whatever): it's a whole new mode. It'll be like if the film ended by switching to animation for a scene, or they switched to being shadow-puppets or suddenly a laughter track popped up [6]: it's just not right damn it.

And yeah: it's not as if I don't appreciate stories which can upend themselves in interesting ways: there's a 2002 Japanese film called Ping Pong [7] which kinda blossoms into a whole strange new creature in it's last third in a way that you won't really see coming: but then that's a film where the strange new creature was the point the whole time (yeah? [8]): which isn't really the case with Goodfellas (or at least - it doesn't feel that way to this chump: I dunno).

But anyway.

All this stuff is really besides the point when it comes to talking about Crécy. There's no incongruity to worry about here and there's no rug pulling of any type to be scared of. I mean: I did kind of think that maybe this was the wrong place to dump all my Goodfellas musings: but then I guess if I spoke about in connection to a book that did have a final little twist in the tale - then that would constitute (for me anyway) a spoiler - so (yeah) it's better to do it here where you don't have to worry about knowing things that you shouldn't.

So why even mention Goodfellas at all? Well - I guess the reason all this stuff sprang to mind is that Crécy (unlike the vast majority of it's comic peers) is brave enough (or foolish enough maybe?) to employ a tactic that all of this has been circling around: breaking the fourth wall - and addressing the audience directly (like this: hello reader! How's it going? Yeah - I'm talking to you! Hope you're having a good day out there. Make sure to check out the site once you're done here: lot's of good stuff to read.)

For me: I guess the most natural place to address the audience is in plays. I mean - there the level of artifice is at it's highest: it's people standing around acting and pretending not to notice all the other people sitting around watching them: so - when you do break that spell: well - it can be almost a relief (no? Just me?). Which I guess is why they've been doing asides since Shakespeare times (which is the oldest in times you can get - right?). After that tho: well - things get a little more tricksy. I mean - it works in films mostly: but it feels a little strained - it's no longer about acknowledging reality: it's more like - swapping one format for another (like I guess I've already said). And then (leaving aside books which I guess fall somewhere in between plays and films? And then after all of them: comes comics.

Because yeah - total statement of the obvious here: but comics are pictures on a page. The people there aren't real flesh-and-blood people - they're two dimensional lines and shadings: I mean - yeah - ok (most) films are 2-D - but they're capturing something that's three-dimensional [9] (and alright - yeah: if you wanna get picky - I know that drawing are pictures of three-dimensional objects etc: but it's not really the same thing is it?): comics aren't even close to being real - which I guess is the main deciding factor (for me anyway)  why it's strange to pick up Crécy and find the main character (William of Stonham) staring straight at me and talking like we're best friends (not that he's someone that you'd want to be best friends with - like he says himself: "I am, of course, a complete bloody xenophobe who comes from a time when it was acceptable to treat people in the next village like they were subhuman."). But even tho there's a part of my brain that rebels against a picture doing the breaking the fourth wall thing: well - it's a bit like when you're a kid and you don't want to get into the swimming pool because (well - because) but then once you make the splash - hey wait a second: it turns out that the water is warm and enveloping (although maybe that's because - to stretch the metaphor a little - it turns out that it's not a swimming pool - but a blood bath: albeit a lovely warm and enveloping one).

So - yeah: now we're on to it - what is this Crécy comic actually - you know - about?

Well: as I tried to work out which other comics to link to at that "Further reading" bit at the bottom I realised that there's not really any other comics that are like Crécy [10]. I mean - yeah - there's war comics (and Crécy is built around a pretty big battle - which I guess counts): but most of the war comics out there tend to  concentrate on the big two: you know WW1 and WW2 (you know: in much the same way as absolutely everything else [11]): but Crécy isn't even in the same century. Nah - as Mr Marsellus Wallace would (surely) approve: this comic right here is downright medieval.

I mean - yeah: from that cover with the two fingers and the bloody St George's Cross you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was a pamphlet for the National Front or something: but fret not - I mean - yeah: ok - this is pretty much the only comic I can think of that I could imagine Al Murray The Pub Landlord owning a copy of: but it's written in such a way that it never makes you feel complicit in all the French-bashing (not to mention the Scottish and the Welsh): rather there's a nice all-prevailing sense of detachment which means that you get to gawk at all the unpleasantness: mud and gore and guts without - well - without having to worry about getting your hands dirty. In fact the one example that leaps to mind is the Horrible Histories books [12]: there's the same sense of revelry in - boy: look how they did things in the past! - that basically keeps Crécy surging forward: only the swearing is much more extravagant (one of the tamer examples being: "If you say one word to me again I'm going to turn your bollocks into a pocket and sell your wife to the butcher.": but then - this is war: what did you expect?) and the detail is much (much) more - well - unsanitary (check the bit where William of Stonham tells you what to wipe on sword).

Raulo Cáceres - who's on the art duties - has a lovely detailed style (presented here in black and white) that - for me - felt like it was only a few steps up form a wood carving: but it's the perfect match for a story that feels like it's been beamed directly from 1346. The only downside to it all in fact is that it's only 48 pages long (in fact I would not be at all surprised if someone told me that I'd written more words here than there are in the book): but - what the hell - that just means that once you get to the end: you want to go back and start again.

In sum: it's a good little comic. Nasty, brutish and short - but sometimes that's just how I like them. Or (to end with a Goodfellas quote): One dog goes one way, the other dog goes the other way, and this guy's sayin' "Whadda ya want from me?'

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[1] And don't get me wrong: I totally adore the rest of it. This is just a small fly in an otherwise completely delicious (sweary) soup.

