Yes, another Warren Ellis post

I was thinking about where my ideas come from, because for better or worse, they keep coming- and then I thought back to a couple of years ago to a post that Warren Ellis made on his site about the same thing. He makes a lot of really far-flung statements, and most of which made him sound a little masturbatory and quite insane. That was two years ago. I revisited the same post today, and his rantings of feeling like he could understand what would happen if "Einstein’s brain was placed into the body of a young tyrannosaur, stuffed full of amphetamines and suffused with Sex Radiation" made TOTAL sense.


I know that feeling. I know what it is like to step back from the computer, and realizing that I did a week's work in two hours and haven't eaten all day, and my brain is FIRE. My thoughts can strangle you from across the room and make you plead with me for more. That is the greatest high, and the only drug that I need. To fill my brain with data and engulf the world with the flames behind my eyes. There is nothing that comes close to that. I will do this forever, and I will make you watch.

You will love me for it.
Here's Warren's post

-Mind the gap

Get some!

Free comics!

I love Free Comic Book Day. It's like Christmas. It's like the 'come to Jesus'. If you haven't been making the effort to grab the latest titles, then you get the perfect opportunity.

I am getting caught up on The Boys with the 'Highland Laddie' arc, and my girlfriend got some Sin City and I am showing her the best Iron Man arc on Netflix streaming; 'Extremis'. Of course, a Warren Ellis joint. If you haven't read it or seen it, Extremis is one of my favorite stories in any comic, and I found it to be really inspiring and fun.

Okay, I'm not going to keep you any longer, because you gotta go get your damned comics.

-Mind the gap, bitches.

This week in FreakAngels.

Carolyn asks a really good question. http://www.freakangels.com/?p=654


This is ending soon, but you can catch up here:


Mind the gap, bitches.

Your weekly Freakangels fix.

Alice gotta gun.


-Mind the gap.

What I Love About Comics

Well, most of it, anyway. I complain a lot about the state of comics, but I love more things than I hate. For instance:

Small Publishers/ Independent Imprints

Granted, I don't really read anything from Marvel and DC's mainstream lines anymore, and with the muddling of Marvel's Ultimate line, and the obliteration of Wildstorm (not to mention the rumored destruction of Vertigo's John Constantine), I have divorced myself completely as of late out of grief.

Granted, Marvel does have the Icon imprint which you can get your Kick-Ass fix, and Imma let you finish, but Powers is one of the greatest comics of all time.

Don't worry, kids. There is more than just Marvel and DC. Dynamite is nothing less than, and they love to push the envelope. Don't believe me? Pick up The Boys #1. And you're welcome.

Avatar Press is my favorite publisher, so it should be no surprise that they have a GLUT of Ellis' work; Black Summer, No Hero, Supergod, and holy crap, Gravel and FreakAngels. I could go on, but he's doing it anyway.

UK Writers

Think about the most important, most entertaining, most thrilling works of the past thirty years, now I ask you, how many of those came from guys like Grant Morrison, Alan freaking Moore, Neil Gaiman, Garth goddamn Ennis, and yes, I'm going back to the well that is Warren "Give me whiskey or I'll throttle you Ellis.

That's just off the top of my head. I love these guys for really bringing the weird, and consistently challenging what the concept of comics should be. I didn't include Mark Millar out of personal opinion of his current work, but the Authority and Ultimates wouldn't have been as great as they were without him.

Finite Runs

One of my biggest problems with comics is when a story goes on well past its prime, so it doesn't surprise me that my favorites books had finite or extremely short runs. There's Brian K. Vaughn's Y the Last Man, Grant Morrison's Filth (fitting), and I know, I know, Warren Ellis' opus of Transmetropolitan.

Now, there are comics that are in continuous run that I love to read, like Hellblazer, which has been going strong since the eighties, but I am more inclined to call it a 'story' when it has a beginning, middle, and definitive end.

Truly Original Stories

I love the X-Men. I do. The concept of beings who are born with superpowers and choose to serve others when they don't need (or want) to is awesome to me. I love the Justice League and their feeling of family and responsibility to not just themselves, but to their code of honor and the legacy of their namesakes. I love that.

But you know what really gets me to plunk down my 3.95? Stories about the future with rogue journalists that smack slightly of Hunter S. Thompson, or super-powered policemen with moral dilemas, maybe magicians who cheat in every fight and challenge the reader's moral center in every issue.

Not every book needs a Wolverine, kids.

-Mind the gap

Check back here for more rambles about the comics that you love oh so much. http://Jackfreelance.blogspot.com/

And follow me on Twitter to get more frequent updates on comic news and my upcoming title Catch or Kill.

"People from the future have told me that I am a dickhead twice today..."

If you are caught up.

if you gotta read it from the beginning.

Also, this(more on Writer's block).

Found this gem, thought that I would share with you kids. Once again, why I listen to Warren Ellis, and like ... none of you.

Trade-off

What I should be doing is writing. What I am doing is reading.

I know, I know- it's fundamental, I'm the first to say it. The problem is that I am reading Walter Mosely's Futureland, re-reading Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan , and like an idiot, I decided that today would be a good time to open Gibson's Neuromancer.

