• Home
  • Releases
  • Blog
  • Design
  • Posters
  • Submission Guidelines
  • About
  • Privacy Policy

Loser City

Multimedia Collective

  • Home
  • Releases
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Art
  • Submissions
You are here: Home / Features / Wondrous Digest: In Praise of Warren Ellis’ Abridged Storytelling

Wondrous Digest: In Praise of Warren Ellis’ Abridged Storytelling

September 19, 2016 By Justin Micallef Leave a Comment

We should all be so lucky to get a six issue run from Warren Ellis, even more so if it is from the Big Two. Ellis, one of the premiere comic book scribes of the modern age, has rarely been one for long-form storytelling. His recent runs, usually comprised of a compressed, done-in-one style, last around six issues typically, 27 at the longest. Many lament the brevity of Ellis’ work, yearning for his fiction to be expanded or the old toolboxes to be dusted off and reopened, however it is this brevity that makes his work all the more potent, desirable, and rare in today’s comic climate.

At Ellis’ best, his work is a much needed shot in the arm for whichever company he is working for. His six issues on Moon Knight, supported with a break-out team on art of Declan Shalvey on pencils and ink with Jordie Bellaire on color, were some of the most exciting six issues of a Big Two superhero book on the stands in the year it was coming out. In a world of events, crossovers and tie-ins, and de-compressed story telling that holds your hand but leads you nowhere, Ellis and his team on Moon Knight delivered six lean, perfect issues that all stood on their own and simultaneously sung a sweet chord when placed together.

Moon Knight Warren Ellis Declan Shalvey Jordie Bellaire

Moon Knight made an immediate impact thanks to its brutally efficient storytelling

His collaborators, on their own always worthy of a mention, are what enable this type of storytelling. Take John Cassady, for example, Ellis’ collaborator on his (arguably) most complete long form work to date, Planetary. The 27 issues of Planetary that comprise this run took almost ten years to complete, starting in 1998 and ending in 2009. Both collaborators seemed to have an unconscious sort of understanding on both of their work ethics, leisurely and masterful, and patterned the book around that. All of Planetary’s issues, while Ellis’ longest work, employ the prior mentioned “done-in-one” philosophy, where each issue employs tells a complete story on its own allowing itself to be independently read of its sister issues. During its initial run, many criticized Planetary for the pace in which it was released (myself included) but few complain or even bring this up today in mention of the work. It is that good. However, it is Ellis’ last major long-form work to date, one that would certainly die in single issues if not for the pedigree of the collaborators and the work itself. Post (and even during) Planetary Ellis’ style seemed to develop and move towards the leaner approach he now employs. What Ellis says well in 27 issues he can now say incredibly in six.

Ellis’ compressed storytelling also leads itself to experimentation not only in the length of story in terms of issue, but the pages of the book, itself. Such is the case with Ellis’ Fell, where as of writing this only nine (again, fairly outstanding) issues exist, allowing him and his collaborator Ben Templesmith to produce a lower page count on each book, hereby lowering the price of the book and also allowing experimentation with even further compressed storytelling. The length of the physical book even factors into the mood, forcing a nine-panel grid that feels like the gritty, oppressive suburban nightmare Detective Richard Fell finds himself in. The book is better for it. I stand by issue three of Fell, in which a distraught, suicidal bomber terrorizes a local tailor, as one of the best pieces of sequential storytelling produced in this medium.

Fell Warren Ellis Ben Templesmith

Fans are still clamoring for more issues of Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith’s Fell

Ellis’ compressed storytelling, in my eyes, is also extremely beneficial for the direct market system we are begrudgingly beholden to. Each issue being complete in its own right can further new readers without feeling like they are missing out or need to trade wait, which can unfortunately lead to the cancellation of beloved titles.

The works run almost like miniseries; a six to 10 issue TV show developed by your favorite talents in the industry. Look at any of the current sales figures to note that books that have a start and end point that are accessible to jump onto (if not in plot but namesake) sell well; Civil War 2, DC Rebirth, and the like sell very well in single issues if not as critically remembered as some of their higher quality shelf mates. It’s like Ellis writes the most quality non-event event books; comics that are stellar, stellar reads with far reaching consequences not across a line of books but within your mind for injecting pure sequential storytelling goodness into your amygdala.

This is not to say that compression is the only way comics should be told. Previously mentioned Transmetropolitan runs for an incredible 60 issues, warranting its length entirely and having its ending just as satisfyingly brilliant and cutting as it was when it was stamped with a shiny, new number one on its cover. Ellis contemporaries like Jonathan Hickman work best in decompression, building slowly to incredible, euphoric heights like a prog-rock band playing across the stage to Ellis’ sneering punk trio. Both examples show comics at their best; digest-sized perfection or slow-burn methodical installments exploding to incredible heights.