[2] No? Not ringing any bells? Well - it's up on youtube if that helps.

[3] Films which spring to mind: Fight Club, Amélie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Wayne's World: and specil mention to the most excellent House of Cards (the Ian Richardson version and the Kevin Spacey one: both of which I'd highly recommend): which has the best audience asides since frigging Shakespeare. But yeah.

[4] Disclaimer: I realise that's a pretty fraught word to use: but what the hey right: it sounds kinda good when you smash it round your mouth - but if anyone is feeling anxious - well: speaking as a mixed breed mongrel myself who wouldn't exist if it wasn't for a whole bunch of people sleeping with people that they weren't supposed to: if anyone wants to miscegenate then - well: you have my blessing and all the rest of it. I'm just talking about stories not people - yeah?

[5] Definition of incongruous: "Not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something; not in place." Which - yeah - is the perfect word for what it is that I'm trying to get at.

[6] And don't get me wrong at this point either: I usually love films that can stand to be this playful. Natural Born Killers? Hell yes. I will defend that film to the death. Although - the important distinction between Natural Born Killers and Goodfellas - is that the former announces it's playfulness from the start - while Goodfellas (like I've said in several different ways already) pulls it's switcheroo right at the end.

[7] Which if you haven't seen: then - well - it's another one that I would very much recommend. "Enter the hero!" etc.

[8] Or as Film Crit Hulk would put it: THE ENDING IS THE CONCEIT.

[9] Animation is obvious the big gaping hole in this theory: especially so in how there's been so much good animation (I'm thinking of Bugs Bunny and the Animaniacs especially) have made that small (fourth-wall breaking) glance to camera one of their best strengths (which - ha! - makes me think of that priceless Eddie Murphy moment in Trading Places in this scene here).

[10] Of course - as you can see: then I got going (and just thought - I'd throw in anything even tangentially related) and then it was easy.

[11] And if you wanna dispute the idea that the World Wars still have a firm grip on the collective unconscious (or whatever) on Western society - then please come and pay a visit to my library and I'll show you the relative paucity of books from other historical periods compared to the shelves and shelves and shelves we have given over to (pretty much) every single aspect of 1914 - 1918 and 1939 - 1945 (hell - there's an entire rack given over to D-Day: which I think must make it one of the most written about days like ever).

[12] Which I only mention here with the proviso that you understand that the guy who wrote them (it turns out) is a bit of an idiot.

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Links: Fictions Review.

Further reading: Sláine: The Horned God, Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope, Battlefields, Northlanders, 303, Goliath, Mezolith, War Stories, The Unwritten, Last Day in Vietnam, Doktor Sleepless, Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth, Ministry of Space.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Red

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Red
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Cully Hamner
2004




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


Yeah - I know it's stating the obvious but (wow) movie cycles sure go quick nowadays. I remember all the way back in 2010 when the movie Red [1] came out and (this is only a very slight overstatement) for a week or two it was everywhere (was it just me? But seemingly everything I read seemed to be talking about it? Then again - I do tend to read a lot of movie review website type things...) and then - well - nothing. I mean apart from when it came out on DVD and our library got a copy and for those first two months or so and it went out pretty much every day: but then after that - I dunno - it just kinda got forgetten about - and nowadays if you mention it to anyone then I'm guessing the response would be - huh? (Although Hell - that's just conjucture - maybe if you asked a random on the street they'd be all like - oh yeah - Red? I love that film: but who knows?).

I was always slightly curious about checking Red out (literally - as in: checking it out from our library) because - well - maybe you didn't know this before (you're about to know it now tho) Red was actually based on a Warren Ellis comic (yep - that's the one in the picture above [2]). Compromisng only 3 slender issues Red is a nasty little gutpunch of a comic that I'm guessing I must have first read sometime back in 2009 - seeing how I can remember being pretty surprised when I first saw that trailer [3] - because yeah - as much as I know it's pretty lame to say this - but (if you've seen the movie [4]) you should know - this book is nothing like it [5].

(Normally - I don't really go much in for taking about whatever film the comic I'm writing about is based on - because (hey) - different entities and all that right? But with Red it kinda seems that if you wanna talk about it - you do kinda need to reference the movie if only because it's pretty much the reason that anyone would even bother with it anyway - I mean - the quote on the cover of the book is from Publishers Weekly ("Hamner's slick art is up to the bloody mayhem") - which really (sorry Publishers Weekly) is only one step up from having a review from Amazon [7] or something... And the only reason that there's a version of it with just Red by itself (no Tokyo Storm Warning [3] with this edition - sorry) is because of Bruce Willis and his merry band of friends - thus that little sticker at the top: "Soon to a be a Major Motion Picture!").

But: yeah - just from watching that trailer all that whole jolly almost-carefree "We're getting the band back together" vibe (awww! Look how cute they all are! It's like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - only with more guns!) - well: it's like comparing tea and crumpets to (erm) liquid dynamite. Yeah yeah - I could be totally wrong - but from that trailer - Red (the film) looks like some sorta sub-Burn After Reading type caper with added a few added explosions and violence to make sure no one falls asleep [8] (and hey - I've gotta admit that's kinda a funny image: someone watching a Coen Brothers movie and going: "You know what this needs? More explosions and violence.") - although maybe the only reason I'm thinking of Burn After Reading is because of the presence of John "Malkovich [9]" Malkovich? (Also - at the risk of sounding too much like a fanboy - at the end of the trailer there? That's Die Hard beating up Judge Dredd! OMG! etc). While Red (the comic) is much more... well - let's get into that shall we?

