“Ka-pow A**hole!” Ben Day snaps as he decks an attacker who has been goading him. Thus establishing that this teen hero isn’t your traditional good guy. Ben is a petulant youth, who gets a tongue lashing from his Dean the next day over his action. Though the book time jumps a bit, I’ll try and be a little more linear.
Ben is the son of Sergeant Daniel Day, a marine who was saved by the arrival of Super Heroes who ended the war in Kuwait twenty years prior. These mysterious beings use both their physical powers and advanced technology to make this world a better place. It’s interesting when it is pointed out that the sports and film industries have died out because no human or human-made product is as impressive as these beings. Through it all, however, there is a palpable sense that there is something darker beneath the surface.
Ben meets with his dad and tells him that he got in trouble. After returning home, his dad says to his mom, that he’s tired of lying to his son about “who we really are.”
Ben hangs out with a girl named Sara, but it’s clear they aren’t dating. Ben reveals that when he developed super strength, a bar code mysteriously appeared on the back of his neck.
The next day at school, there’s an explosion on campus and when Ben investigates, he is confronted by three super strangers who are frantically searching for him because “everywhere else I’ve been you’re already dead!”
This book was decent. The art was nice. It wasn’t a case where I bought a book because of the art, but it’s pretty good. It’s sort of middle of the road, in that it wasn’t hyper realistic, but wasn’t too cartoon-y or stylized. So it was nice above average comic art. The printing was a tad off, though, because the art at times, including on the cover, was pixelated.
The story itself is interesting enough. Ben’s not the most likeable character, but he wasn’t so surly that he was annoying. There were several mysteries introduced. Obviously, these heroes aren’t the perfect, altruistic beings they seem on the outside. We’ve seen this scenario in comics before, so there’s a sense of staleness in that regard. But what are they? Aliens? We don’t know yet, so it may be worthwhile to stick around and see where this goes. The beings in the end are interesting too. Are they connected to the heroes? Are they time travelers? Dimension hoppers?
So while this book didn’t knock my socks off, it’s still entertaining enough. So if you’re looking for a new super hero title, but don’t want to slog through 100 back issues to get caught up, this one may be a good choice.
Verdict: Borrow
HELL YEAH
Written by Joe Keatinge
Art and Cover by Andre Szymanowicz
