Desolation Jones
Encyclopedia
Desolation Jones was a bimonthly comic book
series written by Warren Ellis
. Art for the first six-issue storyline was provided by J.H. Williams III and José Villarrubia
. The interrupted second storyline was illustrated by Danijel Zezelj
and Villarrubia. The series is published by the Wildstorm
imprint of DC Comics
; it was launched in July 2005
.
The story follows the former MI6 agent Jones.
Film producer
David Friendly announced in 2008, while the comic was in production limbo, that he intended to adapt Desolation Jones as a feature film. However, when questioned Ellis himself insisted that "All I can tell you is that we've never heard of David Friendly."
The series' last issue, #8, came out in February 2007. The project has since been on hiatus, but Warren Ellis has stated on multiple occasions that the series is not dead.
The story's protagonist and title character is Michael Jones, a former agent of British intelligence service MI6, who earns a long record of drunkenness and misconduct within the organization. This is possibly due to a breakup with a woman only mentioned as "Jessica." In lieu of being discharged for his behavior, he was chosen to participate in a secret government project called the "Desolation Test." Jones believes he would be taking part in an innocuous research study, but instead becomes an unwilling human test subject. Part of the test was being strapped to a hospital bed for a full year without being allowed to sleep and subjected to endless scenes of death. Jones is the only known survivor of this program. To mark him as a potential biological threat, the British government brands a biohazard symbol on the underside of his left forearm and a "Desolation 01" (i.e. test subject #01) brand on his right forearm.
The Desolation Test caused numerous physical changes. He has become a scarred and frail figure with grey skin and chalk white hair, who must avoid direct sunlight, although the exact effects it would have upon him are not revealed. He suffers from chronic pain and impotence. Mentally, Jones exhibits no fear, remorse, or any other emotion, and is numb to killing people, many times with his bare hands. He manages to take down a much larger opponent in the first issue by gouging out his eye with his index finger, remarking: "Winning a fight isn't about being the strongest or being a clever boxer, it's about being more willing to permanently fuck up the other guy." He heals poorly when wounded, although this may be a result of his constant drug abuse rather than due to the Desolation Test. Even in the best of times, he has hallucinations of half-naked, sometimes bloody angels. The character also wears a trademark orange trench coat, an oxygen mask, and a pair of goggles, presumably to avoid exposure to sunlight. On several occasions he demonstrates above-average reflexes, as though his wasted body still perfectly responds to his MI6 training.
He resides in Los Angeles, which is secretly maintained by the US Government as a veritable prison for ex-agents of numerous intelligence organizations. The ex-agents are legally invisible within the city, but are not allowed to leave without being hunted for going rogue. Jones makes a living as a private investigator
, only doing jobs for other members of/within the intelligence community.
. Jones is assisted by an assortment of bizarre companions and ex-intelligence agents. There is Robina, a woman skilled in creating robotic miniature explosives, and Emily, who as the result of CIA
experiments, emits constant pheromones that cause almost animalistic fear and revulsion in people around her (save Jones, because of the Desolation Test). He also receives assistance from an ex-agent/doctor, Dr. Tapper, who helps him with his wounds and even with a firefight.
Jones must unravel the schemes of Nigh's three daughters, work his way through the seedy underbelly of the pornographic industry, survive secrets of his own past and deal with his agent (whose CIA-modified stomach allows him to only eat four times a year, but when he does, requires him to consume vast amounts of protein, sourced directly from live cows).
In the present Jones is contacted by Jeronimus Corneliszoon stating that John Asher is dead. After the fallout from MI6, it is revealed that Asher was brought into the same US government protection as Jones. When visiting the hotel room where Asher was killed, Jones finds a notepad in one of the bed posts that belonged to Asher. The notepad contains a list of names, phone numbers and addresses. One of the names in the notepad is a film producer named Evers Chance (named after a line from the poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon).
Evers is filming a biographic film about Philip K. Dick
and Jones begins to notice co-incidences related to the writer. The cab driver on the journey to Evers Chance's house mentions that he grew up being so close to Philip K. Dick that he referred to him as "Uncle Phil". The notepad Jones found in the motel room also contained the letters PKD. Dr Tapper had also found a book in Jones' couch by Philip K. Dick earlier that morning.
The second arc is left with Jones at Emily Crowe's apartment in considerable pain, passing out while trying to piece together information.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series written by Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis
Warren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...
. Art for the first six-issue storyline was provided by J.H. Williams III and José Villarrubia
José Villarrubia
José Antonio Villarrubia Jiménez-Momediano – known professionally as José Villarrubia – is a Spanish artist and art teacher who has done considerable work in the American comic book industry, particularly as a colorist....
. The interrupted second storyline was illustrated by Danijel Zezelj
Danijel Zezelj
Danijel Zezelj is a Croatian comic book artist, painter and illustrator and author of a number of graphic novels.-Biography:Zezelj studied classical painting, sculpting and printing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia....
and Villarrubia. The series is published by the Wildstorm
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
imprint of DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
; it was launched in July 2005
2005 in comics
- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....
