My Three-Way with Warren Ellis
Apr 18Warren Ellis sent an e-mail blast on his list, Bad Signal, announcing that he’d answer three questions for any comics website about his new ongoing series from Avatar coming out this summer, Doktor Sleepless. Read page one of the script here. The ongoing series will be shadowed by a wiki, featuring content generated both by Ellis and by readers.
As a reminder, Ellis is one of the finest comics writers of this or any generation, and is poised to explode into the mass culture with his first novel, Crooked Little Vein, also due out this summer.
In a general, even stream-of-consciousness way, what are the roots and seeds for the ideas behind Doktor Sleepless?
I was ready to do another big piece of political sf, and I knew what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the subsumation of authenticity into fiction. I wanted to talk about liars, on a grand scale. I wanted to talk about the end of the world, in the major and the minor. And I wanted to talk about where I think we are today, and where we could end up in ten or fifteen years. The motor of innovation and novelty is really kind of cranked up right now, but, in contrast, the general culture is still in a sort of post-millennial shock, just laying there and drooling over its nipples.
You’ve mentioned “long-form” in describing the series before…do you envision this as a full-length series in the mold of a Transmetropolitan, and if so, do you have it conceptualized in a full 60-issue sense yet?
It’s definitely going to be big. I haven’t decided how big yet. I know how it ends, but I don’t know when it ends, and that’s quite deliberate. I ended up feeling a bit constrained by TRANSMET’S Five Year Plan. I want DOK to take its own shape.
Who would win in a fight–Spider Jerusalem or the good Doktor?
The good Doktor, because Spider was a flabby drug addict, and the Doktor is lithe and sneaky. Also, people like the Doktor, so he’d have help. Even Spider’s friends hated him.
Pluggage: Suburban Bravery
Apr 17If you’re lucky, the friends of those whom you marry are not lice-infested freaks, or catty bitchy bitchface bitches, or sociopaths.
If you’re lucky, your spouse’s friends will all be exactly like Rob Bloom. He and my wife have been friends since high school, and it turns out we share similar senses of humor, irrational love for Disney theme parks, and awe of the Shatner.
Rob’s just had his first film produced, a short that’s airing across the country before movies as part of the pre-show entertainment, starring cast members of 30 Rock and Upright Citizens Brigade. It’s called Suburban Bravery, and you should check it out.
Claudia Black Makes Everything Better
Apr 15Y’all know how I feel about Claudia Black. In fact, my new theory is simply that her mere presence — that banner of inky hair, that overload of pure charisma — makes everything better.
Case in point: The Dresden Files. I was pretty excited about this show at first. Husband Jeff and other folks I respect are fans of the books, and indeed, they sound right up my Charles de Lint/Emma Bull/Will Shetterly/urban fantasy-lovin’ alley. So I figured the show would be awesome enough to get me to actually read the books, finally. But…eh. It kind of just sits there, a by-the-numbers B-level genre TV series aura floating around it. (At least that was the case with the couple of episodes I saw…perhaps I did not give it a fair shake?)
Anyway, the unwatched episodes had been gathering dust on our DVR, when suddenly, I noticed that there was an eppy featuring very special guest star Claudia Black! So I watched it and…man, she really is the best. Something about her being there totally invigorated the proceedings — and she wasn’t even using her glorious accent! Plus, her character was named “Liz Fontaine,” which is one of the best names I have ever heard. I don’t know if Liz Fontaine is even in the books, but I would like to make a special plea to somehow add her to the show permanently, because then I would watch it. And I’m sure me watching The Dresden Files is SciFi’s top priority.
A Tale of Sex, Booze, and Geeks (Buy My Book)
Apr 13In 2003, I self-published my first novel, Unconventional, the story of three geeks and a fateful weekend at a sci-fi con. I promptly sold a whopping FIFTY copies, then allowed the title to fade into well-deserved obscurity.
Now…Unconventional RETURNS.
Click through below for a preview of the first chapter. Then go on and buy the novel, or enjoy it as a free PDF download.
And visit Alert Nerd Press while you’re at it, our new publishing arm.
Thanks in advance for you patient indulgence of my impatient self-indulgence.
Justice League Unlimited Is/Was Awesome
Apr 12When it comes to cool shit, or even “kewl” shit, I am often on board the lifeboat chasing behind the ship once it has sailed.
Such is true for me and Justice League Unlimited. I watched the show off and on when it aired, really losing touch by the show’s third season (well, fifth, if you count the first two non-Unlimited seasons), which some claim is the series’ best.
I’m catching up on DVD now, and it’s basically kicking my ass. What’s perhaps most astonishing to me is how perfectly the wanky guitar soundtrack fits with the superhero action. I never knew Brian May was the perfect accompaniment to the DC Universe, until now.
