Fell Vol. 1: Feral City

Warren Ellis, surely working himself into the grave one nine-panelled page at a time, has done it a-goddamn-gain. I'm not sure that Ellis is ever better than when writing at street level; the grime, the bleeding, the routine, the situations you might find in the news. His superheroes are usually delightful (see Nextwave and Planetary), but his dirty cities are better.

In Fell you'll find humanity but not sweetness, empathy but not forgiveness. Rarely have I seen so much poverty in a graphic novel - and here it's not a "social issue", but the setting for every scene. There's also real horror here, and it left me unsettled.

Of course, this being Ellis, it's also hilariously funny. If that's not a combination you're comfortable with, you show more should probably steer clear.

At the heart of all this is the enigmatic protagonist, Detective Richard Fell. Disgraced, exiled to grotty Snowtown, Fell is a strangely mild hero: no cowboy, certainly no saint, but perhaps a good citizen. I was affected by his final assertion that, in the awful purgatory of Snowtown "none of you are nothing to me." He has secrets in his past that will no doubt be teased out in future instalments.

Ben Templesmith's brilliant art is perfectly suited to the story, by turns gritty, glowing, grotesque, painterly, and very atmospheric. I will have nightmares for years about the way he draws teeth. show less

I'm not the biggest fan of Templesmith's art, but it actually suited this series quite well.

But, of course, the biggest star here is the now-tarnished one of Warren Ellis. I know I say this in damn near every review of his work, but man, this guy is a talented storytelling and wordsmith.

And this short series does nothing to change my mind about that. There's very few characters populating this one, but it's essentially NYPD Blue, if that show was focused on a single cop and the city was FAR darker and more gritty.

The less said about this prior to reading it, the better. Just...read it.

So this is interesting, because usually Ellis' characters are all bastards and the world sucks, but in this case the main character is practically a saint and the world REALLY sucks. So I'm glad he decided to switch things up a bit. I like the art, not typically my kind of thing but it really works for this story. I like the over-the- top absurdity of each little story. I was disappointed that we don't really get even a hint of what sent Fell over the bridge and the mystery of the Nixon Nun is not revealed at all. So now I just have to find myself a copy of Fell Vol 2.

I'm not sure if Ellis wrote this series before or after his stint on the Constantine franchise, but the similarities are pretty obvious. Fell is more of a regular police detective, but add in some supernatural elements, and he and Constantine could be brothers. Chances are that's why the series dead-ended after this run, but I did rather enjoy it. Ellis is really good at getting down to the grittier aspects of crime and police work, and he's not half bad at character development either.

A detective is transferred to serve a disintegrating neighborhood. The art plays into the creepy, off-balance vibe.
Surprisingly free of the usual Ellis rants and raves.

This collection of comics (1-8) by Warren Ellis fit the bill with Halloween approaching. A good 4 stars for the reasons that follow: The muddled art is creepy, the stories are a mix of done in one's and done in a couple. This is missing from too many newly launched comic stories. Everyone wants to start a huge comic run, when sometimes the best course is to keep the stories less complex and short. I kinda like the protagonist, not that there's a lot to him ( a little mystery surrounds his arrival to the Feral City), but reader's sense he's a good guy despite the Se7en-like world he finds himself in.

Mean, nasty, and mysterious. Templesmith's art is perfect for this book. I pray to Alan Moore's snake god that Ellis revisits this someday.