.
The story follows the former MI6 agent Jones.
Film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
David Friendly announced in 2008, while the comic was in production limbo, that he intended to adapt Desolation Jones as a feature film. However, when questioned Ellis himself insisted that "All I can tell you is that we've never heard of David Friendly."
The series' last issue, #8, came out in February 2007. The project has since been on hiatus, but Warren Ellis has stated on multiple occasions that the series is not dead.
Characters
Michael (Desolation) JonesThe story's protagonist and title character is Michael Jones, a former agent of British intelligence service MI6, who earns a long record of drunkenness and misconduct within the organization. This is possibly due to a breakup with a woman only mentioned as "Jessica." In lieu of being discharged for his behavior, he was chosen to participate in a secret government project called the "Desolation Test." Jones believes he would be taking part in an innocuous research study, but instead becomes an unwilling human test subject. Part of the test was being strapped to a hospital bed for a full year without being allowed to sleep and subjected to endless scenes of death. Jones is the only known survivor of this program. To mark him as a potential biological threat, the British government brands a biohazard symbol on the underside of his left forearm and a "Desolation 01" (i.e. test subject #01) brand on his right forearm.
The Desolation Test caused numerous physical changes. He has become a scarred and frail figure with grey skin and chalk white hair, who must avoid direct sunlight, although the exact effects it would have upon him are not revealed. He suffers from chronic pain and impotence. Mentally, Jones exhibits no fear, remorse, or any other emotion, and is numb to killing people, many times with his bare hands. He manages to take down a much larger opponent in the first issue by gouging out his eye with his index finger, remarking: "Winning a fight isn't about being the strongest or being a clever boxer, it's about being more willing to permanently fuck up the other guy." He heals poorly when wounded, although this may be a result of his constant drug abuse rather than due to the Desolation Test. Even in the best of times, he has hallucinations of half-naked, sometimes bloody angels. The character also wears a trademark orange trench coat, an oxygen mask, and a pair of goggles, presumably to avoid exposure to sunlight. On several occasions he demonstrates above-average reflexes, as though his wasted body still perfectly responds to his MI6 training.
He resides in Los Angeles, which is secretly maintained by the US Government as a veritable prison for ex-agents of numerous intelligence organizations. The ex-agents are legally invisible within the city, but are not allowed to leave without being hunted for going rogue. Jones makes a living as a private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
, only doing jobs for other members of/within the intelligence community.
Story arc #1: Made in England
The initial story arc (Made in England) involves Jones aiding an affluent, elderly collector named Colonel Nigh in retrieving stolen property, namely the lost pornographic films of Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. Jones is assisted by an assortment of bizarre companions and ex-intelligence agents. There is Robina, a woman skilled in creating robotic miniature explosives, and Emily, who as the result of CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
experiments, emits constant pheromones that cause almost animalistic fear and revulsion in people around her (save Jones, because of the Desolation Test). He also receives assistance from an ex-agent/doctor, Dr. Tapper, who helps him with his wounds and even with a firefight.
Jones must unravel the schemes of Nigh's three daughters, work his way through the seedy underbelly of the pornographic industry, survive secrets of his own past and deal with his agent (whose CIA-modified stomach allows him to only eat four times a year, but when he does, requires him to consume vast amounts of protein, sourced directly from live cows).
Story arc #2: To Be In England
The second story arc opens four years before the present with a man named Bob Sauer, codenamed Deep Miner, being questioned by the U.S. Air Force as a form of debriefing. The entire encounter is an effort to have Bob Sauer reveal information, but he claims to have done nothing wrong. After 4 days of debriefing he returns to his apartment to be attacked and killed by John Asher. John Asher is then introduced to a cleaner Michael Jones.In the present Jones is contacted by Jeronimus Corneliszoon stating that John Asher is dead. After the fallout from MI6, it is revealed that Asher was brought into the same US government protection as Jones. When visiting the hotel room where Asher was killed, Jones finds a notepad in one of the bed posts that belonged to Asher. The notepad contains a list of names, phone numbers and addresses. One of the names in the notepad is a film producer named Evers Chance (named after a line from the poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon).
Evers is filming a biographic film about Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
and Jones begins to notice co-incidences related to the writer. The cab driver on the journey to Evers Chance's house mentions that he grew up being so close to Philip K. Dick that he referred to him as "Uncle Phil". The notepad Jones found in the motel room also contained the letters PKD. Dr Tapper had also found a book in Jones' couch by Philip K. Dick earlier that morning.
The second arc is left with Jones at Emily Crowe's apartment in considerable pain, passing out while trying to piece together information.
Collections
- Desolation Jones Vol. 1: Made in England (ISBN 140121150X) Collects Desolation Jones #1-6
External links
- The Warren Ellis Interview by Mike Sizemore on Londonist.com. Ellis discusses primarily Desolation Jones.
- Warren Ellis author's commentary on the first issue on his official website.