Hero Comics 2011

Let me begin by mentioning how glad I am that Hero Comics exists. This comic could be filled with absolute trash (which is completely not the case here) and it would still be worth every penny. I can say this because it's being put out to as a fundraiser for the Hero Initiative, which is a really great charity that benefits comics creators young and old who might need financial assistance with medical or other expenses. The people behind HI are doing some good work.

Last year was the initial issue of Hero Comics, and somehow I missed out on it. I was sure to snatch this year's edition, which has some important names on the credit list...what else have Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg worked on together besides the nine page story included here? Oh yeah, just the first few issues of that little comic called Sandman. And here we are, more than two decades later, and the band has been put back together for one night only to raise money for charity.

There are 31 pages of comics in this book, which is more than what you usually get in a floppy. Like I said before, it's worth every penny, but honestly...the Sandman team reunion wasn't the highlight of the anthology for me. The story, "My Last Landlady," is something I wouldn't hesitiate to call "abstract," "impressionistic," and even "obtuse." I appreciate the guys doing some new work for a good cause, but I wasn't quite entertained by the end results.

My favorite part of Hero Comics was definitely the Chew story. This was just a great idea...get the creators of one of the hottest indie titles today to make a funny little five page story. Tony Chu has to ingest some designer drug this time, all in order to help the police find out where it's from and who made it. He has a bad trip.

The third story is my biggest problem with Hero Comics 2011. "Once Upon A Time" is a story by Sam Kieth that runs for nine pages. It is about how "My last Landlady" came to be, and that was a nine page story itself. So in reading this there was a little bit of insight into the making of a comic, but it definitely ran too long. I wish the nine pages could have been devoted to, well, a whole host of other things. Two more short stories. Nine pinups. This just felt like it was space that could have been used so much better.

The last story was an Elephantmen tale written by Richard Starkings. I've always been intrigued by the comic but have never read it. I'm a little more interested in the series after reading this, so thank you Mr. Starkings!

I almost forgot to mention that there are a few one pagers that illustrate exactly how the Hero Initiative has had an impact on specific comic creators. They were good reminders of why this comic, and the charity as a whole, exist in the first place.

So please look for Hero Comics 2011 and visit the Initiative's site to learn more about an important organization that is always ready to help comics creators who are in need.