Superheroes and comic books go hand and hand. Which is okay but how many times can you go down that road and not see the same thing? It’s hard to do but when hit it just right a very entertaining comic can be the result. Well Action Lab’s The F1rst Hero just might have pulled it off. In a world were superheroes are unknown to the world, the very first one makes his presence known by attempting to assassinate the 40th president of the United States. That man’s name was John Hinckley and he was a villain… the world’s first villain. After that the president initiates a bill to control and strip the civil rights of the small group of people who have “extra human” abilities. Thus the ETF is born; the Extra-human Task Force and they are merciless.
Now in Afghanistan, Jacob Roth, a young marine is stationed with his buddy Yoshi and they are patrolling the street and making small talk until a sniper catches Yoshi with round through his skull. Shocked, Roth reacts on instinct and rushes the building where the shot came from. When he engages the two terrorist, Roth exhibits superhuman powers that deflect the bullets. Shocked by the sudden display of power, Roth is jumped from behind and knocked out.
When he comes to, Roth is tied to a chair and is facing a video camera with a handful of Alkida terrorists behind it. Realizing that he’s in a bad way Roth uses his new-found talents to fight for his life.
Well this is exactly what I was talking about. Action Lab’s The F1rst Hero is doing what it needs to do to spin the typical superhero power trope. While nothing was incredibly original here the presentation was pretty refreshing and character development engaging. Ruttgaizer does a great job of keeping the pace moving making it a pretty fast read. He also does a great job with Roth’s narrative—he’s a likable guy and his internal struggle is presented in an interesting way. You want to see how far Roth can go until he loses control of the power or his mind.
Visually, Sevy’s art is really shows off when it comes to the action. While everything else in the book looks good there is just about watching a machete fly across the room and nail its target. Fun!
If The F1rst Hero can really dig in and delve deep into the mental struggle and keep the action going then we might have ourselves an awesome series on our hands.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Anthony Ruttgaizer Artist: Phillip Sevy Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/27/14 Format: Mini-Series, Print/Digital