Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including Transmetropolitan (1997–2002), Global Frequency (2002–2004) and Red (2003–2004), which was adapted into the feature films Red (2010) and Red 2 (2013). Ellis is the author of the novels Crooked Little Vein (2007) and Gun Machine (2013) and the novella Normal (2016).
A prolific comic book writer, Ellis has written several Marvel series, including Astonishing X-Men, Thunderbolts, Moon Knight and the "Extremis" story arc of Iron Man, which was the basis for the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Iron Man 3 (2013). Ellis created The Authority and Planetary for WildStorm, and wrote a run of Hellblazer for Vertigo and James Bond for Dynamite Entertainment. Ellis wrote the video games Hostile Waters (2001), Cold Winter (2005), and Dead Space (2008). He also wrote the animated TV movie G.I. Joe: Resolute (2009), wrote the English version of Marvel Anime (2010–2011), and served as the head writer on Netflix series Castlevania (2017–2021).
Ellis is well known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist (most notably nanotechnology, cryonics, mind transfer and human enhancement) and folkloric themes, often in combination with each other. He is a humanist and former patron of Humanists UK, a charity focused on promoting humanism and advancing secularism. He is a resident of Southend-on-Sea, England.
Early life Ellis was born in Essex in February 1968. He has stated that the televised broadcast of the Moon landing is his earliest coherent memory. He was a student at the South East Essex Sixth Form College, commonly known as SEEVIC. He contributed comic work to the college magazine Spike along with Richard Easter, who also later followed a career in writing.
Before starting his career as a writer, he worked in a book and stationery store, notably the Cartoon Shop in Southend, a pub, in bankruptcy, in a record shop, and lifted compost bags.www.reallyscary.com – 10 Questions w/Warren Ellis
Career
Early career Ellis's writing career started in the British roleplaying magazine 'Adventurer' for which he wrote the 1920s Cthulhu mythos strip 'Whiplash' throughout 1986. This was followed by a six-page short story published in 1990 in independent magazine Deadline. Other early works include a Judge Dredd short and a Doctor Who one-pager. His first ongoing work, Lazarus Churchyard with D'Israeli, appeared in Blast!, a short-lived British magazine.
By 1994, Ellis had begun working for Marvel Comics, where he took over the series Hellstorm: Prince of Lies with issue number 12, which he wrote until its cancellation after issue number 21. Other notable early Marvel work includes writing for the Marvel 2099 imprint, most notably in a storyline in which a futuristic Doctor Doom took over the United States, and a run on Excalibur, a superhero series set in Britain. He also wrote a four-issue arc of Thor called "Worldengine", in which he dramatically revamped both the character and book (though the changes lasted only as long as Ellis's run), and wrote Wolverine with artist Leinil Francis Yu.
The Authority, Transmetropolitan and critical acclaim Ellis then started working for DC Comics, Caliber Comics and Image Comics' Wildstorm studio, where he wrote the Gen13 spin-off DV8 and took over Stormwatch, a previously action-oriented team book, to which he gave a more idea- and character-driven flavor. He wrote issues 37–50 with artist Tom Raney, and the 11 issues of volume two with artists Oscar Jimenez and Bryan Hitch. Hitch and he followed that with the Stormwatch spin-off The Authority, a cinematic super-action series for which Ellis coined the term "widescreen comics".
In 1997, Ellis started Transmetropolitan, a creator-owned series about an acerbic "gonzo" journalist in a dystopian future America, co-created with artist Darick Robertson and published by DC's Helix imprint. When Helix was discontinued the following year, Transmetropolitan was shifted to the Vertigo imprint, and remained one of the most successful nonsuperhero comics DC was then publishing. Transmetropolitan ran for 60 issues (plus a few specials), ending in 2002, and the entire run was later collected in a series of trade paperbacks. It remains Ellis's largest work to date.
Planetary, another Wildstorm series by Ellis and John Cassaday, launched in 1999, as did Ellis's short run on the DC/Vertigo series Hellblazer. He left that series when DC announced, following the Columbine High School massacre, that it would not publish "Shoot", a Hellblazer story about school shootings, although the story had been written and illustrated prior to the Columbine massacre.Holmes, Thomas Alan (2005) "Warren Ellis' 'Shoot' and Media Passivity." International Journal of Comic Art. 7 (2). 370–374 Planetary concluded in October 2009 with issue 27.
Return to superhero titles Ellis returned to Marvel Comics as part of the company's "Revolution" event, to head the "Counter-X" line of titles. This project was intended to revitalise the X-Men spin-off books Generation X, X-Man, and X-Force, but it was not successful and Ellis stayed away from mainstream superhero comics for a time.
In 2002, Ellis started Global Frequency, a 12-issue limited series for Wildstorm, and continued to produce work for various publishers, including DC, Avatar Press, AiT/Planet Lar, Cliffhanger and Homage Comics.
In 2004, Ellis came back to mainstream superhero comics. He took over Ultimate Fantastic Four and Iron Man for Marvel under a temporary exclusive work for hire contract.
Toward the end of 2004, Ellis released the "Apparat Singles Group", which he described as "An imaginary line of comics singles. Four imaginary first issues of imaginary series from an imaginary line of comics, even". The Apparat titles were published by Avatar, but carried only the Apparat logo on their covers.
