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NEWS: Warren Ellis Comments on Marvel Anime's Publicity


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s.alsa-man1991



Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Posts: 137
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:02 pm Reply with quote
Well, it shows. If you were disappointed by the Iron Man anime, go read Iron Man: Extremis, by Warren Ellis. It goes to show that only a few people can flesh out Tony Stark's world really well. Ellis and Matt Fraction being the best two I've encountered so far.
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Oneeyedjacks



Joined: 21 Dec 2009
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:05 pm Reply with quote
This might explain why the Marvel anime haven't been very good.

You can tell that the writers didn't really understand the source material for any of these characters.
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Surrender Artist



Joined: 01 May 2011
Posts: 3264
Location: Pennsylvania, USA
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:11 pm Reply with quote
Marvel series written by Warren Ellis and animated in Japan sounds like a great idea that might've yielded some good series.

It's too bad that we don't seem to have gotten that.


Last edited by Surrender Artist on Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:15 pm; edited 2 times in total
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nightjuan



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 1473
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:31 pm Reply with quote
I seem to remember that he had already made similar comments before.

However, Warren Ellis is clearly wrong about one thing: his name is present (written in katakana) on the Japanese opening credits for all three of the shows that have been broadcast. I'm not going to post screen caps here, but this is extremely easy to verify if you're bored or interested enough.

So the argument that they didn't use any of his work seems rather bogus -particularly after Ellis himself said he's seen "little" of the end result- when they're openly stating he at least came up with the stories. If they really didn't even use his basic outlines, his name wouldn't need to be included in the credits. Well, it is.

He obviously didn't do the actual episode by episode writing, that's true, and I can imagine there were a number of changes to his outlines, but let's not get too carried away with the handwaving just because this project simply hasn't turned out too great on average.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15564
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:34 pm Reply with quote
Meh, anime staff don't always get credited on American productions, either. Though if anyone wants to translate the Japanese credits in the opening, he might be on there. Plus, it might be some of that usual WGA BS. You knows, the kind which kept that guy who came up with the Magneto prequel for getting credit for his material being used in First Class.
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Spastic Minnow
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Joined: 02 May 2006
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 10:50 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, he made sure not to take too much credit very early on, before any of them had been produced. I think he knew they weren't going to be products he could really be proud of.

But hey, it is partially his fault for not insisting on further involvement. It sounds like he did this for a paycheck and I don't think he really put much effort into it.
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BorgmanJayce



Joined: 11 Feb 2004
Posts: 298
Location: Hades via UK
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:50 pm Reply with quote
I'm sorry, but as a fellow Brit, I have no sympathy for Warren Ellis at all.

He's attended quite a few events over the years in the UK like MCM Expo in London and I believe; the Kapow! Comic-Con that took place in April as well!

He's got no right to complain if he couldn't be bothered to check with the makers of the anime whether he got credited or not (either that, or Marvel didn't tell him that he was going to be credited at all)

It sounds like he's an arrogant stuck-up idiot who; as Spastic Minnow said, only cared about getting a paycheck and couldn't be bothered to put in as much effort as possible.

In any case, there are comic book creators and writers who are ten times better than he is; like Mark Millar; creator of Kick-Ass as well as J.Michael Straczynski and Chris Claremont.
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firedragon54738



Joined: 24 Sep 2007
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Location: wisconsin
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:52 pm Reply with quote
Well the only one of the three that was good was Wolverine. But doing this even before the anime hits the air in the US must mean that he thinks this will fail
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Vekou



Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 329
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:14 am Reply with quote
He definitely is credited in all three, his name is just not written out in English. I don't blame him for trying to distance himself from these series, though.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14888
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:23 am Reply with quote
Hey, if the Japanese didn't use his work but instead went their own way, his conscience just feels uncomfortable getting credit where credit is not due, good or bad. Confused
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TitanXL



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 4036
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:45 am Reply with quote
nightjuan wrote:
I seem to remember that he had already made similar comments before.

However, Warren Ellis is clearly wrong about one thing: his name is present (written in katakana) on the Japanese opening credits for all three of the shows that have been broadcast. I'm not going to post screen caps here, but this is extremely easy to verify if you're bored or interested enough.

