I may have been a bit rough on Warren Ellis during the year-end bit, but it’s issues like Fell #9 that frustrate me.

When Ellis is on his game, there’s few people that can write a better gripping story — very few. My problem is that he phones it in too often.

Fell, happily, has been quality work every issue. I believe Ellis cares about this creation, and well he should. It is a very good story about a disgraced detective working in Snowtown, which is basically “the wrong side of the tracks” — on every level.

Each issue tells its own story, so picking up this book won’t make you lost within cavernous bounds of continuity — everything is explained very well and fluidly within the dialogue, and the story starts very quickly. Ben Templesmith’s art gives Fell an otherworldly, jagged edge that adds to the ambiance. Pick it up, just don’t expect it every month.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Warren Ellis books quite a bit — but what the hell happened? Fandom awaits the last issue of Planetary (been waiting for a couple years on that), the continuation of Desolation Jones, Doktor Sleepless, Black Summer, Newuniversal, Thunderbolts, etc etc.

When Ellis is on his game there are very few writers that can top him; but his often-stated disdain for mainstream comic books and the fans thereof is a bit grating, and I believe leads to his losing interest in projects that are well-received. I am extremely thankful that there is a complete Transmetropolitan, actually — judging by the rest of Ellis’ body of work, it would have been par for the course for it to be sitting half-complete with promises of “it’s coming soon, and it’s brilliant” wafting from England. 

Runner-Up: Brian Bendis
Not a Chance: Bru

Doktor Sleepless is an ongoing series by Warren Ellis from Avatar. So far, it has been very enjoyable albeit short on the surprises so far. I trust they will come in the future, as the foundation is laid in this issue.

Starting this series with issue 1 is (like with most of Ellis’ work save Fell) preferable, albeit familiar for those who have read the seminal Transmetropolitan. The outcast hero returning to the city — that part of the journey is the same. The Doktor differs from Spider Jerusalem in that he is not a journalist, more of a (benign? malignant? This part of the equation has not been shown yet) messiah for the future.

Ellis has done well to add in bits of our world in Heavenside: Fidel Castro, Terrence McKenna and Nikolai Tesla have been referenced, as has Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. In this issue, we find out why (maybe, perhaps why: with Ellis, nothing is taken for granted) there is a John Reinhardt in Heavenside prison, as well as out being the Doktor. “What?” you may ask, “That’s it?” Yes, that’s ‘it’ but the way it is told is well worth the price of admission.

In short, if you like the way Ellis crafts a story, this is a book you won’t want to miss. Is this the next Transmetropolitan? Perhaps — it’s too soon to tell. Right now, I would say “No. It’s the first Doktor Sleepless.“

Prolific writer Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Thunderbolts) has a solid group of releases coming out the 24th. Included in the bunch are Black Summer Alpha, which details what would happen if a group of super-powered beings (The “Guns”) proceeded to take their crime-fighting into politics. Alpha collects #0 and #1, which detail the assassination of the President by one of the Guns and the immediate aftermath.

Also of interest to the Ellis-phile is Black Summer #6, which continues the story. This is the penultimate issue, and the action has been heating up. This is Ellis, which means that there will be a few twists and turns along the way to the conclusion. John Horus, who got the whole thing started by taking out the President (which Horus believed was an extension of fighting crime. “Why not take out crime at the top?” he thought) takes on a new army of Tactical Guns.

Doktor Sleepless #7, also by Ellis, is released the same day. Sleepless has brought the goods with a lead character that you would expect from the same man that brought us Spider Jerusalem in Transmet — a bit frenetic, carrying some baggage, and altogether too competent for his own good.