Red the comic - well - if you wanted to compare it to a film - it's less like a caper flick and more part of that (ever-popular) genre of one lone man with a gun going around and shooting lots and lots of people - think of Steven Soderbergh's The Limey, James Cameron's The Terminator or - well - any film starring Jason Statham. It's not so pretty - and not so joy-filled - but hey: there's lots and lots of violence.

Except (and this for me is what makes the book worth reading) - it's not exactly mindless escapism and very far from being consquence free. Because unlike most of the guilt-free gun-play comics which are out there - Red makes an effort to distinguish itself by choosing to focus on the reasons and consquences of why there are people out there who go around killing people in the name of - higher ideals. In fact - if you just popped the book in my hand and let me read it without seeing the cover then I would have guessed that it was written not by Warren Ellis (it doesn't have as much (or any) of the crazy science stuff I mostly know him for) but more like the grim-and-gritty version of Garth Ennis (like 303 or something like that).

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[1] The film based on this book? Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, and Karl Urban? No? Not ringing any bells? Well - here's the trailer - enjoy!

[2] And what is it with Hollywood making films based on obscure little comics  that no one (sometimes not even me!) has never even heard of? Cowboys and Aliens? Based on a comic. Surrogates? Based on a comic. A History of Violence? Based on a comic. Road to Perdition? Based on a comic. (Also - Virus (from 1999 with Jamie Lee Curtis? No?) and Timecop (the Jean-Claude Van Damme film from 1994? Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about...) and Men in Black (yep) = all based on comics). I mean - I can guess the probable reasons (I'm guessing it's easier to sell a film when it looks like you already have the storyboard written - plus - you know - Hollywood ain't exactly known for being the birthplace for fresh new exciting ideas - but still - come on).

[3] And - in fact - if you're interested: it originally came out all the way back (even further) in 2004 in a dual format / two comics for the price of one! format with another Warren Ellis comic called Tokyo Storm Warning (that we still have available in Islington if you're interested?) - that's basically Warren Ellis putting his own evil spin on that (excellent) Japanese genre of: people wearing giant robot suits and fighting giant monsters (I mean - the build-up is good - but the end is a bit of a let down).

[4] And obviously obviously I haven't seen the movie (which you would think would rule me out of the position of being able to comment on what the movie is actually like) - but come on: you can definitely (absolutely) get a sense of what a film is like from watching a trailer - right? (Right).

[5] In fact - I've been racking my brain to think of another example where the source material and movie adapation have been so far out of whack from each other - and the only one I can think of is Wanted (comic by Mark Millar film by Timur Bekmambetov....). But I know there's loads others (just can't think of any - damn). (Oh! Wait a second - Alan Moore adapations! Namely (the worse offenders and one's which scared him off Hollywood: From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (or as they called it when it came out - (however hard this may be to believe) - LXG [6]).

[6] According to Alan Moore: ""The film cost £100 million because Sean Connery wanted £17 million of that - and a bigger explosion that the one he'd had in his last film. It's in his contract that he has to have a bigger explosion with every film he's in."In 'The Rock' he'd blown up an island, and he was demanding in 'The League...' that he blow up Venice or something like that. It would have been the moon in his next movie."

[7] Or - even worse: IMDB - like on the cover of the DVD to the Celestine Prophecy ("Outstanding. I was inspired... a great movie") - I mean - really?

[8] Oops - that makes it sound like I'm having a dig at Burn After Reading (which I would hate to do - because - I seriously love it (have you seen it? Oooh - you really should). It's more like I'm having a dig at the sort of people who I imagine made Red and the sort of way that I imagine they think about their audience (you know what they say about how explaining a joke kinda kills it? Well - yeah - maybe I shouldn't have even have bothered trying to be so droll... (oh well). 

[9] Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich!

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Links: Popdose Review.

Further reading: 303, Richard Stark's Parker, Button Man, Queen & Country, The Punisher: This Punisher MAX, Sleeper, Black Summer, Elektra: Assassin, Scalped, Desolation Jones.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Planetary: Crossing Worlds

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Planetary: Crossing Worlds
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by John Cassaday, Jerry Ordway, and Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning
2004




Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/


Even if you've never actually read one I'm sure you still know what superhero "crossover" books are like. Team X meets Team Y or Superguy 1 meets Superguy 2: it starts with a misunderstanding which leads to them having a fight - there's posing and some destruction before they realise their mistake - make friends - and join up and save the world: Blah blah blah. I mean - yeah - the marketing guys love them: but after they're done no one ever really pays any attention to them [1].

Fortunatly for us Warren Ellis isn't much for sticking to established templates - and so in Planetary: Crossing Worlds (which collects 3 seperate Planetary cross-over stories: one with The Authority, one with the JLA (namely: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman) and one just Batman on his lonesome) the stories told are rather different (ok - maybe not so much the first one [2] - but the definitely other two). And - as this is Planetary - (and even more so Warren Ellis) - the parallel universe underpinings of so many other cross-over stories (it's rarely the case that Team X/Y and Superguy 1/2 live in the same universe - most of the time when these people meet up it's because someone's come across a hole/bridge in space and time or whatever) is expanded upon and used to achieve some cool striking effects: less parallel universes as convenient plot point and more: my name is Warren Ellis and I have a subscription to New Scientist [3].

