Retro Review: H.E.R.O. by Will Pfeifer, Kano, Dale Eaglesham

I have had one complete series staring at me in my long boxes, begging for a re-read, for some time now: H.E.R.O. by Will Pfeifer.  This series premiered in 2003 and lasted for 22 issues but if you have all of them, it makes for a great story.  Many Silver Age fans remember Dial H for HERO, a series of short tales featuring young Robby Reed, who discovered a mysterious dial that would transform him into a variety of weird superheroes to save his small town in Colorado.  Robby's adventures were the ultimate childhood wish fulfillment.  What would happen if an adult had the dial and became a superhero?

Pfeifer's series is a set of short stories for the first 14 issues.  In the first one, a young man named Jerry Feldon, a soda jerk going nowhere, find the dial while washing dishes.   (Who lost it?  A old lady in a senior citizen home who used it to transform herself into a young hero.) 

Jerry transforms into a hero and discovers the joy of flight, super-strength, and the ego-boost that comes along with it.  But everything goes wrong soon afterward.  Jerry can't control his powers, he makes mistakes, even causes his sweetheart to get injured while foiling a robbery.  He even tries to commit suicide in a glorious manner.

The artwork in the first year of the run is mostly by Kano.  Kano's style and storytelling was perfect, since it required someone good at drawing everyday life and people mixed with the fantastic.  The tone of the stories seemed very much in the vein of Will Eisner's Spirit.  Some arcs were dark, others humorous.  After Jerry's story concluded, the Dial bounces around to a variety of people:

• An executive who becomes so addicted to the Dial that he loses his family and job.
• A school girl who uses the Dial to become part of the in-crowd.
• A group of amateur filmmakers who use the Dial to perform Jackass-like super-stunts.
• A heterosexual construction worker who uses the Dial but gets transformed into a woman.  Lesson: if you become a babe that Adam Hughes would like to draw, don't drink beer with your buddy.  The ending to this tale is not feel good at all.
• A third rate crook who uses the Dial to become a super-villain in Gotham City. 
• A caveman who becomes the first person in history to use the Dial.  Why would a Dial with English letters appear so early history?  You might blame Pfeifer (like I did) but the answer appears later.

All of these tales are just superb.  Brewing in the background as a sub-plot are glimpses of the adult Robby Reed, who is in prison and struggling to learn of the Dial's location.  Just when you think Pfeifer is trashing another Silver Age icon and infusing him with Modern Age darkness, all is not what it appears to be.   H.E.R.O. #15 brings Robby back into the series front and center, and he becomes the protagonist for the final arc of the book. 

Robby locates Jerry Feldon, the character from the first issue, and explains his childhood relationship with the Dial.  The last time he used the device it gave him the ability to witness a terrible event in the future--which is about to happen in the current timeline.  But the gizmo stopped working for Robby and he threw it away.  He married his childhood sweetheart and tried to settle down but discovered that he retained some of his Dial-related powers.   Meanwhile, the latest person to find and use the Dial is a serial killer, who shows very little restraint using his powers.  Jerry and Robby go on a quest to stop him and the previous users of the Dial are recruited on either side of the battle.  The last issue wraps up things neatly and there is a bit of a cool Mobius loop tying everything back together.  The artist for H.E.R.O. #15-22 is Dale Eaglesham, who did a very nice job with both the action and emotional scenes. 

I enjoyed re-reading this series immensely.  Lots of fun and several details hung well together when I read the issues back to back.  I remember originally reading the final arc and getting confused about who the returning characters were.  Why didn't the book catch on when it was published?  Hard to say, the writing and art were top notch and people like Geoff Johns were trying to give it a push.  I have to wonder if the covers for the first year or so held it back.  These covers were painted and well done, but from far away, you might think this was a Vertigo title.  During the Robby arc, they switched to more super-heroish covers by Jason Pearson.  But that didn't help sales either.  The lack of interaction with the DC Universe might have hurt sales.

