#August2013
Feelin’ Alive with Dead Pig Collector (Review)
There’s no denyin’ that some creators are only interested in treadin’ water.
Once a successful formula has been stumbled upon – whether it’s a character arc, chord progression, or secret ingredient – it’s relied upon indefinitely. To some minds, there’s simply nothing wrong with rehashin’ the same material over and over and over again. In fact, some creators suggest that to stray too far from the tried and true is to do a great disservice, that the fans’re expectin’ something that resembles the work with which they originally fell in love.
These sorts of creative types grow like weeds in the comic book community. Think of how many careers have been made on the backs of characters created in previous decades. Again, some culpability may rest in the readership, which devours comics more for its comfort-food properties than its potential for innovation. But at the root of this issue is that there’s no shortage of creators who only want to relive past glories.
Fortunately, there’s always Warren Ellis.
Warren Ellis has the reputation of being a mind-pilot who of self-navigates the course of his own career. In addition to penning some of the most aspirational pieces in the comics medium (Planetary is just one example) and presaging scientific innovation (Spider Jerusalem was rockin’ Google Glass back in `97), Ellis has always made a point to explore other media forms. Most notably, Ellis has followed paths that have led to essays, novels, and television projects.
With this week’s release of Dead Pig Collector, Warren Ellis has given zero fucks unrelated to forward-thinking.
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WARREN ELLIS’ ‘DEAD PIG COLLECTOR’ scheduled for JULY 30 RELEASE. Boing goes my groin.
When Warren Ellis unexpectedly severed ties with his publisher, I shat. I shat gooey shit-shat all over the inside of my jeans, shorts, dress pants. The scathing went on for days. For, I wondered, what the fuck was going to happen to his digital crime novella? Dead Pig Collector? Sure I heard it was picked up by another house, but when would it drop?
Well, it appears I can stop making caca.
BEN TEMPLESMITH + WARREN ELLIS = Cover art for ‘DEAD PIG COLLECTOR.’
Warren Ellis is dropping an ebook on June 15 called Dead Pig Collector. Ben Templesmith is providing cover art for this son of a bitch, and it is gorgeous.
Warren Ellis announces ‘DEAD PIG COLLECTOR.’ Straight-up EBOOK SINGLE.
Warren Ellis has announced Dead Pig Collector, a long short story (wut?) that is only dropping as an E-book this June. As much as I am tits hardened about this news, I’m also stressed about how Ellis fans without tablet-reader-things will be able to partake in this jazz. Namely Rendar. I suppose such is the unforgiving wave crash of the future.
WARREN ELLIS dropping ‘AVENGERS: ENDLESS WARTIME’ graphic novel with Mike McKone.
Well, now I know what Warren Ellis has been up to. You know, when he isn’t penning mediocre detective novels and neglecting Doktor Sleepless. The favorite writer of mine has been slaving away on an original Avengers graphic novel. And yeah, while I’m pretty excited for it, I really wish he was spending this time and energy giving me more Doktor. Please. I beg you Warren. More Doktor.
WEEKEND OPEN BAR: consult your medium
[WEEKEND OPEN BAR: The one-stop ramble-about-anything weekend post at OL. Comment on the topic at hand. Tell us how drunk you are. Describe a comic you bought. This is your chance to bring the party.]
I want you to consult your medium.
And I’m not talkin’ about that gargantuan-racked Gypsy babe you met at the bus stop. Do I think it’s righteous that she wore a revealing shawl and was jambox-blastin’ an Among the Living cassette? Yes. Do I think that she actually has psychic powers? No. Unless you like waking up in another state to find that you’ve been drugged, robbed, and’re wanted on an arson charge, you’re goin’ to want to stay away from her.
Trust me, I know from experience.
Anyways, the sort of medium we’re dealin’ with today ain’t of the supernatural variety. Well, not literally (we’ll come back to that). See, the word “medium” comes from the old-tyme Ancients’ expression for “in the middle.” As such, there’re a whole mess of ways to apply the term. Yes, that’s why when you go to Dunkin Donuts, the serving size of hot dirt-water that’s larger than the small but smaller than the large is called medium!
Ta-dah!
When takin’ a stroll across the Arts & Entertainment Dance Hall, we need to look at media as the ways in which creators express themselves. In a sense, any given medium is the means by which a transfer occurs from the mind of the Creator to the mind of the Viewer. It’s actually an alarmingly simple process: an idea is in the Creator’s mind, the Creator shapes some sort of artifact, the Viewer experiences said artifact, and now the same idea is in the Viewer’s mind! Voila!
