The first half of the 2019 Dial H for Hero is an amazing wonder. With a simple premise of kids on the run with an artifact that lets them transform into random heroes, the comic lovingly homages countless comic inspirations and makes something new out of them, from blends of Appleseed, Dragon Ball, Peanuts, Jack Kirby, and so much more. And it’s tied together with an engaging story where the protagonist Miguel, having spent years chasing the adrenaline high of stupendous superpowers, has to learn it’s the decisions, not the mutating accidents, that make a hero and so come into his own as an inspirational hero only when he understands the responsibility its great power entails.
Then the second half of the story... forgets its own lesson. Its plot continues but now more frenetically inserting references like Ready Player One instead of using them to reveal more about the characters. Miguel forgets his lesson and chases power highs again, the moral quandaries raised by the villain are brushed aside without a thought, and the story as a whole grows shallow and repetitive. Some stories outstay their need and unfortunately this is one. It doesn’t undo the thrill and idealism of the first arc, but it does make the moral taught feel less sincere.
On two side notes about representation:
1. It’s noticeable that whenever fat characters show up in the series they tend to be unpleasant or wimpy or otherwise signs of unremarkablity. This is a perceivable step down from artist Quinones’ previous work on the America Chavez solo which, despite its many MANY problems was far more inclusive and varied with its fat characters.
2. While I appreciate Miguel being a gay Latino protagonist (much like myself, that’s right, I’ve been the protagonist all along!) it feels like the writers had little clear idea how to integrate his identity into the plot. Miguel makes remarks in the first arc about “babes” that sound like he’s attracted exclusively to girls, has the bulk of his interactions be with a girl supporting character, including the big climactic and emotional “I love you” and handholding moments to save the universe with said girl, then flirts with an unnamed boy for two pages who is ostensibly supposed to be his “real” love interest. These choices aren’t inherently bad, since Miguel could be bi or he could be a gay boy with a strong friendship with a girl best friend, but the treatment of the scenes doesn’t feel like that. They feel like the writers wrote a standard heterosexual lead and then abruptly injected an “exclusively gay moment” when they saw their Post-It Note reminding them to add that.
Anyway, give Joe Quinones a million awards for his art, and praise Phantasma and her takedown of greedy medical insurers.
ComicBook Spectacular, breathtaking, then wears out its welcome
The first half of the 2019 Dial H for Hero is an amazing wonder. With a simple premise of kids on the run with an artifact that lets them transform into random heroes, the comic lovingly homages countless comic inspirations and makes something new out of them, from blends of Appleseed, Dragon Ball, Peanuts, Jack Kirby, and so much more. And it’s tied together with an engaging story where the protagonist Miguel, having spent years chasing the adrenaline high of stupendous superpowers, has to learn it’s the decisions, not the mutating accidents, that make a hero and so come into his own as an inspirational hero only when he understands the responsibility its great power entails.
Then the second half of the story... forgets its own lesson. Its plot continues but now more frenetically inserting references like Ready Player One instead of using them to reveal more about the characters. Miguel forgets his lesson and chases power highs again, the moral quandaries raised by the villain are brushed aside without a thought, and the story as a whole grows shallow and repetitive. Some stories outstay their need and unfortunately this is one. It doesn’t undo the thrill and idealism of the first arc, but it does make the moral taught feel less sincere.
On two side notes about representation:
1. It’s noticeable that whenever fat characters show up in the series they tend to be unpleasant or wimpy or otherwise signs of unremarkablity. This is a perceivable step down from artist Quinones’ previous work on the America Chavez solo which, despite its many MANY problems was far more inclusive and varied with its fat characters.
2. While I appreciate Miguel being a gay Latino protagonist (much like myself, that’s right, I’ve been the protagonist all along!) it feels like the writers had little clear idea how to integrate his identity into the plot. Miguel makes remarks in the first arc about “babes” that sound like he’s attracted exclusively to girls, has the bulk of his interactions be with a girl supporting character, including the big climactic and emotional “I love you” and handholding moments to save the universe with said girl, then flirts with an unnamed boy for two pages who is ostensibly supposed to be his “real” love interest. These choices aren’t inherently bad, since Miguel could be bi or he could be a gay boy with a strong friendship with a girl best friend, but the treatment of the scenes doesn’t feel like that. They feel like the writers wrote a standard heterosexual lead and then abruptly injected an “exclusively gay moment” when they saw their Post-It Note reminding them to add that.
Anyway, give Joe Quinones a million awards for his art, and praise Phantasma and her takedown of greedy medical insurers.