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Daily Breakdowns 004 - Hero Comics
Hero Comics
With contributions from Howard Chaykin, Gene Colan, Gene Ha, Josh Medors, William Messner-Loebs, David Lloyd and others.
Published by IDW Publishing. $3.99 USD
A comic book for charity can be a tough thing for a critic to review. Let's face it, there's little to be gained by beating up on something produced primarily to help people in need rather than to make money for the creators and publisher. In all honesty, if this was just a book of pin-ups, that would be okay, because four bucks to maybe help a comics creator in need is a small price to pay. Fortunately, the creators here give a better effort than that, and we've got some pretty big names, too.
Howard Chaykin starts things off with an American Flagg story, this one finding Reuben Flagg approached by a "where are they now?" kind of documentary, which makes him defensive and yearning for the days when he was a big star. It's clearly Chaykin reflecting on his own diminished fame, and yet as transparent as that is, it still represents a degree of complexity and subtlety the other pieces here don't possess. It's also the best drawn and best colored story here.
Josh Medors gives us a one-pager that's basically a note of gratitude for the Hero Initiative (the charity served by this comic) for helping with his medical bills when he had cancer. Messner-Loebs' "Room 4" is basically the same thing, although the circumstances were that he and his wife lost their home due to fire and needed help getting back on their feet. These are not complex works--they're not even that well-done--but they do give readers testimonials of the results of the Hero Initiative.
David Lloyd, whose work is seen far too rarely these days, gives a nice two-pager that shows a man's world brighten up when he visits a cemetary, as if rekindling a connection with someone lost. The grey washes are lovely, but the watercolor work is doubly so.
Gene Ha draws a story by Lowell Francis, with Ha's former Top Ten partner Zander Cannon doing the lettering. It's one of the few stand-alone stories not about the person writing it, the Hero Initiative, or both. It's sort of a Hollywood satire about a remake of Samson, of all things, and though the artwork is terrific, the story is not that funny and goes nowhere.
Gene Colan's one-page "Safe Haven," tries to tie into the charity, but it actually has a dark twist ending. It's great seeing Colan draw anything, but Tom Smith's coloring is so dark it's kind of a cheat to Colan fans.
Bill Willingham writes and draws (yes, he used to draw a lot before he was just a writer) the only story here I found actually irritating. A tiny superhero named Inchworm fights a "frogbat" while he tells readers that if they're buying this comic at the convention (read: CCI: San Diego), they must already have money set aside for sketches, so why not ask Mr. Artist to knock a couple bucks off his fee so you can give them to The Hero Initiative. Now, although $3.99 isn't going to make a big difference in any down-on-his-luck comics pros fortunes, it still feels a little icky giving 10% of the comic over to an additional shakedown rather than entertainment, not to mention that the plan to ask other professionals to help subsidize one's own charitable contributions has some flaws in it.
Maybe the most satisfying work in the book are five pages of art from Arthur Adams, including an exquisite black-and-white spread of his own Monkeyman & O'Brien, followed by recreations of classic Marvel comics covers. Getting back to that pin-up idea, I spent more time poring over this artwork than most of the stories in the book. Great stuff.
Mark (Xenozoic Tales) Schultz also contributes a pin-up called, "The Dawn Patrol," and Schultz fans will be happy that it's got dinosaurs and cleavage, but I sure wish there was more than just that one page.
Hero Initiative's Charles Novinskie contributes a recollection of late artist Dave Simons, who was working on something for this book when he passed away. A page of script is included.
Kaare Andrews delivers a four-page fantasy tale with a twist ending that's not bad. The art is okay as well, though hampered by really narrow panels, and the banal rhymes in the narration are a down. We finish off with non-logo'd covers by J. Scott Campbell and Matt Wagner.
Hero Initiative President Jim McLauchlin writes the last piece, a one-pager about a respected veteran who confessed to him that without timely help from the charity, he would have ended his own life. Rodolfo Migliari draws it, and it's a sobering, effective conclusion to the book.
One could do a lot worse than throwing down four bucks for this comic. Certainly the charity is worth at least that much for nothing in return but a good feeling, and here you get a decent story or two and some nice artwork. For more information or to send donations, go to Hero Initiative.