I wanna say tho: that for those of you thinking of giving Planetary: Crossing Worlds a try that haven't already read Planetary (the series that spawned it) then you should - only not all the way to the end (maybe just Vol 1 and Vol 2?) because (damn you Warren Ellis! *shakes fist at sky*) there's stuff that happens in Vol 4 of Planetary that is only going to make sense if you're read this first. Confused yet? (Ha - and we haven't even got to the multi-dimensional Batmans yet... yeah - you heard me: multi-dimensional Batmans).

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[1] I guess the only exception to that (and one that I have on this blog) would be the Batman / Judge Dredd crossover book (link below) and that's only worth checking out because of the yummy-looking fully painted artwork: not the cursory stories it's based around.

[2] Altho H. P. Lovecraft does rock up at the start - so it's not like it's a total write-off.

[3] And I'm not saying that as a bad thing yeah?

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Links: An Existential Nightmare Review,  Acephalous Article: How to Teach the Interrelatedness of Historical Context and Audience via Warren Ellis's Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth, The M0vie Blog Review: Batman/Planetary: Night on Earth.

Further reading: Planetary, The Authority, JLA: Earth 2, Batman: Snow, The Batman/Judge Dredd Files, Marvel 1602, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Ultimate Galactus Trilogy

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Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
Vol 1: Ultimate Nightmare
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Trevor Hairsine and Steve Epting
2005



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
Vol 2: Ultimate Secret
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Steve McNiven and Tom Raney
2006



Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

Ultimate Galactus Trilogy
Vol 3: Ultimate Extinction
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Brandon Peterson
2006



Available now from Islington Libraries
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I can't be certain - but I'm fairly sure that the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy (am resisting the urge to write that all in caps with several exclamation marks: ULTIMATE GALACTUS TRILOGY!!! - oops - oh well) was the very first "Ultimate" (ULTIMATE!!! - great now I can't stop) book that I ever read (it was either that or Mark Millar's The Ultimates). Looking back and re-reading it for what? the third time? I don't know if I could have chosen a better place to start. An epic retelling/rebooting of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's The Galactus Trilogy (which took place in the pages of The Fantastic Four way back in 1966) - this is Warren Ellis (whose name I reckon was the thing that made me pick it up in the first place - seeing how back then (and still now) most mainstream superhero stuff just ends up giving me a headache) doing a big superhero epic and featuring not just the Fantastic Four - but also: Captain America, Nick Fury, Captain Marvel and some of the X-Men (amongst others) all in their slightly alternative updated Ultimate Universe forms [1].

You haven't read it? Well - let me try and sell it to you: it's doesn't really start like your typical superhero book - but instead mixes in end-of-the-world stirrings (crazy transmissions from outer space!) with covert semi-spy espionage stuff - except you know: the guy leading the mission is Captain freaking America - so it all feels kinda cool (yeah - it's an over-used word - but it fits - so there). I didn't really recognize all of the characters (in fact - still don't - who's the guy with the wings? And the guy with the metal arm?) - but that doesn't really matter. There's big outlandishly over-blown concepts like nuclear land-mines, freaky Soviet Russian experiments and new crazy methods of space travel (not to mention a nice little Day The Earth Stood Still joke for all you Robert Wise fans).

So you know: because this is Ultimate Galactus and not just - erm Normal (?) Galactus - his appearance is kinda - different to what you might expect (what do you mean you don't know what Galactus looks like?) and - yeah - after all that build-up the ending is just a little anti-climatic (and the third book's computer generated art left me a little - disconnected). But all-in-all: lots of rollicking superhero hi-jinks with a Roland Emmerich vibe - and seasoned with Warren Ellis' insane ideas of fun (and sharp eye for telling details).

Woop.

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[1] I end up saying something like on practically every entry for the Ultimate books - but for those of you that don't know: The Ultimate Marvel Universe is just like the Marvel Universe - but rebooted and made more modern and *cough* cool. (with varying results).

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Links: Comics Should Be Good Review, The M0vie Blog Review, PopMatters Review. 

Further reading: The Ultimates, Iron Man: Extermis, The Authority, The Astonishing X-Men. 

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Global Frequency

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Global Frequency
Vol 1: Planet Ablaze
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Garry Leach, Glenn Fabry, Steve Dillon, Roy Martinez, Jon J. Muth and David Lloyd
2004



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Global Frequency
Vol 2: Detonation Radio
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Simon Bisley, Lee Bermejo, Tomm Coker, Jason Pearson and Gene Ha
2004



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Tagline: If the world is always Doomed, then why hold out for a hero? What's stopping us from saving ourselves? Answer: not a damn thing.

Cue: title music!

Back when I first started writing this blog my descriptive powers were a little - well - shabby. Thankfully they've become a little more honed [1] over time - but still I wasn't ready for the shudder that went through my body when I read that I had described Global Frequency as "James Bond meets The A-Team meets Web 2.0." (urg - who writes like that [2]?  - major minus points for using the phrase "Web 2.0" (which I think was outdated halfway through the 00s) and "James Bond meets The A-Team" doesn't even come cross to describing what this book is even like [3]). 

Of course the first time round I tried to write about Global Frequency Anonymous (the "hacktivist group" See: V for Vendetta) weren't really a thing. But re-reading these two issues - they're the people who sprung to mind (in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they were fans). So - if I was rewrite what I wrote back then - I'd go for "it's Anonymous meets Thunderbirds meets please shut up and just read it already."  