Dial H for HERO is back in the spotlight, with news that China Miéville is writing a new series for DC Comics, starting this May.  He is a big fan of the Silver Age material and has read Pfeifer's run.  It will be interesting to see where he takes this concept.  I just wish he would have someone say Sockamagee! every issue.  Nuff Said!

Brian Bolland Leads the British Invasion in 1984!

DC Comics brought in a number of great creators from the United Kingdom, starting in 1984, and if you had read any imported comics like 2000 A.D. or Warrior magazine, you were eagerly anticipating their work on mainstream DC heroes.  If it was not obvious what was happening, this cover by Brian Bolland on Amazing Heroes #52 made it very clear.  Judge Dredd, the character who had cracked the American market with superb artwork by Bolland and others, had opened the door for other creators from the UK.

Bolland was almost finished with Camelot 3000 by the time that Amazing Heroes cover was published.  Eleven stellar issues had been published—though we would have to wait about a year for the final issue (#12) to finally appear in 1985.

Dave Gibbons became the regular artist on Green Lantern in 1984, joining writer Len Wein for a series of stories that would see John Stewart take over as Earth’s Green Lantern for a while.

Alan Moore’s first issue of Swamp Thing was cover dated January 1984, meaning that it probably appeared in stores around Oct-Nov 1983.  I remember picking up this issue, without having read any of Moore’s previous work, but willing to give him a chance.  I thought it was a very good story and showed a lot of promise.  My jaw would drop to the ground when I read the next issue (#21) which contained The Anatomy Lesson.  That one prompted me to buy anything and everything written by Moore, including the Warrior magazines with the Marvelman & V for Vendetta stories.

Alan Davis joined a bit later, in 1985, when his stint began on Batman & The Outsiders.  I enjoyed his work on this title, although when I re-read these issues now, his style was a bit rough and his storytelling was yet as “epic” as it would become in later years.

Later in 1988, we got a second wave of creators from the UK.  Jamie Delano started on Hellblazer #1, along with John Ridgway.  Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s Black Orchid mini-series was also published in 1988.  It was a revolutionary period for comics fans!  Nuff Said.

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld: Ernie Colon and New Takes by Chris Stevens, Bill Walko

DC Comics has a magical gem of a property that hasn't been touched in years: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld.  The original 12 issue maxi-series that DC published in 1983 had a great premise: 13 year-old Amy Winston, who has lived all of her life in suburbia, discovers that she is really a princess from another dimension called Gemworld.  And by crossing over into that world, Amy is transformed into a fully mature adult with the powers to battle the evil Dark Opal.





Most of you probably have no idea about this series. Chris Stevens (chris2d from deviantART), produced this wonderful illustration of Amethyst without having any history with the character either.  He did a superb job nonetheless.  Chris says that this piece was done with "prismacolor/copics with white paint and color pencil on vellum bristol board".





Here's an illustration by Amethyst co-creator and original artist, Ernie Colon.  This cover appeared on Amazing Heroes 20 in 1983.





Another cover by Color for issue #2, shows Amethyst using her powers against Dark Opal's assassin, Carnelian.

The first 12-issue maxi-series delivered an engaging tale for an audience that is buying/reading lots of books today.  Amethyst had a female twist on the Shazam/Captain Marvel idea, with lots of intriguing possibilities for Amy to explore her adult self.  Writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn conceived a new universe in Gemworld, which wasn't (as far as I recall) heavily tied to the DC Universe.  It was fertile ground for a new mythology.

When the Amethyst series continued after the maxi, writers tried linking Gemworld in more tightly with DC continuity and the Legion of Super-Heroes magical villain Mordru--a big mistake in my opinion.




Last month, Project Rooftop featured this nifty redesign of Amethyst by Bill Walko.  Check out the link below for Bill's comments on the re-design.  Nuff Said!

Link: Chris Stevens on deviantART

Link: All-Ages All-Stars: Bill Walko's Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

Link: Aimee Olexan ComicArtFan Gallery page (lots of Amethyst original art & commissions)