Planetary

[ProjectX2]

I may get the first trade of this for Christmas.

The first trade is what got me hooked on this.

 

[Bass]

I may get the first trade of this for Christmas.

It's all good.

 

[GMaster]

I may get the first trade of this for Christmas.

If its for christmas, splash out a little and get Absolute Planetary. Now THAT's all good.

 

[ourchair]

I may get the first trade of this for Christmas.

Get more. It's that good. It rocks so much, I wrote a feature article for it this month.

-------------------
Planetary feature for In-Print magazine
by Matthew Arcilla

Warren Ellis says he hates superheroes. He hates them a lot, supposedly.

A controversial figure in his own right, Ellis is a vitriolic personality whose unique views on authorship and content have marked him as a comic creator with distinctively auteur sensibilities. His dismissal of the superhero comes from his belief that it has arrested the literary development of mainstream comics.

Ellis has a mythic regard for the progression of comic books' artistic development. As he puts it, "Imagine a publishing industry where 90% of the books are nurse romances." Yet Ellis' vocal disdain for the superhero genre is unique for a creator whose most prominent work has been about superheroes.

While he initially gained recognition for Transmetropolitan, a series for DC's Vertigo imprint about a foul-mouthed journalist in an unspecified future metropolis of hyper-consumerism and accelerated subculture, Ellis' greatest mindshare lies mainly in his unique take on the superhero.

In the late nineties, several scribes injected new life into the Wildstorm Universe. Ellis' contribution to that period was The Authority, a series featuring individuals who used their incredible resources and questionable means to make the world a finer place, straddling the line between fascism and public service.

Planetary soon followed after. Co-created with artist John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men, Captain America), Planetary posits a very simple premise, that the entirety of genre fiction --- giant Japanese monsters, Chinese ghost stories and Victorian legends --- exist within a single shared universe as myth and conspiracy.

Planetary features an eponymous team of 'archeologists of the impossible' led by Elijah Snow. A tough-talking curmudgeon with an insatiable curiosity, Snow keeps the company of a restless ubermensch of a woman named Jakita Wagner and a slightly delusional information analyst known as The Drummer. Investigating these myths and conspiracies, they're sort of what X-Files would be if it confronted pop mythology rather than spook tales.

Each volume zings across a multitude of concepts: One chapter amalgams Tsui Hark ghost stories with John Woo action thrillers by presenting a Hong Kong cop who was wronged by a corrupt partner and returns as a vengeful spirit of justice. In another tale, an investigation into the death of the world's greatest warlock becomes an exploration of the social conditions which produced the absurdist philosophical bent of comics like Hellblazer and The Swamp Thing.

Like pop singles, each chapter of Planetary reads like a three-minute spiel about the popular myths of yesteryear, whether they're about righteous vengeance, mystical provenance or scientific endeavor. Planetary's fundamental appeal lies in Ellis' ability to honor those myths and show us what made them so popular and enjoyable in the first place. He accomplishes this by deconstructing and reconstructing them into something else within the context of a much younger universe.

Make no mistake: Planetary does more than pop cultural homage left and right. By the second volume Ellis elevates it by challenging the rose-tinted nostalgia we take for granted. He stretches each concept to their socio-cultural extremes and punctuates them with some elegiac lyricism.

In one chapter, Ellis presents us with the remnants of an altruistic Open Conspiracy made up of Victorian legends like Sherlock Holmes, marginalized by a global culture refusing to change. In another chapter, a band of pulp icons from the 1930s use emerging knowledge and untested super-science to develop an equation that would collapse a multiverse into a singularly perfect universe and are punished by death at the hands of superhumans fighting this collapse.

Instead of merely parroting their mythical allure, he develops the darker edges of either cabal by showing how radicalism can easily give way to self-preservation. The recently collected third volume, entitled Leaving the 20th Century continues this theme by exploring the shadowy figures known as the Four Voyagers.

Cosmonauts-turned-superhumans, the Four Voyagers are a power-hungry cabal led by malevolent military scientist Randall Dowling, hoarding exotic technology and other artifacts of the impossible. Beneath the surface of Planetary's world is not only perpetual strangeness and suppressed wonder, but a secret conspiracy to rob the world of its self-determination.

It's no secret that these characters are Ellis' stand-ins for The Fantastic Four, Marvel's first family of cosmically-gifted explorers, whose unforeseen grip on the imagination of the comic book reader has become something like a chokehold. The Four Voyagers are the elitists on a great adventure, and the rest of humanity is unworthy to come along for the ride.

A closer look reveals Planetary as a critique of the evolution of the mainstream comic book and of genre fiction. The members of the Open Conspiracy were possibly hailed as the most extraordinary gentlemen of their time, but they could do nothing to strengthen the momentum of one century into the next.

The Four Voyagers are the figurative forces that have arrested mainstream comics, clad in the trappings of the superhuman and they are the forces that are weakening the momentum of the 20th century into the next, robbing the world of its self-determination.

In Leaving the 20th Century, Elijah takes a proactive campaign against the Four Voyagers, and faces the increasing frustration that they will never stop until the universe has been squelched entirely of its paranormal wonder.

This is Ellis' superhero: the stone-hearted romantic idealist who wants to liberate the wonder and strangeness and give it back to the world. If Ellis hates superheroes, it is because heroism --- in forms super or not --- should never be compromised.

 

[Bass]

As he puts it, "Imagine a publishing industry where 90% of the books are nurse romances."

As far as I know, Ellis never said this. Brian Bendis wrote Warren Ellis as a character in Powers vol.1 #7, and the Warren Ellis character said this line. Ellis never said it, nor suggested it to Bendis.

Like pop singles, each chapter of Planetary reads like a three-minute spiel about the popular myths of yesteryear, whether they're about righteous vengeance, mystical provenance or scientific endeavor.

