In which Mike looks at a script, hypes contests, ponders mini-series, and links to Laura.
Just read through the script for Warren Ellis‘ forthcoming WildStorm project Desolation Jones…and it seems like fine work indeed. It’s filled with Ellis’ trademark tough and darkly-humored characters, all of whom seem to be right on the edge of just barely tolerating each other. The lead is a former secret agent turned private eye who, as a result of something called the “Desolation Test” that we only get scant details about, is unable to feel pain. He’s stuck in Los Angeles, which is secretly a retirement “home” for other former agents, and finds himself hired to track down a stolen collection of Hitler’s dirty movies…and honestly, if that’s not enough to get you to pick up the first issue, I don’t know what to tell you. The supporting cast is just as colorful, particuarly the elderly Colonel Nigh, the former “soldier and a world class sexual adventurer” who hires Jones to find said films.
The dialogue is witty and concise, and every once in a while Ellis will knock out a particular turn of phrase or combination of words that makes me laugh out loud (such as “the international pervert community”).
If the art stays true to the descriptions in the script, the violence in this story will be incredibly unpleasant and hard to look at…you know, just like real violence. And given that the art is by the excellent J.H. Williams, I have no reason to doubt that the art will be anything but up to the job. You can see a shot of Jones himself here.
This series should begin in a few months, and I look forward to the final published product.
Ferret Press is having monthly free comic book giveaways, starting with this one right here for a free copy of the Strangehaven Arcadia trade paperback.
Another contest can be found at DougBot’s Giant Fighting Robot Report, featuring a giveaway for the Daily Show‘s America: The Book.
Before Marvel and DC published another mini-series starring one of their main characters, like Superman or Spider-Man or Batman, I really wish someone would take a moment and think “is there any reason at all that this story can’t be published in one of the regular titles?” Particularly with Batman…I mean, wasn’t Legends of the Dark Knight supposed to be for short-run stories by various creative teams? Why wasn’t, for example, that recent Ra’s Al Ghul mini-series printed in LODK?
I know, I know…so the publishers can have more “#1s” on the rack.
And yes, I realize that sometimes there’s darn good reason to release a story as a separate title (like Dark Knight Returns), but really, World of Krypton or Lethal Foes of Spider-Man could have just been published in, say, Action or Amazing Spider-Man, respectively.
Laura talks about Aquaman. Yes, I know that’s not news…of course she’s talking about Aquaman. But she takes an even-handed look at the character and what’s being done with him, and, well, it’s always interesting to read a reasoned overview like this, particularly from the point of view of a longtime fan.
