Here's the first promotional graphic from the upcoming Warren Ellis' Strange Killings: Strong Medicine saga, which features the brilliantly executed work of Ellis and Mike Wolfer on the story of Combat Magician William Gravel.  Feel free to post this graphic where you think it will be of interest.

So what's Strange Killings about, anyway?  Series protagonist Sergeant Major William Gravel is a soldier in Britain's SAS, an occasional freelance operative for hire --and a combat magician.  In Warren's words, "Placed on "K" duty - deniable operations - when he's found to be taking unofficial black market jobs for money due to mysterious personal reasons, Gravel is plunged into the dirty life of a secret black-ops world. Still, with his power Gravel could probably change the world if he was capable of actually getting his life together. Instead, he's constantly involved in other people's lives and dirty secrets, running headlong towards the day when he hits something he can't escape from, shoot, or wish away." Strange Killings has elements of magic and the occult, espionage suspense/thriller, and even pulp-style crime noir.  Put together then blown apart as only Warren Ellis can do, and rendered with the relentless storytelling of artist Mike Wolfer.

Magic and the occult have a long tradition in comic books.  Just as long as superheroes have, in fact -- magician Zatara appeared in Action Comics #1 alongside Superman.  Arguably, stories of magic and the occult take advantage of the particular strengths of the comic book medium even better than the mechanics of superhero storytelling do, and Wolfer makes the strongest case yet for this theory in the pages of Strange Killings. 

Comic books of magic have continuously redefined themselves, just as Superheroes have -- from the iconic Golden Age of Superman and Batman, to the pop and personality of Lee/Kirby 60's Marvel, then the complexity of books like Claremont's X-Men, up to the sophistication of Alan Moore's Watchmen and Frank Miller's Dark Knight, and most recently works like The Authority and Marvel's Ultimates line.

Similarly, the stage prop style of Zatara and the heroism horror of Dr. Fate and The Spectre gave way to the occult of the infamous pre-Comics Code horror of the 1950's (of which the EC line - Tales from the Crypt, etc. - is the most famous example), then the brilliant pyrotechnics of Ditko's Dr. Strange in the 60's, and the House of Secrets-style horror/thrillers of the DC 70's era, which birthed Swamp Thing, which brought us Alan Moore's run with John Constantine and a million other ideas, leading to Jamie Delano, (and later on Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and other notables) on Hellblazer and Neil Gaiman on Sandman and Books of Magic, and sparks like Wagner's Mage and Quinn and Vigil's Faust on the indy scene.

Which brings us up to Strange Killings.  It's a redefinition of what its kind of book can be and what it can do, just as The Authority has been as it has shaken up a different segment of the market (and of course, it's no coincidence that Warren Ellis created both books.  He's pushed boundaries on a number of fronts in comics).  And in addition to the magic/horror elements and the suspense and drama, it takes John Woo and the Wachowski brothers to school on how to do action.

So check out Warren Ellis' Strange Killings: Strong Medicine for order in the April 2003 Previews for items to be released in June.  Make sure your retailer knows you want it, and ask about the Strange Killings and related trade paperback collections as well.  We'll have complete solicitation information for the new series, artwork, and a press release available here at the site shortly.
[ posted Sunday, March 09, 2003 12:39:38 PM  |  permanent link to this item ]