Following on from Warren Ellis’s complaining about future Marvel projects, the Bendis Board takes it upon themselves to help him out. Ellis wrote the following on his mailing list:
I need to come up with a new Marvel project, as I’m reaching the end on a few things up there. I had come up with a book to do with Mike Wieringo, but since Mike died I can’t really work up the enthusiasm to do it with anyone else, it was very much written *for* Mike.
And I’m at my wit’s end, to be honest.
I now have an entire folder full of aborted ideas. See, my job at Marvel is to be the mad scientist in the basement, bringing old properties back to life. The job isn’t to create new things (and I do that elsewhere, I don’t have to prove my bona fides at creating new books), but to make the old properties live again. And I’m hitting the point where I can’t find anything to get up on its feet.
The Bendis Boarders, luckily, don’t have that problem:
“He needs to write Darkhawk!”
“Impossible Man!”
“I think GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY under Ellis could be really exciting.”
“Three words for Ellis: Man. Thing. Ongoing.”
“I’d like to see what Razorback could do in his own series. Despite being a Marvel hero he doesn’t appear to have ever had one. Something that’s reasonably silly but none of the dull space stuff he was doing in Byrne’s She-Hulk.”
“I’m sure there’s always Team America or Wolfpack.”
That’s right; the Bendis Board is trying to kill Warren Ellis. As could be expected, Ellis turns up later in the thread to turn down all of the suggestions.
January 7th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Play to his strengths and find a sci-fi based concept, I reckon. I mean who’s Razorback for god’s sake? Seriously.
January 7th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I’m not gonna go over to the Bendis boards, but Stingray (I think that’s the guy?) would be cool. Underwater sci-fi, an area he’s yet to touch (as far as I know).
January 7th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Wllie Lumpkin FTW!
Ravage 2099 for the “Omega The Unknown”-style win! José Ladronn!
Oh, actually, no. I want that one.
//\Oo/\\
January 7th, 2008 at 10:06 am
See, I just wish they would take The Ultimates away from Loeb and give it to Ellis to preserve the tone that was established with the first two series. I think Ellis could really up the ante on the political/espionage stuff and put his own stamp on it.
Of course, also thanks to the wonder that is Loeb, isn’t Ultimate Nick Fury a bad guy now? I heard that somewhere.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:27 am
“Complaining” is putting it a bit strongly. I use the email list for thinking out loud, as you know.
January 7th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I wish they’d take Ultimates away from Loeb and give it to anyone. I’d not give it to my worst enemy. As for Mr Ellis, how about 3D Man in the Fifties. Dragon Lord from Marvel Spotlight. Monark Starstalker; Woodgod; Mark of Kanec . . . I have no idea who these Marvel Premiere folk are
January 7th, 2008 at 11:22 am
How about newuniversal ? It’s not like anything is being done about it.
January 7th, 2008 at 11:44 am
NU took a planned break. I’m several scripts ahead, pencils for the first issue came in a little while ago.
And, yes, the Bendis crowd are plainly trying to kill me.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
If anyone can save Namor, it’s Ellis.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Y’Know what might be fun? Warren Ellis writing a new Ulysses Bloodstone comic. I could see that being right up his “tongue-in-cheek Nextwave” alley.
Get Dan Brereton for the covers and, I don’t know, someone amazing with a feel for the big monsters but also kind of gritty for the interiors and we’re done.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Oh, and of course Elsa Bloosdstone would be making frequent appearances, as well.
January 7th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Or even Elsa Bloodstone.
January 7th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Dr. Korvacian: Future half-man travels back seeking transcedent power by “assisting” humankind’s suicide.
January 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
i think i’m bleeding internally
January 7th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Spiderman Loves Mary Jane
January 7th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Does he have any ideas for retconning the OMD retcon? Just asking…
January 7th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
A nice little 4-issue miniseries called “Man-Servant” starring Jarvis and Wong. Even though their bosses are currently at odds, the two find time in their busy schedules to meet once a week for tea and discuss the adventures they’ve witnessed. It could be a nice little “slice of life” book showing the Avengers (both flavors) in a new light. And the twist at the end is they are both Skrulls thus tying the book in nicely with Secret Invasion.
