Excalibur Visionaries: Warren Ellis, Vol. 3

Excalibur Visionaries #6

by Warren Ellis, John Ostrander, Aaron Lopresti (Illustrator)

Nightcrawler! Colossus! Shadowcat! Wolfsbane! Captain Britain! Lockheed! Based on Muir Island, Excalibur has become Europe's most famous team of super heroes; now, they face their deadliest threat yet! The Hellfi re Club has infi ltrated the British government, and they've got a powerful demon at their beck and call! Plus: Pete Wisdom and Kitty Pryde track a serial killer! Don't miss some ofWarren Ellis' finest work! Collecting: Excalibur (1988) #96-103, Pryde and Wisdom #1-3

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes

188 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2010

About the author

Warren 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.

Reviews

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

A encerrar a temporada de Ellis com Excalibur, em modo de aventura acelerada. O super-grupo tem de enfrentar as ameaças de um renovado Hellfire Club, sediado em Londres, e ficar de lado enquanto o Professor X enlouquece e quase destrói os heróis. Encerra com uma mini-série onde Kitty Pride e o seu namorado britânico Pete Wisdom caçam um serial killer mutante nas ruas de Londres, numa daquelas histórias onde Ellis passa todos os limites da bizarria.

[Tim B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian gets pulled out of retirement. Much of this book focuses on Pryde and Wisdom. The dynamic of those two is interesting. Excalibur is picking back up after the last Visionaries volume. The characters are growing and the growth is good. I like Ellis at the helm.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 really

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doesn't hold up as much, but is about what you'd expect from a newish, younger writer making a stab at American superheroics. The favorite attitudes of his protagonists are there in Pete Wisdom.

[Gaël Sauvajon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never

... read any of these stories.
Very happy about the direction Excalibur has taken under Warren Ellis.
Now what to read?

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty standard X-fare, which is a step above standard Excalibur fare. Warren Ellis's run ends with the spotlfight firmly shining on Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom whose relationship isn't particularly exciting. There are some fun moments in this book, and I appreciate that they acknowledge the Onslaught story without tossing this title into the middle of it.

There's nothing must-read about this collection but if you're looking for some dumb fun to distract you from something, this book is unlikely to annoy or bore you.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The five-part story about Black Air and the Hellfire Club that leads this volume off has the scope that I missed in the previous volume. It also nicely dovetails a lot of the things set up in volume 1 [8/10]. The next couple of issues sort of lose their focus, as bigger issues are happening in the Onslaught story, but are nonetheless good [6.5/10]. The final issue of Ellis' Excalibur calls back to the alternate realities of Excalibur's earliest days, while simultaneously offering a satisfying conclusion to Ellis' run [7/10]. Finally, The Pryde & Wisdom story has great interplay between Pete & Kitty, but is pretty mediocre otherwise [6/10].

[Chris Aylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first collection of Warren Ellis's Excalibur stories is readable, but there was a lot of room for improvement. Fortunately, there's lots of improvement to be found by the third and final volume of his run. (The library was out of book two.)

The characters interact much better, with everybody getting a fair share of the story. And while the story itself is dark, there is a charm and lightness that the series had been sorely missing. Ellis's writing and command of the characters grew a lot over twenty-odd issues, and that's neat to see.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si no me equivoco, este libro contiene material que en su momento fue publicado en castellano por Forum, en los números 10 a 17 de Excalibur Vol. II, más la miniserie de Pryde y Wisdom. No era de las series que más seguía de los títulos-x de entonces pero sí tenía un no-sé-qué que la distinguía de las demás. Ahora puedo ver en retrospectiva que ese no-sé-qué se llama Warren Ellis, aunque no recuerdo demasiado de qué iba cada saga. A ver para cuándo me lo podré releer.

[Vivienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend lent me Excalibur Vols 1-3, as I enjoy Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein and Transmetropolitan. Volume 3 is the best of the bunch, featuring a demonic onslaught against London and a cop drama featuring the odd couple Pryce and Wisdom. Several strong engaging storylines without too many slow or confused moments. The only weak points in the volume are the issues about Onslaught. These don't go anywhere.

[Lisa Feld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blech is all I can say; no real life here, and the fact that people's costumes and hair keep shifting from issue to issue (when people are still ostensibly in the same scene) doesn't help. The two exceptions, where the story really came alive for me, were the room Charles Xavier built under Muir Island, and watching Kitty and Pete have breakfast at their local pub.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good stories and characterisation in this one. The Hellfire club are back, Onslaught appears and so does Spiral. I really like Kitty and Pete Wisdom together in this one, especially Lockheed not liking Wisdom.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was a good bit more consistent than the first two, and feels more like a real Warren Ellis work. In addition to several issues of Excalibur, it also includes the "Pryde and Wisdom" mini-series, which is a fun adventure with Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ignore anything not written by Ellis in this collection.