WWE Heroes Volume One: Rise Of The First Born
Written by Keith Champagne
Art by Andy Smith
I love comics and pro-wrestling, which sometimes leads to odd conflicts of interest. I mean, while you could write off either as a soap opera, and there are enough wrestler and superhero comparisons to justify the accepted term of “Superman Cena”, they’re not usually something you see do too many crossovers….unless the Hurricane is coming through. So when I was sent a copy of the first trade paperback of WWE Heroes and asked to review it, I actually got kinda excited, I mean, I get to have a straight up mix between two of my favorite things.
Unfortunately, I forgot to get wary as I am definitely one to do, and this book drew me in with one of the most random roundabout stories I’ve possibly ever read. With reincarnated immortal warriors, and possessed wrestling legends, and terrorists attacking Wrestlemania. I kept asking why things were happening, especially why I was reading it, but as I came across the end of the volume there was really just one question I had in my mind.
“What happens next?”
Maybe it’s my infatuation with bad movies, or the fact that I buy every book the Wrestlecrap guys put out, but for as bad as I want to say this book is, it’s ridiculously entertaining. I remember reading the preview pages for the first issue back when the book launched, and I remember thinking that they were trying too hard to compare the wrestlers to ancient warriors, but finally having the complete story in my hands I can see that….well, yes, they did try too hard. But hey, the First Born vs the Shadow King! That’s kinda the point of this book, two immortals representing good and evil fight each other all throughout history, generally with the First Born defeating his rival (called Thrune), though in the 40’s they both went down. Now, though, Thrune is back and wanting to kill the First Born!
So terrorists attack Wrestlemania, led by Brother Josiah (a pierced priest that serves Thrune), and seeking out the First Born who they have identified as a WWE wrestler, whom I should taunt and tease you and just not tell you who it is, make you buy the book to find out because I’m mean like that. Or at the very least hit up the wikipedia page.
Screw it, it’s Triple H. Surprised? I wasn’t. It’s also revealed in one of the opening flashbacks that in a former life he was King Arthur and Thrune was Mordred. This isn’t relevant, but man, isn’t it hilarious? Triple H really is the King of Kings!
Back to point, terrorists and Wrestlemania and wrestlers wrestling for the right to live. By the end of the first or second issue Chris Jericho and Triple H already seemingly number amongst the casualties, and Big Show follow in their footsteps an issue or so later because he loses a “Lose and you die” battle royal. One featuring the entire roster, even the women, and somehow featuring only a single elimination. Though this is wrestling, and one of the few things about the sport that truly does manage to get captured in this story is the always fun and exciting wrestling staple….the heel turn. Yes, that’s right, no less than two workers turn heel during the course of this story, joining up with the Shadow King’s forces to stop the First Born.
By far the biggest fault of this book is not the nonsensical story, no, it’s the art. While the action is good, and some characters stand out, far more look little like their real life counter parts, and it’s actually quite hard to figure out who is doing stuff more often than not. Especially with the divas who I can’t tell apart from each other, which I guess is just a nod to how small their importance is in this story. Seriously, the divas in this book make the WWE’s actual women’s division look strong, because here they are generic eye candy…..alright, so that part is WWE accurate. Some wrestlers do stand out, like I said before. Big Show is obviously Big Show, Orton and Batista stand out thanks to their trademark tattoos, Jericho thankfully stands on his own merit, and Cena and Shawn Michaels have familiar ring gear that makes them stand out. Triple H, Vince McMahon, Kane, Mark Henry, the Undertaker….they all stand out well. Carlito is the dark skinned guy with the giant afro who is never named, John Morrison is more noticeable by his necklace than his tights or hair, Edge didn’t stick out to me at all despite my being a fan of his. I guess I just figured that if you’re going to do a book based on real life people, that it would be clearer just who we’re looking at. There are quite a few pages where I could swear Stephanie McMahon is doing something, but with no indication who the character is it could just as easily be Layla.
There’s some nice use of WWE Legends, well, kinda. Jimmy Snuka shows up for no apparent reason to wail on people at Tribute to the Troops, and then Roddy Piper shows up for the rest of the arc. Piper is entertaining, but it’s weird to think of Hot Rod as someone to show up and sneak past the cops to go and….hit preacher with a chair. I mean, it’s totally in character, but I can’t figure out how he managed to get through a giant police barricade.
WWE isn’t exactly the easiest thing to translate to comics, most sports aren’t, and while I respect the fact that they tried I also find myself questioning the avenues that the writer took. It’s similar to the Undertaker comics produced by Chaos back in the late 90’s in that it takes licensed characters far out of the realm of believability, or even sensibility, and tells a story using the characters that doesn’t neccesarily make sense. I mean, this book isn’t rated TV-PG at all, and that’s what the company has been priding itself on for some reason. I dunno, this book is enjoyable in a bad movie sense, like I enjoy it on the same level as a Rob Schneider of Sean William Scott movie, but at the same time I’m left wondering if anyone in WWE ever bothered to read it.
Is it worth your money? Well, that depends on how big of a wrestling fan you are, and just how much tolerance you have for an entertainingly bad story. If you’re a stickler for the highest of quality, and find yourself completely turned off by a ‘bad book’, then this really is not for you. But like I said, if you like bad movies, or hell, if you’re a fan of Wrestlecrap, give it a look. You might just find a few laughs. And it’s still more readable than the first arc of Secret Avengers.
Overall?
4/10
