Slashdot Mirror
Ask Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis has agreed to be our next victim for a Slashdot Interview. Probably best known
as the creator of the awesome comic Transmetropolitan. If there is a required reading list for Slashdot, Transmet has to be at the top. His recently released Mek series was the first comic I've ever read to actually mention the EFF. His Global Frequency book makes for great reading as well- #7 is out next week. Warren's work contains great dialog, observations on humanity, and is quite frankly just great SciFi. Besides comics,
you can read his blog at
Die Puny Humans and his weekly graphic novel evangelism column BRAINPOWERED.
Standard Slashdot Interview Rules apply: Post questions here. We'll select from the highly moderated ones, and Warren will answer in a few days.
Hello,
;)). However, most of I have written by you is in trade paperbacks of old collections.
:)
I'm a huge Portuguese fan of yours, and I've bought many books without any other references other than having your name, up untill now without disappointments. To me you're on a place I reserve for great comic book writers. You're up there, right besides Gaiman, Moore, Morrison, etc... Your take on X-Counter was awesome (a pity nobody really stood up properly on your shoulders). It elevated the way the X-Books were going, and proved that it was worth investing in good writers (just look at the current portfolio with the exception of Austen
Enough flattery. If i can have the choice, I much rather buy the tradepaperback to get a "full" storyline without the stress of waiting for the next month. It's also a much better way to appreciate story, drawing and inking.
SO, do you feel that the grwing trend from fans of prefering trade paperbacks (and Marvel seems to be grabbing a hold on that market too) is beneficial for you? If not, why?
Anyone who's continued obscurity baffles and confuses you? Writers or artists.
How about the same question for success? No need for diplomacy, what gets said on Slashdot stays on Slashdot
Even though Planetary is a "Secret history of the Wildstorm Universe", you bring lots of elements from the history of Marvel and DC. Has the direction of Planetary change since your initial proposal?
Je ne parle pas francais.
If there is a required reading list for Slashdot, Transmet has to be at the top. /., what would be your pick for best series/book/compilation of your work to read for the first time? (Is it really 'Transmet'?)
Since I'll obviously have to read your works to continue reading
Also, do you feel that good artwork is as essential to a comic as a good story?
Don't use the Troll mod just because you disagree with me.
Anyhow, I have generated a list that I use to get people into comics. The 5 or so graphic novels that I actually use to start people changes between people, but the rest of the list tends to remain the same. I have my list.
But someone approaches you. They've just read Kavalier and Klay or maybe they've read about Maus or read Gaiman's successful book in transition from Stephen King. Or even better, they see you reading Alias on the train and wonder what a comic book is doing saying, "Fuck." Where do YOU, Warren Ellis, point them to?
And don't say Watchmen, cause that's (fantastic) genre crud.
Mr. Ellis, your books entertain to no end. One of the aspects of Transmet that I enjoy a great deal is your poking at the idea of transhumanism. "Uploading", the gene-fad victims, the reanimated cryo folks, all are human, but a humanity that is to one degree or less, removed from the humanity the rest of us experience.
Where do you think our species is going in regards to current "transhumanist" ideas? Do you really think someday we'll be uploading our conciousness to a digital point of view, or swapping out yesterday's cheetah spots for tiger stripes as the mood strikes us?
Thanks for your time.
...I just started rereading Transmetropolitan last night. (I want to be Spider Jerusalem when I grow up--of course, I'll have to drop about eighty pounds, laser off all my body hair, get several tattoos...on second thought, forget it.)
Anyway, my question is this: I just finished "Year of the Bastard" and I'm reading through "The New Scum", and I was struck by how many parallels there are between the election in the books and our current situation in the US--particularly the gradual loss of civil liberties, the peevish, grudge-holding President, and so on.
Did you have any kind of feeling that the country was heading in this direction at the time you were writing Transmetropolitan? Or is this just a case of art (sadly) imitating life?
I have grown up on comics since the late 70's. I have seen some good writers come and go, but through out the 90's their have been some truly great writers on par with the Golden Age of comics. Thanks to a more liberal sense of media, comics have thankfully grown out of the American Comics Approval Code (the most loathe-some piece of legislation ever written in my mind).
My question is this, through out your own career, have you received the respect as a writer you have earned? Or do you tell people at cocktail parties that you write "serials"?
More or less, I am asking, do you think comics are finally getting the respect as literature they deserve, Gaiman's awards aside.
