Broken Frontier

Jack King only became a hero to save the life of the woman he loved. Now, months later, will he find another reason to put the mask back on?

Writers D.J. Coffman and James Patrick are working hard to produce a superhero series that manages to be both a tribute to the Silver Age and nice all-ages read with some interesting, modern twists.

Jack King was a 20-something slacker until he accidentally stumbled onto the long abandoned lair of the superhero known as Hero By Night. Attempting to make a fast buck by selling the memorabilia on E-bay instead landed both Jack and his girlfriend Roz in hot water. Jack had no choice but to take up the Hero’s mantle to save Roz. Now, months later, Jack has sworn off the heroing bit… or has he? Meanwhile, questions linger about the nature of the ring that gave both Jack and the original Hero by Night their powers as well as the final fate of David Day, the first Hero by Night. Is Jack ready to face an all-new threat?

Coffman and Patrick have really crafted a dual-media comic book here since both the previous mini-series and this one weave along with web comics available on the website www.herobynight.com. While readers do not necessarily need to read the web comics to understand the story they do help fill in some background information. The current comic book story manages to prove that superhero tales do not have to be filled with angst-ridden, morally conflicted "heroes" to be good. Jack struggles with questions of his heroic destiny but at the same time in his personal life he has learned the values of love, community, friendship, and hard work. Although this title is not marked as an all-ages comic it really can act as one since there is little here to be objectionable to younger readers and a lot to be enjoyed both them and older readers. Also, older readers will pick up on some of the humor and gentle poking fun at Silver Age dialogue scattered throughout the story.

The art, by D.J. Coffman as well, is nicely detailed with a fun, animated cartooniness. In fact, when combined with the bright, eye-popping colors by Jason Embury, Hero By Night looks ready for the Saturday morning cartoon set (in a good way). The one gripe this reviewer has is the fact that Jack is the only character in the entire comic to not have sclera. The character’s beady black eyes just make him a stand out from the rest of the cast in an awkward way.

For some old-fashioned, pulp and Silver Age influenced fun; for a hero who is a decent guy but still has problems to overcome, Hero By Night is your source. This is one comic that can be shared amongst the comic book reading family for an evening of adventure and laughs.