The Birth Of A Puerile Periodical

Nextwave #1
Writer: Warren Ellis
Pencils: Stuart Immonen

"I fire you with bullets now."

Believe or not, but when he's not busy friending goth chicks on his myspace, or pretending that he's a 17 year old scenester,Warren Ellis writes comic books. Sometimes his writings can be entertaining pieces of literature, while at other times grade A assjuice.

Seriously.

Like a big pile of dog brownies that Fido just squeezed out after his evening Kibbles. Just take a look at his ol' Iron Man, and you'll see things that would put a group of old-timers who enjoy C-SPAN to a deep, restless sleep.

But, hey, what about this new thing, eh?

Nextwave kind of reminds me of a Giffen/Dematties esque title, but a little less funny, and a lot more sarcastic. While reading the title, I had a few moments were I actually chuckled out of my mouth and not inside my head, like I always do. I read this in-store, (After I bought it. I'm not that into legal stealing.) so it was very awkward when I giggled at the Fin Fang Foom scene while standing next to some emo kid reading 30 Days Of Night. He gave me a "I wish I could giggle but my vocal cords are too sore from whining" type of stare, then moved down to the Manga section with the rest of the Wednesday morning Manga-Emo squad.Anyways, the title is pretty entertaining for what I was expecting. The humor is Ellis' own brand of cynicism and dark comedy that we see every now and then throughout his titles.

Nick Fur-.... err.... Dirk Anger kind of reminds me of the manchild of R Lee Ermy and The Chief from Get Smart (Take a gander at the Etheric Loop Recall Televocometer to see what I mean). Perfect combination? I believe so. Thats why Anger is easily my favorite character, next to Captain ****, for sticking it to ol' Flag Pansy Boy. But with the Get Smart referrence, can we safely say that Machine Man is kind of like Hymie? Is this whole title secretly Ellis' tribute to Get Smart of something? No, definetly not. I just like shooting down my own theories.

I can't really get much out the story for one title, obviously, so I can only real base my score of the issue on a few things. Another good element was Immonen's art, which seems so simple yet dynamic at the same time. His facial expressions aren't that purty, but his action scenes make up for it with rich minor details, like gears flying every where or motion marks when a fist smacks a face. The overall look kind of looks like an "Our Man Flint" costume and set designer's lucid dream, which gives it a kind of nostalgic spy-era feel that Ellis' might have been trying to portray.

This title will be hit or miss with most folks. I know a lot of comic readers don't enjoy titles that revolve around humor, and this is pretty much one of them. I guess it's kind of hit with me since its a recent Ellis title that didn't cause me to fall asleep or scracth my head.

But what is the best feature of this comic?

Easily the letters page. Or H.A.T.E Mail.

H.A.T.E Mail,
THERE IS NO TIME FOR THIS NONSENSE! THE TANGUT WILL NOT CONQUER THEMSELVES. AWAY WITH - Holy ****, is that a dragon with underpants? Intresting.
Hugs,
Genghis Khan
6 June 1206

Tee-hee.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Dialogue: 8.5/10
Humor: 9/10
Action: 7.5/10
The Fact It's Not Iron Man: 20/10
Entertainment Value: 8/10
Overall: 8/10 (Pretty Good)

Official Warren Ellis website
Listen to the Nextwave Themesong
Official Nextwave site

X-Factor #1
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Ryan Sook

"I'm the fly in the ointment, the spanner in the works. I'm unpredictable. I'm the X-Factor."

If you don't already know, I was a big fan of the Madrox series. So the fact that I liked this shouldn't be a huge suprise. The noir elements used throughout just the one ish really makes a detective story fanboy like myself really shit his pants.

But, of course, I didn't actually shit my pants. But at least I did in my mind. Even by looking at the cover of the issue, a group shot illuminated by light blocked out by window blinds, gives you a good noir feel for the title. David knows how to write characters with completely different personalities well, and set things up so you won't expect something obvious to happen later on down the line.

That Madrox brand cynical humor is still there, but the title itself is pretty much a detective story that plays out nicely. David does a good job at establishing the characters for readers who haven't really heard of them in a few seconds. Even though I detest most Marvel mutant characters, Madrox, Rictor and Rahne have always been a select few, so naturally, with them being in a title together again (New X-Factor = Old X-Factor + X-Force), I can tell that there wil be some good interaction and growth later on down the line.

The art is pretty good. Sook did a good job at the art for Zatanna and Hawkman, but does much better at these gritty and emotional characters with the facial expressions and overall lighting. Though, sometimes Strong Guy, which I know is supposed to be large, looks like Hulk but then in the next panel, a normal sized fellow.

There was one thing that really bothered me, though, that was right on the front cover.

"X-FACTOR: X-PECT The UN-X-PECTED"

Jesus. Are you kidding me? Is this a Gene Shalit review or something?
Please, for the sake of the childeren, take that off of this title.

Story: 6.5/10
Art: 8/10
Characters: 9.5/10
Dialogue: 7/10
As A First Issue: 8.5/10
Action: 7.5/10
Madrox Usage: 9/10
Entertainment Value: 7.5/10
Overall: 8/10 (Pretty Good)

Official Peter David site