Customer Reviews

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

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4 star:		(2)
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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.

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!

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.

A friend lent me the first monthly issue of the series, and after reading it I knew I was going to pick up the trade when it came out.

The trade is a nice hardcover with dust jacket. It's slick and well-produced.

The stories inside are awesome. Very goofy sense of humor, and good action scenes. It's a fun romp through the Marvel universe with some traditional second-bananas. I didn't know a lot about the characters before reading the book, but Ellis does a good job with filling in the character's backgrounds during the stories, and there's a synopsis about the characters at the back of the book which helped clear up lingering questions after reading.

The book includes three, two-issue story arcs, making for fast-paced stories.

If you like irreverent humor and flashy action scenes, you'll probably enjoy Nextwave.

I don't want to get too complicated here--I'm not sure nextwave really deserves that kind of treatment, complicatedness--but after reading this thing, I've decided there are two types of super-hero spoofs, and I also know which kind I prefer...nextwave being, luckily, the kind.

One sort of superhero spoof would be, oh, something like Spectacular Spider-Ham, where the character is clearly a version of Spider-Man but smelling like bacon. And you couldn't have what happens to a Spider-Ham happen to the real (uh, yes, the "real"--real, as in, well I know what's real and what's not, but, I mean the actual...never mind) the real Spider-Man, because then his continuity would be in the dumper. But a ham in a web suit is spoof, but identifiable with Spider-MAN, so Spider-MAN is in fact being made fun of. That's why it's funny; the character is made to look ludicrous, but it's a stand-in.

Another kind of super-hero spoof is like what we have here, in nextwave, and it seems that this approach is becoming more popular as time goes by. I seem to have encountered this kind of humour in Cable And Deadpool, back in the New Warriors (so one writer comes to mind), the Bloodstone mini-series, and other comic books and graphic novels as well. And this approach to spoofery, as perpetrated by various spoofniks, is the Spoof That Is Still Within Continuity, With A Plot That Could Just As Easily Fit Into A Serious Comic Book.

And you could say "Well that's just a humourous comic. That's not a spoof. Besides...how can it be a spoof if it really is taking place in the continuity of an established superhero universe? It's just a funny story.". And I would say "That's just the point! It's NOT a funny story. You could take the nextwave concept--also-ran superheroes of low-grade repute teaming up to squash the plans of an organization that is systematically testing bio-weapons (don't think bacteria in a jar, think monsters) across the USA with no regard for public safety--and use it as a serious idea. But it's all the dialogue, and interaction, and ineptitude, and flashbacks mocking the crimefighters' bizarre pasts (most of the obscure superheroes in nextwave have been mishandled or oddly revamped with dubious results, in the past, to the delight of their new handlers here), and in-jokes, and narration that describes the characters in ridiculous light, and ineptitude some-more, that makes this a spoof that still tries to get away with staying in-continuity so you'll care about the darn thing. And it should be noted that the whole series (#'s 1-6 included in this particular graphic novel) is like that, non-stop...so it's not like inserting one teeny little Batman story that is funny in between all those dreary epics (I don't even think that happens in Batman anymore; I think it's against the law to put more than three lukewarm half-jokes in a Batman story. And if you try it, they take it out of continuity and turn Batman into a turnip). So the spoofing is in the constant mockery of certain aspects of superhero motifs, while they cheat and stay in the decades-old continuity. Of course, with nextwave, they are clever enough to place us on the fringes of Marvel Comics continuity, by using superheros who have managed to somehow hack and blast their way out of limbo just so they could star in this book and not be off somewhere messing up Daredevil's carefully cultivated mood: Machine Man, now just Aaron Stack; Elsa Bloodstone, whose origin-story mini-series from six years ago is a funny favourite of mine; Monica Rambeau, who was once Captain Marvel (the Captain Marvel situation is, I guess, even more complicated than the Nova situation, because it ropes in TWO comic book companies, and I'm not getting into it now!); some dude called the Captain; and Tabitha Smith formerly Boom Boom and also once known as Meltdown. I was not too familiar with those last two characters, but as hinted, Machine Man and Bloodstone had drawn my attention before (Gears Garvin, anyone?)

But I digress. In fact, I think I've digressed so much up til now, that by getting back on track, I am in fact, digressing. Anywayz--a series turned graphic novel like this succeeds or fails based on how funny the writing and art manage to be. Fortunately, nextwave: agents of H.A.T.E./This Is What They Want tickles the funny bone on almost every page; at the end of each page, you may need to wait til your funny bone stops tickling, so that you can turn the page without all that happy twitching, only for it to start up all over again on the next page. The art is as cruel and goofy as the caustic wit (think Aliens acid-blood mixed with laughing gas), which I suppose makes up for the fact that the characters don't look much like their old selves (what has happened to Elsa Bloodstone?! She used to be so Sarah Michelle Gellar, and now she's Indiana Jolie or something) I thought the cop getting beat up (by a few of the heroes!?) was in poor taste, and not very humourous; though the officer in question is corrupt and horrid, Aaron Stack and Tabitha Smith don't know that at the time, and I think that particular bit of attempted humour is a sour note in the performance. The mysogynistic H.A.T.E. leader with the mommy-complex--Dirk Anger--is also a bit of an irritating misfire at times, but his assortment of bio-terrors, including Fin Fang Foom (see...we're in-continuity here...by the skin of our teeth), killer koala bears, homicide crabs, and more, lead to some pretty humourous nextwave free-for-alls. Writer Warren Ellis relies too much on characters reverting to monosyllabic baby-talk to generate laughs, but fortunately he's got lots of other tricks up his sleeves.

