Warren Ellis & Facundo Percio (illust.)
This Wednesday saw the return of Warren Ellis's Anna Mercury. Mercury, like just about everything Ellis does nowadays, was put out by Avatar Comics, which means it smells awesome (something about the ink they use) and costs a buck more. Unlike his other ongoing Avatar works, Mercury is not obnoxiously didactic (Doctor Sleepless) and doesn't focus obsessively on superheros (No Hero).
In fact, aside from the unfortunate second issue, which might have been called [EXPOSITION HERE], Mercury bears little resemblance to Ellis's recent spate of over-written comics. Mercury (once again, with the exception of issue two) is subtle and well-paced. What's more, it covers a fascinating array of topics: cultural relativism, cargo cults, logical positivism, and, of course, lots of butt-kicking.
Unfortunately, from what's I've read, it's run only lasts one more issue. If this is true, Ellis will probably throw off the pacing (again) and rush through the rest of his narrative arc. And Mercury will end up like so many other of Ellis's recent works: promising and intriguing, but ultimately failed.
Warren Ellis & Gianluca Pagliarani (illust.)
Warren Ellis, I believe, coined the term graphic novella. His Aetheric Mechanics seems to fit the bill. What it doesn't do is live up to its promise. Once again, Ellis has used genre-work (this time, the stories of Sherlock Holmes and a healthy dose of science fiction) to build a beautiful and rich backdrop for his narrative. Once again, Ellis has finished too soon.
The problem with Mechanics is its pacing. The first 7/8 of the novella are dedicated to exposition and introduction. The last 1/8 is a parlor scene telling the reader what just happened. If Ellis had taken a little more time--maybe a graphic novel instead of a novella--he would have a classic on his hands. Instead, we're left wondering why Ellis, who is so clearly a talented and provoking writer, feels the need to use shit pacing in almost all of his new works.
If there's an on-going comic out by Warren Ellis that gives this blogger hope that Ellis new work might surpass his old, it's Freakangels. Sure, it's an unfortunate name, but it solves almost all of Ellis problems:
(1) It's long. The problem with Aetheric Mechanics, Black Summer (soon to be problem), and Anna Mercury is length. In each of these, Ellis ends up with too much arc left and not enough space. So the pacing gets all whacked. The format of Freakanges--an ongoing (originally) webcomic--means that Ellis has a lot more time for his narrative to develop.
(2) It's not didactic. I swear to God, I'm going to stop reading Doktor Sleepless if I have to put up with another full issue of The Doktor ranting about, well, whatever the hell it is that he rants about. That's a little harsh, I know. But, look, I read Ellis's blog. I don't need to read a comic book that distills the most annoying parts of Ellis's writing and glorifies it.
(3) It's really, really good.
You can pick up all of these comics at your local comic shop (Infinite Monkey, here in Oberlin!). And, though I'd argue its worth it to get volume one of Freakangels in print, you can read it online here.
One last thing about Freakangels: one character gets all didactic then gets the shit kicked out of him. Maybe Ellis is getting it?
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