"Urban superhiro on the rise"
Story & Art: Fred Chao
Every time I look at this comic book on my shelf, it makes me smile. It makes me smile because I think of New York City, I think of Brooklyn, and I think that after all, me too I could find myself jumping from rooftop to rooftop in Manhattan, to finally end my run by a rotating high-kick in the face of jet-lagged Godzilla, or more likely so, my neighbor from two floors upstairs. Johnny Hiro is a happy comic, not that it always has a happy ending, but it makes you feel happy, and here is why.
The Story:
Another cool aspect of this book is that Chao will include celebrities here in there, to play minor parts in the story. Even though I don't get so excited by celebs, and I definitely don't watch Celebrity Rehab, I always find it refreshing and fun when Gwen Stefani talks about the sweetest escape from the craziest situation, or when Johnny meets LL Cool J at a party and calls him "Mister Cool J". There are other celebs throughout the story, from many different fields, such as politics, music, food, TV etc...
This series is very entertaining, not pretentious and very easy to read. I picked it up quite randomly, though I knew it had been nominated for 4 Eisner awards - prestigious comics industry awards. I was very pleasantly surprised by the excitement and fun I had each time I grabbed the book, to read more of the adventures of this new type of ordinary "Hiro". So thumbs up for Johnny Hiro and hats off to Fred Chao.
The Art:
Chao's art is great and illustrates very well the story. Though it is all in black and white, some coloring would have been welcome, especially in scenes where there are many people in the same picture. The style is very simple, ie the faces of most of the characters are pure and don't have many threads. Eyes are often drawn as two dots. In a way, that adds to the 2 main characters, Johnny and his girlfriend Mayumi. Indeed, both of them are very good-hearted people, who always try to do good for others, so this pure style adds a dimension to their innocence and naiveness.
The other thing that I appreciated about the art, is that, like every good artist, