Monstrosity comics

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Monstrosity comics
by Sean Hansen Sep 7, 2005

Book Review

Desolation Jones Writer: Warren Ellis Artist: J.H. Williams III Wildstorm/ DC Comics; $2.99/issue It was one of Bill Hicks’ most terrible nightmares: being forced to live in L.A. indefinitely. Yet writer Warren Ellis (creator of the comic series Transmetropolitan and The Authority), and ex-Promethea artist J.H. Williams III, manage to weave this monstrosity into one of the most fascinating stories of the year, let alone one of the best stories in the form that is comics.

Each new issue is published on a bi-monthly schedule by Wildstorm/DC comics; Desolation Jones is the story of the open prison, for spooks and medical misfits, which is Los Angeles. The protagonist is Michael Jones, sole survivor of Great Britain’s “Desolation Test,” a medical initiative so traumatic that Jones no longer feels fear or pain. His skin is a distinct shade of gray, he can’t handle direct sunlight and he hallucinates all the time. On top of all of this, he also happens to be an Englishman stuck in the shit-filled heart of Los Angeles. The beginning of this first story-line initially reads like a skewered detective story. Jones is contacted by his colleague Jeronimus Corneliszoon to go see Colonel Nigh about a job. The scene stays along the lines of a detective story, if you were to completely dismiss the fact that Jones is assigned to find Hitler’s homemade pornography (considering he had all that time in the bunker with a film studio, it’s not that much of a stretch). There are many other genuinely clever elements that fall out of Ellis’ dark mind and onto the page to form a story with the quirkiness of science fiction and the punch of British fiction. J.H. Williams III pulls off some of the most ambitious art I’ve seen. The characters and backgrounds are for the most part realistic, nothing is over exaggerated, like a character who has muscles on top of muscles, for example — but then you have to also remember that Jones hallucinates as a result of the Desolation Test. There’s a lot of spandex-clad nonsense that comes out of the comics market these days, but the work of Ellis and Williams has yet to become part of that. The third issue of Desolation Jones comes out Sept. 14.

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