What do you think?
Rate this book
Apparat: The Singles Collection
Collected here are all four of the first year's worth of Warren Ellis' Apparat books including Simon Spector with art by Jacen Burrows, Angel Stomp Future with art by Juan Jose Ryp, Quit City with art by Laurenn McCubbin, and Frank Ironwine with art by Carla Speed McNeil! The four Apparat books are inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1930s and imagine modern day comic books that evolved from the pulps without the influence of super-heroes. Ellis also includes over 10 pages of new essays on the inspiration behind, and the creation of, these self-contained stories.
112 pages, Paperback
First published November 26, 2005
101 people want to read
About the author
Warren Ellis
1,971 books5,765 followersWarren Ellis is the award-winning writer of graphic novels like TRANSMETROPOLITAN, FELL, MINISTRY OF SPACE and PLANETARY, and the author of the NYT-bestselling GUN MACHINE and the “underground classic” novel CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, as well as the digital short-story single DEAD PIG COLLECTOR. His newest book is the novella NORMAL, from FSG Originals, listed as one of Amazon’s Best 100 Books Of 2016.
The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.
He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.
Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.
A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.
Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.
Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
The movie RED is based on his graphic novel of the same name, its sequel having been released in summer 2013. IRON MAN 3 is based on his Marvel Comics graphic novel IRON MAN: EXTREMIS. He is currently developing his graphic novel sequence with Jason Howard, TREES, for television, in concert with HardySonBaker and NBCU, and continues to work as a screenwriter and producer in film and television, represented by Angela Cheng Caplan and Cheng Caplan Company. He is the creator, writer and co-producer of the Netflix series CASTLEVANIA, recently renewed for its third season, and of the recently-announced Netflix series HEAVEN’S FOREST.
He’s written extensively for VICE, WIRED UK and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and given keynote speeches and lectures at events like dConstruct, ThingsCon, Improving Reality, SxSW, How The Light Gets In, Haunted Machines and Cognitive Cities.
Warren Ellis has recently developed and curated the revival of the Wildstorm creative library for DC Entertainment with the series THE WILD STORM, and is currently working on the serialising of new graphic novel works TREES: THREE FATES and INJECTION at Image Comics, and the serialised graphic novel THE BATMAN’S GRAVE for DC Comics, while working as a Consulting Producer on another television series.
A documentary about his work, CAPTURED GHOSTS, was released in 2012.
Recognitions include the NUIG Literary and Debating Society’s President’s Medal for service to freedom of speech, the EAGLE AWARDS Roll Of Honour for lifetime achievement in the field of comics & graphic novels, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2010, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History and the International Horror Guild Award for illustrated narrative. He is a Patron of Humanists UK. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.
Warren Ellis lives outside London, on the south-east coast of England, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 24, 2018
What happens when you take 4 sub B-side level publications and smoosh them into a single, slim compendium? You get an unabashed grab for cash. Prototypical in nature, the rough edges characteristic of deformities and untested abnormalities grate on the eyes due to their lack of editing. Toss in a heaping helping of Ellis’ favored dystopic and edgy, the result is a garish as it is ultimately stupid.
To call these tales short stories, would do a disservice to actual stories. With only about ~25 pages a pop per narrative, the quality matches their microscopic length. Whether it’s a hard-boiled detective (totally not beaten to death), an assassin or a not-so-good-ol’-fashioned cyberpunk chick (we get a double dose here) if it’s not hackneyed already, it’s hackneyed and puerile in its magnitude. Expositing philosophical musings gleaned from nothing more a few paragraphs on Wikipedia, the spoken words reflect the depth of conversation one might hear outside of one’s local Hot Topic.
Does Apparat expose Warren Ellis as the overrated and edgy hack he always was?
Yes.
To call these tales short stories, would do a disservice to actual stories. With only about ~25 pages a pop per narrative, the quality matches their microscopic length. Whether it’s a hard-boiled detective (totally not beaten to death), an assassin or a not-so-good-ol’-fashioned cyberpunk chick (we get a double dose here) if it’s not hackneyed already, it’s hackneyed and puerile in its magnitude. Expositing philosophical musings gleaned from nothing more a few paragraphs on Wikipedia, the spoken words reflect the depth of conversation one might hear outside of one’s local Hot Topic.
