Image Comics has announced it will publish Ghost Drive Station, a new graphic novella by writer Warren Ellis and artist Lordess Foudre (Trashumanism). The supernatural book, out digitally and in comics stores this November, marks the first new release by Ellis since 2020, when over 60 women and non-binary people came forward, revealing he had engaged in sexual misconduct. At the time, Ellis responded admitting he “hurt people deeply,” and that he was “ashamed for these mistakes.”
The year after, following a backlash to an announcement by Ben Templesmith that he and Ellis would reunite to finish their Image series Fell, the publisher stated the news was “premature,” and that they would not work with the writer until “he has made amends to the satisfaction of those involved.” Ellis, who said he had “entered therapy and taken other measures to change my behavior,” began mediation with his victims, who formed the group So Many of Us to raise awareness of his behavior, and perhaps even provide a path of transformative justice for him.
However, in a final update from January 2023, So Many of Us said Ellis “took none of the steps we hoped he would,” and that “a mediated accountability process with [him] is not possible at present, [nor] we do not anticipate our involvement in any progress he might make in the future.” Ellis is not quoted in the press release, which does not acknowledge his recent past, or Image’s previous statement either.
Image’s apparent change of mind was preceded earlier this year by their announcement of a rerelease of Ocean, the WildStorm series Ellis created with Chris Sprouse, this fall, and their decision to release Super Ego by Jason Latour, who was also accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct. The company also released a facsimile edition of Fell #1 to mark the 20th anniversary of the series in 2025.
Popverse, while reporting on this story, said that Image declined to respond to a request for comment. You can continue to read the full list of testimonies about Ellis’s misconduct, like Image previously directed its readers to, at So Many of Us.
Update: Katie West, one of the first people to reveal Ellis’s misconduct, and an editor of various Image titles, posted a response on Bluesky. She addresses calls from readers to boycott the publisher, saying, “I am personally invested in the books I work on that come out with Image, and I really hope you don’t take any disappointment you feel in Image’s actions out on the creators whose work they publish. Seeing people boycotting Image comics feels a cruel joke when that directly affects my livelihood and that of the people who respect and support me. But I get it – this seems like a financial decision from Image, so respond in a financial fashion. I hope we can all keep ourselves open to change in the future.”
As for Ellis himself, she confirms that he began undertaking the transformative justice plan, saying, “When our attempt at a community accountability action failed, I was disappointed, but grateful that we tried. And grateful to know that Warren had tried, too.” She also says, “I’m grateful to everyone who was wondered if Warren has ‘made amends to the satisfaction of all involved.’ It shows me solidarity and care are widespread within comics. I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied, but I also would say I am no longer personally invested in Warren’s transformation.”
She concludes her statement saying, “My resolve to expand my capacity to hope for change – after a night of anger and crying and shouting – is renewed. Thanks for hearing me out and for reading all of this.”
It’s been seven years now. We get murderers that get released in less than that. Can we just move past this? He made amends, and he was sorry. Let him work and let him get back on track.
Ellis did not make any meaningful amends that my SMOU colleagues are aware of. He did nothing but continue to manipulate and eventually stalemate some exceedingly vulnerable people who once again risked their health and safety to trust him. He’s still manipulating people. Now Image is helping him do it, even though they know full well what he’s done. You’ll notice that even now, no one from SMOU is calling for a boycott? That being said, LF should probably have spoken to some of Warren’s most dehumanized and terrorized targets before accepting the gig. We’re all voting with our wallets these days. Obviously, that includes her.
I’m not going to blame anyone who boycotts Image entirely, but to me it makes far more sense to me to boycott books published by people there with actual power– founders MacFarlane, Larsen, Valentino, Portacio, Silvestri, and Liefeld (not sure if all of them are even still associated with it at this point), honorary founder Robert Kirkman, and publisher Eric Stephenson. Those are the people who could, presumably, stop this. Other creators who just opted to publish through Image do not deserve to be blamed for this.
Good to see that he’s back. This is an instant buy from me.
I have one thing to add: the comic looks absolutely terrible.
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