''Ignition City'' is a five-issue science fiction comic book

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

, written by

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British 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'' ( ...

and illustrated by Gianluca Pagliarani. It was published in 2009 by American company

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. Avatar Press is most notable for publishing Bad girl art, bad girl comics, such as ''Faust (Avatar Press), Fau ...

Publication history

Ellis initially conceived the plot in 2005. After some brief initial work in 2006, the series was not mentioned again until after the release of his ''

Aetheric Mechanics ''Aetheric Mechanics'' is a graphic novella created by Eagle Award-winning writer Warren Ellis. It is 48 pages long, illustrated in black and white by Gianluca Pagliarani, (although the indicia include a September 2008 publication date the ...

'' in 2008. Inspirations included the ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

'' and ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

'' serials, the show '' Deadwood'', the artist Magdalene Veen, the film ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

'', the

Berlin Tegel Airport Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Berlin-Tegel „Otto Lilienthal“) was the primary international airport of Berlin, the federal capital of Germany. The airport was named after aviation pioneer Otto Lilienth ...

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

's short story " Rocket Summer",

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

's comic ''

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a comic book series (inspired by the 1960 British film ''The League of Gentlemen'') co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four volum ...

'', and his own '' Ministry of Space'' comic (which was in turn inspired by ''

Dan Dare Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ''Eagle'' comic story ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in repri ...

'').

Plot

''Ignition City'' is set in an

atompunk Since the advent of the cyberpunk genre, a number of derivatives of cyberpunk have become recognized in their own right as distinct subgenres in speculative fiction, especially in science fiction. Rather than necessarily sharing the digitally and ...

dieselpunk Dieselpunk is a retrofuturistic subgenre of science fiction similar to steampunk or cyberpunk that combines the aesthetics of the diesel-based technology of the interwar period through to the 1950s with retro-futuristic technology and postmodern ...

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

in the year 1956; in this timeline,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was interrupted by a

Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pred ...

invasion. As a result, space travel became commonplace. Ignition City itself is Earth's last

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...

; a circular

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those tha ...

located in equatorial waters. Rockets launch from a ring of gantries ringing the island, and the interior is a shantytown populated by former spacemen who have found themselves out of work due to a planet-wide ban on space travel. The story follows Mary Raven, a young woman who travels to Ignition City after her father, a formerly famous spaceman named Rock Raven, is killed there.Ignition City #1 Review

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

Characters

*Mary Raven – former astronaut and daughter of the space hero Rock Raven, comes to Ignition City to investigate the death of her father. *Rock Raven – British space hero, veteran of campaigns against the Martians and thus possibly inspired by

. * Lionel "Buster" Crabb – British government official, a friend to Mary and her father. Based on the real life Navy officer thought captured and brainwashed by the Russians. *Lightning Bowman – one of the first three humans in space (alongside Gayle Ransom and Doc Vukovic), now marooned in Ignition City. Inspired by

. *Gayle Ransom – former lover of Lighting Bowman, and another of the first three humans in space, now a bar-owner and gun-runner in Ignition City. Inspired by

Dale Arden Dale Arden is a fictional character, the fellow adventurer and love interest of Flash Gordon and a prototypic heroine for later female characters, including Princess Leia and Padme Amidala in '' Star Wars''. Flash, Dale and Dr. Hans Zarkov fi ...

. *Dr. Dragomir Vukovic, AKA 'Doc Vukovic' – another of the first three humans in space, he built the original spaceship out of junk parts. Inspired by Dr.

Hans Zarkov Dr. Hans Zarkov is a fictional character appearing in the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip and the following serials, films, television shows and comic books. Zarkov is a brilliant scientist who creates a rocket and forces Flash and Dale Arden to co ...

. *Kharg the Killer – dictator of the planet Khargu and ally of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, who was defeated by Lightning Bowman, Gayle Ransom, and Doc Vukovic. Inspired by

Ming the Merciless Ming the Merciless is a fictional character who first appeared in the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip in 1934. He has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, television series and film adaptation. Ming is depicted as ...

. *Bronco – drunken customer in Gayle Bowman's bar who talks of his time spent five centuries in the future, and thus analogous to

. *Piet Vanderkirk – Gayle Bowman's right-hand man. Former member of the Royal Netherlands Navy's Solar Patrol in the Pluto Detachment, part of "The Chain" which appears to refer to a psychically linked group of soldiers using gifted alien technology, similar to

E. E. Smith Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965), publishing as E. E. Smith, Ph.D. and later as E. E. "Doc" Smith, was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and science-fiction author, best known for the '' ...

Lensmen The ''Lensman'' series is a series of science fiction novels by American author E. E. "Doc" Smith. It was a runner-up for the 1966 Hugo award for Best All-Time Series, losing to the ''Foundation'' series by Isaac Asimov. Plot The series begi ...

. *

Yuri Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...

– washed-up "Russia's greatest cosmonaut", since disavowed and abandoned in Ignition City. *Marshal Pomeroy – Corrupt lawman of the Ignition City settlement. Flies with the aid of a

jet pack A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...

, reminiscent of

Commando Cody Commando Cody is the hero in two 12-chapter science fiction serials made by Republic Pictures, played by George Wallace in ''Radar Men from the Moon'' (1952) and Judd Holdren in '' Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe'' (1953). ''Zom ...

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

: *''Ignition City Volume 1'' (144 pages, Avatar, February 2010, )

Notes

References

* *

External links

*
Ignition City production blog

Avatar Press Ignition City section

Reviews

an

,

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

Best Shots Extra: Ignition City #1

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Review of Ignition City #1

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

{{Warren Ellis, type=comic Fictional populated places Fiction set on Mars Space Western comics Steampunk comics Comics about World War II alternate histories Fiction set in 1956 Alien invasions in comics