But yeah: I was put off from reading this series for a long long time by the moody, dark Brian Wood covers that made it look like somekind of boring, everyday life kinda thing. Plus the fact that it had so many artists working on it made me think it somekind of hodge podge series: messy, inconsistent and whatnot. I'll say now don't make the same mistake as me: it's pretty everything that I thought it wasn't: exciting, taut and gripping. Designed like a television series [4] where each episode can stand alone (and each issue is handled by a different artist) Global Frequency is 12 stories about an underground crowd-sourcing spy/rescue network that spans the entire world - hundreds and hundreds of members all liable to be called into action at any time. With few reoccurring characters and all types of science-fiction threats and outlandish crazy scenarios - this is story-writing that administers it's giddy pleasures as small sharp shocks: BLAM. BLAM. BLAM. BLAM. BLAM. BLAM. 

Name-checking both Borges and Buffy and with characters who can always be relied upon to sum themselves in three sentences or less - it's the sort of comic that I guess might be a little bit too low-brow for some of you. With most people calling them "graphic novels" it's expected for comics to behave themselves and act presentable and keep the same artists running throughout an entire run so that you get a consistent tone [5] but what's nice about Global Frequency is the way it's designed to have a different artist take over each issue and then attack it with their own special brand of whatever craziness (and I would love to know how much collaboration the artists got to have with Warren Ellis - because I'm nosey like that). 

Plus (and I don't know if anyone else gets this): but I really love how they put the credits on the last page. Somehow for me - that just makes it feel a great 80s American tv show (like how the last shot would be a freeze-frame and then flash up by saying: "Produced by Johnny Whathisname"?) - but yeah - maybe it's just me - but I thought it's a really nice touch. 

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[1] I would compare them to a knife - but truth is - it's more a spoon. A dangerous spoon - but - well - yeah - still a spoon.

[2] Well - me - obviously - but that's still no excuse.

[3] In fact "James Bond meets The A-Team" would be a pretty good description for The Losers comic and/or film - but hey - let's not go there. 

[4] In fact they tried to make a Global Frequency TV series back in 2005 - but only got as far as the pilot. Oh well. I'm sure it couldn't have been as nifty as the comics anyhow - unless they managed to secure themselves a big enough budget - because a lot of the fun of these books is how it goes big with it's concepts - jetpacks, zombies from space, indestructible killer cyborgs, space catapults etc. And that's not the sort of thing that you wanna go cheap with.

[5] And hey - I'll put my hands up - and say that most of the time I'll complain when that doesn't happen (I'm looking at you Grant Morrison).

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Links: Shaking Through Review of Vol 1,  Comics Should Be Good Review, Comics Worth Reading Review, Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales Review of Vol 1.

Further reading: The Avengers: Secret Avengers: Run the Mission, Don't Get Seen, Save the World, Queen & Country, Desolation Jones, FreakAngels, Sleeper, Planetary, The Complete Future Shocks, Supergod, Anna Mercury.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Supergod

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Supergod
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Garrie Gastonny
2011




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Stanisław Lem was a Polish science-fiction writer who thought that contact with alien lifeforms would be nothing like it appears on Star Trek: all easy and sanitized: and everyone looking like an actor in make-up. As a quote from his most famous book Solaris [1] has it: "Any attempt to understand the motivation of these occurrences is blocked by our own anthropomorphism. Where there are no men, there cannot be motives accessible to men." Or: (let me put it another way if that's too much for you) if something's not human - it won't think like us: and it's pure vanity (or - hell: hubris is a good word) to assume otherwises. Got it? [2]

If you take that idea and apply it not to outer-space aliens but rather to the wonderful world of supermen and costumed heroes then: you get Supergod (no relation to Grant Morrison's Supergods). A comic by the marvellous Warren Ellis [3] that attempts to give the reader a flavor of what Stanisław Lem would have done if he ever managed to get his hands on Superman. Or if that's a bit too vague for you - then let me put it this way (this could be the tag-line for the front cover): what if all the powerful nations on the planet had their own Dr Manhattan? And what would happen if those Dr Manhattans went to war?

I don't know if this is official - but as far as it works for me: Supergod kinda acts as the third part in Warren Ellis' unofficial "screwed-up superheroes" trilogy (The other two parts being Black Summer and No Hero - both of which are top banana and you should get hold of now): a close up look at the dirty and unremarked underpinnings of comic's favourite genre handled with a particularly mature sensibility  (well - as mature as you can get with this kind of stuff: which mainly means lots of horrific gore and violence - but all done to make somekind of bigger point [4] - promise).

A few of the other people I've spoken to who've read it have made complaints that as the whole thing is narrated it "doesn't really feel like a proper story" to which I can only respond - what the hell is wrong with you? One man talking through the destruction of the world and pointing out all the places it went wrong is basically my text-book definition of a good time (yeah - ok - I'm messed up in the head - so what?): and the way everything is presented just gives it this wonderful eulogic [5] quality that (basically) I really, really liked.  

Comparing Supergod to the other two books (which you don't have to have read in - the only link between them all being their semi-deconstructionist (if that's the right word?) take on the superhero theme as opposed to characters or stories or anything particular like that) I've gotta say that I really missed the Juan Jose Ryp's artwork (he's the one who did the artwork for Black Summer and No Hero) which had just the right crunch and snap needed for this kind of massive doom-laden apocalyptic mini-epic (or if not him - then Chris Weston - although hell: if I had my way - Chris Weston would just be the artist for everything ever). Because in comparison (or just taken by itself) the Garrie Gastonny's artwork (sorry dude) was a bit of let-down for me here. I mean - it's functional and you can tell what's going on etc etc. But with a greater amount of detail and meticulous attention to all of the little fiddly bits that you really need to help sell the atmosphere for something like this - this could have been one of the most awesome things ever [6]. As it stands - it's still worth reading - but it's kinda tinged with a disappointing feeling of "what if?" Still - worth trying out: if only because (at least for me) you can never get too much superhero flavored horror: and this is up there with the best of them.

