REAL HEROES / UNCANNY AVENGERS / IRON PATRIOT [Reviews]: Not Such a ‘Party in the USA’

Back again and I’m coming at you like Kenshiro wandering the wastelands in Fist of the Northstar. It’s your weekly 1,2,3,4,5-punch of uncanny, star slammin’, reality-bending rowdy comic reviews. They don’t call me Mister Boombastic, simply fantastic Guy Padre for nothing. But enough of my poor man’s 21st Century Stan The Man impersonation.

To the Fistful!

REAL HEROES #1

Roll call. Cue the exclamation points. Olympian! Tiny Titan! The Patriot! Longbow! Velocity! Hardware! Avengers Assemble! What? Oh… Real Heroes is the latest creator-owned comic project of Bryan Hitch (Fantastic Four). Right there, you get an idea of what this book is in a nutshell. Imagine the Ultimates as a book about a bunch of actors playing the fictional Ultimates, who then really real for reals become the Ultimates. Part Galaxy Quest, minus the outright ridiculousness, but incorporating a bit of that film’s general theme into “What If the cast of the Avengers were granted their on-screen powers and really did have to save the world?”

Those comparisons are just surface elements though. The story itself is filled with some fun, realistic dialogue and entertaining characters that draw the reader into the world that Hitch is building. It begins with a recognizable, still painful tragedy as we see one of the main characters grow from that event into the man he is today: the actor who plays the beloved superhero icon Olympian in one of the biggest sequels of the year. I don’t want to spoil too much, as the issue really is a fun ride that should be enjoyed with every turn of the page.

Now, Solomon Grundy can fly!

For a new writer, Hitch handles things well, presenting us with a tight, focused story that is highlighted by witty interactions and some clever twists. I found the way he changed the tone and tenor of the dialogue — when we are supposedly watching scenes from a film to less cheesy real world (well as real as the speech of Hollyweird actors can get) talk — very well done. It really separated the “on-screen” happenings from the rest of the story.

The visuals, of course, are classic Hitch. Big, bold, summer blockbuster scenes. Even the interaction between characters have that right mix of Hollywood storyboard and Neal Adams bombast. All in all, this is a satisfying debut that throws out some pretty cool shocks and twists that will have you hooked.

Bring on the Academy.

Bring on issue #2.

4.25 (out of 5) Bibles.

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