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Hero Squared (Ongoing) #1
Book Released: 07 June 2006
Review posted: 16 July 2006
Writer: Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis
Artist: Joe Abraham
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Colors: Ron Riley
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
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Bring on the Bwa-Ha-Ha!
Giffen and DeMatteis, the masterminds behind so many great projects (most recently I Can't Believe It's Not The
Justice League), have created a most excellent new series for BOOM! Studios, a most excellent new comicbook company. In
Hero Squared, Giffen and DeMatteis not only deconstruct the superhero genre but rebuild it from its foundation,
producing a hilarious series that injects welcome humor and liveliness into the artform. Combined with the rollicking art of
Joe Abraham, Hero Squared is a series that you should be jailed for not reading.
Giffen & DeMatteis are top-drawer talents and need no introduction; if you don’t know who they are then consider
yourself slapped. The Masters of Bwa-Ha-Ha showcase their infinite talent through
rich characters, outstanding dialogue, and ribald hilarity, taking everything you enjoy about superhero comicbooks, turning
it on its head, and making you enjoy it even more. Giffen & DeMatteis began this series
Constantly funny yet sincere, Hero Squared does all the things you knew comicbooks were
capable of despite the lack of previous evidence.
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with the X-Tra Sized Special
and continued it in the Hero Squared miniseries, and now finally bless us with the ongoing; you should definitely read all these issues, yet they aren't necessary to enjoy the ongoing (but
you will get more out of it if you do). The two/four main characters (read it to understand that) are complex, funny, and
likeable, always holding your interest and compelling you to turn each page with a sense of enjoyment and fulfilment. Heck,
Hero Squared (Ongoing) #1 was actually mostly “talking heads,” but I didn’t even realize it until
after I finished and looked at it again because I was having so much fun reading it. Giffen and DeMatteis kill on the
dialogue, proving that word-heavy issues are actually wonderful when handled by professionals. Constantly funny yet sincere,
Hero Squared does all the things you knew comicbooks were capable of despite the lack of previous evidence.
Hero Squared also serves as home to the fantastic Joe Abraham, an artist I had no previous knowledge of yet now
consider a favorite. Abraham captures the full depth of each script, visually achieving the balance between the humorous and
the sincere so delicately crafted by the writers.
Hero Squared is a series that you should be jailed for not reading.
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Abraham’s art flows easily through the panels and pages, making even the
“talking heads” scenes more dynamic than many “hot” artists can make an action sequence. Abraham
makes the dual characters the same yet completely different — something that is easier to achieve in writing than art
— as if it comes casually and naturally to him. Combined with the vivid colors of Ron Riley and crisp lettering from Ed
Dukeshire, Hero Squared provides the complete visual experience for your viewing pleasure.
Just go buy it already.
—CCdC—
Cover image supplied by publisher.Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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