Nextwave

“There are French people in Canada? That’s, like, right next door! OH NOES!”

Ellis described Nextwave (Marvel) as a “pure distillation of the superhero genre. No plot lines, characters, emotions, nothing whatsoever. It is people posing in the street for no good reason, people getting kicked, and then exploding. Ellis uses his signature offbeat humour throughout the series. Aided by the excellent Stuart Immomen and Dave McCaig, who draws everything from purple monkey dishwashers to the worst examples of child abuse ever dreamed up, Nextwave is pure fun, poking fun at superhero clichés all the way. Winner of three Eagle awards, (Favourite new comicbook, Favourite comics story published during 2006 and Best villain) and listed on the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2007.

Formed by H.A.T.E to fight America’s enemies, Nextwave takes four obscure Marvel characters and a new hero, The Captain, and throws them together to see what works. The result is five pirate superheroes against a vast conspiracy involving devil dinosaurs, soldiers made of broccoli, a flying terror factory, zombie superspies and mindless demons from the Dark Dimension.

Donal O’Connor