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[1] Altho - the reason most people have heard of it is the 1972 Andrey Tarkovskiy film adaptation (mostly beloved by people who want to sound clever "Science-fiction? Oh no - I don't really have time for all that mainstream stuff - but have you seen  Tarkovskiy's Solaris?"). I mean - it's not like it's an awful film but it is super-pretentious (I particularly liked the close-up shot of someone's ear with the cod-philosophy going on over the top) and not as good (sorry) as the 2002 remake by Steven Soderbergh starring George Clooney (and why more people haven't heard of that version is a mystery to me - come on people! It even has Jeremy Davies in it for godsakes! (better known as Dr. Daniel Faraday from Lost (who I don't mind admitting that I have a serious man-crush on: I think it's the way he moves his hands...)).

[2] Or - in other words (words?): "no description available."

[3] You can tell it's him - because he does the same of stuff he does in Planetary where he takes stuff like the Fantastic Four (and god - Warren Ellis really loves the concept of the Fantastic Four huh?) and the Six Billion Man (see also: Global Frequency) and warps them into horrific new shapes. Like a guy making animal shapes with balloons - only instead of balloons it's ideas and instead of animal shapes - it's stuff that's going to give you nightmares. So maybe not someone to book for children's parties.

[4] The bigger point? Well - (the title kinda gives it away) try mashing together religion and superheroes and you get lines like this: "The whole of religious history is about us trying to build amazing creatures that will save the world. A superhuman, by definition, does not think like us. And certainly does not act like us."

[5] That's a word right? You know - like a eulogy.

[6] There's a bit towards the end which features a cameo from a pretty well-known horror beastie that could have been mind-blowing stunning and crazy and instead is only notable for what it depicts rather than how it depicted it (which makes it feel like a waste: I mean - it's comic: I want my cool images please and etc).

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Links: Supergod Previews Essay by Warren Ellis, Spandexless Review, Destory the Cyb Review

Further reading: No Hero, Black Summer, Irredeemable, Blackgas, Ministry of Space, Watchmen, Supreme Power, Akira, Planetary, The Boys, Cradlegrave, The One, Global Frequency, Crossed.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome. 

Books: Doktor Sleepless

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Doktor Sleepless 
Vol 1: Engines of Desire 
Written by Warren Ellis 
Art by Ivan Rodriguez 
2008



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It is not particularly original to point out that Warren Ellis has a mode of writing that owes a lot to Hunter S. Thompson (or as some of you will know him: that guy that Johnny Depp played in Fear and Loathing In Vas Vegas and/or The Rum Diary - you know: the talky misanthropic American guy with the big sunglasses and long cigarette who liked to say things like: "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me" - that guy): as styles go - it's pretty fun: there's lots of impassioned speeches that tend to rail majestically against the various and multiple injustices in the world coupled with a vitriolic disgust that spews out in all directions wrapped around a small stubborn - almost imperceptible - hope that the world could be a much much better place - if only we all tried a little harder. Oh: and not forgetting the swearing. Lots and lots and lots of swearing.

Rightly or wrongly - that's the public face of Warren Ellis that lots of people know (and love) and so you should know what I mean when I say that Doktor Sleepless is Warren Ellis at his most Warren Ellisy since Transmetropolitan and the heyday of Spider Jerusalem (and the crowd goes wild). With every character seemingly a black belt in conversational kung-fu and every speech bubble containing phrases that are probably even now gracing someone's T-Shirt:  “Who’s afraid of a cartoon mad scientist?” etc.

What's it about? Well like he says here: "In Europe in 2004, 13000 kids – persons under the age of fourteen -- died due to poor water. It’s 2007 and the society does not yet understand how to operate water." I won't try and improve on that. I'll just say that if you're looking for a book that's so in love with the science-fiction possibilities in the everyday that it has it's own wiki page (see link below) and successfully manages to balance with a story that bounces along into all sorts of strange places - not excluding one of the most despairing conceptions of the universe I've ever encountered then - well - the Doktor will see you now.

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Links: Doktor Sleepless Wiki, Undress Me Robot Review #1 & #2, Comic Book Resources Interview with Warren Ellis.

Further reading: Transmetropolitan, The Filth, Planetary, The Nightly News, Gravel, Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Ultimate Comics: Iron Man: Armor Wars

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Ultimate Comics: Iron Man
Armor Wars
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Steve Kurth
2010



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Whizzz! Pow! Bang! Wooooo!

I don't know (don't care) if it's the right meaning of the phrase - but I hereby declare this book to be one of the best examples I know of "pure comics." Knowledge required of background stories = nill. It might start of recounting the events of Ultimatum but really it could be anything. All that's important is that Tony Stark is the most glorious jerk in the whole world and stuff exploding, things looking sleek and cool and every single line is a quotable nugget for you to hold close to your chest forever. I heard that this is somewhat based upon some Iron Man back in the 1980s - but I didn't get any of the references. I just soaked in the blissful escapism and all the little Ellis mind-bombs set up along the way. With comics this good - you don't need anything else. Sublime.

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Links: Comic Book Resources Review #1 / #2 / #4.

