Dial H for Hero #3
Cody White
Recap
Summer and Miguel are still on the run, only now they've lost the H-Dial! They continue their search in Central City, where they valiantly try, and fail, to get the attention of The Flash before finally Miguel senses the H-Dial.
Finally our duo catches up to the H-Dial and Summer gets her first turn at dialing. Interspersed throughout the issue, we get a look into the traumas of Summer's past and her conflict with her mother, eventually leading to Summer defeating the dial thief and retrieving the dial.
Miguel and Summer set a course for the old Detroit-era Justice League base. Meanwhile, in the Heroverse, we see the revelation that the mysterious Thunderbolt Club contact is none other than Robby Reed, the original (comics) wielder of the H-Dial!
Review
At the midway point of the series, Dial H is finally hitting its stride. The background look into the character of Summer was necessary to keep reader engagement and came at the perfect time. The strength of the series, of course, lies in the wacky heroes generated by the Dial and the drastic shifts in artistic tone that accompany them but it is nice to see some actual character development along the way as well. Giving depth to Summer provides something stronger for the reader to latch onto– creating an actual connection to these characters and shifting the focus of the narrative away from simply being something of a thought and form experiment (although the combination of writing and art makes the latter worth the price of admission, if unsustainable in the long term).
Final Thoughts
Dial H for Hero #3 continues to deliver interesting experiments with art and form while also developing the characters, particularly Summer, into something more than just a throw-away name in a wikipedia article.
Dial H for Hero #3: Throw-Back Wednesday!
- Writing - 7/107/10
- Storyline - 7/107/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 6/106/10