Warren Ellis John Cassaday Planetary

Although it’s one of Ellis’ longer recent projects at 27 issues (and a few odds and ends), Planetary is defined by its episodic nature.

There are still people clamoring for more issues of both Moon Knight and Fell. Would it still be the case if Ellis wrote 60 issues? How many runs are ended way past their prime and when the final page is closed, the comics community breathes a collective sigh of relief at finally being able to be done with a story they once (and may still) loved in its prime? The compressed style may not work for every author and every book, even Injection seem to be long-form in its current state, but Ellis has found the best tune to play that chord to. In this medium, limited only by the creators’ imagination, both styles, when done right, can fly books off of shelves and reinvigorate readers interest, supporting the comics industry when it proves to the masses just how great they know it can be.


Justin Micallef is a journalist and critic living in Metro Detroit. You can find his work at The Outhouse as well as Detroit Music Magazine. His personally curated brand of disappointed optimism can be found on his Twitter, @JustinRMicallef

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: Ben Templesmith, comics, Declan Shalvey, Fell, Image Comics, John Cassaday, Jordie Bellaire, Marvel Comics, Moon Knight, Planetary, Transmetropolitan, Warren Ellis

About Justin Micallef

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

SOCIAL

FacebookInstagramTumblrTwitter

Buy Loser City Apparel

loser city T-shirt

Be a Loser

Sign up for Loser City's mailing list to receive weekly updates about the latest articles, shows, and releases.

TRENDZ

Anatomy of a Page art Austin CBS comedy comics Dark Horse DC DC Comics documentary Fantagraphics Film Fossil Records Games HBO hip-hop horror humor IDW Image Comics Indie indie comics jake muncy manga Marvel Marvel Comics Melissa Benoist Music penny dreadful Pete Toms punk Questionable Comics Review Ryan K Lindsay sci-fi Seattle Showtime Supergirl SXSW Television the CW TV video games Video of the Week ymmv

Top Posts & Pages

  • Codeine Crazy
  • Mind the Gap: Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
  • Lost in My Mind: I Believe in Unicorns is a Gauzy and Inventive Exploration of Girlhood
  • Trophies of Over Indulgence: A Look Inside the World of Gainers
  • All Things Must Change: Silk Rhodes' Debut is Delicious Audio Foreplay
  • Visual Domination: Angelina Jolie's Sexual Power in Mr and Mrs. Smith
  • The Transfiguration of Fiddleford McGucket
  • Fossil Records: Lee Hazlewood's Requiem for an Almost Lady
  • Fluid Exchange: I Roved Out by Rupert Everton
  • Below Her Mouth is Yet Another Disappointing Film About Lesbian Experiences

Follow Loser City

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
Instagram did not return a 200.

Follow loser_city on the Gram

Loser City is…

Comics, shows, a secret critical network -- we aim to fail big.

Danny Djeljosevic: Co-Founder

Morgan Davis: Co-Founder

Nick Hanover: Glorious Godfrey of LC

David Fairbanks: Creative Writing Editor

Kayleigh Hughes: Film Editor

Julie Muncy: Games Editor

David He: Assisting Consultant*

Contributors: Nate Abernethy, John Bender, AJ Bernardo, CJ Camba, Liam Conlon, Daniel Elkin, David A. French, Rafael Gaitan, Dylan Garsee, Stefanie Gray, Johnson Hagood, Shea Hennum, Zak Kinsella, Austin Lanari, Marissa Louise, Francesca Lyn, Chase Magnett, Justin Martin, Diana Naneva, Claire Napier, Joshua Palmer, James Pound, Mike Prezzato, Lars Russell, David Sackllah, Keith Silva, Nicholas Slayton, Carly Smith, Ray Sonne, Tom Speelman, Mark O. Stack, Dylan Tano, Mason Walker

Art

Why So Angry: Refusing to Forget Stories of Abuse

Poetry: My God, My World

Comic Cinema Club: Sorcerer by Rafael Gaitan and Mike Prezzato

Nonfiction: Progeny in Crisis by Kayleigh Hughes

The Persistence of Synergy: Scenes from the Stock Business Photo Prison Hellscape

More Art

Interviews

Dhani Harrison Plots His Own Path With Solo Debut In///Parallel

Boston Terriers and Desert Vibes: A Conversation with Jay and Sanders Fabares of “The Pale”

Questionable Comics: Becky & Frank and Rachael Stott

More Interviews

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in