Desolation Jones: Made in England TP

Desolation Jones: Made in England
Warren Ellis-JH Williams III

Whenever I read Ellis done right, I imagine the feeling is something akin to what a smack monkey feels after a shot of mongolian horse hoof in the vein. And with Desolation Jones, the feces is definitely spittering off the fan.

Desolation Jones is a story about an ex-James Bond type who undergoes a radical experiement of which he's the only survivor, wherein' he is tortured and kept awake for a whole year. What emerges is a gray skinned, white haired, sad sack of a man, who feels nothing emotionally or physically, and slobbers zombie like through Los Angeles(which is a playground in this book for all ex-intel spook freaks like Jones). That said, the book has more in common with The Big Sleep than it does any Bond movie. In many ways this is Ellis perverted psychopath re-imagining of the classic Chandler tale. And frankly, it never misses.

The art is done by J.H. Williams III who I also encountered on Alan Moore's Promethea. He very well might be my favorite artist in the business. The variety of styles he throws on just a single page are incredible. His work is always an esoteric mix of the occult and psychedelia. This is an instance where the art stands on equal footing with the narrative. Perhaps even in some cases overshadowing it.

The Made in England arc of Desolation Jones centers around Jones trying to find a missing porno film that Hitler supposedly made in 1944. I probably could have crammed that into the opening spot, but really, it's just something that deserves it's own mention in it's own paragraph. No real reaction to it, but that gives you a good indication of the kind of depravity you're dealing with in this book.

I definitely reccomend this book if you are looking for something to jolt your system. Or if you like Warren Ellis at all. This is one of his good books.

Incidentally the second run of Desolation Jones just started last month, so it's an ideal time to jump in. You can get this trade, and then the issue from last month, and then you are good to go.

So yeah...