Loves "Jones", or "Desolation" Row

Though I'm a big Warren Ellis fan, I must admit that his work has left me wanting lately. It hasn't been bad, by any means, but I'm often left with the sense that it could have been better.

His three issue minis were obviously stories that needed to escape from his brain. Ocean has been an interesting story, but has not been that fascinating (which is odd because I love space stories as well). His run on Ultimate Fantastic Four was fun, but I believe you can start seeing his disdain for superheroics in it. Iron Man is pretty, and not very superheroey, which may be its only salvation. Yes, I find myself longing for Transmetropolitan. I become more and more curious as to what his Hellblazer run would have looked like if “Shoot” had been published (thus far the only bit of his run that I have read is the unpublished story).

This week, Desolation Jones came out.

Warren Ellis is back.

Michael Jones and Spider Jerusalem share a common antecedent; there is even a bit of Lazarus Churchyard in there. Whereas the earlier two both take place in some far (or not-so-far) future, Desolation is very much of the modern day. There is the colonel who talks about his sexual escapades and hires Jones to find his copy of Hitler Porn. There is the conversation between Michael Jones and Robin that sounds more like Ellis’s Bad Signal. All of these meld into classic Warren Ellis storytelling.

Desolation Jones still manages to remain different though, and it's probably due to the art (something I normally don’t pick up on, honestly). J. H. Williams III adds something significant to this book. While Darick Robertson helped push Transmetropolitan into the weird/funny realm, Williams is the reason for the, well, desolate landscape painted in the Los Angeles of the book. You will know that this is Warren Ellis after reading it, but this book illustrates wonderfully how Ellis works so well with certain artists. Desolation Jones is the perfect example of why writers should often give artists co-creator credit.

The book already appears to be selling out across the country, though my store still had several copies. On Bad Signal, Ellis mentioned how his readers are not the Every Wednesday group. I imagine, since the book seems to be doing so well, that the Trade will only enhance that. This calls to mind all those times Ellis has commented on the trade vs. monthly debate. Desolation Jones is going to bequie a different book in trade than it is in monthly (or bi-monthly, as it were). As much as Ellis seems to despise certain things about comics, he knows how to do most of them right. Forgetting how he is often cursed with late books for no apparent reason, Desolation Jones makes me excited to go back to the store. I usually decide to go to the comic store when one of those books comes out that I cannot wait for. This book has quite impressively and quickly joined that list.

If this book goes the way of all the Great Cancels of the past year, I think it will severely shake my faith in comicdom. This book needs to do well. It could start big things happening. In the same way that Sin City showed Hollywood that comics can be turned into movies as comics, Desolation should be the sign for the industry that, while super heroes sell, there is an entire audience of readers out there who are craving this stuff. And will go out of their way to get it.

I too had Chris’s lack of excitement there for awhile, despite my huge pull list. Desolation Jones, in one reading, has got me excited again. I just hope there's more to come.