Warren Ellis Plays Rona Barrett

The writer Warren Ellis steps in for not-a-journalist Rich Johnston on today's "Lying in the Gutters" at Comic Book Resources. One result is that the column is actually up and running much earlier in the morning than usual. Another is that you get a bunch of quick-hits from Ellis contacts more like publishing news than proper gossip. Ellis proves to be a gracious guest. In his introduction, he notes correctly that despite claims for choosing entertainment over sourced-out newswriting, or perhaps because of those claims, Rich Johnston may be the only person on the Internet who writes comics-related news divorced from the major company hype cycles.

Then Ellis ruins my day by running news of writer Paul De Filippo's new project for DC, something I thought no one knew about and which was going to potentially be a rare "new story" in my six-to-ten-weeks-of-lead-time Comics Journal newsbrief writing gig.

Coincidences in comics: some while back, Harlan Ellison and I contacted Wildstorm independently and unaware of each other in the same 24-hour period about Paul Di Filippo. Paul Di Filippo is an awesomely gifted writer of science fiction. The weird post-cyberpunk, biotech, retrotech Nineties sf form was basically led out of its stable by Di Filippo's STEAMPUNK TRILOGY and RIBOFUNK stories. Incredibly inventive and quite blisteringly mad, Paul marked out the perimeters of excellence a long time ago, and I thought comics needed him working in the form.

All lines to Paul's Lovecraftian Rhode Island residence have been cut, but today I've been made aware that Wildstorm have indeed commissioned the proposal he sent them. It's called BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT.

It's the sequel to Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon's TOP 1O.

Thanks for nothing, Ellis. Di Filippo is comics mad, and can be found here. Get a feel for Top Ten if you lack one through this review.
 
posted 8:58 am PST | Permalink
 

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