132 pages. Full Colour.
Future Publishing Ltd.
Edited by Jes Bickham.
Cover photograph (Iron Man) - uncredited promo.
Free 2000 A.D. magnets, poster and Marvel comic.
Contents:
..2 Karakuri Dôji Ultimo advertisement.
..3 Indicia / Borag Thungg, Earthlets! introduction by Tharg. / Look! Up In the Sky! editorial by Jes Bickham. / Meet the Team profiles.
..4 Contents
..6 Heat Vision news feature by Joseph McCabe, Michael Molcher, Dez Skinn, David West, and Rob Williams.
.11 The Graves advertisement for play.com DVD.
.14 Coming Soon forthcoming films.
.20 Comic Heroes Events Diary
.21 Give 'Em Hell Malone advertisement for play.com DVD.
.22 Reinforced Armor Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau interview by Joseph McCabe.
.28 Iron Man - The Ten Essential Stories text feature by James Hunt.
.30 You Are the Hero Matt Fraction interview by Jes Bickham.
.32 The World's Number One Sci-Fi and Fantasy Magazine advertisement for SFX.
.33 Special Comic Preview! introduction.
.34 Superman: Secret Origin, five-page sample, w: Geoff Johns; p: Gary Frank, i: Jon Sibal, lettering by Steve Wands, colouring by Brad Anderson.
r: Superman: Secret Origin (DC Comics) #01 (Nov 2009).
.39 Iron Man: The Ultimate Collection (half page) advertisement for play.com DVD. / Original Spider-Man (half page) advertisement for play.com DVD.
.40 Feeling Super Jane Goldman interview by Joel Meadows.
.48 Kick Art John Romita Jr. interview by Nick Setchfield.
.52 Your Guide to the DC Universe text feature by Chris Brosnahan.
.62 A Beginner's Guide to Bande Dessinee text feature by Guy Haley.
.70 You Can Call Me Al Al Ewing interview by Michael Molcher.
.72 Superhero Supergames text feature by Matthew Pellet.
.75 Now Available to Order At play.com (half page) advertisement for Doctor Who clothing. / Visit www.cardboardcutout.net (half page) advertisement.
.76 The Art of... Guy Davis interview by Michael Molcher.
.82 The Makng of... Superman text feature by Daniel Etherington.
.87 Futile Resistance advertisement for LastExitToNowhere.com.
.88 How to... Write for Comics text feature by Rob Williams.
102 Comic Icons The Devil You Know John Constantine text feature by Jes Bickham.
108 If Lost Makes You Feel Like This... in-house advertisement for SFX Collectors Edition Lost Special
109 Retrospective Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War text feature by Michael Molcher.
115 Movie T-Shirts advertisement for www.nerdoh.com.
116 Hell Will Not Stop Him advertisement for 2000 A.D. (Rebellion) Prog 1678.
117 Reviews by Jes Bickham, Guy Haley, Thom Hutchinson, and Joel Meadows.
123 High Voltage Festival advertisement.
124 Comic Club The Dark Knight Returns retrospective by Jes Bickham.
126 Adverts
128 2010: The Year We Make Contact... With You! in-house advertisement for www.sfx.co.uk
129 Next Month
130 My Inspiration Mike Perkins text feature.
131 Game of the Year Edition advertisement for Batman: Arkham Asylum.
132 Brand New Action from the Makers of Nightwatch and Daywatch advertisement for The Interception at HMV.
Responding to an upsurge in interest for comic properties, Comic Heroes - a hefty, thick, and feature-packed magazine which is quite impressive in its gaudy cardboard sleeve, while out of its sleeve the actual cover is much more refined. The issue is a time capsule of where comics were at in 2010, and in seemingly minor details is where the magazine is at its most interesting - that Marvel has a Bullseye poster in their toilets telling people to aim, for example. I'm hoping they also make posters with The Fixer for veterinary practices to display when kids bring in their pets.
The emphasis on a then-imminent release of Iron Man 2 prompts an extended interview with Robert Downey Jr. in which much promotional work is done. A handy "Ten Essential Stories" section recaps the best of his appearances, with a feature on the inevitable computer game rounding out the section. It is missing much geekiness which ought to have been included - we don't get to know what Ivan Vanko's tattoos mean, there's nothing about the race car he drove during the film, and there's a massive lack of fun in the reporting.
