SUMMER TIME...BLACK WARREN ELLIS ON BLACK SUMMER

[MattBrady]

by Chris Arant

If you're reading this, one could assume that you're more than a little bit aware of superheroes. Generally, they fight on the side of good against evil. While each superhero might view who is good and evil in a different way, there's still a general concept of who's on the right side and the wrong side.

But where do you draw the line between those two sides?

"That's the thrust of Black Summer and John Horus' dilemma," said writer Warren Ellis. " If you are a self-identified "superhero" with an ethical compulsion to step outside the system of law to fight crime -- where do you stop? We're all familiar with the idea of criminal corporations. But, from certain perspectives, crime can come from more rarified planes than that. If your perspective is such that the President of the United States can be said to have prosecuted an illegal war that has caused the death of thousands -- does that put him beyond justice? If your cause is fighting crime, do you simply turn a blind eye to crimes committed in politics?"

Those are the questions at the center of the new Avatar Press miniseries Black Summer. Written by Warren Ellis, it marks his first actual creator-owned take on the superhero genre. Considering his less than reverent take on superheroes in the past coupled with Ellis' tendency to "cut loose" on his creator-owned work, the idea of him doing superheroes on a creator-owned basis promises to be something quite … different.

In this June-debuting miniseries, the preeminent superhero group on Earth is a team called Seven Guns. Described by Ellis as "an association of politically-aware young scientist-inventors", the seven members, including the aforementioned John Horus, experimented onto themselves to create the superhuman enhancements. Their first "mission"? They took to the streets of a West Coast city to fight a corrupt police force, a criminal city government and "rapacious" private security firms. With that strike they became the superhero team on the block. Although they lasted for many years, the recent years have found them each going their separate ways for a variety of reasons.

But that doesn't mean that they stopped doing what they do.

"John Horus is now something of a figurehead for social justice, and continues to fight crime on his own terms, which includes working on public programmes with the White House," explained Ellis. "He's the Good Guy."

But that all changes when Horus takes what he sees as a logical choice in the role of a superhero, and stepped in after the U.S. President mounted an illegal war that caused deaths numbering in the quadruple digits. And that stepping in, Horus did so… literally. As the gatefold cover to the first issue shows, Horus stepped in the White House and stepped on those he thought were doing illegal acts – one of those being the President.

Horus acts raises many questions: Was Horus right for doing it? Where do you draw the line? And what happens next?

"John Horus' actions put the remainder of the Seven Guns in deadly danger. As the story starts, one of the Guns is long dead, and another of the Guns, the dead member's lover, is steadily drinking himself to death. The others, let's say, have their own problems. And their fight is largely over. They're in no position to defend themselves. And, after Horus' action, they find themselves Public Enemy 2 through 6. The general public, and the government, have no idea that John Horus acted unilaterally. So, in addition to the Sword of Damocles that John Horus is holding over the nation as a whole, the entire military machine is now going to descend on the rest of the Guns."

In Black Summer, Warren Ellis brings the superheroics that comics has been home to and brought it to the political landscape. Far from the easily identifiable evil scientists, dictators and warlords, the writer who broke new ground with The Authority is taking it one step further. In a world where you sometimes can't tell the difference between good and evil but only shades of grey, Ellis is aware that readers might have differing opinions on Horus's actions against the President. "Some will see Horus as the bad guy, and some will see him as the good guy. I'm showing it from both angles and letting people make up their own mind."

The idea of a superhero approaching a political figure such as the President is something that's been touched upon briefly in other comics, but none so head-on as what Ellis is doing here. But where did it come from?



"I was looking for the high-concept. Which I'm usually fairly bad at," Ellis admits. "There are still questions to be asked of the superhero genre, but, after all these years, most of the ones left are pretty esoteric and involved. I was looking for the simple question, the one that gets to the heart of the central notion of people disguising themselves and taking up arms to fight for justice with total commitment."

"And the one I found had political expression but was essentially ethical and moral. Where do you draw the line? Especially if you're a guy with the destructive potential of a fleet of Apache helicopters. If you're that guy, you're not in it to govern. You don't see that as your job, and, in fact, that would prevent you from doing your job. You operate outside society to keep it honest. So where do you draw the line? And where's the line before which you embody the outrage of the people and beyond which you become the fears of the people?"

And who would be the right artist to draw the carnage, the chaos, the "guy with the destructive potential of a fleet of Apache helicopters"? Longtime Avatar artist Juan Jose Ryp" Ryp can draw anything. He's not human. And that high-definition, superreal style of his gives genre work a killer punch," Ellis said. "He does incredibly dynamic action stuff, but he gives everything weight and texture. Working in superhero fiction, he gives pages a density and reality that people haven't seen in the genre from a page-a-day guy in years. He draws like someone wired Geof Darrow to a nuclear reactor."

Ryp, who previously , collaborated with Ellis on Angel Stomp Future and Wolfskin, is excited to work with him again. " I was a big fan of his run on Authority and I am happy to be creating a new superhero world with him. He always brings new ideas and creativity to a project, what else can an artist ask for?"



The series begins with a special #0 issue with an all-new story that acts as a prelude to the seven issue miniseries. "We use a heavier paper stock than most publishers, so even 16 page books like this have a nice weight to them," explained Avatar's William Christensen. "This format allows us to bring the price way down to just $0.99 and allows us to introduce a whole lot of new fans to the series."

The whole series came about as a result of a bet that Ellis had made with Avatar Editor-In-Chief William Christensen. But with Ellis' opinion on superheroes is one that is well documented, and one could easily wonder why he would chose to do superheroes in a creator-owned book? The bet was a challenge.

