Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

In the first volume, Elsa seems like she could be the same character we knew from Bloodstone, just older, but in the series's second volume we are told she was raised by her father (not her mother, as established in her debut), who dropped her into monster pits as a baby in order to develop her skills. It passes my law of retcons: though different, I find it just as interesting as her old origin.

The book as a whole is good fun... one sort of feels like it's simultaneously (almost) Stuart Immonen's best work and like he was wasted a bit. Like, there's not a bad panel, scene, character, or composition here... but oughtn't he be illustrating things like Secret Identity or Moving Pictures? Though if they had got some hack to do this, it wouldn't have worked. At first I thought the whole thing was a bit of an Authority parody... then I remembered who wrote The Authority! But when I got to the end, I realized I was right. What kind of writer satirizes themself just six years later? Don't answer that, but it's funny anyway.

So is it great? I don't know. Is it worth your time? I don't know. But if Marvel reprinted the complete run at an affordable price again (I read it via Hoopla this time), I probably would pick it up. Healing America by beating people up!

Elsa Bloodstone: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »

I hate super heroes and yet I love this book. Perhaps, like me Mr Ellis also hates superheroes? What ever the reason, this book as inventive as any cotumned adventure I've ever read, and Ellis completely eschews the grim and gritty affectations of most modern comics; which is a welcome change. This is a book that features a T-Rex in a smoking jacket. How could you not love it? ( )

Fuuuuhoooofuuuu ( )

Pure silliness with added explosions: Nextwave is a group of superheroes put together by the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort (H.A.T.E.), except they've discovered that H.A.T.E. actually *is* a terrorist organisation and now they're fighting against it. And that, gentle reader, is about as much explanation as you're going to get from this comic series before it dives straight into over-the-top fight scenes, snarky dialogue, and lots of visual gags. Fun spoof on the superhero genre and a great light read for comics fans. ( )

The superteam of the Captain, Tabby, Monica Rambeau, Aaron Stack, and Elsa Bloodstone return to take down their former parent company, H.A.T.E. It's lighthearted superviolence. The art continues to be excellent; it's very good at conveying action and emotion. I never worried about the characters or the world, and the dialog was initially fun but is such a consistent schtick that it got a little old by the end. I'd still like to see more of this team, especially Captain Marvel/Photon and Tabby/Meltdown. ( )