Mark Ellis (American author)

Mark Ellis is an American novelist and comic-book writer who under the pen name James Axler has written scores of books for the Outlanders paperback novel series and other books, as well as numerous independent comics series.

Career

Adventure Publications

Ellis became a full-time freelance writer in 1986. In 1980, he married Melissa Martin, a graphic designer and writer who serves as his business partner.[1]

In the mid-to-late 1980s Ellis worked as the primary writer for Adventure Publications' line of comic magazines, scripting such diverse titles as Ninja Elite, Warriors, Netherworlds, and Star Rangers, working with legendary comics artist Jim Mooney on the latter title.

In 1987–1988 Ellis created and scripted Adventure Publications' Death Hawk, a series that featured the first published work of comics artist Adam Hughes.

For other comics publishers he wrote The Justice Machine as well as short stories for the occasional anthology, such as "A Trip To Necropolis," a story which featured the last full pencil and ink by Jim Mooney.

Millennium Publications

In 1990, Ellis co-founded Millennium Publications, serving as editor, with his wife and co-founder Melissa Martin[1] as art director. Millennium gave early exposure to such comics artists as Mike Wieringo and Darryl Banks, and utilized such industry veterans as Jim Mooney and Don Heck. Its projects included H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness a twelve-issue adaptation of Anne Rice's The Mummy or Ramses the Damned among many others.

For Millennium, Ellis conceived and scripted Nosferatu: Plague of Terror, a four-part series that provided a complete story of the title character's origin quite apart from the Dracula legend. Ellis also adapted the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Wild Wild West, and the horror film It! The Terror from Beyond Space into comics. Working with artist Darryl Banks he adapted the pulp fiction hero Doc Savage into the four-part miniseries Doc Savage: The Monarch of Armageddon.

The Comics Buyer's Guide Catalog of Books referred to the Ellis/Banks version of Doc Savage as having "come[s] closest to the original, capturing all the action, humanity, and humor of the original novels".

"Outlanders" and James Axler

In 1995, Ellis began writing action-adventure novels for Harlequin Enterprises Gold Eagle imprint, first for the long-running Mack Bolan franchise and the post-apocalyptic Deathlands series. He went on to create the Outlanders series in 1996, the first entry of which appeared in 1997. Outlanders became one of the most successful mass-market paperback series produced in the last 35 years, published consecutively in various editions and formats until 2015.

Mark Ellis AKA "James Axler"

As of 2020, Ellis is the author of nearly 60 books, most of them under the pen name James Axler. Although the Axler pseudonym is shared with other writers, primarily the multiple contributors to Gold Eagle's Deathlands series, Ellis has authored more novels as "James Axler" than any other writer.[2]

Sequential Pulp/Dark Horse

In 2011, Ellis was contracted to develop several graphic novel projects for Sequential Pulp, the graphic novel imprint of Dark Horse Books. Among the graphic novels in development are King Solomon's Mines, working with veteran artist Pablo Marcos. The King Solomon's Mines graphic novel was released by Ying Ko graphics in the summer of 2015.

Bibliography

As James Axler
  • Stoneface (Deathlands) (1996)
  • Demons of Eden (Deathlands) (1997)
  • Nightmare Passage (Deathlands) (1997)
  • Exile to Hell (1997)
  • Destiny Run (1997)
  • Savage Sun (1997)
  • Omega Path (1998)
  • Parallax Red (1998)
  • Doomstar Relic (1998)
  • Iceblood (1998)
  • Hellbound Fury (The Lost Earth Saga, Book 1) (1999)
  • Night Eternal (The Lost Earth Saga, Book 2) (with Mel Odom) (1999)
  • Outer Darkness (The Lost Earth Saga, Book 3) (1999)
  • Armageddon Axis (1999)
  • Encounter (Deathlands Collectors Edition with Laurence James & Alan Philipson) (1999)
  • Wreath of Fire (with Mel Odom) (2000)
  • Shadow Scourge (2000)
  • Hell Rising (2000)
  • Doom Dynasty (The Imperator Wars, Book 1) (2000)
  • Tigers of Heaven (The Imperator Wars, Book 2) (2001)
  • Purgatory Road (The Imperator Wars, Book 3) (2001)
  • Tomb of Time (2001)
  • Devil in the Moon (The Dragon Kings, Book 1) (2002)
  • Dragoneye (The Dragon Kings, Book 2) (2002)
  • Far Empire (2002)
  • Equinox Zero (2002)
  • Talon and Fang (Heart of the World, Book 1) (2003)
  • Sea of Plague (Heart of the World, Book 2) (2003)
  • Mad God's Wrath (2004)
  • Mask of The Sphinx (with Chris Van Deelen) (2004)
  • Evil Abyss (2005)
  • Children of The Serpent (2005)
  • Cerberus Storm (2005)
  • Aftermath (2006)
  • Rim of The World (2006)
  • Hydra's Ring (2006)
  • Skull Throne (2007)
  • Satan's Seed (2007)
  • Dark Goddess (2007)
  • Grailstone Gambit (2008)
  • Ghostwalk (2008)
  • Warlord of the Pit (2009)
  • Audio Guide to Outlanders (2011)