So the argument that they didn't use any of his work seems rather bogus -particularly after Ellis himself said he's seen "little" of the end result- when they're openly stating he at least came up with the stories. If they really didn't even use his basic outlines, his name wouldn't need to be included in the credits. Well, it is.

He obviously didn't do the actual episode by episode writing, that's true, and I can imagine there were a number of changes to his outlines, but let's not get too carried away with the handwaving just because this project simply hasn't turned out too great on average.


I'm going to agree, Ellis seems like he's just trying to distance himself from it, which isn't really the first time this has happened. In fact, it's his involvement that I think is why the anime haven't been good. They pretty much do play out like a typical American comic book to me, and the only anime-esque thing about them is the art style.

If the Japanese producers were able to re-imagine these characters actually from the ground up and do whatever they wanted to (like in Stitch! and Powerpuff Girls Z) then it could have been very interesting, and no doubt better than what we got. Japan's been shown they can improve American properties just fine, so I highly doubt these Marvel anime just coincidentally failed. He obviously didn't have any imput via each episode, but the overall product was definitely his work.

I mean, the Iron Man anime was obviously just aping the movies like the comic books do now. It wasn't trying to be it's own thing, it felt very.. American comic-booky. Wolverine as well (that mullet preview from a while back comic fans complained about at least looked like it would go a different direction) Same with the old Iron Man trailer.
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BorgmanJayce



Joined: 11 Feb 2004
Posts: 298
Location: Hades via UK
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:59 am Reply with quote
I've not had the chance to see the Wolverine anime, but I've seen a few fansubbed episodes of the Iron Man anime and it's not quite bad, to be honest.

As for the anime version of Wolverine himself, I like the way he looks, especially with the mullet hairstyle. Very Happy
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Spinal Cord Fluid-kun



Joined: 27 Aug 2010
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Location: Mainframe
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:09 am Reply with quote
BorgmanJayce wrote:
In any case, there are comic book creators and writers who are ten times better than he is; like Mark Millar

Let's see, what has Ellis done? Oh right Nextwave and Transmetropolitan.
What has Millar done that isn't GRIMDARK garbage trying hard to be EDGY? Uh... some Superman Adventures and that's about it. And he's also responsible for The Unfunnies which is quite possibly the worst piece of sequential art ever created in the history of man.
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:49 am Reply with quote
All of the 3 were mediocre at best. Either stuff aimed at hardcore fans or kids, considering the quality of writing. I dunno what this man did, but if he's the one with the stories' original concept then he's by no means some wonderful thing.

First we get Iron Man fighting a former best friend. Oh, original.
Then we have Wolverine fighting criminals for the daughter of some mafia boss. Oh, original.
And lastly in X-Men we have a kid mutant spoiler[destroying the world] because he was hurt inside. Oh, original.

And the best thing about the marvel works done in Japan is the ending. Definitely not something I have seen 500 times.
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BorgmanJayce



Joined: 11 Feb 2004
Posts: 298
Location: Hades via UK
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:16 am Reply with quote
Spinal Cord Fluid-kun wrote:
BorgmanJayce wrote:
In any case, there are comic book creators and writers who are ten times better than he is; like Mark Millar

Let's see, what has Ellis done? Oh right Nextwave and Transmetropolitan.
What has Millar done that isn't GRIMDARK garbage trying hard to be EDGY? Uh... some Superman Adventures and that's about it. And he's also responsible for The Unfunnies which is quite possibly the worst piece of sequential art ever created in the history of man.


I'm sorry, but I must respectfully disagree with you there.

I tried reading through the first volume of Transmetropolitan at my local library a while back, and to be honest, I found it to be a utter pile of crap!

In any case, has Mr Ellis ever had any of his works turned into movies? I don't think so? Mark Millar has had one made in the form of "Kick-Ass" and even "Losers" and "Red" got turned into movies as well, and they're the last titles you'd expect to be made into movies! (In fact, they were quite good, to be honest!)
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