10 Marvel Graphic Novels You Must Read Before You Die

5. Nextwave

We are huge, unabashedly evangelical fans of Nextwave here at WhatCulture. Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's love letter to the more esoteric elements of the Marvel Universe is next level bonkers, a sugar rush of a superhero team book with throws everything and a kitchen sink full of murderous koala at the walls and would be surprised to find it stick, if it wasn't plowing through that wall with no regard for its own safety or that of others. To call the ragged group of obscure and new characters heroes would be missing the point somewhat - Nextwave are something different, something new, something totally bizarre.

Honestly, it's kind of hard to write about. Both because it doesn't have much in the way of a plot, and we're worried that we're going to sound like a teenage girl gushing about her first crush in her secret journal. You know, the sort that has a voice activated lock, like you've seen on the adverts.

Ellis has never been more deliriously inventive than in this story of an anti-terrorist group brought together by a secret intelligence agency which, it turns out, is funded by a terrorist organisation. So the Nextwave agents go rogue. Really, though, it's about a robot that is fuelled by beer, a British monster hunter who delights in killing all manner of beasties, a suicidal Nick Fury analogue with mommy issues, a kleptomaniac mutant and a former Avenger who can't stop telling people about how she used to hang out with Captain America.

It's a bit like an Adult Swim version of the Marvel Universe, except it actually got published by the House Of Ideas, a gloriously silly spoof of superheroes with more wit and inventiveness than most straight-laced comics. It's manic and energetic enough to appeal even to people who don't know who Devil Dinosaur is, and the series was done in twelve issues, meaning you've got one complete crazy journey to get your hands on.