Warren Ellis Thinks Newt Gingrich's Space Ideas Are Full of Shit

Whenever Newt Gingrich talks about lunar colonies and conquering Mars—and he certainly wasn’t stingy on that during last night’s GOP debate in Florida—most onlookers see an opportunity for easy laughs and cheap mockery. But me? I ask myself, “What would Warren Ellis do?”

In addition to being an iconic comic book writer (Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Red), cult novelist (Crooked Little Vein), futurist intellectual, and beloved Internet curmudgeon, Ellis is also a longtime proponent of space exploration. The 43-year-old Brit has written two acclaimed graphic novels on the topic (Orbiter and Ministry of Space), as well as an array of nonfiction essays.

His impassioned arguments for space travel can be bluntly utilitarian. In 2010 he said, "Keeping all your breeding pairs in one place is a retarded way to run a species." But he can also be inspirational. In the introduction to Orbiter he explained that “Human spaceflight remains experimental. It is very dangerous. It demands great ingenuity. But we cannot remain children, standing on the shore or in front of the TV set.”

So I couldn’t help but wonder with the future of human spaceflight at risk would Ellis see Gingrich as a fellow dreamer? Was there common ground between this bearded geek icon and the doughy former Speaker of the House? I got in touch with Ellis to find out—and ended up with a lot more than I bargained for.

VICE: What kind of merit is there to Gingrich’s proposals—which he’s self-described as “grandiose”—for developing a rocket that can reach Mars, establishing a permanent moon base, and so on?
Warren Ellis: Going to Mars is important. Going back to the Moon is, I think, important. But his plans and reasons for going make about as much sense as if he had said we had to go to Mars to find him something new to marry. I’m genuinely interested in seeing the human race escape the planet and go exploring. Speaker Gingrich would like to be elected.

Read the rest at Motherboard.