Real Heroes #2 Review

With a clear premise already explained, Real Heroes #2 has plenty of options ahead of it. This is a good time to get an idea of the title’s future, so where is it going?

The official description from Image:

The cast of The Olympians superhero movie franchise has been asked to save the world. It can’t end well.

It may still be early days, but I can’t tell if Real Heroes #2 is really clever or really obvious. Yes, of course, there’s a running parable to The Avengers and the mainstream success of comic book movies – is anyone surprised that this title is published by Image comics, rather than any publishing company under Marvel or DC? – but some areas do wear thin.

In terms of pacing, Bryan Hitch has the right idea. The main concept is already introduced and the characters are fleshed out bit by bit. The grey area lies in Hitch’s focus on the celebrity side of fame. While it is interesting, isn’t this title meant to be a superhero tale, or at least a twist on the typical genre? All the elements are there, but sometimes it feels as if elements are thrust into the panel for the sake of it. Big spaceship-style base? I get you could read that as a reference to a helicarrier or the Justice League’s orbiting satellite, but to what end? Making references for references sake isn’t always useful, although I could just be missing the point. Still, I like the underlying theme of coming face to face with your heroes, but I think it needs a greater focus.

Visually, Hitch’s pencils do a lot of work here. He clearly has an appreciation for the genre, and a flare for design work, as everything comes off unique and well interpreted. The result is a title that looks great and distinctly looks the very part its reinterpreting. Laura Martin’s colors also help give each character a theme or color, helping to smoothly interpret hectic scenes or smaller panels.

All in all, this is a steady and decent second issue. With the right focus, this could be a very intelligent series or, at the very least, prove to be a fun little romp with plenty of meta-references to the current state of superheroes. Either way, there’s definitely an audience.