Planetary Volume 4: Spacetime Archaeology

And so it ends, with the archaeologists of the impossible attempting to achieve the impossible.

It became clear to me, in a way that it hadn't before, that Planetary is in many ways like X-Files; not only does it deal with the transnormal, and looking at the secrets hidden away under the surface of reality, but it's also primarily about information, and power, and how both the hiding away and the sharing of information can be displays of power.

At the same time, in the current volume it becomes difficult to avoid the metastoryline that has been running through Planetary, which is that Ellis is using the series to talk about the state of the comic book industry. The Four, the villains of the series, are quite obviously homages to Marvel's Fantastic Four (four adventures who are the first humans into space, and who come back with powers of elasticity, invisibility, energy projection, and inhuman strength), but it goes deeper than that, with the characters realizing that their universe is a two-dimensional plane composed of information.

I suppose in that regard it's like X-Files, as well, in that it began by servicing two relatively distinct groups of fans - those who watched for the “monster of the week” stories, and those that were interested in the larger mythos of the planned alien invasion and the government's role in it. In both cases, I think people who weren't there for the larger story left disappointed, but in both cases I think those are the most important bits.

All told, Planetary remains an amazing series - by far Ellis' best work, and essential reading for anyone who's interested in pulp fiction, comic books as an art form, or in keeping the world weird.