And a good time was had by all. Enjoy the outrageousness of this spoof (It IS NOT a Spoof!!) (It IS, I said it IS A SPOOF!), and you will be part of the all. The All of the Vibrating Funny Bone at the End of Each Page, thus causing many rips and folds so you will have to buy another copy. This is what they want.

And if you don't like it, I think they've all been rounded up and been put back into limbo anyway.

This is a really great comic. It's well-written, funny and beautiful to look at. Nextwave gently mocks the superhero genre while warmly embracing it at the same time. This results in some hysterical dialogue that actually made me laugh out loud a few times, awesome fight scenes and a fast-paced story. Worth buying!!

NextWave: Agents of H.A.T.E. is all about the heroic poses and mindless violence and wonky and terse, darkly humored dialogue. It's also about a rant-happy villain who comes off like Nick Fury's bonkers evil twin. And Nextwave is about five basement-tiered superheroes who've somehow fallen into Warren Ellis's purview just when Ellis was being consumed with a rollicking f*ck-all mood. Consummate artist Stuart Immonen drops by every issue to dazzle us with his clean, fabulous artwork.

For the unknowing: the Nextwave is comprised of Monica Rambeau (the ex-Captain Marvel and Photon, who tends to hearken back to when she led the Avengers), Aaron Stack (Machine Man, mechanical git who likes to call folks "fleshy ones"), Elsa Bloodstone (Brit babe and kick-arse monster slayer), Tabitha Smith (mutant formerly known as Boom-Boom and Meltdown), and the Captain (not really a captain of anything). These five were hired on by H.A.T.E. (Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort) to be its elite antiterrorist arm.

But when the Nextwave members discover that H.A.T.E. is actually a branch of the terrorist cell, the Beyond Corporation, well, they go rogue in a blink. Apparently, Beyond Corp. intended for NextWave to become the test subject for their various Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction. But Nextwave would firmly beg to differ. Next thing you know, thanks to Tabitha having pilfered the Beyond Corp.'s planning documents, NextWave is popping in at each test site and screwing it but good for the bad guys.

Not much character development here. Barely a storyline. A simple premise. Lots of acronyms. An abundance of silliness (loved the tidbits of hilarious background info on our heroes, as well as the widdle, cuddly koala bears...of death!). Here's a crapload of bizarre enemy agents and weaponry (including Fin Fang Foom and his purple underpants!). And a cornucopia of rending, maiming, smashing, 'sploding, smiting with a guitar, finger shredding, and just a bit of vicious cop kickin'. As breezily written by Ellis, the characters may lack depth and internal musings, but they are a hell of a lot of fun to read about. My favorite character here happens to be the unkempt and not too smart Captain, or Captain **** (expletive unknown, although it's offensive enough that it merited a vicious beatdown from Cap'n America and soap shoved into his mouth). The Captain was specifically created by Ellis and Immonen for the Nextwave series, although he somewhat reminds me of a Kevin Matchstick gone sour.

NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E. Vol. 1 (This Is What They Want) collects the first 6 issues, and it's a work of stylish brevity and outrageous, unapologetic action. These amped-up action sequences are where Stuart Immonen truly earns all his big money, his art being that wonderful. As for Ellis, his outrageous narrative style here is as if he got talked into an impromptu tale-swapping contest and he's just kickin' it and cutting loose with the blarney. So, basically, put away all the deep thoughts and notions of a convoluted plot and the search for a meaningful story. It ain't like that here, sir. This is brisk reading and will leave you craving more. Definitely, it sucks that only 12 issues were published before the series was cancelled. But, fret not, Mr. Ellis has vowed to put out more Nextwave adventures, but in a limited series format.

So what makes Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. so much fun to read? In brief, to quote Monica Rambeau: "Monsters to beat up! Things to blow up! It's the best job in America! Nextwave go!"

Ellis invents a couple of characters, and takes a few others that had disappeared, the other Captain Marvel, Boom-Boom, and the daughter of Ulysses Bloodstone and even Machine Man. I didn't even know she existed, so that was a pretty cool find.

Then, they have some humorous, robot, corporation and monster stomping to do, while yelling cross-cultural insults at each other.

Nextwave is quite possibly as close as one will ever get to a "pure" comic book. This is what the medium was invented for: posingstreetstransformingcopgonecrazyhomicidecrabsdirkangerindragcrying and so on an so forth.

Alright, in all seriousness, this book is a fantastic read! Forget those serious comics and convoluted continuities that never seem to make sense or seem remotely appealing to wade through (though they can be). This comic does away with that and simply gives us five individuals fighting weird... things... like all the time. That's as deep as it gets. And frankly, that is perfect for those who simply want to laugh at zany storytelling that is one of Warren Ellis' many strengths while being accompanied by great artwork by the inimitable Stuart Immonen.

In short, get Nextwave. You'll laugh your way through the book in no time and you will remember Dirk Anger. Trust me on that.

Warren Ellis writes a strange book, at times. This is one of those. An enormous spoof on comics on the whole, but Marvel comics in particular, Nextwave deals with a group of semi-anti-mostly heroes who had worked for H.A.T.E. - Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, but learned that HATE was secretly run by super-terrorists. They defected, and now they're on the run from fanatical Dirk Anger (an obvious Nick Fury parody, and perhaps the best character in the book)

Nextwave has a brisk, crisp pace. It hits the ground running and never slows down, and it's that manic energy that fuels the humor and action of the series. The series relentlessly pokes fun at the common superheroic traditions, and Ellis comes up with some truly glorious threats for his team to face.

This book certainly won't fly to well with everyone, as people have different senses of humor. The irreverant take on these characters, many of whom have a long history at Marvel, will annoy many purists. But, if you enjoy that rare summer blockbuster that manages to balance heavy-hitting action with hilarious satire, Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. is definitely the book for you.