3 out of 5

Penn’s name has been on several movies I’ve appreciated, so – as I’m sure publisher Avatar was counting on – that’s definitely what got me to pick up issue 1.  While Hero Worship definitely feels written more like a film than a comic book (very much the widescreen format with large panels, not too much dialogue, or, if there is dialogue, it’s not worked into scenes, but rather the action pauses for a conversation with segue detail), the idea was sound enough to hold my interest.  Zenith is a very public super hero, “owned” by the Zenith corporation and marketed to the masses.  He does legit hero things, but it’s all captured and filmed for TV very purposefully, with timing of Zenith’s appearances being released online to his fans well in advance.  He’s the only one of his type… until a teenage Zenith fan develops powers overnight.  The corporation absorbs him and dubs him “Apex,” Zenith’s new partner, and soon enough he’s discovering that – natch – all is not what it seems, with international incidents that Zenith prevents actually being prearranged, and Zenith might not be so heroic and wholesome as his public presence suggests.

It’s not really a new story, the “power corrupts” mixed with the “join The Firm,” but it’s drawn in a refreshingly clean style by Michael DiPascale, and Avatar’s slick pages and bright coloring process help to smooth out how empty some of the set pieces are (though they seem purposefully designed to be empty to give us a better sense of grandeur, not cluttering panels with details), and – whether this is Penn or co-writer Murphy – the characters act and respond and speak reasonably, swearing when it makes sense, freaking out with appropriate levels of distress – in other words, the high drama that a tale like this would normally merit is toned down to pretty human levels, which is nice.

But that’s where the film aspect comes into play.  Because there’s not really that much that happens in each issue.  You can read each one in, no lie, five minutes, that’s how big the pictures are and how little dialogue there is, but that’s not to say there isn’t substance – this isn’t Mark Millar with one big idea that he bloodies up page after page.  We do have our one big idea, but there is a focus on doling the plot out appropriately, and there was further thought put in to how to add to this world so that it stays believable (fleshing out the Zenith business a bit, fleshing out the man who would become Zenith).  Still, when I found out this was a mini-series (a volume 1) as opposed to an ongoing, I suspected the end result could only ever be mediocre, that there wouldn’t be any massive developments between issue 1 and 6, because in true film mode, this is just setting it up for a sequel.  Some big action scenes, give your leads some face time, and then… bam, to be continued.

Issue per issue that’s made the experience not too much of a pay-off.  But if Avatar puts this out as a reasonably priced trade, it’s worth the time to read.