Peter Milligan // Mike Allred
June 2001
*****
Having killed off the whole team, Milligan gives a new set of mutants the reality-star treatment. The focus is on Mr. Sensitive, so hyper-delicate he’s got super-senses & an emo attitude! In a twist on an old Marvel formula, the former New Mutants challenge the team over the trademark for “X-Force”!
last issue: X-Force #116
next issue: X-Force #118
also indexed for Jun. ’01
Avengers #41
Daredevil #17
Jim Shooter // Al Milgrom
November 1985
**
The Beyonder picks a fight w/ Kirby space-gods, a good concept wasted by dull fight choreography. The protag does have an emotional arc—unable to return to his home dimension, he’s now sulking w/ a mutant teen runaway—but his moods are impossible to follow if you don’t get every crossover issue.
[continued from The Avengers #261]
[continued in The Thing #30]
[last issue: Secret Wars II #4 of 9]
[next issue: Secret Wars II #6 of 9]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
March 2007
*****
Revealed: behind the Beyond Corp. is Devil Dinosaur, a cherry-red T Rex Kirby kreation. That fits the book’s MO, under the punk ‘tude, has mostly been crazy monsters & deep roots in Marvel arcana. But the climax is unexpectedly trad: a villainous rant & the team wins the day. I’ll miss ’em.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #11]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
February 2007
****
The penultimate issue blatantly announces it’s a waste of money—& w/ half a dozen double-splash pages that resemble a (crazy) scrolling videogame, you can’t argue. The action is deranged & violent, w/ futuristic airships crashing into even bigger airships. But you sense Ellis is done here.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #10]
[next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #12]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
January 2007
*****
Ellis swaps the manic comedy for something deeply strange. Nearing their mission’s endgame, the Squad faces Forbush Man (Stan Lee’s answer to Alfred E. Newman), who mind-casts them into alternate, quasi-mystical visions of themselves. Immonen too stretches himself, w/ each scene in a unique style.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #9]
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #11]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
December 2006
****
The CEO of Beyond Corp. has laid for the Nextwave Squad that crosses the line into comic book dada, w/ upside-down castles & preposterously-themed superteams. Ellis mocks widescreen idiocy like The Ultimates while homaging the original Silver Age Marvel self-parody, Not Brand Ecch!
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #8]
[next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #10]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
November 2006
****
As a caption quips, this arc comes perilously close to depicting a few true character moments. Flashbacks to Elsa Bloodstone’s childhood training suggest she’s more unstable than she appears. But that doesn’t stop her from committing mayhem upon rock monsters who’re playing human, Broadway-style.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #7]
[next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #9]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
September 2006
****
The Squad face an army of Mindless Ones (you know, the golem-like cannonfodder from Dr. Strange) in a small Colorado town. But first, a quality pair of dialogues offer a few reflective moments in a comic book w/ ADD. You suspect Ellis’ heart is in these scenes, which add sad depths to his SOBs.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #6]
[next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #8]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
August 2006
****
The team escape HATE’s barrage of insane super-weaponry by tickling Dirk Anger’s mother fixation. Even when this comic is simple ultra-violence, Ellis & Immonen add fun touches like a fighting style specific to each hero. And its punk style (2-issue arcs = 2-minute songs) enforces a sense of glee.
last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #5
next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #7
also indexed for Aug. ’06
Astonishing X-Men #15
Civil War #2 of 7
Young Avengers #12
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
July 2006
*****
Ellis sets his mag in a bizarro Marvel, just close enough to confuse continuity whores. He riffs on Kirby & Steranko at their weirdest, w/ allusions gross & subtle to Marvel flotsam. Anger (= Fury) assaults the squad w/ an arsenal of goofball tech: broccoli-men, killer koalas, & ptera-soldiers.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #4]
[next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #6]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
June 2006
****
The team blows up a mecha-monster real good. I like the two-issue rhythm that Nextwave has set up, but I hope the next arc will find a new plot. Aside from Immonen’s kinetic technicolor, #4’s high point is a comedic epilogue that nails the group’s dynamics & provides sick, Lenny Bruce-like humor.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #3]
[next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #5]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
May 2006
****
Tho’ the tone’s hip, the plot’s thin & familiar: in the Midwest, a techno-spore mutates a man into a monster. Ellis leans heavily on the mayhem but he gets lazy kicks from making the victim a corrupt cop. Still, Immonen is coming into his own: his hyper-cartoon is perfect for superhero comics.
last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #2
next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #4
also indexed for May ’06
Iron Man #6
The Pulse #14
Young Avengers #11
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
April 2006
****
A special ops team has gone rogue from their SHIELD-parody superiors. They do the “right” thing, as long as that means committing mindless violence while shouting inane catchphrases—not so different from conventional comics, tho’ Ellis’s brio strips away the weak-sauce ethics of mainstream Marvel.
[last issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #1]
[next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #3]
Warren Ellis // Stuart Immonen
March 2006
*****
Spastic comix anarchism parodies Bush-era idiocy! Small-town America is a combat zone menaced by a classic Kirby monster, Fing Fang Foom. Open-bid contracts have put a superspy org at the service of a terrorist corporation. Our only defense: low-grade superheroes like ’80s Captain Marvel. Marvelous!
next issue: Nextwave, Agents of HATE #2
also indexed for Mar. ’06
Iron Man #5
Young Avengers #10
Peter David // Jae Lee
December 1992
**
The title team gets ignored by a hugger-mugger crossover, & PAD’s talent is wasted in dialoguing chaotic fights. At least Jae Lee’s shadowy, splattery style fits the subject matter. Razor-winged Archangel decapitates one evil mutant; another hamstrings Quicksilver; Wolvie steps btw. Bishop & Cable.
[continued from Uncanny X-Men #285]
[continued in X-Men #15]
[last issue: X-Factor #84]
[next issue: X-Factor #86]
Peter David // Jae Lee
November 1992
***
Jae Lee has a Sienkowicz-but-brutal style that would prob’ly fit X-Force better than -Fac. Luckily, #84 is also #2 of an x-over that sees this title’s g-men outfight the aggro X-Force while hunting for Cable (who shot Prof. X in Central Park). David finds the issue’s hook in Rahne, caught. btw. teams.
[continued from Uncanny X-Men #284]
[continued in X-Men #14]
[last issue: X-Factor #83]
[next issue: X-Factor #85]