In 2006, Ellis worked for DC on Jack Cross, which was not well received and was subsequently cancelled. For Marvel, he worked on Nextwave, a 12-issue limited series. He also worked on the Ultimate Galactus trilogy. Ellis also took over the Thunderbolts monthly title, which deals with the aftermath of the Marvel Civil War crossover.CONFIRMED: ELLIS & DEODATO ON THUNDERBOLTS , Newsarama
In honour of the 20th anniversary of Marvel's New Universe in 2006, Ellis and illustrator Salvador Larroca created a new series that reimagines the New Universe under the title newuniversal. The first issue was released on 6 December 2006.
Ellis continued to work on several projects for different publishers, including Desolation Jones (for DC/Wildstorm) and Blackgas and Black Summer (for Avatar Press).Avatar #01 Ellis also wrote an episode of Justice League Unlimited entitled "Dark Heart".
2007–2012 Ellis's first prose novel, Crooked Little Vein, was published in mid-2007 by William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins).
Ellis has described himself as "a notorious pain in the arse for getting involved in book design".Introduction to 'Strange Kiss Cover Notes', Strange Kiss Scriptbook (Avatar Press, May 2000) According to a comment made in the first issue of Fell, he has more trade paperbacks in print than anyone else in the American comic industry.
On 29 July 2007, Ellis announced two new projects for Avatar Press: FreakAngels, a free long-form webcomic illustrated by Paul Duffield, and Ignition City, a five-issue miniseries.Warren Ellis Addresses His "Children" at Comic-Con , 29 July 2007 He also has five other current series with Avatar: Anna Mercury,Who is "Anna Mercury?" Warren Ellis Gives Hints, Comic Book Resources, 14 February 2008Warren Ellis on Anna Mercury, Newsarama, he also wrote thematic trilogy about the dark side of superheros Black Summer 18 February 2008 No Hero,Supergod Leveling the Playing Field: Ellis talks "No Hero", Comic Book Resources, 23 May 2008 along with two long series Doktor Sleepless and Gravel.
The first quarter of 2009 had the release of G.I. Joe: Resolute, a series of webisodes written by Warren Ellis and later released on DVD in December.
He worked with D'Israeli again in 2010–2011 for a one-off comic, SVK, to be published by BERG, a London consultancy firm. It uses a UV torch to reveal the thoughts of the characters in the story.
In 2010, a documentary film on Ellis, Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, was announced for 2011 completion. Its co-producer Sequart Organization also plans on publishing, in 2011, three books studying Ellis's work: on Planetary, Transmetropolitan and Ellis's overall career. Sequart has dubbed this push "The Year of Ellis."
2013–2015: Gun Machine, subsequent Marvel work and return to Image Ellis's second novel, hardboiled detective thriller Gun Machine, was released on 3 January 2013 by Mulholland Books. The novel follows a Manhattan detective investigating a murder, which expands into the hunt of a serial killer. Gun Machine hit The New York Times Best Sellers list and received mostly positive reviews. In June 2013, Ellis announced on his website that he would be ending his relationship with Mulholland Books due to "continuing issues" and cancelling the release of his short story "Dead Pig Collector". In July 2013, "Dead Pig Collector" was picked up by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and published as a digital original.
In March 2014, Ellis relaunched Moon Knight for Marvel, with art by Declan Shalvey and colors by Jordie Bellaire. The series received critical acclaim and helped establish Moon Knight as a major character in the Marvel Universe. Ellis ended his run after six issues, after which the series was taken on by writer Brian Wood. Trees, a new creator-owned comics collaboration between Ellis and artist Jason Howard, debuted in May 2014 through Image Comics. The science fiction series explores a world in which aliens have invaded Earth, but completely ignored humans. The first story arc concluded in January 2015, and was followed by a second volume, Trees: Two Forests, which ended its run in August 2016. A third volume is planned.
Ellis joined main writer Kelly Sue DeConnick to co-write two issues of her Captain Marvel series in early 2015. In May 2015, Ellis reteamed with his Moon Knight collaborators Shalvey and Bellaire to publish Injection with Image Comics. The creator-owned science-fiction series follows the members of a think tank given the task of improving the future, who deal with mistakes made after trying to prevent human innovation from dying off. Three volumes of Injection have been released.
Ellis launched a new ongoing comics series featuring James Bond in November 2015, published by Dynamite Entertainment in partnership with Ian Fleming Publications and illustrated by Jason Masters. James Bond depicts the original character from the Ian Fleming novels, as opposed to the one in the films, but is set in present day. The first story arc, "Vargr", was followed in June 2016 with a second arc titled "Eidolon". Ellis stepped down from the series after 12 issues in December 2016 and was succeeded as writer by Benjamin Percy. As part of Marvel's All-New All-Different relaunch, Ellis wrote the series Karnak, following the eponymous Inhuman character. The series debuted in October 2015 with art by Gerardo Zaffino to positive reviews. Karnak suffered several delays which resulted in Zaffino being replaced by Roland Boschi. The series ended its six-issue run in February 2017.
2016–present: Normal and WildStorm revival