Mark Ellis is an American novelist who resides in Newport, Rhode Island with his wife of 28 years, Melissa Martin. Before becoming a full-time freelance writer in 1986, Ellis worked as a journalist, newspaper columnist, advertising copywriter and refrigeration engineer.
His freelance feature work has appeared in dozens of publications over the years, ranging from comics to sports to popular culture.
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 fan-favorite artist Adam Hughes, and is thought by some fans to have served as partial inspiration for the Firefly TV series.
For other comics publishers he wrote The Justice Machine, a Dynamo story for a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents revival, as well as short stories for the occasional anthology, such as the highly-regarded "A Trip To Necropolis," penciled and inked by Jim Mooney.
Millennium Publications
In 1990, Ellis co-founded Millennium Publications, where, as editor, he interfaced with Anne Rice, Harlan Ellison, Doug Wildey, Frank Frazetta and other well known members of the science-fiction/fantasy creative community. In his editorial capacity and working in tandem with art director (and co-founder Melissa Martin), Ellis gave now-established comics artists such as Mike Wieringo and Darryl Banks their first steady exposure. He also worked with comics legends Jim Mooney and Don Heck on a number of projects, including The Whisperer in Darkness, which featured the first appearance of The Miskatonic Project, and Lakota.
He conceived and scripted the critically-acclaimed Plague of Terror, a four-part series which provided a complete story of the title character's origin quite apart from the Dracula legend.
Ellis also adapted The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the cult-classic horror film It! The Terror from Beyond Space into comics.
During his time with Millennium, teamed with Darryl Banks, Ellis scripted a four-part series based on The Wild Wild West TV series, the plot of which was optioned for feature film development, and Doc Savage: The Monarch of Armageddon, a four-part limited series which is considered to be the best and most faithful of the many comic adaptations of that classic character. The Comics Buyer's Guide Catalog of Comic Books refers to the Ellis/Banks treatment as the one "to come closest to the original, capturing all the action, humanity and humor of the original novels."
Post-Millennium
Leaving Millennium in 1993, Ellis went on to create the popular Outlanders series for Harlequin Enterprises's Gold Eagle imprint in 1996, the first entry of which appeared in 1997. Outlanders has attracted a devoted fan-following due in part to the colorful villains and intriguing female characters who populate the series. The adventure series has sold over a million copies to date.
Ellis is the author of 47 books, most of them under the pen-name of 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.
Mark Ellis has been featured in Starlog magazine, Comics Scene Magazine and Fangoria magazine. He has also been interviewed by Robert Siegel for NPR's All Things Considered.