Further reading: The Ultimates, Ultimate Iron Man, Ultimate Comics: Avengers, Iron Man: Extremis, Iron Man: The Invincible Iron Man.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Thunderbolts: Faith in Monsters / Caged Angels

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Thunderbolts
Vol 1: Faith in Monsters
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Mike Deodato
2007



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Thunderbolts
Vol 2: Caged Angels
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Mike Deodato
2008



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Ah. It's always nice to be pleasantly surprised. I didn't even know this book existed - I mean - I'd seen copies of it around - but just kind of dismissed it as typical boring mainstream Marvel nonsense - until I realised that it had Warren Ellis' name on it. I don't want to sound like too much of a fan-boy (probably because I'm a bit of fan-boy): but hell: if it's written by Warren Ellis - it's at least worth trying out - right?

Right.

Set in the time of Marvel's "Civil War" when the Superhero Registration Act (or as I always like to think of it: 'The Keene Act') has come into force - and all the costumed adventurers out there have to either sign up and go legit or get hunted down and locked away: these two volumes feature a succession of episodes (it's hard to really call it a story seeing how it takes place in a whole big universe of stuff and Ellis' run only takes place between #110 - #121: but still you can read it and be throughly entertained without feeling cheated at the end) in the career of the Thunderbolts: who in this instance are the ones who have to go round enforcing the law: ie beating up the good guys.

The concept of the Thunderbolts themselves is also really cool. If you don't know (you have something better to do than learn all the ins-and-outs of the Marvel superhuman teams? huh - ok then): The Thunderbolts are just like The Justice League of America or The Avengers - except instead of being made up of goodies who are saving the world because they want to - it's a bunch of baddies who have to do all the dirty jobs because they're forced to. That's cool because: 1. We all know baddies are always more interesting than the goodies (seriously: who would you rather have a drink with boring Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent or Lex Luthor and the Joker?)

Oh: and so you know there is a Vol 3. out there - but it's not Warren Ellis and it's nowhere near as good (so if you ask me - it's best avoided).

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Links: GraphiContent Review: Vol 1 / Vol 2, The Weekly Crisis Review.

Further reading: Civil War, The Authority, The Avengers: Secret Avengers: Run the Mission, Don't Get Seen, Save the World, Spider-Man: Down Among The Dead Men / Venomous / The Last Stand, No Hero, The Avengers: The New Avengers: Illuminati.

Profile: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.

Books: Planetary

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Planetary
Vol 1: All Over the World and Other Stories
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by John Cassaday
2000



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Planetary
Vol 2: The Fourth Man
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by John Cassaday
2001



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Planetary
Vol 3: Leaving the 20th Century
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by John Cassaday
2005



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Planetary
Vol 4: Spacetime Archaeology
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by John Cassaday
2010



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You ever watch Fringe? You know - the TV series: the one with Pacey from Dawson's Creek? The one that's all science-fictiony mystery stuff? Kinda like The X-Files for the 21st Century?

Me: no. I never watched it. But I do remember that when it first came out J. J. Abrams [1] (or the publicity people or whatever) made a big deal about it being all self-contained episodes. I guess that with Lost being all about the big over-arching mythology thing so that - if you decided to drop in around Season 4 - well not a lot of it is going to make any sense to you: the aim was to position Fringe as a kinda less-threatening user-friendly version - where every episode was complete in and of itself - dealing with an individual instance of spooky weirdness that was then all wrapped up by the time you got to the end of the 45 minutes (or however long it was - I dunno - like I said: I've never watched it) and so you didn't really need to worry if you missed a couple of episodes - so yeah (I'll say it again): kinda like The X-Files for the 21st Century: only without all that burdensome over-arching conspiracy stuff that ended up turning so many viewers off (you know: Cancer Man and the black oil - and something to do with bees [3] and stuff).

Only - well - just like The X-Files (ha - I guess it's the description that keeps on giving) that's exactly the hole that Fringe ended up diving into: so that - well - if you decided to drop in around Season 4: you're not going to have any idea what's happening... [4].

So - Planetary? Well - yeah: if you wanna be reductive about it: it's the Fringe of comic books [5]. Only (hopefully) not as dreadful as that sounds.

For a long while - people [6] were always going at me about Planetary. Saying it was amazing. Saying it was one of the best things Warren Ellis has ever written. Saying that I should check it out. Blah blah blah. And - well - I did try. Twice I think (at least) I picked up Vol 1 and diligently struggled through it... And yeah: I admit it: the idea sounded cool - basically 'super-archaeology' (or like it says on the cover of #1: "Archaeologists of the Impossible!"): three super-powered people less concerned with acting as world police and way more into poking around unexplored areas and digging up crazy artifacts from the past - and what makes it cool (and why you should read it and why you'll enjoy it) is that it's not just Indiana Jones / Lara Croft (delete according to gender) with a cape or whathaveyou and finding golden idols hidden away in buried tombs rather - it's nicely clever-clever (with at least one page (or so) going completely over the top of my head - the whole universe is a hologram or something?) and it turns out that what they're excavating are the myths and legends of the twentieth century (aka of comic books) and then holding them up to the light to show what they reveal about - well - us (you know - erm - something about how much we can learn about the stories we decided to tell ourselves - or something like that? There's probably a good quote by some famous person out there that says it in a much more succinct kinda way: but you get the general point - right?). Plus: there's lot of really big dead things. And we all like those.