Stephen King describes the process in On Writing:
Look — here’s a table covered with a red cloth. On it is a cage the size of a small fish aquarium. In the cage is a white rabbit with a pink nose and pink-rimmed eyes. In its front paws is a carrot-stub upon which it is contentedly munching. On its back, clearly marked in blue ink, is the numeral 8.
Do we see the same thing? We’d have to get together and compare notes to make absolutely sure, but I think we do. There will be necessary variations, of course…
I sent you a table with a red cloth on it, a cage, a rabbit, and the number eight in blue ink. You got them all, especially that blue eight. We’ve engaged in an act of telepathy. No mythy-mountain shit; real telepathy.
That’s right, you degenerate broads and bastard boozers clinging to the railing of Spaceship OL — every time you read a book or listen to an album or play a video game, you’re on the receiving end of some genuine telepathy! And when you find it in your soul to create some art? When you show someone the landscape you painted or the sonnet you penned? Yeah, you’ve got it — you’re on the transmitting end of the thought-transfer!
So what’s this all gettin’ at? Well, simply put, I want every goddamn one of you to declare your medium-allegiance. At the end of the day, in which art form are you most invested? Which mode of expression sweep-picks your heartstrings? What is it about this medium that gets your blood pumpin’ and spirit swirlin’?
[What is your medium of choice?]
Warren Ellis on DIGITAL COMICS and the walled-in gardens.
Over at Robot 6, Chris Arrant has a pretty gnarly interview with Warren Ellis. They talk about a variety of topics, but the one that caught my attention was Ellis’ exposition on the state of digital comics. Specifically, my Master touched on the uncomfortable fact about services such as comiXology. Aside from its insipid name.
‘GUN MACHINE’ TRAILER: Welcome to Warren Ellis’ latest nightmare.
I had ill (or perhaps marginal) words for my savior Warren Ellis’ newest novel Gun Machine over in Rendar’s Year’s Best. Despite that, I still bought it on Tuesday. Reading through it a second time, I’m enjoying it much more. I think it has to do with me coming to grips with it being decidedly different from usual Ellis affairs. I still find it incredibly rushed, with a panoply of interesting ideas left half-sprung. What ist here is interesting, and worth reading. Especially if you’re an Ellis fanatic. None the less, decide for yourself. Here is a trailer for the novel, featuring narration by Wil Wheaton and artwork by Ben Templesmith.
THE GANG OMEGA’S PICKS OF 2012: Rendar Frankenstein’s Rumination Frenzy!!
It’s with a tearful eye and a hyper-extended thumbs-up that I bid farewell to 2012.
The last twelve months have been some of the finest of my entire life. And I’m not exaggerating. Unlike those saccharine slobs who always clamor about the present hour being their finest and the preceding moments nothing more than the bliss-steps to their existence plateaus, I have no illusions about the fact that I’ve chalked up some miserable years. I’ve anguished through entire calendars, burnin’ `em up with fuel of the most incendiary sort.
Self-doubt! Resentment! Apathy! Vitriol! Cynicism! Sally forth towards the mire!
But 2012 was a whole different beast. Sure, there definitely some moments when my nostrils were assailed by the wispy vapors of the aforementioned propellants. But repugnance was ultimately cast aside, overpowered by the surfeit of wonder! It’s almost as though entertainment and art and love formed a giant sword-wieldin’, monster-destroyin’ mech, and I got to pilot the son-of-a-bitch!
If only!
Anyways, it looks as though every crew member of Spaceship OL is delivering their year-end highlights, so I’m going to join the party. But since I’ve garnered a reputation as being the erratic, currently-undiagnosed-but-we’re-working-on-it, hack-writin’ resident of the crew, I’m going to switch things up a bit. Each of my highlights will be paired with an Ultra-Dimensional Portal! By clicking on any UDP, a hole will be punched in space-time, and your consciousness will be projected astrally.
Got it? Okay, here’s one last look at 2012!
OMEGA-`LECTION DAY!
Oh snap! Looks like OMEGA-`LECTION DAY is upon us! I can’t believe we’ve made it to another one, but since we’re here we might as well celebrate! Hit the jump to check out all of our totally legitimate coverage!
