BOOK REVIEWS PAGE
REVIEW: HEROES VOLUME I Graphic Novel Collection Hard Cover
11/7/07
© By: David Deas www.the-owi.com
So I get a knock at the door today and I open it to find the DC Hard Cover for
the HEROES graphic novels sitting on my doorstep.
First impressions: make room for this in your collection. You have seen the
cover previously with the Alex Ross artwork on the front and Isaac's (Tim
Sale's) painting of Peter flying off the rooftop on the reverse. Also if you
remove the dust cover the eclipse is embossed into the books cover, that is
a classy touch.
Now if you have read the online graphic novels the majority of this book isn't
new to you. Even still it is nice to have them in hand on glossy paper. There
is a disconnect in reading them online and it is nice to run your fingers
across the page.
You can tell that this book was designed by people who live and work in
graphic novels. The opening page is a reference to HEROES' comic book
origins. It is a full page comic book cover with a familiar painting of a
cheerleader running from a shadow. Even the 'Helix Comics' logo puts you
into the mindset of a 10 year old who just spent 12 cents on the comic of the
week.
If that isn't enough the next few pages follow suit and the titles, writers and
artists are contained in old comic book style advertising boxes. They even
have the classic X-Ray glasses ad in there. Whoever came up with this idea
wins my award for creativity in book design.
Included is a very nice introduction titled 'Jump, Magazine, Sunday.' from
Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) which speaks about his upbringing and the impact
that Manga (Japanese comics) have had on his personal life. In Masi's own
words, "A mere television show couldn't contain us. There still are more
stories to tell, that we wanted to tell but couldn't..."
As stated earlier the novels are all from Volume I. They start with Mohinder's
search for his father's body in 'Monsters' and end with 'The Death of Hana
Gitelman'. In between each novel is one of Tim Sale's paintings turned into a
9th Wonders cover. All of Tim Sale's work from Volume I is included
throughout the book. It is so great to have Sale's work on paper.
The surprise to me was the interview conducted by Jeph Loeb, Executive
Producer of HEROES, with writers Aron Eli Coliete and Joe Pokaski. If you
follow the weekly Behind the Eclipse interviews at Comic Book Resources
you will recognize their names.
They talk about the process of creating a weekly online graphic novel and
the impetus for such a project. It was a nice read and makes one realize how
much work goes on to produce not only the TV show but the rest of the
HEROES universe.
I would recommend this book to everyone. The novice HEROES fan would
get a lot of background out of the novels and the hardcore collector gets a
great collection of artwork from many different comic artists with varied
styles. I am not sure where you could find a collection of art like this
anywhere else. This would even be a great present for anyone who is a
comic collector but not necessarily a HEROES fan.
I would like to thank everyone that worked on this book. It took a lot of
handwork and boy does it show. I would also like to thank Alex from DC
Comics who gave me the opportunity to get my hands on the book and do
this review.
HEROES VOLUME I Hard Cover
DC Comics/ NBC
$29.99 US retail
11/7/07
© By: David Deas www.the-owi.com
So I get a knock at the door today and I open it to find the DC Hard Cover for
the HEROES graphic novels sitting on my doorstep.
First impressions: make room for this in your collection. You have seen the
cover previously with the Alex Ross artwork on the front and Isaac's (Tim
Sale's) painting of Peter flying off the rooftop on the reverse. Also if you
remove the dust cover the eclipse is embossed into the books cover, that is
a classy touch.
Now if you have read the online graphic novels the majority of this book isn't
new to you. Even still it is nice to have them in hand on glossy paper. There
is a disconnect in reading them online and it is nice to run your fingers
across the page.
You can tell that this book was designed by people who live and work in
graphic novels. The opening page is a reference to HEROES' comic book
origins. It is a full page comic book cover with a familiar painting of a
cheerleader running from a shadow. Even the 'Helix Comics' logo puts you
into the mindset of a 10 year old who just spent 12 cents on the comic of the
week.
If that isn't enough the next few pages follow suit and the titles, writers and
artists are contained in old comic book style advertising boxes. They even
have the classic X-Ray glasses ad in there. Whoever came up with this idea
wins my award for creativity in book design.
Included is a very nice introduction titled 'Jump, Magazine, Sunday.' from
Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) which speaks about his upbringing and the impact
that Manga (Japanese comics) have had on his personal life. In Masi's own
words, "A mere television show couldn't contain us. There still are more
stories to tell, that we wanted to tell but couldn't..."
As stated earlier the novels are all from Volume I. They start with Mohinder's
search for his father's body in 'Monsters' and end with 'The Death of Hana
Gitelman'. In between each novel is one of Tim Sale's paintings turned into a
9th Wonders cover. All of Tim Sale's work from Volume I is included
throughout the book. It is so great to have Sale's work on paper.
The surprise to me was the interview conducted by Jeph Loeb, Executive
Producer of HEROES, with writers Aron Eli Coliete and Joe Pokaski. If you
follow the weekly Behind the Eclipse interviews at Comic Book Resources
you will recognize their names.
They talk about the process of creating a weekly online graphic novel and
the impetus for such a project. It was a nice read and makes one realize how
much work goes on to produce not only the TV show but the rest of the
HEROES universe.
I would recommend this book to everyone. The novice HEROES fan would
get a lot of background out of the novels and the hardcore collector gets a
great collection of artwork from many different comic artists with varied
styles. I am not sure where you could find a collection of art like this
anywhere else. This would even be a great present for anyone who is a
comic collector but not necessarily a HEROES fan.
I would like to thank everyone that worked on this book. It took a lot of
handwork and boy does it show. I would also like to thank Alex from DC
Comics who gave me the opportunity to get my hands on the book and do
this review.
HEROES VOLUME I Hard Cover
DC Comics/ NBC
$29.99 US retail
REVIEW: Saving the World A Guide To: HEROES
© By: David Deas www.the-owi.com
Coming November 2007
© By: David Deas www.the-owi.com
Coming November 2007
REVIEW: HEROES: Saving Charlie
© By: David Deas www.the-owi.com
Coming Late December 2007
© By: David Deas www.the-owi.com
Coming Late December 2007
| 5/5 |
| 4/5 |
| n/a |
