GREATEST AMERICAN HERO-The COMIC BOOK

[johnnystorm]

Well, issue #1 came out yesterday, and it was ok. Anyone pick this up but me?

The art was very good, and they are updating the original pilot just a bit- Ralph has a decent haircut!
The adaption is very faithful to the original show otherwise.

The only problem I really saw was that Ralph doesn't appear in the suit at all in the first issue! I realize this is a three-issue mini-series adapting the origin, but they could have at least did a splash page or threw in a pin-up or two! A nice photo gallery would be good too, there's a few small photos on the inside covers.

The other problem I found is that there's not a whole lot of information out there about the book, not even on the Catastrophic Comics website- for instance, are there more than one cover?


My local shop is pretty small and only recieved ONE copy of the book, the one I ordered! Mine says VARIANT in the top corner, so I'm assuming there is at least one other cover to the book- but I can't find anything listed anywhere showing covers for it. This one is all black with the chest emblem logo on the cover . There's an ashcan promo floating around out there as well, but since I couldn't go to San Diego to get one, I dunno how that is. It was going pretty high on Ebay a month or so ago.

I asked my dealer to try and order me a couple more copies of #1, as I think this book is flying under the radar of a lot of potential fans!


Also, you fans might want to check with your local shop about ordering copies Signed by William Katt. They were in either last month's or the previous monh's Previews book for $9.99 each. I ordered a couple of those, we'll see what happens there.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I have it being reserved but have not had a chance to go pick it up yet. Isn't William Katt involved in this?

[johnnystorm]

Yes, he's writing it and is involved with the comics company.

[ThatBatmanGuy]

I heard about this awhile back. Suppose to be a comic book and a new cartoon series too using everyone from the tv show ala the Star Trek cartoon of the 70's.

Bob

[Airdave817]

I'd love to pick this up issue by issue, but I think I'm going to have to wait for the trade...

Overall is the story any good? Is it an A or A+? 10 out of 10?

[johnnystorm]

It's not bad, it's pretty much a straight up adaption of the series pilot with a bit of updating to the present, and most of that in the artwork.
Here's a link to the Catastrophic Comics website, I see they have the ashcan posted on it now that you can look at:

Catastrophic Comics introduces Sparks, a monthly superhero noir thriller

[Captain]

I hadnt even heard of this until now. Looks interesting...may have to fight the Christmas traffic and pay a visit to the not so local anymore, local comic shop.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I went out yesterday and bought the first issue because of this thread. I'd give the comic story a 7 out of 10. I like the updating with the cell phones and stuff, but I think they watered down the tough-ness of the kids and lost some of the humor (although comedic pauses and timing are hard to show in a comic book)

[johnnystorm]

Yeah, I think they should have done an action sequence of some sort with Ralph in the suit, then worked the origin in as a flashback. As it is, you're left waiting for something to happen, and kinda knowing it's not gonna happen until late in the 2nd issue or possibly the third. If you've seen the original show, there's a lot left to happen before Ralph goes into full action mode.

I'm happy to see it out there anyway. I was always surprised Marvel didn't try this show back in the day. They went after the John Ritter Hero At Large version, which they tanked after one issue. And they couldn't sell an A-Team book either. Of course, back then under Shooter Marvel was of the opinion that just putting out a series under the Marvel name was enough. For licensed series they usually used lesser talents, I guess figuring they paid enough for the license so they needed to save on the production costs. So you had less than steller stuff such as A-Team, Indiana Jones, even GI Joe.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Yeah, back in '78 I started collecting Marvel's Battlestar Galactica and they didn't do so well with that. The Star Trek that they did back then was limited to just what was shown in the motion picture, so that couldn't go very far, either. So, I imagine that they wouldn't have done well with GAH in the 80's. Also, didn't DC try and sue over the character?

[johnnystorm]

DC did sue over the character being too close to Superman, but the suit was dismissed. Guess that left them out of the running for producing a comic. Maybe that's why Marvel didn't try to do it to avoid problems with DC.

Sometimes I wish that a company like Dell or Gold Key was still viable into the 80S to produce a comic for any TV series that came along!

[Airdave817]

I bought Marvel's Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Star Trek and Indiana Jones. Loved 'em! Corny, cheesy, but I loved 'em. Looking back, I'm kinda impressed that John Byrne did Indiana Jones. When Marvel imploded and both Galactica and Star Wars folded and Star Trek went to DC, I followed and stayed there. I bought the A-Team. It could have been better...

I've got to call my LCBS to see if he can still order me a copy...

Believe it or not...

Yeah, I actually had the 45...

[johnmiic]

The ashcan PDF looks pretty good. I noticed tho they have updated it some with cell phones and the language to reflect todays politics, liberal/ conservative. To ignore it would probably be foolish but Bill comes accross a little too cranky in the ashcan. From the premire I remember hikm being more quiet in his grieving for his partner rather than pizzing and moaning. I'll have to run out and get the issue and read it all to see how it goes. This looks very promising.

[Airdave817]

Believe It Or Not...

...I just got my copy today. I had my choice of an excellent condition cover or a cover with some white spots on it. I took both. (This will probably be good for a bunch of re-readings.) Plus, the LCS owner told me he'll be getting an autographed copy that he'll set aside for me. I think I'm the only one interested in this book.

Very cool.

There should have been a splash page or a pin-up somewhere in there of Ralph in the suit, along with the photos. I'd like to see some current photos of Katt, Robert Culp and Connie Selleca together.

I liked it. I'm looking forward to the next issues.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I've been looking for issue #2, but haven't seen it, yet.