It’s funny — I can’t say that either of the below are so profoundly wonderful that they deserve 5 stars … but both are among my favorite comics in the stack. Take that as you will.
Nextwave: Agents of HATE, Vol. 1, “This Is What They Want” (Marvel) [collects #1-6]
Nextwave: Agents of HATE, Vol. 2, “I Kick Your Face” (Marvel) [collects #7-12]
w. Warren Ellis; a. Stuart Immonen
| Writing |  | New reader? |  |
| Art | | Non-comics reader? |  |
I believe someone walked up to Ellis and Immonen and dared them, on a bet, to create a team book with a membership of second bananas, a villain worthy of Frank Miller in his Elektra absurdist phase, and some of the funniest lines in mainstream comics in the last decade. And this is how they did it.
Photon, Machine Man, Meltdown, Elsa Bloodstone, and the Captain are recruited by a secretive government (or possibly corporate) organization to … oh, never mind. There is much exploding, much misanthropy, much mockery, and much amusement over many, many comic book tropes. It’s all done with such fiendish glee that you almost have to smile along with them.
(And, apparently, this is somewhat canonical, because Machine Man was behaving just the same way when he ended up over in Ms. Marvel.)
Very fun stuff. Highly recommended, especially with a few shots of something in you.
DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 1 (DC) [collects #1-3]
DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 2 (DC) [collects #4-6]
w/a. Darwin Cooke
| Writing | | New reader? |  |
| Art | | Non-comics reader? | |
Sort of the polar opposite of Nextwave, The New Frontier is an earnest, nostalgic, but socially sensitive retelling of the origins of the modern DCU (or some version of it — it’s not really canonical so far as I know). Written with all the hope and aspirations of a book from the Golden Age, it also acknowledges the McCarthyesque anti-hero paranoia, racial tensions, and some of the uglier elements of that period. Nevertheless, it’s a positive and upbeat tale, when all’s told (and a fine animated feature was made from it), and a fine addition to one’s comic library.
Listening to: Newman, Thomas, and Bill Bernstein, “An Unpleasant Incident Involving a Train” (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events))