Review - Homemade Heroes #1

Homemade Heroes #1 is an interesting book. It's not so much one overarching story but a series of strips presented in the old school newspaper format. It's about a world of gifted people that call themselves superheroes. Only instead of every panel being them doing heroic things, you're more likely to see them being a bit more human. Well, as human as superheroes can be.

Homemade Heroes #1 is written and illustrated by Russ Walton, who goes by the pseudonym Grim Rascal Presents.

The superheroes' choices are more likely to cause them embrassment and humiliation instead of fame and fortune. It's something that is a bit more lighthearted than a lot of the other stuff out there and more or less pokes fun at the entire superhero culture. There's a shark man that can't swim, a would-be stick-up robber foiled by a credit card and superheroes taking cabs to get to the point of distress.

Walton's stories are pretty amusing and really do a great job skewering some of the trappings associated with being a superhero. What's even better is that each strip has a simple title such as "Fame," "Good Deed" or "Sick Sense." Each title gives you some indication of what to expect and reading the strip provides the support for that expectation.

As mentioned earlier there's really only a loose thread holding all the strips together. That thread is that they're all in the same issue and, presumably, all the superheroes inhabit the same universe. Grim Rascal has promised that future issues will be more linked together and refer to previous issues as well, ideally expanding upon the universe of Homemade Heroes.

The best thing about Homemade Heroes #1 though is the art. The characters are drawn very well and are almost caricatures of superheroes themselves. There's an almost graffitti style in the illustrations and lettering, which works really well for a book like this.

Homemade Heroes #1 has a lot going for it. It's not something that can be read as an ongoing series (yet), but it is something that pokes fun at the superhero genre. There's a Calvin & Hobbes vibe to the stories that makes it fun to read.

The first issue can be purchased by contacting Grim Rascal directly or by checking out their Facebook page.