But (dang it) reading Vol 1: I digged the concept and the idea and the stories and the way it linked up all these disparate theories and ideas into one big overarching structure (although actually - I guess that big structure only comes to the fore later on...? So maybe ignore that): but (well) it seemed a little too 'bit'y. Every issue was designed to be read alone so you could pick it up from any point (yes yes - like the X-Files and whatever... But then (although I guess I've committed to that example now?) also like your kinda old-fashioned pop singles (I mean - does anyone still buy singles anymore? Or do they the kids just download them directly into their brain? I've gotta confess - I don't really know...) where the rush of pleasure all comes in one big fat sticky hit (something that the book is obviously aiming for - what? - you think it's just a coincidence that the team is a three-piece and one of them is called The Drummer? Come on!) - but then reading them altogether felt too much like snacking and to enough like having a full meal - plus the fact that at that moment in time Islington didn't have the Vol 4 (shakes fist at sky) meant that I thought I'd give it a miss...

I say all of this in order to let you know - well - (ok) firstly everyone else was right and frankly Planetary is all the amazing things that everyone said that it was. But - also (and more importantly) - you've really got to give it a chance to get warmed up: because once it does - it's very very very good indeed. Of course I don't wanna hype it up too much and run the risk of leaving you disappointed: but I was reminded several other comic series whilst reading this - The Sandman in the way that every issue is a single story that all joins up to tell something much bigger (well - most of The Sandman anyway), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in the way that takes all the big famous fictional characters and concepts of - well - the past century or so and then reworks and flips them over in lots of delightful and deviously clever ways showing you the type of fun you make when you re-think, re-engineer and re-imagine all the basics concepts holding up the superhero universe from the ground up and - tho this might be a stretch? - The Invisibles (although this might be a stretch: but you can't help it when stuff reminds you of other stuff - right?) in the way that it goes full on with it's inter-connected conspiracies and use of far-out theories about the way that the world is put together.

Altogether Planetary has taken ten years (!) to get from the beginning all the way to it's end - (it started in 1999 and then finally ended in 2009 [7]) - and during that time there's been this sort of story that's been built up around it or (should I say?) a certain way that people talk about it. I mean - a similar example would be Lost (yep - that again) - where for anyone talking about it nowadays the story is about how much the ending sucked / was disappointing [8]. Reading various things across the wilds of the internet it seems like the same kind of thing applies to Planetary too - namely: people think that it started great and then messed up the landing (just check some of those links at the bottom there to see for yourself) but for me anyway (and maybe this is because I got to them them all one after each other rather than waiting months and months for each issue) I didn't really notice any real drop-off. In fact (if anything) I was kinda impressed by the way that John Cassaday's art grew and matured as things went along (I think it's around #16 that it just kinda jumps to a whole new level of loveliness) so much so n fact - that by the end it's hard to tell that it's the same artist - but then I guess ten years will do that to you (and I hope I don't lose too many geek points by admitting that it was only at Vol 4 that I realised that he was the same artist for Joss Whedon's run on The Astonishing X-Men - d'oh).

"It's a strange world... Let's keep it that way."

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[1] Who back then was best known as the creator of Lost (a title which was then taken over by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof [2] - who got all the blame for the way it ended: altho according to like random stuff I've read on the internet (god bless the internet) it turns out that J. J. Abrams was the guy who wrote the Lost ending in the first place and that the other two just did their best to make sure that it all matched up or whatever: but anyway): I guess nowadays J. J. is better know as the Star Trek / the guy who loves putting lens flares over everything guy - so I guess that shows that there's hope for all of us? (or something).

[2] Who (and maybe it's just me?) seem like they would be the cutest couple like - ever.

[3] Bees?

[4] And - yeah - even tho I've never watched it: I will confess that sometimes I do read the episode reviews because (I dunno) it's kinda cool reading about stuff when you have no idea what it's about: so you know - there's stuff about bald-headed Observers and pocket universes and the power of love will save the world or something (I presume they're not talking about the Huey Lewis song - but hey - who knows right?). And - yeah - well: I'm glad I never decided to watch it.

[5] Although - it doesn't reference Fringe someone at one point does say "The Truth is in here."

[6] That's people from the Comic Forum obviously. It wasn't like I was just walking down the street and having strangers accosting me - grabbing me by the lapels and going: "Oh my god - you have to read Planetary! It's like - totally awesome and super-great! I can't believe you haven't put a post up on your blog yet already!"

[7] I think that this has something to with something happening to John Cassaday along the way which meant that he didn't do the artwork for a while or something? I'm not sure what the full story is - but there's this in the dedication page on the second volume that kinda makes me scared to find out exactly what: "During the year in which this art was built, I experienced a great spectrum of personal peaks. Page for page, this book will always remind me of that year and it's towering highs and abysmal lows. And for what I found along the way. So thank you for it Lisa. Thank you for it all. I'll miss you."

[8] The gold standard of which would be this Big Other essay here: “The Ending as Wish-Fulfilment in The Tree of Life, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, and Lost,” and Film Crit Hulk going: HULK FINALLY READY TO POINT ON THE DOLL AND SHOW WHERE THE LOST FINALE TOUCHED HULK. (Enjoy!).

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Links: Mindless Ones Review, Forbidden Planet Blog Review, PopMatters Review, Sean T Collins Review of Vol 3, AV Club Article: Astro City vs. Planetary: Superhero Reconstruction vs. Deconstruction, Remarkable Review of #27, The M0vie Blog Review Vol 1 and Vol 2, The M0vie Blog Review Vol 3 and Vol 4.

Further reading: Planetary: Crossing Worlds, Transmetropolitan, The Invisibles, The Unwritten, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Global Frequency, The Authority, The Sandman, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, The Avengers: The New Avengers: Illuminati, The Astonishing X-Men, B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth.

Profiles: Warren Ellis.

All comments welcome.