Orbiter | |
---|---|
Date | April 2003 |
Page count | 104 pages |
Publisher | Vertigo |
Creative team | |
Writers | Warren Ellis |
Artists | Colleen Doran |
Letterers | Clem Robins |
Colourists | Dave Stewart |
Editors | Art Young |
ISBN | 1-4012-0056-7 |
Orbiter is a graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran, published in 2003 by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint.
Ellis and Doran, both spaceflight enthusiasts, dedicated Orbiter to the "lives, memories and legacies" of the astronauts who died in the 2003 Columbia disaster.
Ten years after the Space Shuttle Venture mysteriously disappeared, it returns. Of its original crew of seven, only one remains — and he is catatonic; also, there is sand from Mars in the shuttle's landing gear and the vessel itself appears to now have skin. Three specialists are brought in to investigate the Venture and its occupant, to find out what happened.
Publishers Weekly compared "Orbiter"'s narrative structure to Ellis's earlier work Planetary , and commended Ellis for giving the story "emotional depth". [1] Claude Lalumiere praised "Orbiter" for its "sincerity, its passionate engagement, and the bold inventiveness of its ideas", but overall considered that the plot moved too smoothly, with insufficient conflict; he also criticized Doran's portrayal of emotion. [2] IGN's Hilary Goldstein concluded that the book "isn't for everyone", but emphasized its appeal to "dreamers and space cadets". [3]
The graphic novel was first published as a hardcover by Vertigo in April 2003 ( ISBN 1-4012-0056-7) and as a softcover by Little Brown in May 2004 ( ISBN 1-4012-0268-3). Titan Books published a British softcover in June 2004 ( ISBN 1840237244).
John Constantine, Hellblazer is an American contemporary horror comic-book series published by DC Comics since January 1988, and subsequently by its Vertigo imprint since March 1993, when the imprint was introduced. Its central character is the streetwise English sorcerer and con man John Constantine, who was created by Alan Moore and Stephen R. Bissette, and first appeared as a supporting character in Swamp Thing #37, during that creative team's run on that title. Hellblazer had been published continuously since January 1988, and was Vertigo's longest-running title, the only remaining publication from the imprint's launch. In 2013, the series concluded with issue 300, and was replaced by Constantine, which returned the character to the mainstream DC Universe. The original series was revived in November 2019 for twelve issues as part of The Sandman Universe line of comics, under the DC Black Label brand. Well known for its extremely pessimistic tone and social/political commentary, the series has spawned a film adaptation, television show, novels, and multiple spin-offs and crossovers.
Colleen Doran is an American writer-artist and cartoonist. She illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines, including the autobiographical graphic novel of Marvel Comics editor and writer Stan Lee entitled Amazing Fantastic Incredible Stan Lee, which became a New York Times bestseller. She adapted and did the art for the short story "Troll Bridge" by Neil Gaiman, which also became a New York Times bestseller. Her books have received Eisner, Harvey, Bram Stoker, Locus, and International Horror Guild Awards.
Planetary is an American comic book series created by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday, and published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. After an initial preview issue in September 1998, the series ran for 27 issues from April 1999 to October 2009.
Mike Carey, also known by his pen name M. R. Carey, is a British writer of comic books, novels and films, whose credits include the long-running The Sandman spin-off series Lucifer, a three-year stint on Hellblazer, as well as his creator-owned titles Crossing Midnight and The Unwritten for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, a lengthy run on Marvel's X-Men, the 2014 novel The Girl with All the Gifts and its 2016 film adaptation.
Warren Girard Ellis is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including Transmetropolitan (1997–2002), Global Frequency (2002–2004) and Red (2003–2004), which was adapted into the feature films Red (2010) and Red 2 (2013). Ellis is the author of the novels Crooked Little Vein (2007) and Gun Machine (2013) and the novella Normal (2016).
Gail Simone is an American writer best known for her work in comics on DC's Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Dynamite Entertainment's Red Sonja, and for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman to date. Other notable works include Clean Room, Secret Six, Welcome to Tranquility, The All-New Atom, and Deadpool.
David Lloyd is an English comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore, and the designer of its anarchist protagonist V and the modern Guy Fawkes/V mask, the latter going on to become a symbol of protest.
Ocean is a 2004 six-issue comic book miniseries, written by Warren Ellis with pencils by Chris Sprouse and inks by Karl Story. It was published by American company DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint.
Gary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist.
Sean Gordon Murphy is an American comic book creator known for work on books such as Joe the Barbarian with Grant Morrison, Chrononauts with Mark Millar, American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest and The Wake with Scott Snyder, Tokyo Ghost with Rick Remender, and the miniseries Punk Rock Jesus.
Mat Johnson is an American fiction writer who works in both prose and the comics format. In 2007, he was named the first USA James Baldwin Fellow by United States Artists.
This is a list of works by Neil Gaiman.
Crooked Little Vein is the first novel by comic book writer Warren Ellis, published by William Morrow on July 24, 2007.
FreakAngels is a post-apocalyptic webcomic created in 2008 by Eagle Award-winning writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield, and published in book format by Avatar Press. The plot focuses on twelve 23-year-old psychics living in Whitechapel six years after civilization in Great Britain is destroyed. The webcomic has received various awards and has been collected in a series of six volumes.
John Constantine, Hellblazer: All His Engines is an original graphic novel featuring the DC Comics character John Constantine, written by Mike Carey, with art by Leonardo Manco. The graphic novel is a spin-off of the long-running series Hellblazer, published by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. It was first published in January 2005. The graphic novel follows John Constantine's investigation into a worldwide phenomenon that is placing innocent people into comas. All His Engines was loosely adapted into the animated series titled Constantine: City of Demons, an installment of the DC Animated Movie Universe.
World of Warcraft is a comic book series set in the Warcraft universe and released monthly in a standard American comic format.
Warren Ellis is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter, best known as the co-creator of several original comic book series such as Transmetropolitan, Global Frequency, and Red, the latter of which was adapted into the 2010 feature film Red and its 2013 sequel Red 2. A prolific comic book writer, he has written several Marvel series, including Astonishing X-Men, Thunderbolts, Moon Knight, and the "Extremis" story arc of Iron Man, which was the basis for the 2013 film Iron Man 3. Ellis' other credits include The Authority and Planetary, both of which he co-created for Wildstorm, as well as runs on Hellblazer for Vertigo and James Bond for Dynamite. In addition to his comics work, Ellis wrote two prose novels, Crooked Little Vein and Gun Machine, as well as numerous short stories and novellas.
Incognegro is a black-and-white graphic novel written by Mat Johnson with art by Warren Pleece. It was published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo.
Sloth is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez, published by Vertigo in 2006. The story opens with the teenaged Miguel Serra awakening from a year-long coma. The surreal tale unravels as its protagonists delve into the legends of the sleepy suburban town they live in. The book is unrelated to Hernandez's Palomar stories and is the first of Henandez's graphic novel not compiled from smaller parts.