Nextwave: Agents of HATE #4
- Posted by Johanna on April 23, 2006 at 2:58 pm
- Category: Superhero Reviews
- CREDITS: written by Warren Ellis, pencils by Stuart Immonen, inks by Wade von Grawbadger
- PUBLISHER: Marvel Comics, $2.99 US
I’m impressed at how much I’m still enjoying this superhero satire.
This issue, a police officer has been taken over by a sort of virus that’s turning him into metal. This kind of over-the-top, near-unstoppable monster is the perfect rationale for ever-more-outrageous battles.
Ellie Bloodstone’s shooting explosive flares to set bad guys on fire, and the robot aspect allows for the former Machine Man’s apt involvement. The way the team members pick on and jibe at each other reminds me of the Giffen/deMatteis Justice League, only without the undercurrent of “we’re all really good guys underneath”. The mean-spiritedness makes it funnier. Plus, we’re shown the origin of the Captain, a brutal parody of a Green Lantern origin that’s a bit more aware of the base nature of most random humans.
This mindless, deranged fun is a better use of superheroes than most of what’s on the racks now. They get to do unbelievable things and survive what most people wouldn’t, which allows for over-the-top humorous exaggeration. I haven’t even mentioned the Transformers parody!
April 24, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Love, love, love this book!
April 24, 2006 at 4:09 pm
#1 and #3 were hysterical. #2 was a good read, but much less funny. #4 was a bit disappointing to me. Fun action, but not so much with the funny. It was like #2 but much less funny than even that.
It’s clear Ellis is having over-the-top fun here and I’m enjoying the ride (and loving it for those odd numbers – is Ellis doing a Trek movie riff?) so far despite my only mild enjoyment of the latest issue.
April 24, 2006 at 4:57 pm
I really didn’t care for #1 on my first read, then a wek or so I gave it another look and realized it was basically The Authority with the gloves off. Sold.
April 24, 2006 at 8:15 pm
Huh. And after reading #1 it struck me as Authority with the gloves on. And the scissors blunted, and the paste locked away in a cabinet. High concepts like killing G-d replaced with Giant Purple Pants. Subtle commentary (OK, “subtle” for a British author) on homoeroticism replaced with “@$$#%”. This is Ellis dumbed down and washed out for TV. And not even the achingly irreverant Adult Swim, either. This “Authority-as-edgy-UPN-sitcom” to counterprogram “JLA-as-Friends”.
Now if by “off” you mean that Ellis is free to make whatever jokesabout superheroes no matter how lame, I agree. But this is like making Blue Beetle jokes. People who read comics don’t like to laughed at, and the best you can hope for from a mainstream audience is “Aren’t they a hockey team?” Even ragging on Aquaman is less lame.