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Mark Ellis is an American novelist/graphic novelist, journalist, and comics creator who under the pen name James Axler has written scores of books for the Outlanders and Deathlands paperback novel series as well as numerous other books under his own name.
In 1980, Ellis married Melissa Martin, a graphic designer, photographer and writer who served as his business partner. He began working as a full-time writer in 1986. [1]
A busy comics creator in the 1980s and 90s, Ellis created the popular Death Hawk character and also developed/created Star Rangers , Ninja Elite, The Justice Machine , as well as working on such popular properties as Doc Savage, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. , H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu , The Green Hornet, and The Wild Wild West.
In 1990, Ellis co-founded Millennium Publications, serving as editor, with his wife and co-founder Melissa Martin [1] as vice-president and art director. Millennium gave early exposure to comics artists such as Mike Wieringo and Darryl Banks, and utilized industry veterans Jim Mooney and Don Heck. Projects included The Wild, Wild West , a four-part series based on the classic TV show, H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness and a twelve-issue adaptation of Anne Rice's The Mummy or Ramses the Damned among many others.
For Millennium, Ellis conceived and scripted Nosferatu: Plague of Terror, a four-part series that provided a complete story of the title character's origin quite apart from the Dracula legend. Ellis also adapted the horror film It! The Terror from Beyond Space into comics. Working with artist Darryl Banks he adapted the pulp fiction hero Doc Savage into the four-part miniseries Doc Savage: The Monarch of Armageddon.
The Comics Buyer's Guide Catalog of Books referred to the Ellis/Banks version of Doc Savage as having "come[s] closest to the original, capturing all the action, humanity, and humor of the original novels".
In 1995, Ellis began writing action-adventure novels for Harlequin Enterprises Gold Eagle imprint, first for the long-running Mack Bolan franchise and the post-apocalyptic Deathlands series.
In 1996 under the house pseudonym of "James Axler", he created the best-selling Outlanders series, the first entry of which was released in 1997. With the cancellation of the Gold Eagle imprint at the end of 2015, Outlanders concluded its 18.5 year run, making it the most successful mass-market paperback series of the last 35 years. Combined with the audio book editions, Outlanders comprises well over 100 novels. Although the Axler pseudonym was shared with other writers, primarily the multiple contributors to Gold Eagle's Deathlands series, Ellis authored more novels as "James Axler" than any other writer. [2]
In 2008, Ellis co-authored The Everything Guide to Writing Graphic Novels with Melissa Martin (published by Simon & Schuster). The book led to several of his earlier comic series being compiled as graphic novel editions by publishers such as Caliber Comics/Transfuzion, Markosia and Ying Ko Graphics.[ citation needed ]
Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a polymathic scientist, explorer, detective, and warrior who "rights wrongs and punishes evildoers." He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L. Nanovic at Street & Smith Publications, with additional material contributed by the series' main writer, Lester Dent. Doc Savage stories were published under the Kenneth Robeson name. The illustrations were by Walter Baumhofer, Paul Orban, Emery Clarke, Modest Stein, and Robert G. Harris.
Moonstone Books is an American comic book, graphic novel, and prose fiction publisher based in Chicago focused on pulp fiction comic books and prose anthologies as well as horror and western tales.
Deathlands is a series of novels published by Gold Eagle Publishing. The first novel, Pilgrimage to Hell, was first published in 1986. This series of novels was first written by Christopher Lowder, under the name Jack Adrian. Lowder became ill after developing the plot and writing most of the book. Laurence James, under the name James Axler, then finished the story.
James Axler is a house name used by the publishing company Gold Eagle Publishing, the action adventure series published by Harlequin Enterprises Ltd.
Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is named after American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937). His work emphasizes themes of cosmic dread, forbidden and dangerous knowledge, madness, non-human influences on humanity, religion and superstition, fate and inevitability, and the risks associated with scientific discoveries, which are now associated with Lovecraftian horror as a subgenre. The cosmic themes of Lovecraftian horror can also be found in other media, notably horror films, horror games, and comics.
Outlanders is a long-running series of science-fiction novels created by Mark Ellis and published by Gold Eagle, an imprint of Harlequin Enterprises.
Death Hawk is a fictional American comic book character, a self-styled salvage expert in the 25th century. The character starred in a namesake, three-issue series published by Adventure Publications from 1987 to 1988, created and written by Mark Ellis. He first appeared in a five-page back-up feature in Star Rangers #2–3, by the same writer.
Nosferatu: Plague of Terror was a four-part comic series released by American publisher Millennium Publications in 1991–1992. Conceived as both a prequel and sequel to F.W. Murnau's silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, it was written by Mark Ellis, designed by Melissa Martin, with art provided by Rik Levins, Richard Pace, and Frank Turner. The storyline presented a more complete story of Graf Orlok, the Nosferatu, separate and distinct from the Dracula legend.
Star Rangers was a four-issue American science-fiction comic-book series created by writer Mark Ellis and artist Jim Mooney, following the adventures of a military spaceship crew in a 25th-century controlled by corporations.
H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness was a three-part comic book mini-series published in the USA by Millennium Publications. It followed a group of investigators, the Miskatonic Project, as they confronted the Mi-go, the cunning Fungi from Yuggoth.
Pilgrimage to Hell is the first book in the Deathlands saga of novels. Written by Christopher Lowder under his pen name Jack Adrian and Laurence James under his pen name James Axler published on May 1, 1986, it follows the adventures of Ryan Cawdor, Krysty Wroth, and J.B. Dix, and delves into how they met.
The Justice Machine is a fictional team of superheroes originally created by Mike Gustovich and appearing in comic books from many small publishers in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to Gustovich, writers Tony Isabella and Mark Ellis have also had lengthy creative associations with Justice Machine.
GraphicAudio is an audiobook publishing imprint of RBMedia. Its tagline is "A Movie In Your Mind". The GraphicAudio format includes a full cast of actors, narration, sound effects and cinematic music. GraphicAudio has published over 1,600 action-adventure titles and over 180 series in the fantasy, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, comic and western genres.
William Murray is an American novelist, journalist, short story, and comic book writer. Much of his fiction has been published under pseudonyms. With artist Steve Ditko, he co-created the superhero Squirrel Girl.
Christopher Sequeira is a Sydney-based Australian editor, writer and artist who works predominantly in the speculative fiction and mystery realms.
Innovation Publishing was an American comic book company based in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was co-founded by David Campiti in 1988 after writing a business proposal and raising US$400,000 to finance its launch. Innovation became number four in market share, below Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Dark Horse Comics.
Millennium Publications was an American independent comic book publishing company active in the 1990s.
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