“Yesterday’s” Comic> Who Wants To Be A Superhero FCBD Preview

“These bracelets are too big. I want a refund.”

Who  Wants To Be A Superhero? Free Comic Book Day preview

Dark Horse (May, 2007)

Who Wants To Be A Superhero was a reality game show that aired on Sci-Fi. Contestants were told to create their own superheroes, and took part in a series of challenges to prove they were worthy to be superheroes. The winner got his or her comic book, a one-shot produced by Dark Horse. Matthew Atherton won with his character Feedback, a superhero who gained powers from video games and could disrupt electronics within 15 feet, plus was a computer genius. I didn’t watch the show because the heroes were created with superpowers that couldn’t be replicated in the game and so couldn’t be a factor. I don’t know if that was the right decision, but I appreciate the idea. It went on for one more season, and spun-off a kids version in the UK. Sadly, no kids version was made in the US, as our kids get screwed over again. Also, the UK supervillain actually messes with the heroes.

The Free Comic Book Day sadly doesn’t tell a lot about Feedback or the story Lee had in mind. It’s only the first 8 pages not a lot happens. We see Atherton’s comic counterpart face down in the mud, not sure how he got there but some guys are standing around him declaring that he’s not worth wasting bullets on because he’s dying. He flashes back to how he grew up without his dad (according to the real Atherton his father committed suicide but that’s not mentioned in the comic) and developed a love for video games and comic books. As an adult he became a video game repair man, but one day some punks got on his case because he wasn’t cheering their boss’ high score and forced him to try to do better, and then attack him when he does just that. Taken to the hospital, Matthew meets a cute nurse who needs help fixing her computer before being approached by a man who wants him to fix his computer. Only “Ironside” has prosthesis thanks to his soldier days and needs Matthew to fix the computer on a special attack vehicle so he can stop a terrorist. This is where the comic ends.

I know it’s supposed to be a preview, but unless you saw the show (and I didn’t) nothing about it makes me curious to read a story about Feedback. There’s no hint of what he can do or what his powers out outside of a description on the front cover. We don’t even see him get hit with whatever gives him his powers. We see him near-death and his life flashing in front of his eyes, but while the art is good and the writing is…typical Stan Lee dialog but otherwise good, nothing about this preview makes me want to read the comic.

If you were to tell me that the full comic is good and worth checking out, I’d believe it only because Stan’s writing it. He’s have a few clunkers, but he’s also had more good ones. This preview, however, does not succeed in selling me on this comic.

If you still want this comic I have a copy available at the Comics For Sale section of my other website, The Clutter Reports.