Desolation Jones [Paperback]

Warren Ellis (Author), J H Williams (Illustrator), Jose Villarrubia (Colorist)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ellis' best comics are character-based thrillers involving high concepts and heavy attitude. Desolation Jones has both in spades. The titular hero is a former MI6 agent who was subjected by his government to the brutal "Desolation Test," which left him shattered and scarred. He is now confined, with other, similarly victimized ex-agents, to Los Angeles--a hellish prison, since the experiment left Jones pathologically susceptible to sunlight. Reduced to PI work, he is hired by an elderly pornography connoisseur to retrieve "the Holy Grail of cinematic filth," a sex film directed by and starring Hitler. The caper is consciously Chandleresque. The wealthy client with troubled, wayward daughters is straight out of The Big Sleep. Jones' outlook is thoroughly cynical, the dialogue hard-boiled, and the ending noirishly bleak. J. H. Williams III, whose intricate art limns the dark, violent world of Jones as convincingly as he portrayed the fantasy realm of Alan Moore's Promethea, aids Ellis' effort immeasurably. Ellis' Transmetropolitan was a cult favorite; this new series, while less accessible, may become another. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: WildStorm; Illustrated. edition (October 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140121150X
• ISBN-13: 978-1401211509
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #681,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enter the world of espionage, guided by engaging artwork, January 8, 2007

By 

oldnoakes - See all my reviews

This review is from: Desolation Jones (Paperback)

Desolation Jones is an ex-spy from Britain living in a seedy underworld, located in Los Angelos, CA, which also home to other ex-spies. At the end of his career, Jones volunteered to be a guniea pig for an human-enhancement experiment called the Desolation program. This program has left him scarred and a shell of a man. Now, Jones does free-lance espionage in Los Angelos interacting with various allies/advisaries with a similar background as himself.

Due to the setting and the nature of espionage, there is some graphic action/situations that occur, mostly of a violent nature that is artfully and tastefully handled. I would say that this is not for children, but perhaps for those well-adjusted and mature-minded young adults (probably good for high school, maybe a little younger).

The fractured world that Jones views is very well interpretated by the vivid artwork of the book, some of the best I have seen. I've read my share of grahpic novels, and this graphic novel is very unique and exciting. I'm looking forward to reading more from this series. Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars This Artist Rocks, September 6, 2010

By 

Gill Friedman II - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Desolation Jones (Paperback)

The creative risk that he takes are off the charts. The composition and layouts are awesome. He is an illustrator that is a natural master of graphic design. I was blown away by this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Harsh but compelling, June 25, 2010

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Desolation Jones (Paperback)

"Desolation Jones"
Written by Warren Ellis
Illustrated by J. H. Williams III
(DC Comics/Wildstorm, 2006)
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NOTE: mild spoilers below
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In this brutish, yet stylish, spy saga we meet Michael Jones, a British agent who has been put out to pasture in an intelligence-community prison comprised of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Those in LA exile are given latitude to kill one another, as long as their violent encounters stay inside "the community." Haggard, gaunt, grey-skinned and utterly depressed, Jones is the lone survivor of a grisly medical experiment known as "the desolation test," the parameters of which are not fully disclosed in this volume, but which has left him psychologically fractured and nearly without emotion or fear, as well as possibly slightly super-powered -- qualities that give him a tremendous edge in his work as an clandestine assassin. This book is relentlessly downcast and graphically violent, yet quite well-written and beautifully illustrated. It will not make you feel good about life, but it is a damn fine graphic novel. Worth checking out, if you go for darker material. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)