Ellis At It Again

Warren Ellis has a knack for making controversial political comics. From Transmetropolitan to his work on The Authority, Ellis is not afraid to make statements with his stories and characters. Perhaps the most extreme statement to date will be made in the upcoming Black Summer series, illustrated by Juan Jose Ryp and published by Avatar.

Hot on the heels of Civil War, where some heroes sided against the American government and fought federal agents, Black Summer tells the story of a superhero who decides the President is on the wrong side of the law. So the superhero kills him.

Ellis's John Horus is your average superhero. He wants justice to be done, and villains to be punished. As demonstrated by comics like Watchmen and, yes, Civil War, superheroes by nature are practicing vigilantism. So where do you draw the line? As Ellis puts it, "If your cause is fighting crime, do you simply turn a blind eye to crimes committed in politics?"

Here's an interesting story and discussion about the plot of Black Summer. No doubt the comic will be getting press all over the country once its released. After what happened to Cap, I'm sure we can look forward to many more speculations on news networks about metaphors in comics for the death of everything from the American Dream to capitalism. Woo-hoo, CNN can no longer ignore the power of the funny-book!

-Elizabeth