Shipwreck

Six issues. It begins in medias res, so it takes three issues to get a sense of what is going on. I urge readers to plow through the early part, which can come across as bizarre and confusing.I don't want to give anything away, but between the title and the blurb on the back of the book, we know that the main character has wound up in a strange land (planet? time? dimension?) with very weird inhabitants. Ellis does such a good job with this by forcing the reader to question who is in the right here.The art by Phil Hester adds to the tale and the atmosphere.

From Jeff Lemire's introduction you know it will be good. A surreal landscape. A character looking for answers and a bizarre assortment of characters in his way. It reads like The Prisoner and is a scifi standalone that stands alone.

Spiders, crows, corvid sky burials, desolate wastelands, mysterious technology all wrapped up in a deeply weird science fiction mystery woven together with that singular Warren Ellis dialogue I love so much. This book was a thoroughly strange delight.

Atmospheric and thought provoking. The art is amazing. I hope Phil Hester and Warren work together again.

I bought this in in six single issues, as they came out. I dealt with the in media res quality of the the first two issues, and issue #3 delivered a great reveal and writing as the reader learned what was really going on. And then in my view the story tailed off again till -- as another reviewer here mentions -- in issue #6 Mr. Ellis basically failed to 'stick the landing.'I think I can see what he might conceptually have been aiming for with that conclusion. It could have worked, so the actual flat, extremely 'meh' conclusion strikes me as maybe as much a question of hurried, cursory writing, line by line, panel by panel. Boo.Not unrelated to this failure to conclude satisfactorily with that sixth issue is the fact that, for whatever reasons, it was delayed by a year or more from when it was originally supposed to be delivered. So, yeah, it would be easy to lose impetus especially when one has a medical event as I believe Mr. Ellis did and when one has many commitments, so one can commit only limited time to any one project. This being said ....Warren, if by chance you're reading this --[1] SHIPWRECK was a six issue commitment. It's not that hard to write six issues ahead of time, and if you can't do that do what many professional writers do and write the beginning and end of your piece/article/story, and then write the middle sections. You can always rewrite the ending you had, if you write the middle and then find you want to modify the conclusion.[2] INJECTION volume #3 also seemed to me to have a weak, hurried conclusion -- a warmed-over borrowing of the end of QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.[3] There've been other series that you've completely failed to finish. DESOLATION JONES was immensely promising, for instance, and then fell apart at the beginning of the second season, never to re-appear. So sorry: I'm a fan, but I'm not buying your stuff in single-issue format any more, only when it reaches trade.

I usually love everything Warren Ellis writes, as he is arguably one of the best writers in the comics industry today. However, this story just didn't resonate with me. It's weird; I like weird. It's mysterious; I like mysterious. But the conclusion didn't leave me satisfied, neither on a plot level or an emotional level. Phil Hester's art, however, is absolutely gorgeous.

Written by: Warren EllisArt by: Phil HesterCollects issues 1-6Aftershock ComicsThis collection is driven by 2 current powerhouses in the comic industry. Both Warren Ellis and Phil Hester are heavy hitter comic writers on the market today (I believe both are award winners as well). Phil Hester also double dips as an artist. This collection leverages the writing of Warren Ellis with the art of Phil Hester.Here’s some feedback:1. The story is a sci-fi/suspense/mystery adventure. It’s written by Warren Ellis, so don’t expect the ‘same ole, same ole.’ The story is vague enough to have you wondering, with enough details to keep you guessing. The story starts slow and ramps nicely. To some the level of detail and when additional details are revealed would be a detriment.2. Some might even say this story has elements of horror, I’ll leave that classification to the reader.3. Phil Hester’s art is sharp and he owns the characters and landscapes. Phil draws everything from gore, to old west like landscapes, futuristic equipment/vehicles, to a raggedy protagonist. The lines are crisp with nice ink and coloring. I am admittedly a Phil Hester homer (even owning some of his original comic art), so it’s hard for me to be partial.4. This is my first work by Aftershock Comics and if they continue with this level of talent and quality, they’ll do well.

As a long time fan of Warren Ellis, I was surprised by this book. Far from being straight-forward, this story is convoluted and built around a central twist that makes it initially incomprehensible, and later just insincere.

SHIPWRECK narra a história do dr. Jonathan Shipwright, cientista (cuja especialidade deve-se evitar mencionar para evitar qualquer possibilidade de spoiler) perdido no que parece ser um mundo feito de estradas sem fim e qualquer linha de chegada discernível. O título escolhido para essa entrada dá uma dica. Trata-se de um mistério, sim, e quem está habituado a ler os quadrinhos (e também a prosa ou assistir às animações) de Warren Ellis conhece seu talento para esse tipo de narrativa.MasConvém lembrar que hqs são uma disciplina colaborativa e, nesse caso específico, a arte de Phil Hester, literalmente, rouba a cena. Os leitores brasileiros devem lembrar de seus desenhos na fase do Arqueiro Verde escrita por Kevin Smith ou pelo Monstro do Pântano de Mark Millar. Rostos angulosos, muito chiaroscuro, enfim, as características desses momentos anteriores de sua carreira continuam presentes, mas a eficiência alcançada com o colorista Mike Spicer supera qualquer esforço anterior.Quando um bom desenhista faz sua própria arte-final, tudo parece melhor.

Ellis hat mich irgendwie noch nie richtig enttäuscht, einer der besten und das Artwork passt auch! s.o.