Man of Steel, Dial H for Hero

One of this week’s new comics!

Dial H for Hero 1

I’m not exactly sure why I bought this.  I wanted to try out all of the titles in the Wonder Comics line?  Miguel, the new recipient of the H-Dial, is a young Evel Knievel wannabe, and not really the most likeable of protagonists. Summer looks to be his manic pixie dream girl, fine whatever.  Monster Truck, the 90’s hero parody, is pretty hilarious, but 4 pages of that is really all I need to see of that trick. I’m unlikely to buy more.

Man of Steel 1-6

The first of what looks to be numerous Superman origin stories.  I’ll try to remember to keep track of them, I’m curious to see just how many there are.  This is the classic re-telling by John Byrne, coming after the massive reboot that was Crisis on Infinite Earths.  I first read this as a collection back in middle school, and Byrne’s Superman is still up there in my mind as one of the best renditions of this most iconic of comic characters.  

So good!

There are several large time jumps, with a seven year gap at the end of the first issue, then an eighteen month leap before the fourth issue.  Issue five comes two years later. The story is just as scattered as the timeline. Each issue is pretty much a done-in-one, and there’s no real unifying plot to tie them all together.  It works as a way of showing key points in Superman’s life up to ‘present’ time post-Crisis, but it reads more like an anthology than a cohesive story.

It’s not really a complaint, more of an observation - Nostalgia plays a strong role in my feelings for this, but even discounting that, these are well-written and drawn comics that establish a new era of Superman, as wholesome and pure as ever.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good