Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., Vol. 1: This Is What They Want [Hardcover]

Warren Ellis (Author), Stuart Immonen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2006

The Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, or H.A.T.E. (a subsidiary of the Beyond Corporation) put Nextwave together to fight Bizarre Weapons of Mass Destruction. When Nextwave discovers that H.A.T.E. and Beyond are terrorist cells themselves, and that the BWMDs were intended to kill them, they are less than pleased. In fact, they are rather angry. So they make things explode. Lots of things. Starring Monica Rambeau (formerly Captain Marvel and Photon), Aaron Stack (Machine Man), Tabitha Smith (X-Force's Meltdown), monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone and the Captain! Guest-starring Fin Fang Foom! Collects Nextwave #1-6.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (August 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785122788
• ISBN-13: 978-0785122784
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,213,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy it looking for anything deep, September 30, 2006

By 

Dave "reader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., Vol. 1: This Is What They Want (Hardcover)

Nextwave is all-action, and it's not characterization.

But that's a good thing.

It's fun. And sometimes, when you're trudging through the rest of the Marvel & DC Universes, it's good to have a fun book. This, GLA: Misassembled, and X-Statix Presents Dead Girl are titles released during the last few years that show that comics still know how to be fun.

The art is stellar, the dialogue is funny, but, again, don't come with the expectation that there will be a "message" to take away or with expectations caused by Ellis's reputation. The art is very fluid looking, and works well with the dynamic characters in the title. If you're going to want a balance of characterization and humor, head for X-Factor. If you're willing to just be entertained, this is your title.

People might complain about the characterization of Monica and Tabitha in the title, but just drop all notions of how you've seen them before.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nextwave, Saving the world by beating people up!, January 3, 2007

By 

R. B. Poore "Pyrecat" (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., Vol. 1: This Is What They Want (Hardcover)

One of the best comics to come out in 2006,collected in a hard cover, I have to say this is my favorite new comic. Too bad the series is ending after only 12 issues. Nextwave is what appears to be a parody of Marvel Comics, using B and C list characters to tell the story. The author claims that Nextwave is the only comic to actually take place on Earth-616 continuity. All the rest are fakes and Skrulls. This off beat story follows the exploits of our heroes, as the try to avert the use of UWMD's (unusual weapons of mass destruction) created or found by the Beyond Corporations. I'm not going to bother to give away what few plot points there are in Nextwave. Basically it's a comical rollercoaster. The flashbacks are great. Machineman's deadpan humor sells the book on it's own. Buy Nextwave, or they may satirize you too!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The superhero equivalent of "Death By Chocolate" - pure comics hysteria, February 17, 2007

By 

Lemon Magic (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., Vol. 1: This Is What They Want (Hardcover)

There's Ellis when he's wants to comment on politics and history ("Transmetropolitan"), there's Ellis when he wants to tell a cracking good Science Fiction adventure ("Ocean"), there's Ellis when he wants to hit the reader in the bone marrow ("Global Frequency")...and there's Ellis when he just wants to have some fun, make some snarky remarks and blow crap up. "NextWave" is Ellis just having fun with some super hero 2nd bananas and has-beens, and what a lot of fun it is.

Nothing here is meant to be taken seriously. Everything here is just an excuse for sarcastic Hunter Thompson gonzo style dialog and the thinnest of plots that allow artist Immonen to cut loose and show what he can do. You would never show an issue like this to a Mavel fanboy who lives and breathes Fantastic Four and X-Men continuity...but you would show it to people who just love the comics form (even superhero comics) and secretly wishes that superheroes would cut the moralizing and emotional anguish and just beat the hell out of the bad guys in a visceral, energetic and satisfying way.

I'm sorry that the comic was cancelled, but I'm pretty sure that after this display of high powered panache that Immonen can write his own ticket, and Ellis will simply move onto the next project. And it's nice that the series was never taken over by lesser lights and turned into a lame copy of itself.