Dial H for Hero #1
Cody White
Recap
Dial H tells the story of Miguel, a young man once saved by Superman who yearns to recapture the exhilaration of that moment against all odds. You see, Miguel lives in a trap-town, working for his uncle's disgusting food truck (all mayo all the time) following the death of his parents.
A regular night of hawking mayo in forms it has no business taking and taking abuse from his uncle sees Miguel meet Summer, another youth with a burning desire to get out of Dodge. Miguel heads off to perform death-defying feats to make him feel alive but things go awry. Falling to his doom, however, Miguel is visited by the Dial H artifact and Miguel is transformed into...
Upon waking up from his exploits as Monster Truck, Miguel finds himself pursued by police but luckily, Summer has boosted the Gross-Mobile and the pair flee the scene to seek adventure and fortune (and to protect the Dial, but more on that later!).
Review
Dial H for Hero is everything you could want out of a Dial H book. It’s fun, exciting, and still leaves you with a slightly uneasy feeling, like something terrible is lurking just out of the periphery. Humphries crafts a tightly woven tale with this debut issue that essentially gives readers all they truly need to know to enjoy this wacky, slightly off-beat book. In connecting this series to the greater DCU (everybody seems to have an awareness of the Dial; see below), the stage is set for many a cameo as Miguel explores the Heroverse to protect the Dial from the agents of the Thunderbolt Club!
Quinoes’ art is an exceptional fit. It opens clean and almost cartoonish without being overly so, but when Miguel dials in his first hero, the entire tonal structure of the art shifts to meet the narrative. Monster Truck’s sequence expertly evoked the more ridiculous moments of the 1990s comics scene, with bright garish color schemes and over the top theatrics. I can’t wait to see what other heroes this iteration of the Dial has in store!
Final Thoughts
Dial H for Hero #1 starts strong and finishes stronger. The best of the Wonder Comics line to date, Dial H is both whimsical and slight terrifying at the same time.
Dial H for Hero #1: I’m Holding Out for a Hero ’til the End of the Night
- Writing - 9.5/109.5/10
- Storyline - 9.5/109.5/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 8.5/108.5/10
Great title 😀