The Three Hoarsemen (Episode 8): The Science Fiction of Warren Ellis

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Jeff Patterson in The Three Hoarsemen // 12 Comments

As Winter once again brings snowy doom of the East Coast, John E. O. Stevens, Fred Kiesche and Jeff Patterson huddle within a makeshift shelter made of long boxes to discuss the Science Fiction works of comic book writer Warren Ellis.

Since the 90s Ellis has been producing singularly recognizable work, including superhero titles for DC, Marvel, and Image. He has dabbled in horror, crime fiction, and dark comedy. But he has also written many standalone Science Fiction tales encompassing pulp, cyberpunk, space opera, and alternate history. Some are speculative ruminations on the future or technology, some are absurdist eye-candy, others are adventurous romps. His significant body of SF work delivers modern genre sensibilities to the sometimes myopic landscape of comics.

The Hoarsemen also discuss reading comics digitally, their opinions on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as what they have read recently. Be warned: This episode runs over 90 minutes!

Anna Mercury Volume 1: The Cutter by Warren Ellis (Avatar Press)
Ignition City Volume 1 by Warren Ellis (Avatar Press)
Ocean by Warren Ellis (WildStorm)

Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis (Image Comics)
Red/Tokyo Storm Warning by Warren Ellis (Wildstorm)
Orbiter by Warren Ellis (WildStorm)

Global Frequency by Warren Ellis (DC)
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. Ultimate Collection by Warren Ellis (Marvel)
Transmetropolitan, Vol 1: Back on the Street by WARREN ELLIS (Vertigo)

Black Summer by Warren Ellis (Avatar Press)
Warren Ellis’ Apparat Volume 1 by Warren Ellis (Avatar Press)
Warren Ellis’ Frankenstein’s Womb by Warren Ellis (Avatar Press)

Links:

Download Epsiode #8 of The Three Hoarsemen!

Tell us what you think – leave us a voicemail!

Can’t see the widget above? That’s okay – just call 720-277-9082 or shoot us an email at: voicemail@sfsignal.com

Richard Grant // February 19, 2014 at 8:57 pm //

The posted podcast episode runs under 90 minutes and never mentions Warren Ellis. Please fix.

John DeNardo // February 19, 2014 at 9:24 pm //

Thanks, Richard — post fixed.

Fred Kiesche // February 20, 2014 at 6:09 am //

NINETY MINUTES? Can’t you guys keep these rambling fools off of the intertubez?

John DeNardo // February 20, 2014 at 6:22 am //

…said one of the rambling fools… 🙂

tam // February 20, 2014 at 9:29 am //

Still not in iTunes. Why don’t you put it in the Sfsignal feed?

John DeNardo // February 20, 2014 at 9:43 am //

Feed is here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheThreeHoarsemenPodcast
- tam // February 20, 2014 at 10:42 am //
  
  That doesn’t work in the regular Apple Podcasts app. Maybe I should use a different one.
  - John DeNardo // February 20, 2014 at 12:53 pm //
    
    The Apple feed is lost in limbo — see Fred’s comment below.

Fred Kiesche // February 20, 2014 at 9:40 am //

We put it on iTunes. iTunes is broken. Gee, for some reason a multi-trillion market cap company ignores my request for assistance and to have their “help pages” fixed. GO FIGURE.

Paul (@princejvstin) // February 20, 2014 at 10:37 am //

My first Warren Ellis was, relatively late, Transmetropolitan. I read it because Patrick Stewart blurbed it…

John E. O. Stevens // February 20, 2014 at 1:52 pm //

I went back and read the early issues, and it did not hold up as well as I remembered, compared to the later issues. It was useful to re-read them and think about the story’s ending, how Ellis manages to close it yet not slam the door on the story. Someday I want to compare the cultivation of arc in it and FREAKANGELS, which I think are two of Ellis’ longer works.