Other books
  • Shreek Show (1989) Audio Book
  • Hellfire Trigger (1998) — a Mack Bolan novel
  • Devil's Guard (1998) — a Mack Bolan novel
  • The Everything Guide to Writing Graphic Novels (with Melissa Martin) (2008)
  • Cryptozoica (2010)
  • The Green Hornet Chronicles (2010)
  • The Avenger The Justice Inc. Files (2011)
  • The Spur: Loki's Rock (2012)
  • The Falcon Resurrected (2014)
  • The Spur: Helldorado (2016)
  • Parallax Prime: Of Dire Chimeras (2017)
  • Knightwatch: Invictus X (2019)
  • Callsign Cerberus: Exile to Hell (2020)

Comics and graphic novels
  • Lakota (2021) (Markosia Enterprises)
  • Death Hawk: The Complete Saga (2019) (Markosia Enterprises)
  • King Solomon's Mines (2015) (Ying Ko Graphics)
  • The Justice Machine: Object of Power (2014)(Bluewater Productions)
  • Death Hawk: The Soulworm Saga (2008) (Millennial Concepts/Transfuzion)
  • H.P. Lovecraft's The Miskatonic Project: The Whisperer in Darkness(2008) (Millennial Concepts/Transfuzion)
  • Mr. Holmes & Dr. Watson: Their Strangest Cases (2008) (Millennial Concepts/Transfuzion)
  • The New Justice Machine:Top Gear Edition, Volume One(2009)(Millennial Concepts)
  • H.P. Lovecraft's The Miskatonic Project: Bride of Dagon(2009) (Millennial Concepts/Transfuzion)
  • Nosferatu: Plague of Darkness (2009) (Millennial Concepts)
  • The Saint: The Man Who Was Clever (2012) (Moonstone)
  • BeeComing Sophie (2013) (Bee Conscious Publications)
  • The Justice Machine: (Innovation)
  • Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (Deluxe)
  • Star Rangers(Adventure Publications)
  • Ninja Elite (Adventure Publications)
  • Warriors(Adventure Publications)
  • Death Hawk (Adventure Publications)
  • Netherworlds(Adventure Publications)
  • Adventurers Book II (Adventure Publications)
  • The New Justice Machine, Volume One (Innovation)
  • Angry Shadows (Innovation)
  • The Wild Wild West (Millennium Publications)
  • Doc Savage (Millennium Publications)
  • H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu (Millennium Publications)
  • The Mummy Archives (Millennium Publications)
  • Weird Tales Illustrated (Millennium Publications)
  • The Justice Machine, Volume Two (Millennium Publications)
  • It! The Terror from Beyond Space (Millennium Publications)
  • The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Millennium Publications)
  • Nosferatu: Plague of Terror (Millennium Publications)
  • The Collector's Dracula (Millennium Publications)
  • Paladin Alpha (Firstlight Publications)
  • Thresherz(Firstlight Publications)
  • R.A.Z.E.(Firstlight Publications)

References
  1. Rafter, Dan. "Conquering Comics ... and Marriage, Too", Firefox News, October 9, 2007. WebCitation archive.
  2. "The Books", JamesAxler.com
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