Three-minutes? Be fair - they're a good 30 minute read.

He stretches each concept to their socio-cultural extremes and punctuates them with some elegiac lyricism.

Oh, come off it. You don't even know what you're saying here.

Good article though.

 

[ourchair]

As far as I know, Ellis never said this. Brian Bendis wrote Warren Ellis as a character in Powers vol.1 #7, and the Warren Ellis character said this line. Ellis never said it, nor suggested it to Bendis.

I wish Warren Ellis would write Bendis as a character. I'm pretty sure that Ellis probably wrote positively of Bendis as a promising young turk in the indie comics world in his mailing like he does with ANYONE who cobbles together anything remotely black, white and indie. Ellis would probably call Bendis a sell-out now or something. :lol:

Three-minutes? Be fair - they're a good 30 minute read.

Oh shush. I need to give the reading public metaphors they can swallow.

Oh, come off it. You don't even know what you're saying here.

Yeah, I still roll my eyes at that one. But for real, 'elegiac lyricism' was meant to refer to every single page of Magic & Loss.

Good article though.

Thanks.

 

[Bass]

Yeah, I still roll my eyes at that one. But for real, 'elegiac lyricism' was meant to refer to every single page of Magic & Loss.

Whatever, Pretentio, Master of Bull.

 

[ourchair]

Whatever, Pretentio, Master of Bull.

:lol:

I want that to be my subnic.

 

[naughtyninja]

i'd have to say that Planetary is one of my favorites. i'm a really big sucker for those who know how to tell a good story in just one comic, while still maintaining a series that arcs over all the issues.

i really like ellis' take on the whole superhero aspect in this series. each of the characters have their own set of unique powers, but are always used only when absolutely necessary, and if so, are shown without the gratuitous panels.

my current fav stories are the one about the avenging ghost cop and the half-life girl. the latter was technically not one of the better stories, but i think the last few panels just made the entire issue so much cooler.

i can't wait for the next TPB.

 

[ourchair]

my current fav stories are the one about the avenging ghost cop and the half-life girl. the latter was technically not one of the better stories, but i think the last few panels just made the entire issue so much cooler.

You are clearly deluded.

The genius of that story was showing how McCarthyism and the Red Scare was used to justify all manner of paranoiac atrocities. The use of sci-fi b-movie archetypes like giant men and insect boys is a clever play because Ellis shows how the popular entertainment perpetuated that fear of the alien and foreign.

i can't wait for the next TPB.

Out in 2099, after Ellis' head has been surgically attached to a giant mosquito killbot.

 

[naughtyninja]

The genius of that story was showing how McCarthyism and the Red Scare was used to justify all manner of paranoiac atrocities. The use of sci-fi b-movie archetypes like giant men and insect boys is a clever play because Ellis shows how the popular entertainment perpetuated that fear of the alien and foreign.

i think he did a better job with the godzilla rejects on the deserted island, actually. the mix of japanese cult-ism and the rotting carcasses of over-sized creatures with names like "GAMERA" were more my cup of tea.

that, and you so pulled that paragraph out of your pretty asian ***.

 

[E]

I was in the bookstore and by chance they had the 1st TPB, so I picked it up.

I hope it's better than Authority; I didn't care much for it.

 

[GMaster]

I was in the bookstore and by chance they had the 1st TPB, so I picked it up.

I hope it's better than Authority; I didn't care much for it.

You will love it, it is a great series. The fourth man isn't really hard to guess, though.

 

[Friday]

I was in the bookstore and by chance they had the 1st TPB, so I picked it up.

I hope it's better than Authority; I didn't care much for it.

Planetary is a great trip if you love anything from the old giant monster movies to tarzan and the apes. Basicly Ellis ties everything from twentieth century pop culture into one cohesive universe, then layers it upon the Wildstorm setting. From scientist-explorers to godzill its all found inside. And a damn fun read too.

 

[Bass]

The latest issue is ****ing awesome.

Did anyone else notice that the issue, #24, is a direct parallel of #12? Pretty sweet.

I can't wait for the blam.

 

[E]

Maybe I'm an idiot... (Planetary spoilers)

...but I totally did not see Elijah Snow as the 4th man coming.

I mean, I figured it out once he started realizing he was remembering things he was supposed to forget, but before that issue I thought it was going to be Brass.

I'm very disappointed with myself after reading people say they guessed it way ahead of time, but I am pleased that I was surprised.

This is a great book. I'm only through the second TPB (issue 12) but will be ordering #3 and the crossover TPB as well in about 2 minutes.

 

[Bass]

Re: Maybe I'm an idiot... (Planetary spoilers)

I never saw it coming, either. But I had bought the first trade, and afterwards bought all the issues up to the most recent one (then #15) and read them back to back so I didn't give myself anytime to speculate on just who the 4th man might be.

But the series is brilliant. It's great to see Elijah try to blam the Four.

 

[ProjectX2]

Re: Maybe I'm an idiot... (Planetary spoilers)

I didn't see it either.

 

[moonmaster]

Re: Maybe I'm an idiot... (Planetary spoilers)

I guessed it. To be fair, I had heard some things about Snow having mysterious memories and somehow being connected to Planetary, but it still took me a bit to realize it. I kind of confirmed it in my mind during the shiftship issue and the Jack Carter issue with the expressions on Jakita and the Drummer's faces when Elijah says certain things.

 

[Friday]

Re: Maybe I'm an idiot... (Planetary spoilers)

I picked up the first two trades, so there wasn't alot of speculation on my part either. I figured he was it, but I also wouldn't have been supprised if it had been someone else. I actualy thought that the reveal came a little early, issue wise. Not sure how much time passed real world between the first issue and the reveal issue.