Christopher Allen
August 14th, 2009
With contributions from Howard Chaykin, Gene Colan, Gene Ha, Josh Medors, William Messner-Loebs, David Lloyd and others.
Published by IDW Publishing. $3.99 USD
A comic book for charity can be a tough thing for a critic to review. Let's face it, there's little to be gained by beating up on something produced primarily to help people in need rather than to make money for the creators and publisher. In all honesty, if this was just a book of pin-ups, that would be okay, because four bucks to maybe help a comics creator in need is a small price to pay. Fortunately, the creators here give a better effort than that, and we've got some pretty big names, too.
Howard Chaykin starts things off with an American Flagg story, this one finding Reuben Flagg approached by a "where are they now?" kind of documentary, which makes him defensive and yearning for the days when he was a big star. It's clearly Chaykin reflecting on his own diminished fame, and yet as transparent as that is, it still represents a degree of complexity and subtlety the other pieces here don't possess. It's also the best drawn and best colored story here.
Josh Medors gives us a one-pager that's basically a note of gratitude for the Hero Initiative (the charity served by this comic) for helping with his medical bills when he had cancer. Messner-Loebs' "Room 4" is basically the same thing, although the circumstances were that he and his wife lost their home due to fire and needed help getting back on their feet. These are not complex works--they're not even that well-done--but they do give readers testimonials of the results of the Hero Initiative.
David Lloyd, whose work is seen far too rarely these days, gives a nice two-pager that shows a man's world brighten up when he visits a cemetary, as if rekindling a connection with someone lost. The grey washes are lovely, but the watercolor work is doubly so.
Gene Ha draws a story by Lowell Francis, with Ha's former Top Ten partner Zander Cannon doing the lettering. It's one of the few stand-alone stories not about the person writing it, the Hero Initiative, or both. It's sort of a Hollywood satire about a remake of Samson, of all things, and though the artwork is terrific, the story is not that funny and goes nowhere.
Gene Colan's one-page "Safe Haven," tries to tie into the charity, but it actually has a dark twist ending. It's great seeing Colan draw anything, but Tom Smith's coloring is so dark it's kind of a cheat to Colan fans.
Bill Willingham writes and draws (yes, he used to draw a lot before he was just a writer) the only story here I found actually irritating. A tiny superhero named Inchworm fights a "frogbat" while he tells readers that if they're buying this comic at the convention (read: CCI: San Diego), they must already have money set aside for sketches, so why not ask Mr. Artist to knock a couple bucks off his fee so you can give them to The Hero Initiative. Now, although $3.99 isn't going to make a big difference in any down-on-his-luck comics pros fortunes, it still feels a little icky giving 10% of the comic over to an additional shakedown rather than entertainment, not to mention that the plan to ask other professionals to help subsidize one's own charitable contributions has some flaws in it.
Maybe the most satisfying work in the book are five pages of art from Arthur Adams, including an exquisite black-and-white spread of his own Monkeyman & O'Brien, followed by recreations of classic Marvel comics covers. Getting back to that pin-up idea, I spent more time poring over this artwork than most of the stories in the book. Great stuff.
Mark (Xenozoic Tales) Schultz also contributes a pin-up called, "The Dawn Patrol," and Schultz fans will be happy that it's got dinosaurs and cleavage, but I sure wish there was more than just that one page.
Hero Initiative's Charles Novinskie contributes a recollection of late artist Dave Simons, who was working on something for this book when he passed away. A page of script is included.
Kaare Andrews delivers a four-page fantasy tale with a twist ending that's not bad. The art is okay as well, though hampered by really narrow panels, and the banal rhymes in the narration are a down. We finish off with non-logo'd covers by J. Scott Campbell and Matt Wagner.
Hero Initiative President Jim McLauchlin writes the last piece, a one-pager about a respected veteran who confessed to him that without timely help from the charity, he would have ended his own life. Rodolfo Migliari draws it, and it's a sobering, effective conclusion to the book.
One could do a lot worse than throwing down four bucks for this comic. Certainly the charity is worth at least that much for nothing in return but a good feeling, and here you get a decent story or two and some nice artwork. For more information or to send donations, go to Hero Initiative.
Christopher Allen
August 14th, 2009
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