Does Apparat expose Warren Ellis as the overrated and edgy hack he always was?
Yes.
February 27, 2010
In hindsight, this is a brain dump, rough draft, or blueprint for subsequent Warren Ellis series.
-Angel Stomp Future=Doktor Sleepless, at least in terms of interesting but incomprehensible sci-fi. I can't get behind Juan Jose Ryp, who used his hyper-lines on Black Summer. The story is also like Dok in the whole dystopian tech-future sense.
-Frank Ironwine=Fell. The whole book, really, equals Fell, using the 'backmatter' text to fill out the book and extend the reading experience. This probably was my favorite story, since it allowed Ellis to shove his angry, know-it-call character into the book. This is a more enjoyable than Fell, thanks to Carla Speed McNeil, who's art is just wonderfully simple.
-Quit City=...Fell, also? Okay, the corollary breaks down here. I've always inextricably loved Laurenn McCubbin's art, yet this is the first fully story of hers I've read. (Need to finish Rent Girl...) This is probably the best self-contained story since it fits the least into the "solve a case" story in Frank Ironwine and...
-Simon Spector=OKAY I GIVE UP. It may have just been the first stories. This does share similar themes and super-powered ethics with Freakangels, Black Summer, and Run. Ellis says it's a Doc Savage book--Simon looks almost identical to Ellis' other Savage stand-in, Doc Brass from Planetary. This felt most like a superhero book in a collection of stories ostensibly from a non-superhero comic world. Simon=a hyper Hourman, or any other number of heroes who depend on a dose of something to save the day. Granted, there's a lot of bleed between science heroes and superheroes.
All in all, these are good stories, with Angel Stomp Future being the weirdest and thus weakest. I don't buy into the importance of Ellis telling single issue stories, but if he's responsible for all the great stuff by Brian Wood, then it's a good thing. Beyond the structural novelty, these are good stories. And each issue fits perfectly into my bedtime story reading.
-Angel Stomp Future=Doktor Sleepless, at least in terms of interesting but incomprehensible sci-fi. I can't get behind Juan Jose Ryp, who used his hyper-lines on Black Summer. The story is also like Dok in the whole dystopian tech-future sense.
-Frank Ironwine=Fell. The whole book, really, equals Fell, using the 'backmatter' text to fill out the book and extend the reading experience. This probably was my favorite story, since it allowed Ellis to shove his angry, know-it-call character into the book. This is a more enjoyable than Fell, thanks to Carla Speed McNeil, who's art is just wonderfully simple.
-Quit City=...Fell, also? Okay, the corollary breaks down here. I've always inextricably loved Laurenn McCubbin's art, yet this is the first fully story of hers I've read. (Need to finish Rent Girl...) This is probably the best self-contained story since it fits the least into the "solve a case" story in Frank Ironwine and...
-Simon Spector=OKAY I GIVE UP. It may have just been the first stories. This does share similar themes and super-powered ethics with Freakangels, Black Summer, and Run. Ellis says it's a Doc Savage book--Simon looks almost identical to Ellis' other Savage stand-in, Doc Brass from Planetary. This felt most like a superhero book in a collection of stories ostensibly from a non-superhero comic world. Simon=a hyper Hourman, or any other number of heroes who depend on a dose of something to save the day. Granted, there's a lot of bleed between science heroes and superheroes.
All in all, these are good stories, with Angel Stomp Future being the weirdest and thus weakest. I don't buy into the importance of Ellis telling single issue stories, but if he's responsible for all the great stuff by Brian Wood, then it's a good thing. Beyond the structural novelty, these are good stories. And each issue fits perfectly into my bedtime story reading.
May 6, 2018
I tend to admire Ellis' ambition for every series he does. Even when he's slumming it, there's usually at least one interesting idea or very clever quip to make it at least marginally worth while.
Comics should be more expansive then superheroes and the Big Two. Warren points out Alan Moore's ABC Comics and Dan Jurgen's Tangent Line as two promising examples. Helix was another good one. Self-contained comics should be more prevalent.
