scans_daily: Superhero with a thousand faces

arbre_rieur (

scans_daily,
@ 2012-05-03 02:01 pm UTC

Superhero with a thousand faces

DC's newest version of their old DIAL 'H' FOR HERO property debuted this week, written by fantasy novelist/former Socialist Alliance candidate for the UK House of Commons/university professor China Mieville.

Here are four pages from issue 1.

When down-on-his-luck schlub Nelson sees his friend being beaten up by thugs, he tries to dial for help in old phone booth. His fingers fumbling and hitting the wrong numbers, he suddenly finds himself transformed into a ghoulish character that calls itself Boy Chimney:

It's not very clear in this page, but the smoke's emanating from his stovepipe hat/chimney.

Later, wanting to keep the mob off his friend's back on a more permanent basis, he returns to the phone booth. He dials the exact same numbers, hoping to become Boy Chimney again, but this time things go somewhat differently...

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	no subject swatkat 2012-05-03 07:52 am UTC (link)
	It's intriguing, but I'm a little apprehensive. Melville can often be a little too clever, if you know what I mean. How was the issue? (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

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halloweenjack
2012-05-03 02:15 pm UTC (link)

Grant Morrison kind of set the bar for "too clever" in his 80s Doom Patrol run, in which it often seemed that he was so self-enchanted with his mad ideas that he barely bothered to provide a plot to go with them. I'm mostly familiar with Mieville from his Bas-Lag books, and while there's certainly a lot of throwaway stuff in them, most of the cleverness is actually put into the service of the plots, which are solid.

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	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-05 07:02 am UTC (link)
	Speaking of which, I'm undecided as to whether this is reminding me more of Morrison's Doom Patrol(and in particular, remember the Crying Boy from DOOM FORCE?) or Steve Gerber's HOWARD or DEFENDERS. By the way, when I bring up those particular comparison points: that's getting near my higher compliments. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject gerardotejada 2012-05-06 11:17 pm UTC (link)
	Sold! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject arilou_skiff 2012-05-03 08:06 am UTC (link)
	Mieville does comics? Inteeereeestiing... (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 8 comments) (Show 8 comments)

	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-05 07:03 am UTC (link)
	Who is this guy? I've not heard of him and now I'm intrigued. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 7 comments) (Show 7 comments)

	no subject mrstatham 2012-05-05 07:59 am UTC (link)
	He's a fairly well known English 'weird fiction' writer with some heavy Lovecraft influences in areas. I think DC getting him to write a book was something they really, really should've made a bigger noise about, given he's pretty popular. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-05 08:48 pm UTC (link)
	Typical of them to waste all their publicity on something (BEFORE WATCHMEN) that infuriates people, rather than publicizing something like this. This has "sleeper" written all over it and it should be better known. But this comic is actually fun to read. Can't have people noticing that. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

	no subject mrstatham 2012-05-05 09:31 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, well, DC are having some really dunderheaded thoughts at the moment - like I swear to God they're only releasing ONE tpb or hc from the New52 each week. I visited the store today, and they only have Animal Man. Next week is Batman. What the hell kind of release scheme is that? (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-05 10:05 pm UTC (link)
	Well, at least one that's going with the strongest stuff first, one could say that... (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

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mrstatham
2012-05-06 10:36 am UTC (link)

Debatable, since Swamp Thing - another Snyder book and whilst not having the recognition of his Batman, is still doing really well - isn't out until September. It's just a really confusing approach though, you know? Surely if they wanted to maintain the same momentum as they did releasing the first single issues, they should release all 52 trades in five-Wednesday month? Even if it was the only time they did it, it'd still impact their sales better.

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arilou_skiff
2012-05-05 08:25 pm UTC (link)

Fantasy/Steampunk/New Weird novelist. His big hit was Perdido Street Station. (it has catcus-men, and moths that eats dreams and all sorts of weird shit) he's written a couple of more stuff in the same universe, as well as spec-fic (no magic, not really future or anything like it, but just a very weird conceit) thing called The City and the City, and then there's Kraken (which is basically Neverwhere but with more tentacles)

He's a bit like Gaiman but more socialist.

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	no subject arilou_skiff 2012-05-05 08:27 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, and he's also famous for making lesbians question their sexuality. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject quatoria 2012-05-03 08:22 am UTC (link)
	I have to say, I'm eager to see what Dial H will look like in the hands of someone sincerely creative with their character concepts. Though this seemed a bit hit-and-miss. (Reply to this)

	no subject icon_uk 2012-05-03 10:53 am UTC (link)
	Reminds me just a little of the Identity Addict in Rachel Pollack's Doom Patrol run.... but then, that was practically a riff on Dial H for HERO in and of itself (Reply to this)

	no subject kamino_neko 2012-05-03 12:42 pm UTC (link)
	I am giggling like mad at Captain Lacrimose. (Thus probably weakening him, so...) (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject lencannon 2012-05-03 02:00 pm UTC (link)
	I almost never have this reaction, but when I saw Captain Lacrimose I was just overcome with joy. Which is ironic, I suppose, but I was cackling alone in my apartment. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject blueprintstyles 2012-05-03 01:29 pm UTC (link)
	I really liked this issue. (Reply to this)