Such information is probably available should I wish to hunt for it, but when a major film release is being promoted in a magazine like this I expect at least a hint of the obsessive detail checking. And who, pray tell, got the villain's name wrong on the photo caption? We notice this stuff.
A comic preview is always welcome, but if there's a character who needs no promoting it is Superman. The world is already saturated with the iconic S-shield, so throwing pages at a series which has guaranteed sales is largely pointless. This is one area in which the revived Starburst has impressed me, by highlighting strips I haven't necessarily heard of. To be fair, it is a very pretty Superman story, and I'm sure it has its charm, but really...
Kick-Ass bagging a spot in the first issue is very amusing, and Jane Goldman's thoughts on adapting works is a treat to read. John Romita Jr. provides a great interview, which highlights how much he's thought about the character. The focus on comic adaptations is frustratingly superhero-centric, ignoring the three best comic adaptations ever made, but I can forgive this in a title which is looking hungrily at the market for such movies. I am, of course, expecting improvement.
A nine-page guide to the DC comics universe valiantly attempts to condense decades of twists and turns into a handy introduction - which was never going to work to everyones satisfaction, and which displays far too many simplifications. Take the history of DC Comics itself (the company, that is), which gets simplified into a single entity in its earliest days, or much streamlining of 1970s continuity snarls. The first serious examination is Crisis on Infinite Earths, which is where Chris Brosnahan's introduction cuts off. Just as the story gets interesting.
A full book-length history of DC would only barely scratch the surface of continuity problems, and a small article doesn't even get to use specifics to highlight the issues at hand. Take, as an easy well-known example, Batman's origin story: Did Bruce's uncle, Philip Wayne, take him into his care? Was Alfred there from Bruce's childhood, or did he turn up after Dick became Robin? Where does Aunt Harriet fit in? The chronology was a mess long before Crisis shook the DCU by its ankles to see what would fall out of its pockets.
And that's before we even think of the Huntress' history.
The Who's Who sidebar (cleverly named after a long-running feature) lacks depth, but at least it tries. No love for Carrie Kelley though? For shame. The recaps of the various major series are, for the most part, fine, though I have to disagree with praise for Identity Crisis, which has several moments which strain uncomfortably against both continuity and logic. The story would have worked just as well without rewriting years of history for the sake of a couple of attention-grabbing panels.
What is omitted is as important as what is covered: Legends, Millennium, Invasion, Eclipso: The Darkness Within, Bloodlines, Underworld Unleashed, The Final Night, and Day of Judgement get ignored completely, even though each played a part in the complex jigsaw of continuity - which is not only why this article shouldn't have been included, but why it really needs to be analyzed properly.
Do I really need a free poster? Not really. And I can live without the comic, and magnets, nice as they are. I still have my Ghost in the Shell ones. You want to know what I would rather have? This essay, but done with gusto. A free book with the first issue, charting DC's complex history in detail, working out how many versions of certain events we have seen, thus establishing how many versions of characters exist in the DC multiverse.
It is refreshing to get an article on Bande Dessinee which doesn't focus its main force of effort on Asterix, but to overlook Tardi's Adèle Blanc-Sec (which was adapted into film in 2010), or Valerian, reprinted in the UK back in the 80s, makes the article seem too light and breezy. Which is a problem running through the entire magazine - this is a fancy sports car with an old banger's engine. Its pretty, but it doesn't go like it should.
The Al Ewing interview is hilarious, intelligent, and frustratingly short. Comic Heroes is imbalanced towards film and video games at the expense of the very thing it claims to be covering. Its saving grace, which comes after more film and game features, is the piece on writing for comics. There's enough in the piece to warrant the purchase of this issue alone, with insightful and offhand comments sharing space - utterly fascinating.
John Constantine has always been a fascinating character, and the article focusing on his history is as good as can be expected within the limited space. A selection of collections are recommended, and the uncollected issues are highlighted. There's a six-page look at Judge Dredd, with the Apocalypse War epic, which manages to cover just enough to make it entertaining...
There's one question above all which governs how one should view Comic Heroes - is it really worth eight quid?
Without How to... Write for Comics, the answer would be ridiculously simple, but there's a lot of value in that one piece. It doesn't make up for the lack of small press coverage, or noting that there were radio series' people should have been listening to. I still pull out my copies of Ally Sloper every so often simply to enjoy the reading of it, as with old issues of Comics International and Comic World. It is doubtful that I'm ever going to feel nostalgic for Comic Heroes however.
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