Ellis is well known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist (most notably nanotechnology, cryonics, mind transfer and human enhancement) and folkloric themes, often in combination with each other.

[citation needed] Before starting his career as a writer, he worked in a book and stationery store, a pub, in bankruptcy, in a record shop, and lifted compost bags.

In 1997, Ellis started Transmetropolitan, a creator-owned series about an acerbic "gonzo" journalist in a dystopian future America, co-created with artist Darick Robertson and published by DC's Helix imprint.

When Helix was discontinued the following year, Transmetropolitan was shifted to the Vertigo imprint, and remained one of the most successful nonsuperhero comics DC was then publishing.

This project was intended to revitalise the X-Men spin-off books Generation X, X-Man, and X-Force, but it was not successful and Ellis stayed away from mainstream superhero comics for a time.

[citation needed] In 2002, Ellis started Global Frequency, a 12-issue limited series for Wildstorm, and continued to produce work for various publishers, including DC, Avatar Press, AiT/Planet Lar, Cliffhanger and Homage Comics.

[9] Ellis continued to work on several projects for different publishers, including Desolation Jones (for DC/Wildstorm) and Blackgas and Black Summer (for Avatar Press).

On 29 July 2007, Ellis announced two new projects for Avatar Press: FreakAngels, a free long-form webcomic illustrated by Paul Duffield, and Ignition City, a five-issue miniseries.

[20][21][22] In June 2013, Ellis announced on his website that he would be ending his relationship with Mulholland Books due to "continuing issues" and cancelling the release of his short story "Dead Pig Collector".

Ellis joined main writer Kelly Sue DeConnick to co-write two issues of her Captain Marvel series in early 2015.

[37] The creator-owned science-fiction series follows the members of a think tank given the task of improving the future, who deal with mistakes made after trying to prevent human innovation from dying off.

Ellis launched a new ongoing comics series featuring James Bond in November 2015, published by Dynamite Entertainment in partnership with Ian Fleming Publications and illustrated by Jason Masters.

[40][41] James Bond depicts the original character from the Ian Fleming novels, as opposed to the one in the films, but is set in present day.

[42] As part of Marvel's All-New All-Different relaunch, Ellis wrote the series Karnak, following the eponymous Inhuman character.

[57] Despite rarely returning to his early work,[59] in October 2016, DC Comics announced a relaunch of the WildStorm publishing line as a new imprint curated by Ellis.

[60] Taking a similar approach to Gerard Way's Young Animal imprint, DC asked Ellis to write a main series, titled The Wild Storm, and curating others set in the same universe.

[72] At Image Expo 2015, Heartless, a new creator-owned comic book with Ellis's Supreme: Blue Rose collaborator Tula Lotay, was announced.

[77] In 2006, Ellis was hired to develop a science-fiction television series for AMC titled Dead Channel,[78][79] but the project was put on hiatus.

[86] Ellis and British producer Vivek Tiwary developed an adventure thriller television miniseries title Ascension, with Idris Elba in talks to star,[87] though nothing has come of the project.

A television series based on the Red film franchise, produced by di Bonaventura and written the Hoeber brothers, was announced as in development in 2015.

Gravel was at one point being developed with Tim Miller attached as director,[100] with Ellis commissioned to write the first draft of the screenplay and serving as executive producer.

[104] Ellis's novel Gun Machine has been set up as a television series first with writer Dario Scardapane at Fox in 2012,[105] and later in 2014 at the now-defunct Xbox Entertainment, with a script by Brett Conrad.

[106] In 2016, it was announced that NBCUniversal had optioned the rights to Ellis and Jason Howard's Trees and would be developing it as a television series with Tom Hardy's production company.

A festival regular, he has returned in subsequent years to debate the risks and rewards of artificial intelligence with physicist Stephen Hawking and collaborator Roger Penrose.

[117] Since 2013, Ellis has been writing the weekly email newsletter Orbital Operations,[118] which features work updates and thoughts on books, comics and current events.

[120] In 2007, Ellis launched the now-defunct message board Whitechapel as a companion to his webcomic FreakAngels,[121] though it rapidly evolved into his internet home.

[120] In June 2020, several people (including musician Meredith Yayanos, artist Zoetica Ebb, and photographer Jhayne Holmes) publicly accused Ellis of sexual coercion and manipulation, in having engaged in simultaneous relationships with several of them without the others' knowledge.

[126][127][128] The Daily Beast reported that "by 19 June, over 60 women had joined a group organized by Holmes, all of them accusing Ellis of a largely consistent pattern of behavior".

In an update in January 2022, SoManyofUs.com reported that their members have been in a mediated dialogue with Ellis since August 2021 and that they were making progress in a guided transformative justice process.

[139] On January 19, 2023, SoManyOfUs.com once again updated the site, alleging that Ellis "took none of the steps we hoped he would", stating "we do not anticipate our involvement in any progress he might make in the future.