Or a plot map of Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.
by Warren Ellis, Stuart Immonen, and Dave McCaig, Marvel Comics
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. is a revolutionary comic that surgically excises unneeded baggage like plot and characterization and amps up everything left to make the quintessential superhero comic experience. I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try to make plotmaps for Nextwave to try and find what kind of plot remains in a deliberately plotless comic. And this is what I got.
Since this is a plotmap it is basically made out of *SPOILERS*. Be wary.
(Incidentally, if you want a high resolution Nextwave style swears skulls for your comics dialogue .ai or .png file, drop me a line!)
Previously:
Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.
A 250 word (or less) review of Nextwave
by Warren Ellis, Stuart Immonen, and Dave McCaig; Marvel Comics
There are some comics so brilliant, so experimental, that they cast a shadow on the entire medium. Most of these remarkable comics are meticulous constructions that perform astonishing feats of wizardry with plot or characterization or theme and provide insight into the human experience and what can even by done with a comic. Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. is an essential, revolutionary comic that says fuck all that let's punch weird stuff. Essentially, Nextwave is a superhero comic that excises plot and character development and melts down the remaining action in a crucible of madness. And the resulting comic, instead of being a drooling lobotomy moron, is fucking transcendental comics alchemy. In Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E., a superhero team made of sometime-Avenger Monica Rambeau, monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone, ornery robot Aaron Stack, kleptomaniac celebrity mutant with pyrotechnic powers Tabitha Smith, and The Captain, who is just kind of an asshole, fight the living weapons of mass destruction produced by the Beyond Corporation. And yeah, that's basically the comic: misfit superheroes with personality disorders punch, kick, and blow up really weird and silly monster-things in a stripped-down, hyper efficient comic drawn by a genius-superstar artist. Which is the fundamental unspoken core of superhero comics made explicit and also shut up, it's fucking awesome. Go read it.
Word count: 214
A 250 word (or less) review of The Other Side
By Jason Aaron, Cameron Stewart, and Dave McCaig; Vertigo Comics
As
a Canadian born in the late '80s, the Vietnam War seems crazy and weird. I grew
up with the narrative that it was a misguided thing, and that the American
soldiers involved were victims and poorly equipped for the nightmare they were
thrust into. I grew up with media littered with tales of these broken soldiers,
in awful places, doing awful things, and then ignobly returning home. What was
lacking, though, was any discussion from the side of the Northern Vietnamese,
the people who had very legitimate reasons for resisting and fighting the
American invaders. The Other Side is a comic that strives to tell the stories
of both sides of the Vietnam War. The comic contrasts the now familiar story of
Bill Everette, a draftee from Alabama who goes through a full-metal-jacket-esque
trajectory, with Vo Binh Dai, an impoverished, but patriotic youth from
Northern Vietnam who volunteers to protect his homeland. And the contrast here
is stark, between the valiant patriotic Dai sacrificing and sacrificing and
sacrificing for his family, and Bill forced to fight in a war he doesn’t give
two fucks about in an army that doesn’t care about him and for a nation that
isn’t really invested in the conflict. The Other Side unflinchingly portrays
the excesses and horrors and courage of both sides’ soldiers, but overall
paints a picture where all of the soldiers are tragic victims of American
Imperialism. It's a sad, and horrific, and very effective comic.
Word
count: 245
