Every day in May we will reveal the greatest stories ever told starring a particular character or written/drawn by a particular creator (and throughout the month, you'll get daily chances to vote for NEXT week's lists). These lists are voted on by YOU, the reader!
Here is the list of characters/creators featured so far (along with the rules on how to vote).
Today's list is the Greatest Warren Ellis Stories Ever Told!
Enjoy!
I'll give you the top five stories that DIDN'T make the Top Ten...
15. Desolation Jones: Out of England
Drawn by JH Williams III, this story follows Desolation Jones, a former government agent (and unwilling test subject, which is how he got the Desolation nickname) who lives in Los Angeles, which is where all the world governments secretly stash their ex-agents, explaining the oddity of LA. Jones gets caught up in a case involving the lost pornographic films of Adolf Hitler.
14. Batman/Planetary: Night on Earth
In this one-shot, the Planetary team of "interdimensional archaeologists" find themselves facing off against Batman, and throughout the story, reality is constantly warped showing Batman as he has appeared in various eras. John Cassaday did the artwork.
13. Transmetropolitan: One More Time
This is the final Transmetropolitan storyline. Art by Darick Robertson.
12. Black Summer
This is Ellis' tale of a former superhero group pulled out of retirement when one of their own kills the President of the United States. Juan Jose Ryp did the artwork.
11. Transmetropolitan: Year of the Bastard
In this storyline, Spider Jerusalem really gets back into writing about politics, but when he makes enemies of two presidential candidates, he is surprised to learn that he might have actually underestimated one of them. Darick Robertson supplied the art.
10. Nextwave: I Kick Your Face
Ellis and artist Stuart Immonen have the Nextwave gang (a team made up of C to D-List superheroes) go up against more crazy threats, including the secretive head of the evil organization they're bound to stop, HATE.
9. Global Frequency
Ellis and an all-star roster of artists tell the story of the Global Frequency, a group with about a thousand people ready "on call" whenever their specialties are needed. The stories range from action-packed to thought-provoking, and they're really not connected except for the shared "operator" of each tale.
8. Planetary: Leaving the Twentieth Century
Another outstanding collection of tales of Planetary, the group of "interdimensional archaeologists" that Ellis and artist John Cassaday use to explore various other fictional characters, while also matched up against the Four, a group who wants to hoard all advanced technology for themselves. This volume 3 shows their problems with the 4 escalate.
7. Stormwatch: Change or Die
Drawn by Tom Raney, Ellis' Stormwatch was a UN-backed superhero team, but as we see in this arc, the head of the team has done some over-the-top actions all in the supposed best interest of the world, and in this final arc of the first volume of Stormwatch, chickens come home to roost.
6. Fell: Feral City
This is the first volume of Ellis' detective drama which he does with artist Ben Templesmith. Richard Fell is transferred to the bizarre town called Snowtown, where he finds himself as pretty much the one "real" cop in the city. Can Fell change the city before it changes him?
5. Planetary: The Fourth Man
One of the mysteries of Planetary is who is the fourth man of the team? In this volume, by Ellis and artist John Cassaday, we find out who the Fourth Man is, as well as a bunch of other great one-off tales.
4. Authority: Relentless
From the ashes of Stormwatch came The Authority, a group of widescreen superheroes dedicated to doing what they thought was right - no matter what anyone else thought about it. Drawn by Bryan Hitch, Ellis gives us two monumental arcs in this trade, including a brazen battle against a terrorist that involves, well, dropping a giant spaceship on an island.
3. Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street
Reporter Spider Jerusalem has dropped out - he is finished with society. However, he learns that he HAS to return because he never wrote the books he was contracted to write WHEN he dropped out. Back at his old newspaper, Jerusalem encounters the various oddities and problems of the current bizarre futuristic world of The City. Darick Robertson draws the book.
2. Nextwave: This Is What They Want
A group of not-so-famous superheroes find out that the group that they THOUGHT was a peace-keeping group was actually not so nice, so they break free from the group (called HATE) and steal their list of Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction and devote themselves to stopping those weapons. Stuart Immonen supplies the brilliant artwork.
1. Planetary: Around the World and Other Stories
This is the debut of the Planetary, Ellis and John Cassaday's group of "interdimensional archaeologists." Ellis and Cassaday explore various fictional characters through a slightly off-kilter lens.
That's the list! I'm sure there is a lot of agreement and disagreement with the list out there! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section!
And please vote for the lists that are still up for grabs here!