4 Questions With Warren Ellis

A writer like no other: graphic novels, screenplays, video games, animation, short stories – even a book on photography. Warren Ellis has just about done it all, but he’s best known for his contribution to the comic book genre. Author of such titles as Transmetropolitan, The Authority, and Planetary, Ellis has made a name for himself as being an independent giant. As a special holiday gift, he agreed to answer four questions to any and all online magazines, provided the questions weren’t too banal.

Luckily, ours weren’t.

iFanboy: Can you catch us up on what you’re working on currently; what projects your fans can look forward to getting from you?

Warren Ellis: Right now, I’m working on two new series for next summer, Desolation Jones and Jack Cross: writing a still-untitled novel for HarperCollins; and planning a spoken-word CD to be produced by Wasp Factory Records here in Britain.

iF: How many hours do you sleep, and how many do you really need?

WE: Over the last year or so, I’ve been getting six, seven hours of sleep a night. I need eight, and to be honest I like ten. But no such luck. Too much work. And people wonder why it takes three cans of Red Bull before I even show evidence of a pulse.

iF: What’s the coolest toy you had as a kid?

WE: My dad made me an Apollo 11 model stack when I was very small, which I can still remember in vivid detail, down to the tiny hand-painted landing module. I loved that thing.

iF: If your life were a television show, would you be a reality show, sitcom, drama, game show, documentary, mini-series, after-school special or soap opera? How long do you think your show would run before it was cancelled?

WE: I would hope to be a fascinating and sexy intellectual drama, but deep down, I know that in my future lies a shitty one-camera one-season sitcom with Ted McGinley. It is very sad. You could be more sympathetic, you know.