Warren Ellis is one of my all time favorite comic writers. I’m not a fan of everything he does, but when he writes comic heroes in strong science fiction settings, I always make sure to pick it up. The Authority and Nextwave in particular are probably my favorite Ellis runs of all time. Two of Ellis’ current runs have been really impressing me, both titles focus on mainstream comic characters and have an inclination toward action and humor that make for entertaining reading.
With Ellis’ sci-fi bent, he seemed like a natural fit to take over writing chores on Astonishing X-Men after the Joss Whedon/ John Cassidy run ended. However, the first story arc, Ghost Boxes, suffered from Simone Bianchi’s complete and utter lack of action in his art style. After this first disappointing arc, I was pleasantly surprised to see the new storyline with artist Phil Jimenez hit the ground running at a breakneck pace.
I’m very happy with the new direction toward action-packed mayhem in this arc, with aerial battles, organic sentinels, undead mutants, and Cyclops and Wolvie blasting and slashing everything in sight, we’re getting more action here from the “main” X-team than we have in a long time.
The other Ellis book I like right now is another Marvel title, although this mini takes place in the post Ultimatum Ultimate universe. In Ultimate Armor Wars we are treated to Ultimate Tony Stark at his best being equally drunk and super smart while he pursues his errant patented technology. This title reminds me of Nextwave, with its strong humor streak and over the top technology.
So there you go, Warren Ellis rocks.
-Ronald Rosebud.