TANSTAAFL
The overall perception of comics is of an industry that just hasn't grown up, and comic book enthusiasts are seen as adults who can't let go of their childhood. This is especially true in the case of hentai and furry porn, where adult themes are combined with "childish" cartoon artwork. But although I have seen writing that does fit this description, I have also seen examples of competent, mature writing, and I know that comic books can be as effective a form of art as any other.
I want to know what you, having worked in the mainstream comics industry, have to say about this. If you know of comics out there that are truly great -- not amateur, pretentious, or immature -- I would like to know what they are. I gave up on comics years ago, but I have hopes that one will come along that will change my mind.
You acted as a creative consultant for Rage's Hostile Waters game, and it showed: the story line is a cut above anything I've played for some time and the cut-scene narratives beautifully eloquent.
How satisfying did you find the experience? (Did you get a say in the voice cast?) Would you do it again?
If you could try another media to work with, which would it be?
"What human invention gives with one hand it takes with the other: hell lies implicit in a gift of Eden."
And while I have always enjoyed Transmet I do miss the even darker strain that was evident in Hellstorm. Any plans to do something more along the lines of Hellstorm again? Something more dark and occult in the lack of a better description. (but of course this time maybe something of your own without the restraints of suffered doing Hellstorm.)
I read somewhere that Spider was modeled after Hunter S. Thompson. This makes sense to me, but was it your intention? Besides the similarities in their characters, the only overt connection I have found is that in #13 (Year of the Bastard) one of the books on Spider's desk is a book by Hunter S. Thompson. So, what is it? Same person, or coincidence? And, if Spider is modeled on Thompson, do you know how he feels about this?
-- Nerds on toast in the new millenium
Mr. Ellis,
Roughly about a year ago, I heard that two more Trans titles (TransOceanic & TransContinental) were in the works. One would be about Yelena, taking up Spider's job in the City. The other would be a pre-TransMet storyline, filling in all the details about:
~ The War of the Verbals,
~ The night of the phone calls in Prague,
~ First introduction to the Beast, etc, etc.
So is there any Truth to these rumors?
Patrick Stewart, being a vocal Transmet fan, has expressed interest in starring in a Transmet movie or TV (mini?) series. I think you too have expressed interest in this kind of venture. Basically, my questions are:
:) ).
1) What is the status of a Transmet movie or TV series? Have any studios shown interest in this kind of project?
2) What kind of role would you play if such a project was green-lit? Which story arc from your comics do you think would be best suited for the big screen, or would you develop an entirely new arc?
3) Are you friends with Patrick Stewart? I honestly can't picture him either reading Transmet or portraying Spider in a movie. That being said, I would love to see how Patrick Stewart would interpret Spider Jerusalem.
I hope you continued success. To me, people like you and Garth Ennis represent the new breed of comic writers who are and will continue to expand the art just as effectively as writers such as Frank Miller and Alan Moore (who also continue to do their own thing, and are far from retirement
Cheers,
-Mani
There was a lot of controversy on your run of DC's Hellblazer, which seemed to start with the (understandably) cancelled Columbine-like issue. What can you tell us on what's happened (without naming names) and how does it affect your relationship with DC to this day?
Second question, if I may. We often hear about which book/character that a comicbook writer would love to work on. What character or book from the big 2 wouldn't you touch with a 10 foot pole?
It's better to burn out than to fade away
Where do you see the quality of journalism going in our world in the next hundred years? Are we on an unstoppable downward spiral to the point where real journalists have to go underground like Spider on the Feed, or do you think there's a point coming where the public suddenly wakes up to the (lack of) quality of the pap they're getting fed every night on TV?
Where do you get your "real news" from -- are there certain small magazines and papers you read regularly or do you have to just puzzle out the real story from reading between the lines in the articles the big guys print?
And in the current events category, what's your take on the whole SARS flap?
-- Old Man Kensey
Why are the best comics, an American medium, written by Brits?
Warren, you are always talking how you immerse yourself in pop culture, using it to feed your ever growing imagination. This has always troubled me because I can only take so much American Idol and Britney Spears before my brain begins turning into coal and everything ends up looking hazy violet. I'd like to hear what you mean by pop culture. What sources do you most commonly draw from now? There is practically nothing mainstream worth the effort anymore, so where else do you turn?
