Neil Gaiman's Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man Vol. 1by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 8 Mr. Hero is a steam-powered robot with two heads and personalities. He was created by the Teknophage to help corrupt Earth, but instead he ended up in a magic show and then lost for decades. Now he's ended up as a companion to Jenny, and they've been swept up into a dangerous fight of money and power.You can read my review of Neil Gaiman's Teknophage Vol. 1 here. I don't know if there's a preferred order to read things in, but, I appreciate having the background on the Teknophage character before all of this, especially since he was responsible for the creation of Mr. Hero. That being said, Teknophage is not for the squeamish, while Mr. Hero is light on the gore and deaths and (so far) can be read stand-alone. Jenny is an interesting character, one whom many people will relate to -- struggling to make ends meet, lucks out and spends her sudden funds frivolously, etc. I like her cheery outlook and her resourcefulness ... and that having money doesn't permanently change her attitude towards others. All of the other main characters are male, so I appreciate how important she is to the actual plot and to Mr Hero fitting in and getting his side of things actually done. She's naïve but not stupid, which works well, as she needs to be an average person for some of the plot things to work. She's not sexualized in any way, which also makes this a great read! I love both of Mr. Hero's heads / personalities. There are two different body designs as well, but absolutely no explanation for how / when that changes. I like that one head is more average on intellect (very compatible with Jenny) and is the fighter, and that the other head is the thinker. Both are rather proper and speak the British English of the early 1900s, which adds character and a bit of humor throughout the comic. Their metal-plated facial hair is a nice detail as well. This is a fun character, and I like that he has a head for brains and one for brawn. I also love the initial growing pains of him not running well on charcoal, and their quest to find actual coal. The two super-villains have pretty terrifying powers, but they come off as comedic because they a) bicker like cartoon characters and b) have powers that don't work on Mr Hero, so he easily defeats them. Chameleon works well as a double agent, and his power certainly comes in quite useful (unlimited shapeshifting, basically). The Avatar aspect seems really, really random, but it does feed the "money can corrupt" aspect to the story, and provides something for Mr Hero and Jenny to do. This was originally published in 1995, and there are some things -- including the technological angle with regard to the world and their being impressed with Mr. Hero -- that seem dated. I did love the Cyberman reference! This is an adventure with action and humor. It's simple, yet there's some complex layering. It can be read by itself, but it ties into a larger story. If you're looking for something with good characters and story and something different than the typical fare, I recommend checking this out. I'm looking forward to Volume 2. Written: June 9, 2016
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