I used to be on Warren Ellis’ email list, but I had to get off of it when it became apparent that this man was going to send me more messages than any group of Nigerians combined. The guy has a mania for keeping in touch with his fans – what was his life like before he could send emails from a wireless device while grocery shopping? Would he accost strangers with his latest idea for a futuristic, chain-smoking, drug-taking garbageman or a futuristic, chain-smoking, drug-taking certified public accountant?
Every now and again Ellis harnesses all that typing into something like a comic book or a doomed TV pilot or a DC Comics cartoon. Now he’s announced that he’s going to be trying his hand a feature length animated movie – Castlevania. This is not the Paul WS Anderson movie, which will be live action, but rather a DTDVD cartoon.
While I find Ellis strange and more than a little creepy and frightening, he can be a damn fine writer when he’s really passionate about a project and when he’s able to actually focus on it. I just hope he doesn’t get too passionate about a cartoon featuring a fruitcake in short shorts and a thigh high boots hunting Dracula with a whip. I’d rather see him put his energy and occasional genius into something not aimed at children and the emotionally stunted. What I actually hope is that the Castlevania movie vs cartoon debate tears the video game’s faux-goth fanbase asunder.