I’m only partly joking about this too by the way.
January 7th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I don’t know, Ellis on Man-Thing could be cool. You’ve got this multidimensional vortex in the middle of Florida swamp lands/hick country and it’s presided over by this mute mass of mud. There’s a lot of different ideas that Ellis can hit there.
But who knows? Maybe Man-Thing is set for a major relaunch and the screenwriter behind National Secrets 2 is behind it.
January 7th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Silver Sable! Strong female lead, lot’s of kicking and ’sploding. Plus, as a ruler of a Marvel nation he could toss in whatever wacky political things spring to mind. Her mercenary group would provide a nice chance for any techno/military porn he wanted to do too.
January 7th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Nth Man the Ultimate Ninja. That or bring back Druid.
January 7th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Does Marvel still own the rights to the Epic line? Bringing back The Bozz Chronicles would be awesome.
January 7th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
This is funny and horrifying– mostly horrifying.
I don’t understand how Marvel writers don’t have knife-fights over who gets to write Dum Dum Dugan. Tape-your-hands-together-and-prance-around style knife-fights like in the Michael Jackson “Beat It” video. Dum Dum Dugan is, like, so, so great– one of the truly great Lee-Kirby characters. So unappreciated. He’s always the second-fiddle to Nick Fury, Iron Man, Godzilla, whoever, but you know he could drink any one of them under the table, if push came to shove, Godzilla included. He’s the perfect Marvel character: he’s hilarious and deeply stupid and capable of great, horrifying, lasting violence. How is he not the star of, like, a whole line of books? I don’t understand it. I don’t understand you for not embracing him, nerds. Bring him into your hearts, and let him fester there.
January 8th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Woodgod!
January 8th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Ka-Zar. A chance to do a real, bare-chested hero. Monthly fun with the smilodon. Another genre to hold up to the light, smile at its beauty, then mess it all up.
January 8th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I’m thinking a story where all of Marvel’s whacky and wonderful technology was shared with humanity and the ramifications thereof. Starting with the Fantastic Four’s fateful rocket mission in the 60’s and ending in the far off future of 2008 the reader witnesses What Might Have Been. A world where people hop on a quinjet and spend an afternoon on Hala or visiting the scenic Negative Zone petting zoo to feed the Annihilus. Where the louder, more rambunctious youth are teporarily altering their genetic code with Connors and Nightshade brand splicers (and mixing them despite the warning of a 1 in 3,098,423 chance of Hulkism) and obsolete Starktech prosthetics. Where personal communication reaches the cutting edge thanks to wireless subcranial cerebra implants with a M.O.D.O.C. server located on every continent. Where the public needn’t fear attacks from Atlantis or Hydra as the Starktech-equipped super soldiers the Iron Legion is patrolling the skies and where one out of every ten citizens is a S.H.I.E.L.D. sleeper agent. Where A.I.M. is the world’s leading manufacturer and bordering on political superpower and window washers wear Stilt Man armor. Where weaponsmaker Tony Stark (being paranoid about another devastating injury to his person and before the introduction of Dr. Curt Connors regenerative gene splice and Pym’s disease-curing nanotech replaced 95% of himself with cybernetics, Bruce Banner finally controlling the beast within is now one of the world’s leading geneticists/engineers(and also fifteen feet tall, around 2000 pounds overweight, and with a paranoid look in his eye), and Reed Richards, all around genius, ambassador of Earth, imaginaut looking as youthful and chipper as ever thanks to his stretching abilites, all effectively immortal thanks to their various powers secretly run the world and watch as their utopia crumble all around them from forces unknown. Or maybe from within? I think it would make a great 48 page, five part (one for each decade), prestiege format story. Either that or he could update ROM.
January 9th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
C’mon, Warren, do Darkhawk. You can’t possibly sell out any more than that.