So, instead of giving you the super-delicious, oh-so juicy articles and comics that I have been promising, I'm thigh-deep in reading three of the best pieces of sci-fi... period. It could be worse. At least I'm not blowing you off for the demon seed of Stephanie Meyer's(lack of) imagination.

If I catch a lull, or finish early, I promise to spend all of my time giving you that thing you like so much.

And you know you do.

-Mind the gap

My problem with comic books, Part One.

Don't get me wrong. I love comics. I adore them. Have since I was old enough to read. Problem is, in many ways, the Action Magazine industry hasn't grown with me, and in many ways, I have been left wanting. Over the next few posts, I'll go over the myriad points of contention that stand between me and my first true love, four-color fantasy, and the wonders therein.

First, I'll open up discussion on costumes; what changed, what needs to, and what needs to go away. The next post will be about the Women in Refrigerators epidemic and why it has to stop. It will bring me nothing less than pure joy to wrap this tryst up in a neat little bow with a double-header of two tired tropes that I call 'Legacy' and Murder by Proxy'.

As usual, I encourage comments, expect to see the first post soon!

Mind the gap.

My Heroes

Yes, heroes. Not the television debacle, but more on that lately. I would rather discuss my heroes. The men and women who influenced me and inspired me with their words and art to create worlds of my own for another generation of readers to play in. So without any further ado...

I'll start with artists. They are the first thing that you notice, and many times, leave the most lasting impression.

Alex Ross. These days, if you can catch one of his covers, you're not doing too poorly, but not too long ago, you could see entire books chock full of his gorgeously painted, realistically human art. It's well known that he uses human models, but... goddamn. Kingdom Come was one of the most important books that DC put out in twenty years. Everything he makes looks like it's about to jump off the page, and part of the tragedy is that it never will.

...or will it?

Darick Robertson is probably best known for his work on Transmetropolitan and the current Dynamite series The Boys, and in both cases, he brought his impressive style which added a sense of expressive realism to fantastic stories, making them all the more enjoyable and accessible. His facial expressions are so dead on, I would say that they rival the nuance of one Kevin Maguire's JLI art.

In the 1990's, everyone was cross-hatching for shading and depth, and though it may have seemed edgy, I have to give up serious props to John Cassaday and Frank Quitely for not being afraid to make superheroes ugly, dirty, or unshaven. I noticed after starting Cassaday's art all the way through the "Gifted" run on Astonishing X-Men, that I was irreparably spoiled. I needed everyone to look as if they belong on the page with actual physics.

I'm still spoiled.

Though I am not a huge fan of mainstream comics, how could I say no to Simone Bianchi's luscious, sumptuous, dare I say sexy, art? His pencils are so gorgeous, I can't help but re, and re-read every issue of his run with Warren Ellis on Astonishing X-Men. His interpretation of Storm made me feel like I was going through puberty all over again, and his Wolverine made me think that there still might be some milage yet left in the overexposed character.

Enough of the mad scribblers, the writers are the ones that really get me going.

Having Grant Morrison do a guest spot on your book is like inviting a prison inmate to take your wife out for dinner. They'll like it better his way, and you won't recognize anything ever again. No matter how much they tell you that they love you. Don't believe me? Read everything before and after New X-Men

Gail Simone has never put her pen to something that I didn't love wholeheartedly. She always offers a fresh eye to characters, and remains one of the few reasons that I would ever read a DC book. No one writes strong women like her. No one.

Have you seen Garth Ennis' Punisher? He's mean, gritty, and kills everything with a vengeful machine's precision. He's perfect. He does exactly as he promises; he punishes. Just like Preacher, just like the Boys, brutal, efficient, gory glory, and a steal at twice the cover price. Garth is exactly what mainstream comics needs: a dark look inward, a middle finger outstretched and metered restraint. You can tell that he pulls his punches, even when Frank Castle shoots, eviscerates and impales (that was just one guy) without a care in the world. Oh, and he offered the first real glimpse into the mind of someone who kills to make himself feel something.

Joss Whedon. Goddamn. If he never makes another show for Fox, I'll be forever impressed, but his work on Astonishing X-Men was one of the best and most defining runs on any X-book that I have ever had the pleasure and honor to read. Every page was a shocker, and every line was a zing of epic and superhuman proportions.

Saving the best for last-

Warren Ellis. I would turn this man's cerebral spinal fluid into taffy and munch for years. He is in all of my top ten lists, even top 10 porn stars. Seriously. I cannot think of anyone with a more thorough grasp of science and counter culture in comics. I can't think of anyone that forces me to at least open Wikipedia whenever I read their comics. He is the quintessential writer, in my opinion, and I study at the feet of the master. I mean, have you read Transmetropolitan? He managed to make journalists sexy without them having to wear blue pajamas. Even when it's obvious that he's practically phoning it in (RED, Mek), he positively crushes everything else in the mainstream. His first novel, Crooked Little Vein was such a trippy, creepy cross-country jaunt that I bought six more copies and gave them all to my friends in the hope to spread his particular strain of insanity.

I saw this and thought of Warren Ellis

Because we are secretly engaging in mortal combat. He doesn't realize it, but it's my life's goal for someone to mention us in the same sentence. Someone aside from me, that is.