This was a real-concerted effort by Warren to do Graphic Novellas. I love this format. It's what comics should be instead of this decompressed Bullshit. It's the perfect enough size to generally allow a story to breathe, as well as have the artist have a genuine go at it, before fatigue sets in.
Apparat Collection 1--was kind of like the pilot episodes of a bunch of Ellis farts. Many of these seemed to take hold (thanks to the Ellis shit) and gestate into other series.
The second wave contained Aetheric Mechanics, Crecy and Frankensteins Womb--which I consider to be among some of Warren's finest "one-off" or single issue stories. It's not decompressed, he's not taking a piss, and he's not getting bored here, which seems to happen with much of his corporate IP work, or Avatar press partnership. I don't have to pretend their another city in the Transmetropolitan World or a spoke of the multiverse in Planetary to make them have some meaning.
These are single, they're the best songs on an album. This isn't the b-sides or deep cuts.
Comics should be more expansive then superheroes and the Big Two. Warren points out Alan Moore's ABC Comics and Dan Jurgen's Tangent Line as two promising examples. Helix was another good one. Self-contained comics should be more prevalent.
This was a real-concerted effort by Warren to do Graphic Novellas. I love this format. It's what comics should be instead of this decompressed Bullshit. It's the perfect enough size to generally allow a story to breathe, as well as have the artist have a genuine go at it, before fatigue sets in.
Apparat Collection 1--was kind of like the pilot episodes of a bunch of Ellis farts. Many of these seemed to take hold (thanks to the Ellis shit) and gestate into other series.
The second wave contained Aetheric Mechanics, Crecy and Frankensteins Womb--which I consider to be among some of Warren's finest "one-off" or single issue stories. It's not decompressed, he's not taking a piss, and he's not getting bored here, which seems to happen with much of his corporate IP work, or Avatar press partnership. I don't have to pretend their another city in the Transmetropolitan World or a spoke of the multiverse in Planetary to make them have some meaning.
These are single, they're the best songs on an album. This isn't the b-sides or deep cuts.
July 14, 2024
Ellis' Apparat project was an attempt (as others have done, not that there's shame in that) to reimagine comics as if descended directly from adventure pulps, without the interfering dominance of superheroes.
'Angel Stomp Future' barely qualifies as a story; it's an expository rant about transhumanism, mainly an opportunity for Juan Jose Ryp to show off his obsessively detailed, grotesque but lovely, artwork.
'Frank Ironwine' is an eccentric police detective. The story isn't bad although the jocular approach to alcoholism, as well as some of the plot twists, have dated extremely badly. The main character spends the night in a dumpster and apparently smells like it, but nobody seems to comment on it afterwards, which seems peculiar.
'Quit City' is the most earnestly emotional of the four, and something of a paean to aviator heroes, without any actual aviator action. Not bad, although it's more like a prologue to a series than an independent story.
'Simon Spector' features a pulp-style superhuman who takes drugs to accelerate his brainpower. The story features takes on some pretty common tropes, with mid-level success.
Overall, neither the best or the worst from Ellis.
'Angel Stomp Future' barely qualifies as a story; it's an expository rant about transhumanism, mainly an opportunity for Juan Jose Ryp to show off his obsessively detailed, grotesque but lovely, artwork.
'Frank Ironwine' is an eccentric police detective. The story isn't bad although the jocular approach to alcoholism, as well as some of the plot twists, have dated extremely badly. The main character spends the night in a dumpster and apparently smells like it, but nobody seems to comment on it afterwards, which seems peculiar.
'Quit City' is the most earnestly emotional of the four, and something of a paean to aviator heroes, without any actual aviator action. Not bad, although it's more like a prologue to a series than an independent story.
'Simon Spector' features a pulp-style superhuman who takes drugs to accelerate his brainpower. The story features takes on some pretty common tropes, with mid-level success.
Overall, neither the best or the worst from Ellis.
October 31, 2024
Quit City is certainly the standout in my opinion, but don't miss the liner notes for hardboiled Frank Ironwine. Angel Stomp Future is so screamingly visually dense that it's a headrush I can't remember, and if Simon Specter only interested and didn't grip, it's probably because I don't know a thing about Doc Savage.