I've been reading your columns and I'm pleased to see that there are those working in the comics industry who actually think about what they're creating and refuse to lend a helping hand to reversing the story-telling progress that was made in the 80s and 90s.
;) had anything to do with the decline of the book. Yes, the book then side-tracked too often toward that topic and yes, the original setup gave depth to the story without having to be a "gay superhero" thing.
However, I have to disagree with you on The Authority. I don't think the sexuality of Superman and Batman... er, Apollo and Midnighter
But, do you think they could have been overtly gay and still managed to be "just another couple of members of the team"? To put that another way, if there had been a wealth of plot and character development available (as there was when you were writing it), can't you imagine simply dropping the answer to the question and moving on to other stories? Is it an inescapable trap or just an obvious one?
Ok, three question marks is too many in a Slashdot interview, even when they're really all the same question. So thank you again for great story telling, and good luck!
We love your stuff, and I figure they'll be plenty of questions about them in general.
1) But whose work (outside of comics) are you interested/intrigued by? What's the last book or cd that you had to run out and buy?
2) And since your work is always seemngly so current, what do you use for your news? Anything you turn to first thing in the morning that you read first, or an assortment of things equally?
and alright, I can't help it...a straight comic question:
3) I really enjoyed your run in the Authority, when i picked it up in trade. I'm wondering what do you think about the direction that the Authority has taken and how much involvement you have if any with it? I never ventured further than one storyline and a few scattered issues after you left-- it just seemed to take a more juvenile power-mad posture instead of the fun?-but morally centered powered up version I felt your stories had...
After reating through a great deal of Transmetropolitain, I cannot help but note that (And I've read many visions of the future) it is by far the most realistic portrayal of the future of our civilization I have yet to come across, and yet ot obviously has satirical and comedic undertones. My question is, when you originally envisioned this society of the future, were you thinking more along the lines of parodying our own society, or extrapolating on its development?
By reading this you acknowledge that you have read it.
Mr. Ellis-
This sounds a little silly, but it's a debate I've had with some friends. We all noticed that what Spider looked like on the mountain, and what you look like, were similar.
Did you ever feel like Spider was just a characature(sp?) of yourself. I always liked to think that the loss of hair was somehow symbolic of him losing what little inhabition he had left.
I guess the question is, do you see Spider as a reflection of your own personality and your own frustrations? Is he just what you would be without any accountability or responsibility? Just how close are you to that character?
Thanks
I was always a little disappointed by the ending of "Transmetropolitan." As much as I like the thought of Spider making it out of the city and living happily in his garden, it just didn't seem to fit the tone of the series.
A friend of mine (a journalistic bastard in his own right) introduced me to Transmet, and had his own theory about the end of the series---Spider discovers, in a wave of revelation, that the city itself is a cultural reservation, and he escapes to the outside (presumably even worse than the city).
My question is this: Why end the series with such a hand-of-God maneuver? Spider's in remission, he's happy in the garden, everyone lives happily ever after? It was definitely a payoff, but not the one that I (and many other readers) had been expecting or waiting for---it seemed a little incongruous with the rest of the series.
I've always been curious why you and Garth Ennis, among others, spend so much time with stories set in the U.S.?
If the main reason is simply that you sell more of the stuff that way (and I'm not trying to be offensive), what are some of the other reasons?
Now before I get modded down, I be to remind whoever might read this that what I am saying is FACT. - bogaboga
In Transmet you never really question the power of the press.
The people of the city are overwhelmingly shown as self-absorbed, Epicurean, sadistic fucks, barely able to hold a whole idea in their head at once, much less aspire to things like altruism or civic duty. When they're not actually the johns fucking little kids, they're lost in their own worlds of drugs, body manipulation, sex, or often all three at once.
So it seems anachronistic that a president still holds press conferences, that a journalist can be universally loved, and that a column feed can stop a riot.
Transmet drew details from current events, but not the big picture. In a year where one news corp. runs attack ads against another for not being pro-administration enough, and Helen Thomas is sent to the back of the bus for not being a simpering twit, the most famous journalist today is... Geraldo. What makes you think a competent muckraker will have any kind of influence at all, starting, let's say, negative ten years from now?
I know a number of people who are interested in graphic story-telling. Unfortunately, not many people are as equally gifted artists as they are writers (or vice-versa). As graphic novels are a medium that require both these skills, what would you advise would-be collaborators do to find each other?
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