Heroic Publishing 2017
Written by Steve Perrin, Dennis Mallonee
Penciled by Pete McDonnell, Ciro J. Napolitano & Rob Hobers
Inked by Jeff Albrecht, Craig Stormon & Aaron McClellan
Coloured by Janice Cohen, Dick O’Malley
Lettered by Jean Simek & Carrie Spiegle
If I was told I could only read a handful of companies, say five, Heroic would definitely be one of them. No they don’t put out the most amount of titles but what they do they do extremely well. Heroic takes their characters seriously in the way that I loved in the 80’s, there is a slight camp but otherwise they have troubles and problems but there’s lightness and humour to them as well. It has a more of that authentic I’m a person who is a superhero vibe to it. These folks really get what comics are supposed to be about and bring that to us unabashedly.
So yes this is a higher price tag but ya know what with 52 pages and three stories in it this is what the old 80 & 100 page books used to be like. There’s a way that this book is structured so that the stories flow and actually compliment each other. With the main feature being the origin of the Huntsman and what happened after donning the red suit. It is a great origin story and it has power and impact that you don’t see a lot of any longer. Donald’s father didn’t die and still lives and that isn’t the reason for his newfound superhero identity, that in itself is refreshing and wonderful.
The interior artwork for the first story is pretty darn excellent. It has that tone, look and feel of a classic, god I can’t believe that I’m using the 80’s as classic example, comic book where realism became more a thing and the colours are vibrant and alive. The utilisation of page layouts through their angles and perspective is just solid work and gives us a look at this eye for storytelling. Would I have liked to see more backgrounds yes but this fits the style of the story incredibly well.
The writing is excellent and through it’s development and characterisation use the ebb & flow in ways that engage the reader. Then by throwing in Icestar and Rose in at the end made for what is that whole what’s ahead angle that I found rather interesting.
Now the second story features Rose and Donald and works well as the second feature after the ending of the first. I like the premise, the way it’s written and that’s mainly because it has this whole Dynasty feel to it that sucked me right on in. It’s weird because I never would have known who the characters were by looking at them and that’s due to the artwork. There was a chance for something great here but it fails to hit the mark. It feels like someone is going for old Hollywood but only succeeded in early Sunday comics strips.
I have to admit though it’s really the story itself that’s more important. It is this whole murder mystery where the murder hasn’t happened yet. What kind of mad genius does this? Well Dennis does but I love the concept and so far it’s execution is superb. I’m definitely hooked on this story and it’s solid fun.
The final story features Eternity and of all the characters here him I know the least about. So this one for me was utterly fantastic. Again the throwback feel of the story was the perfect fit for what we see. The idea of these futuristic looking snowmobile and the whole fully enclosed, self-sustaining ecological environment just screams out for a science-fiction horror story. Isolated and far away from the thought of help, finding an object that seems to come from some other civilisation and mixing it up with scientists, jealous backstabbing and sabotage all along with a military man who craves control and power and doesn’t want to let the heroes anywhere near all this. Yeah it has all that and more.
I like the characters and the characterisation that we see here. It makes these characters pop and come to life in ways that make them intriguing. I love that now I want to see and know more about this group and what they do and how they do it. There is a lot of information here that really gets into the reader and the imagination which is so good.
Heroic is a strong publisher who does their own thing and their characters encompass a wide range of characters and genres. They use a more nostalgic approach to that older fans can remember what the past was like while the younger fans can see what comics without all the angst and darkness can be.