Whatever Happened To Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?: Heroes Reborn #1 / #2 (Marvel Comics) Reviewed

 

Photo Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Serving as both a great jumping on point for new readers, and an intriguing storyline for long-time fans, Marvel’s next big event, Heroes Reborn, is off to a roaring start. The premise is fairly simple, what if The Avengers never gained their powers? Captain America was never unfrozen, Thor never became worthy, The Fantastic Four never went to space, Spider-Man was never bitten by that special spider, several major Marvel heroes are stripped of their powers to entertaining results. For one reason or another the only hero with a memory of the way things were is the vampire hunter, Blade. Making Blade the early protagonist of this event is an inspiring choice, breaking the mold from the typical Iron Man and Captain America led stories. 


Blade is on a mission to rescue his fellow heroes from this backwards world they have found themselves in. Heroes Reborn #1 serves to set the stage for the event, introducing readers to a new iteration of the Squadron Supreme, Marvel’s very direct parody of DC’s Justice League. In the Marvel Universe, the Squadron serves as a government-sanctioned super hero team, and in a world without the Avengers, they become the only protectors of America. Heroes Reborn #1 features the Squadron going toe to toe with several reimagined Marvel villains. Combinations of classic foes create fresh faces for the Squadron to slap around. Dr. Doom and Juggernaut, Red Skull and Venom, and Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are just a few of the mashups that are featured. 


The star of the Squadron is Hyperion, the super strong, super fast, super American riff on Superman. Heroes Reborn #2 gives readers a look inside Hyperion’s mind, and by the end of the issue reveals that his uber-patriotic ways are bound to push him to shockingly brutal extremes. Throughout both issues writer Jason Aaron uses language straight out of Silver Age comics when writing Hyperion’s scenes, for a bit of cheesy fun. 

 

 

Photo Courtesy of Marvel Comics

 

 

In recent years Marvel has pushed for their events to wrap up quicker, which might be a welcome promise to some that struggle to keep up with months of releases. Heroes Reborn promises to reach its conclusion in June, after seven issues plus about a dozen spin-offs. This does serve to create a plot that does move at a fairly breakneck speed, but also makes for an easier to digest overall narrative. Heroes Reborn is thus far proving to be an action-packed narrative that should build its characters to exciting confrontations. If you’ve been looking for a chance to start reading Marvel Comics, this is it. 

 

- Neil Hazel