November 16, 2008
A prime example of why deep down, Warren Ellis is not the cynical old bastard he pretends to be and can write good 'just comic stories' when he puts his mind to it and stops worrying about if he's still cool and cynical.
This collection features four stories, each one the 'first issue' of an imaginary new line of comics that would pretend super heroes never happened and the genres and types of characters that came out of the pulps still rule the comic shelves.
There is:
Angel Stomp Future: a wild, surreal tour of a sci-fi series that was the prototype for Doktor Sleepless. It reads like what would happen if you watched Blade Runner, read Nueromancer and then took acid. fun and bizarre but feels like Waren is trying too hard.
Frank Ironwine: great detective story featuring a character that deserves his own TV show
Simon Spector: Great take on a Doc Savage type character.
Quit City: a member of a Blackhawks type of air hero team walks away from the glamorous life of adventure and tries to readjust to the real world.
All four were well written and had tons of potential. Shame Warren never did more with them. Would have loved to have seen him create his own little universe with them , Like Alan Moore did with ABC line of comics.
This collection features four stories, each one the 'first issue' of an imaginary new line of comics that would pretend super heroes never happened and the genres and types of characters that came out of the pulps still rule the comic shelves.
There is:
Angel Stomp Future: a wild, surreal tour of a sci-fi series that was the prototype for Doktor Sleepless. It reads like what would happen if you watched Blade Runner, read Nueromancer and then took acid. fun and bizarre but feels like Waren is trying too hard.
Frank Ironwine: great detective story featuring a character that deserves his own TV show
Simon Spector: Great take on a Doc Savage type character.
Quit City: a member of a Blackhawks type of air hero team walks away from the glamorous life of adventure and tries to readjust to the real world.
All four were well written and had tons of potential. Shame Warren never did more with them. Would have loved to have seen him create his own little universe with them , Like Alan Moore did with ABC line of comics.
September 13, 2007
august was a big month for information/entertainment purchases
school started on the 27th so I grabbed all the comic books i could before that date
this collection of Warren Ellis written, various artists drawing stories was great
the jump from
a future shock scabarous earth guided by a Suicide Girl surgeon detective
(angel stomp)
to
an alcoholic seer of a detective who investigates a cross dressing double murder
mystery
(frank ironwine)
to
a punkette aviator returning to exorcise a clingy boyfriend ghost in Oakland
to
a billionaire brother in the Tony Todd mode who takes super stimulants to do his dark knight thing for people in need
(simon spector)
is a aesthetic shock but the writing and at odds artwork are strong enough to cancel out the jumps
school started on the 27th so I grabbed all the comic books i could before that date
this collection of Warren Ellis written, various artists drawing stories was great
the jump from
a future shock scabarous earth guided by a Suicide Girl surgeon detective
(angel stomp)
to
an alcoholic seer of a detective who investigates a cross dressing double murder
mystery
(frank ironwine)
to
a punkette aviator returning to exorcise a clingy boyfriend ghost in Oakland
to
a billionaire brother in the Tony Todd mode who takes super stimulants to do his dark knight thing for people in need
(simon spector)
is a aesthetic shock but the writing and at odds artwork are strong enough to cancel out the jumps
February 14, 2016
Another reread. Ten-years-ago-me also had it pretty heavy for Ellis. I'm not sure if it holds up. I like the idea of a singles collection for comics, but none of these shots are particularly strong. Props to Quit City, though, for tackling things like reproductive rights/women's chance to choose/domestic violence headon and not shame-y. Way to sneak that in there, Warren.
Juan José Ryp can draw whatever he wants, really, and I'll probably continue to be impressed, but I found everything else in here to be a little flat.
Juan José Ryp can draw whatever he wants, really, and I'll probably continue to be impressed, but I found everything else in here to be a little flat.
May 9, 2009
All four of these stories were fantastic, and the afterwords are quite valuable. It may end up being the first Warren Ellis volume I actually buy to re-read and study.
November 5, 2009
The first story is worth checking this out but the others were dull and that is not something I would say about Warren Ellis' work usually.
May 1, 2015
Ironwine!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews