Hero Camp #1 Review

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Reviewer: Jimmy Lin

Story & Letters by: Greg Thompson
Art by: Robbi Rodriguez
Colored by: Russ Lowery

Points: 8/10 – I’ll buy it, read it, and push it like

“Camp Enokchuk will be destroyed!”

Let’s see: declaration of villianous intent, hyperbolic sense of cheeze for cuteness factor, and clever Gen-X reference. Yep, everything you need to know about Hero Camp is contained in the last sentence of Issue #1.

Eric’s parents have super powers, but he himself hasn’t manifested any. To encourage any latent talents he might have, he’s sent to a superhero camp every summer where he mingles with metahuman teens. So far, it hasn’t worked – on the first page, Eric plummets towards the forest floor. It turns out one of his campmates has pushed him off an elevated platform, and the rest of them are encouraging him to fly or waiting to see if he’ll bounce. Suddenly, he zips away, apparently flying, but he’s just been rescued by his super-terrier, King. He’s set upon by three rather inept villians who just happen to want to destroy Camp Enokchuk.

It’s so post-modern camp, it’s gotta be fattening. (No pun intended, kiddies.)

Hero Camp is the book that you’d expect from the hipsters who somehow got away with being comic-book nerds. It’s cute, it’s fun, and it’s so pop-culture that it should be on Adult Swim. Fortunately, the hipness doesn’t get in the way of the story. Hero Camp succeeds much in the same way that Blue Monday does, by letting the campiness drive the peripherals instead of the characters. It’s John Hughes meets Kevin Smith, and it works.

You can even see it in the art. Obviously influenced by Mike Allred, the art combines the best of Kirby and cartoon, with bold, expressive lines and simple but effective color work. Robbit Rodriguez is definitely marked in my book as someone to watch out for.

If there’s any shortcoming to the book, its that the length of the story makes you feel a little short-changed. 18 pages is about 18% shorter than your standard monthly, but what you do get is worth it. It’s like getting the best burger in the world in your Happy Meal – totally worth the money, but you’re left a little hungry.