The Warren Report: 1-21-05

FACT: Warren talks about an Australian journalist and what she said to him in a Bad Signal last week, which is later recounted in the Warren Report.

FACT: The Invincible Super-Blog gets a post not one week later from a girl in Australia who describes my Evil Ernie post as "rousing."

I don't have to tell you what that means, true believer. The connections are starting, and the ISB is at the epicenter. On with the show!

So here's the best thing about Warren Ellis. He loves to share.

Whether it's a new band he's found that he likes (check out "The New Sound"), or his opinion that Come On Eileen was the best pop song ever created, you can always count on him to brighten your day with a previously undiscovered bit of fun. The Bad Signal's how I found out about the Grey Album, the Arcade Fire, and, of course, the Asshole Milkshake. That last one's evidence that they're not always winners, but this week's epistles from the pub had some content that I think is going to be worthwhile.

The gentleman's name is Sharknife, and as Warren says, "If you can look at this page and not grin at the Pure Comics Madness of it, you are dead to me." That's quite a reccomendation, especially considering that he broke out of his usual schedule of "Desolation Jones! The novel! Iron Man being late isn't my fault, you tossers! Stealth Tribes!" to let us know about it.

The book's being written and drawn by a guy named Corey Lewis, and I'm pretty excited about it. I mean, in the preview, he describes the cover to Volume 1 thusly: "Since Sharknife spends almost ALL his time in the interiors of the book flipping out and rocking hard, I decided to let him chill and sit on the cover." If he spends even HALF of his time flipping out and rocking hard, Sharknife is my kind of hero, and I've really got my hopes up for this one. It's in the January Previews on page 317, and it's not too late to order.

The rest of the Bad Signals this week were just the usual, keeping us up to date on Warren's various irons in the fire, which are legion. I really admire him for that.

In today's Non-Ellis news, I caught the season opener for Monk, featuring Natalie, the "New Sharona." I wish I'd been keeping up with it from the beginning so I knew if there was something at the end of last season that explains why she left, aside from the four-line summation in the new episode. Anyone got an answer for me? Jim?

I also watched Collateral today, on loan from the inimitable Shaka B. He and Chad were both shocked beyond belief when I told them I didn't really care for Tom Cruise, but I don't see why he's so great. Collateral was pretty much the same Tom Cruise experience I've always had: not bad, but nothing worth writing home about. Especially on the heels of the Royal Tennenbaums and the Prisoner, which I think I'm going to go watch now.

MCGOOHAN!