SuperSearnold - Comic Book Reviews

Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Welcome to my comic book review blog – thanks for tuning in. Today is Friday, September 26th, 2008.

Today’s Issue:
Heroes Chapter 3: Villains – Episodes I & II. Yes, the TV show. (I know it’s not TECHNICALLY a comic book - but it’s the closest thing on television.)

Premise:
In case you’ve been in a box for a while, Heroes is a hit show on NBC that follows the adventures of regular people who suddenly find they have extraordinary abilities. And I don’t mean being good at math or incredibly flexible – we’re talking cellular regeneration, telepathy, and flight. Heroes began it’s third season last Monday.

The Awesome Parts:
Heroes is the only show I know of where ANYTHING can happen. Think about Lost in its first season – nobody knew what was going to happen. Main characters died. They took the story into unprecedented and unexpected territory. Today – while characters still occasionally die – you know a few things about the conventions of Lost – unexpected things will happen, questions will be brought up and remain unanswered, Jack won’t to die, Kate won’t to die, etc. Think about 24 - while they killed an unprecedentedly large number of characters in their first few seasons, you now know that no matter how big of a pickle Jack gets into he isn’t going to die. And by the end of the season you know he’s going to catch the bad guy. None of these conventions exist in Heroes (at least not yet). Because of the massive amount of time travel and healing blood available ANYONE could die. If they’re a major character or a fan favorite, they’ll probably be brought back in one way or another - but they still COULD die. Basically the point of all this is to say that I enjoy Heroes’ lack of predictability. It makes the show a fun ride. They’re also introducing new characters and taking a few old characters in new directions this season. I must say that I am excited to see where they go with this story arc.

The Un-Awesome Parts:
I’m quite tired of Sylar. I’m ready for a new villain. Now I happen to know that there are going to be new villains - but couldn’t they have new villains and thusly NOT Sylar? I also thought that Sylar’s first appearance in this series was very forced and unexplained. There’s no way that he could have known how to get to where he was (am I being vague enough? I don’t want to give anything away because the episodes can be viewed at www.NBC.com/Heroes.) Also, the status of powers is still ambiguous and vague. My other MAJOR vice is that this premiere was hyped as a “great jumping on point” for new viewers. Ummm… don’t say it if it’s not true - and it is NOT true about Heroes Season 3. Especially with the help of the music, I’m sure that any intelligent newcomer could follow the basic premise and dramatic structure of any given scene (this character is in danger, this character is making a mistake, etc.) But why would they CARE? Season 3 doesn’t introduce the characters at all. So while the story might make sense, I don’t see new viewers caring. I happened to watch the season premiere of The Office (another NBC show) with a few people who had never seen the show before - and we had to keep pausing to explain the complex relationships between each of the characters, because otherwise not a lot made sense. I feel like I would have had to do the same thing if I was watching Heroes with a newcomer. The beginning of Season 3 is absolutely NOT a good jumping on point. Luckily - both Season 1 & 2 are available on DVD.

My Reommendation:
If you didn’t like Season 2 (as many fans didn’t) then I recommend giving Heroes another chance. I felt like the stakes established at the beginning of Season 3 have set up a premise for a great season. If you’re new, definitely catch up with the DVD’s before watching. The key question is this - if you aren’t a comic book or genre fan, but ARE a fan of “regular” character driven drama shows (Desperate Housewives, Bones, Boston Legal) then will you enjoy Heroes? That’s a tough question - I think it depends on what you like about drama and whether or not you are intrinsicly biased against “genre” shows (be honest with yourself about this). Heroes is great because of the characters. These are REAL people who are dealing with morally ambiguous and difficult decisions. Because of their powers, we get to see them wrestle with moral quandries that normal people would never come up against. We see their relationships change based upon their decisions. We understand that their choices have serious consequences not just for themselves but for the people they care about. If these sorts of character driven stories interest you, then I think you would enjoy Heroes. My guess is, if you’re reading this blog, you DON’T have a bias against “genre” TV - so that shouldn’t be a problem for you, either.

That’s it for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time.
-Searnold