"My take on the industry on the whole is a moving target, for the industry continues to change and evolve. The direct market is, in essence, two markets at this time. A huge chunk of the retail community orders and sells only superhero books. That's an entire market-within-a-market that my usual work doesn't actually reach. And I find that whenever I produce a significant amount of work for that sub-market, sales of my other-genre work rise notably. So I speak to two different markets now, and continuing to produce work for both brings new audiences to my backlist as a whole."

That said and understood: the superhero genre, which I now have to spend a lot of time thinking about because I now have a role at Marvel as sort of the creepy inventor guy in the basement, is clearly entering something of a decadent phase. And that'll change again, because all things are cyclical. But right now, partly as a result of sustained event programming, everything's turned inward, become about recombination and recapitulation. There are very few new concepts and characters being introduced right now. The water gets a bit stagnant, you know what I mean? And while it's certainly true that the superhero audience wants its favourites and attendant historical relationships, malaise always sets in when that's ALL that's available. So here's a shot of the new, to remind people what it's like to start at the beginning of something, instead of walking in on the middle of an endless second act."

Why?

"Because I do this for the children," Ellis says slyly.

[Markisan]

Yes. Looking forward to this book.

[MikeCosta]

This sounds like a very interesting idea. I'm not interested in political screeds masquerading as superhero literature (I'm looking in your direction, Mark Millar) but I enthusiastically welcome an examination into the moral/political gray area of vigilante justice. Sure, Wildstorm had The Authority take over the US, but this is a much more compelling idea.

Kudos to Ellis for what in my opinion is the most fascinating premise for a superhero book in a long time. Keep it smart. Please don't ____ it up. Childish arguments about politics are for comic book message boards, not comics themselves.

(begin childish political arguments now)

[Equinox]

Sweet Jesus smoking in a birch-bark canoe.

Warren Ellis: F*ck yeah.

[ThatNickGuy]

A superhero that goes too far fighting corruption and kills the President?

Sold.

I'll wait for the inevitable trade, but I'm still wholeheartedly sold.

[SpyGuy]

Really looking forward to this. That gatefold cover is stunning.

With Avatar's BLACK SUMMER and THE BOYS returning to Dynamite, June is looking like one great (and insanely brutal) month for comics...

[subhuman]

Warren Ellis has done it again! This man has to be one of my favourite writers in comics today. I deeply regret not picking up Nextwave, so I must atone for my actions by grabbing this series. This is the kind of concept that I can justify my dollar and dedication of time to. Is this in Previews rith now, or in the upcoming ones next week?

[xdemon]

I am looking forward to this.

[jaredgood1]

Looking forward to the book. Ellis is one of those names that garners an automatic pull for me.

Will there be controversy over the book? Depends on mainstream press and if Britney Spears kills herself or not. Besides, Ellis already killed God, so how big is killing a president? A good story is a good story.

/Registered Republican and proud of it

[USAgent]

Blah. Another attack on the current politics veiled in a comic story. I had my fill after CW. Why would the character stop with anyone, anywhere? We've all done stuff illegal, so we should all get killed. And why not kill every politician? Why don't they just call it this Judge Dredd vs. Bush?

[RedRonin]

Cannot wait!

[ziza9]

I cannot wait for this. Is it summer already?

[ziza9]

Originally Posted by jaredgood1

Looking forward to the book. Ellis is one of those names that garners an automatic pull for me.

Will there be controversy over the book? Depends on mainstream press and if Britney Spears kills herself or not. Besides, Ellis already killed God, so how big is killing a president? A good story is a good story.

/Registered Republican and proud of it

My money's on Britney going out first.

[investcomics]

Wow this looks yummy.

[investcomics]

The art reminds me of Faust (Tim vigil) a little. No?

[jaredgood1]

Originally Posted by ziza9

My money's on Britney going out first.

You're probably right. I think between Spidey, Cap and Batwoman, we're pretty much tapped out on mainstream news coverage for the next 5-6 years.

[FIG]

This looks GREAT! Gotta love that detailed artwork.

[TurdFerguson]

Looks sweet. i'll be pickin it up for sure. i have to get a job...

[kitamu re]

interesting concept, too bad ellis is writing it, I'll pass.

[O.J. Flow]

...the feel-good story of 2007.

[amdin]

Originally Posted by subhuman

I deeply regret not picking up Nextwave, so I must atone for my actions by grabbing this series.

Ah ... So it's your fault Nextwave was cancelled ...

This series looks pretty damn sweet. Ellis has been on fire lately (although Thunderbolts still doesn't quite work IMO. Still an interesting read though). Probably pick this up in trade, but it looks like it'll be a crazy ride.

[Punchy]

This looks totally brilliant.

[KyleV]

Blah. Another attack on the current politics veiled in a comic story. I had my fill after CW. Why would the character stop with anyone, anywhere? We've all done stuff illegal, so we should all get killed. And why not kill every politician? Why don't they just call it this Judge Dredd vs. Bush?

I think perhaps you misread the interview.

The hero in question is holding the president responsible for thousands of deaths, akin to a mass murderer. Yes, we've all done things that are considered illegal (like jaywalking, for that matter), but he's going after what he considers to be a mass murderer. There's a big difference there.

I would think that he'd kill other politicians if he decided that they played a prominent role in killing people, since that seems to be his justification for going after the president.

[HNutz]

MAN, this looks good.... and thought-provoking! Hope my store gets it!

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by FIG

This looks GREAT! Gotta love that detailed artwork.

I couldn't agree more.