Welcome back to The First Ten, our recurring series that looks at the first ten issues of a long-running (or short-running) comic book series to see how it all got started. Today we're covering the grim and gritty Dial H for Hero reboot, H-E-R-O, which ran 22 issues from April 2003 to January 2005. I'm not a huge fan of grim and dark reboots, but let’s give this thing a shot.

                                 Source: comicvine.gamespot.com

1. Powers and Abilities

Writer: Will Pfeifer
Artist: Kano

Wow. I wasn’t expecting the first issue to be this good.

The story begins as Jerry Feldon dials a crisis hotline and tells the operator that he intends to kill himself. He adds that he’s a disillusioned college grad who’s a victim of the failing economy. His reaction to seeing Superman is horror and depression over everything else in his life. It breaks him.

He’s washing dishes one night at his awful job when he discovers that a customer has left behind an odd device: a strange dial with the letters H, E, R, O emblazoned on it. He activates it, and is transformed into Afterburner, hero of the skies. But as he tries to stop a drunk driver, he lands in front of the car, assuming he has Superman-level invulnerability. He does not. And that's where the issue ends.

The script feels incredibly modern and real, and it expertly draws in the reader. Also, Kano's art may always be great, but – holy crap – Dave Stewart's colors really bring out the best in the pencils. The art is gorgeous and very moody. I'm fascinated to see where this is going.