I've been waiting for this book for a while, actually. Not H-E-R-O specifically, but for an ongoing project from writer Will Pfeifer, who impressed me with his work on Vertigo's Finals and has done some fun collaborations with Jill Thompson and other artists for X-Men Unlimited as well. Pfeifer brings his talent to bear on H-E-R-O, creating a story that so far reads like a combination of Astro City's streetwise view of heroism and the luck of the draw aspects of 100 Bullets. Strong characterization, an intriguing hook and solid artwork combine to make H-E-R-O #1 an impressive debut.
Every one of us has at one time or another probably felt like we were at a dead-end. Our career, our romantic lives, everything had come to a sort of unspectacular cul-de-sac that seems like it might promise nothing but dullness and despair for the future. Pfeifer starts the story with his protagonist at this point in his life, and that in itself isn't all that unusual... after all, when you've got nowhere else to go but up, there's all kinds of story potential. What's surprising is the direction he takes it, as Jerry (our protagonist for the first arc) actually does get something of an upturn in his life, but it somehow makes things worse.
The question of what happened to Jerry after his encounter with the H-Dial is enough to keep me interested, but Pfeifer doesn't stop there. His portrayal of a young man who saw his promising future cut short by economic downturn ought to resonate strongly with those of us who have been job-hunting in the post-Internet, post-9-11 economy, even if the specifics of his situation are a little different. In addition, Jerry's frustration that the greatest moment of his life seems to revolve around an encounter with someone else is a great flipside to how super-heroes generally affect people, without being maudlin or cliched. I also enjoyed the characterization of Doug, the voice on the other end of the phone; his casual manner, even down to admitting that he gets college credit for working the hotline, makes him a lot more interesting than if he were a weepy psycho-analyst or volunteer desperate to save his charge, as characters in that situation in fiction often are.
While I knew what to expect from Pfeifer, artist Kano was a little more of a surprise. His work on Superman mostly didn't click with me, but he seems to have shifted his style considerably for H-E-R-O. In keeping with the 100 Bullets influence on the story structure, Kano seems to have let Eduardo Risso's dark style influence his art a little, and the results are pretty impressive. The same precision of storytelling can be found here, switching from long shots to small details to focus the readers' attention, and I'm impressed that Kano handles such realistic scenes as a rush at the ice cream parlor or a kind smile from the object of a crush as well as he does the super-heroic action toward the end of the book.
It's good to see DC taking some chances with their super-hero line again, and H-E-R-O steps away from the icons to show us the little-explored and often more interesting corners of their universe. The hook is something a little different, the creators are relatively new faces and the characters are all-new, making for a fresh and exciting new addition to the DC line-up.
