Dial H for Hero #12 – Sam Humphries, Writer; Joe Quinones, Artist; Jordan Gibson, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 10/10
Ray: A brilliant conclusion to the most creative comic to come out of the DC main line in years, Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones bring Dial H for Hero #12 in for a perfect landing. When we last left off, the sinister Mister Thunderbolt had successfully banished Miguel and Summer to the mysterious K-zone and was closer than ever to completing his mission of giving everyone in the universe super-powers against their will.
Quinones’ art is always inventive, but he does some of his best work with Miguel and Summer in the void, at their lowest as Miguel grapples with the mistake that may have doomed them and they struggle to find the hope to light their way out. When they do, it kicks off one of the best transformation segments of the series, as the heroes jump between one era of comics to another as the heroes deliver homages from some of the most famous stories ever. Mister Thunderbolt seeks power, but that turns out to be his undoing in a brilliantly ironic twist that seals his fate.
From there, Miguel and Summer find themselves at the end of the multiverse, with no clear way home. Their solution sends them catapulting through some of the most iconic DC stories and ends with a stunning two-page spread that shows the impact of their actions and of the H-dial’s power through DC history and through everyday struggles people are fighting to overcome. The ending gives us a brilliant last visual, a new LGBT hero in the DCU, and the potential for so many more adventures.
This isn’t just one of the best DC comics in years, it’s one of the most important comics in years in terms of what superheroes can mean to the average person. It’s going to go down as one of the pinnacles of Sam Humphries’ career, and it should catapult Joe Quinones into the A-list as a wildly unique artist who can mimic the best artists in comic history seamlessly. Whatever they do next, hopefully this book will find immortality in collections as one of the best celebrations of the potential of DC Comics I’ve ever read.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
