Hero KillingBy Regie Rigby Y’know, it’s a terrible thing. There are times when, quite frankly, I struggle to have anything to talk about. You might have noticed this. Then there are weeks like this, when I have so damn much to say that there is no way I can possibly fit everything in. So, without further ado, let’s get suck in!
The first thing I need to bring to your attention is Hero Killers, the latest comic to come out of Moonface Press, the people who brought you Devilchild and Shriek!, both of which have been positively reviewd here in the past.
I’m tremendously pleased to tell you that Hero Killers fits right in to that proud tradition of quality and quirkiness. Written once again by Devilchild and Shriek author Andy Winter, with some striking art by Declan Shalvey, Hero Killers tells the story of Mona Saint. Mona is, frankly, a bit crap. In her super-villain guise as “Mistress moth”, Saint can’t even come up with a decent name. If that weren’t bad enough, six years ago the LA based Super-Team “Superior VII” kicked her arse and threw her in gaol.
Now she’s out, and there’s a whole bunch of scores to settle. A whole bunch of Heroes she’s just dying to get even with. She could just go after them and get some hands on revenge, but she’s got a better idea. Why get even, when you can get even and rich?
Thus is born “Saint Inc”, a company with a very straightforward unique selling point. They murder superheroes, for a fee.
The rather ironically named Saint isn’t stupid. She keeps her team of violent thugs Rottweiler, Black Laser, Psilence and Sure Shot) away from the big cities and the glare of publicity, hiding in the shadows and cashing the cheques. But then there’s an offer from the country’s biggest independent oil company she just can’t refuse. $100 million to take out Bronze Eagle – the most loved and respected superhero in the entire country. It’s a big risk, but it’s enough to retire on, and a way to express her contempt for the superhero community that locked her away for six long years.
She should have walked away, but it’s too tempting a job to turn down.
It’s a big big mistake. Still it’s not the first one she’s ever made in her life, and one of those earlier errors might well be coming back to haunt her…
Hero Killers is one hell of a ride. Something of a departure from Winters’ more usual tongue in cheek horror fayre, and proof if proof were needed of his range and story telling skill. As you might expect from Moonface, this is no run of the mill cape and cowl show. There’s a darkly comic edge and a healthy dash of cynicism here in Winter’s script, beautifully complemented by some brutally dynamic penmanship from Shalvey, who turns in a bravura performance.
I first came across this book at Bristol back in May, but I’ve been holding off on telling you lot about it because although you’s have been able to get hold of the book through the Moonface Website I know many of you are reluctant to commit your hard earned cash to a comic you can’t see first.
That’s the trouble with the self published comic. As a rule they tend not to get into your local comics shop. If only they would list their books in Previews or something. That would make life a bit easier wouldn’t it?
Well of course it would. So of course that’s what the geniuses (it’s a word – honest) at Moonface have done. Hero Killers can be found in the September issue of Previews, and will therefore be available in comics stores in November. So go on, do yourself a favour. Get yourself down to your LCS and tell ‘em to get a copy in for you. Hell, get one for a friend too. Trust me, you’ll thank me for it when November comes around.
Hero Killers is though, an example of the other thing I wanted to talk about. Although it is published by Moonface Press, a British company, written by Andy Winter, a British bloke, and illustrated by Declan Shalvey, who is also a Brit as far as I know, the action is set in the US. So, are the heroes British? Or American?
Yeah, I know, this is unusually jingoistic for me, but bear with me – I’m going somewhere with this.
Who is the most recognisable British comics hero? Judge Dredd? A British creation certainly. Written by British Writers, drawn by British artists, published in a British publication. But the Big Meg is on the Eastern Seaboard of what is currently the United States. Which makes him American.
(Worth noting here, by the way, that Dredd’s pedigree is more European than British, since Carlos Ezquerra, who co-created the character, does not hail from this sceptred Isle, but from the sunnier climes of Spain.)
How about Captain Britain?
Well, Brian Braddock is certainly British. He was originally published in a British publication. But having said that, it was a Marvel publication, and the House of Ideas is as American as Pumpkin Pie. (Apple Pie, oft claimed by the Americans, is of course British – particularly when served with Custard.) He’s owned by an American company. Does that make him British?
I could go on. Constantine? Well, he’s a Scouser, but DC/Vertigo is at least as American as Marvel. Battler Britton? Hell, even he is published by Americans these days.
And you know what?
Who cares?
Normally, not me. But my eye was caught last Sunday by an article in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. (Well, all right, somebody told me it was there – I’m not normally a Telegraph reader…)
They were asking where all the British Superheroes were. We used to have quite a few. The Steel Claw, The Spider, Kelly’s Eye, Billy the Cat, the Leopard of Lime Street – hell we even had a Flying Viking. But now, they’re mostly forgotten. Indeed, even the ones who are still in print, like Captain Britain, are pretty much unknown among the general populous.
I mean really – how many Americans have never heard of Captain America?
I don’t know why the profile of these characters should be so low. It’s not as though there is no demand for them. Angel’s Fancy Dress of Shaftesbury Avenue in London has literally miles of racks of costumes that can be hired fro fancy dress parties and events. Yet on all of those miles of racks and rails there is not one single costume belonging to a genuinely British Hero. Customers have asked, but there’s nothing.
Like the true patriots they are, Angel’s has decided to do something about this. Pop along to their website and you’ll find a link to a competition. Basically, they want a costume design. A truly British design for a truly British hero. The winning costume will be made, and the designer will get to keep the costume.
Entries will need to include the name of the hero, some background details (career, home, family etc) the British skills and powers he or she will wield, and a jpeg sketch of the character in costume. You don’t have a lot of time – the closing date is the 31st of August (yes, I know, but I only just found out about it myself…) but it’s got to be worth a go, hasn’t it?
One final thing, while I’m on the subject of Britishness. I read the first issue of the new Deadman series this week. It was OK, but can somebody please tell John Watkiss what a British Police uniform looks like? They don’t wear US style caps. We’re really quite proud of our famous “tit helmets”. And whoever decided to have the police carrying sidearms needs to check their facts too. Firearms are only used by specialist units. They are not carried as a matter of course. This isn’t pedantry, it’s basic detail. The fact that the police featured in the story were wearing US style uniforms and waving pistols around all over the place made me genuinely uncertain where all the action was taking place.
I expect better.
Buy Hero Killers instead. Much more accurate.
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