Nextwave is a humorous comic book series by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, published by Marvel Comics between 2006 and 2007.
The series was written exclusively in two-issue story arcs. Each issue began with a humorous FAQ, in which questions were answered with enthusiastic marketing copy that veers into the strange or disturbing. It was also used to answer questions posed by uninformed readers.
The Nextwave series features a collection of minor Marvel superheroes: monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone; Monica Rambeau, the former Captain Marvel; Tabitha Smith, formerly of X-Force; Aaron Stack, the Machine Man; and new character the Captain, previously called Captain ☠☠☠☠ (the obscured words being so horrible that Captain America allegedly "beat seven shades of it out of [him]" and left him in a dumpster with a bar of soap in his mouth). These individuals are assembled by H.A.T.E., the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, to fight Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction (U.W.M.D.s). The Nextwave team learns that H.A.T.E. is funded by the Beyond Corporation©, an organization formerly known as terrorist group S.I.L.E.N.T. As a result, the heroes leave H.A.T.E., stealing a vehicle called the Shockwave Rider. They destroy the U.W.M.D.s that the Beyond Corporation and H.A.T.E. have hidden around the United States, while being pursued by H.A.T.E. Director Dirk Anger, a parody of Nick Fury. The U.W.M.D.s include Fin Fang Foom,Broccoli Men, Ultra Samurai, and the Mindless Ones. Using the Shockwave Rider as a mobile base of operations (the vehicle is larger on the inside than out, much like the TARDIS of Doctor Who), Nextwave is able to rapidly mount missions in widely separated locations including central Illinois, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Nevada.
NextWave Wireless Inc. is a wireless technology company that produces mobile multimedia solutions and speculates in the wireless spectrum market. The company consists principally of various wireless spectrum holdings.
The company is most notable for successfully suing the U.S. government for improperly seizing its assets while under bankruptcy protection.
AT&T announced its acquisition of NextWave in 2012.
The company original spun out of QUALCOMM in 1995 and began life as the biggest bidder in the FCC C-Block. NextWave originally won the licenses in an auction intended for small businesses with limited resources in 1996. NextWave, which bid $4.7 billion for the licenses, made the minimum 10 percent down payment of $500 million for the spectrum.
But shortly thereafter NextWave filed for bankruptcy protection and defaulted on its payments for the licenses. The FCC, in turn, confiscated the licenses and re-sold them to Verizon Wireless and the subsidiaries of AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless, among others, for $17 billion in an auction that ended in January 2001.