	no subject halloweenjack 2012-05-03 02:17 pm UTC (link)
	Captain Lachrymose gives me hope for this. There are so many ways to do an emo superhero badly (and some of them have already been done), but "Every tear makes me stronger" just made me giggle. (Reply to this)

	no subject crinos 2012-05-03 02:34 pm UTC (link)
	Also, was the stove pipe hat crypt keeper another hero from the dial? Man, they've come quite a ways from the "Sockamagee" days. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-05 08:49 pm UTC (link)
	That's the FIRST one. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject eyz 2012-05-03 02:36 pm UTC (link)
	Is that Brian Bolland on the cover??? Color me intrigued!! :D (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject mastiff 2012-05-03 05:00 pm UTC (link)
	Hehe, that was my first thought too. Amazing how a distinctive style can be recognized even at that small size. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject mrstatham 2012-05-03 03:35 pm UTC (link)
	I love how ludicrous this is. A hero making a gangster or whatever break down in a sobbing heap because he got a fucking cowboy hat and not a viking helmet is the most hilarious thing I've seen in a long, long time. Here's hoping DC don't ruin this by forcing it into connections with other DC titles. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-05 07:04 am UTC (link)
	Exactly. Let this be insane. Letting the weird shit stay is why JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY is now so loved. DC should take a page from that. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject gamerguy 2012-05-03 05:48 pm UTC (link)
	Eh, more freaks and monsters from the DCnU. (Reply to this)

	no subject majingojira 2012-05-03 06:13 pm UTC (link)
	Boy Chimney? No . . . Wait. THAT'S THE SLENDER MAN! (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject leikomgwtfbbq 2012-05-03 08:58 pm UTC (link)
	Well, Slendy IS associated with mysterious fires and Silent Hill smoke/fog... zomg, you're right! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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darkblade
2012-05-03 06:42 pm UTC (link)

DC's newest version of their old DIAL 'H' FOR HERO property debuted this week

Great another Silver Age hero is going to get shafted by some 90s like Grimdark, and it's the hero everyone is going to compare to Ben 10.

written by fantasy novelist/former Socialist Alliance candidate for the UK House of Commons/university professor

Wait can do they mean...

China Mieville.

You win this round DC, but this better not go down the crapper.

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big_daddy_d
2012-05-03 11:08 pm UTC (link)

This book I was actually looking forward to. I never read the original Dial H series so I'm new to this. Also what I like is that the protagonist is an overweight guy and it's not played for laughs. They go into his health, physical, mental, and emotional and honestly, I felt like I could relate. Also I like Boy Chimney.

One more thing..has there ever been a point in the Dial H series where someone dials 8455246?

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	no subject icon_uk 2012-05-03 11:33 pm UTC (link)
	Yup Also 467767 (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject red_cyclone 2012-05-04 06:11 am UTC (link)
	Boy Chimney seems to me like something from Un Lun Dun, my favourite China Mielville book, I will be getting this next time I go to a comic shop. I'm often dubious about writers crossing over to comics, but this seems pretty awesome so far. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject deleonjh 2012-05-03 11:57 pm UTC (link)
	I like China Mieville's ideas but I can never get into his prose or his characters. Something about them just doesn't click for me, like I'm always aware I'm reading a book. Here's hoping having the story in picture form will help me get into Mieville's storytelling. (Reply to this)

	no subject terabient 2012-05-04 12:06 am UTC (link)
	"oh and poison" "Some hipster's here" describing Captain Lachrymose. CAPTAIN LACHRYMOSE okay done squealing. (Reply to this)

	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-04 05:42 am UTC (link)
	I actually liked this a lot, writing and art. This was fun. I just feel badly these two talented people will be generating all these neat characters DC will own. (Reply to this)

	no subject kraesil 2012-05-04 12:45 pm UTC (link)
	4376... Clever, Melville, clever. Brownie points for the fantastically oversized hat that spews fumes thing. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

	no subject samjohnsoncomics 2012-05-04 05:22 pm UTC (link)
	Brownie points for the fantastically oversized hat that spews fumes thing. Agreed. I picked the book up yesterday, I like the look of it. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject darkblade 2012-05-04 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	That's always been that way in pretty much every incarnation of the character. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

	no subject jlroberson 2012-05-05 07:06 am UTC (link)
	So I wonder if the dial is going to have to stay there or not. And also: I'm thinking this might end up a Captain Universe thing, with shifting protagonists. What would be fun is if it did that in some kind of tangential way, like Monty Python or Bunuel. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject kamino_neko 2012-05-05 11:06 pm UTC (link)
	I'm thinking this might end up a Captain Universe thing, with shifting protagonists. That's how the previous series, H.E.R.O. did it - the dial would fall into a different random person's hands every issue. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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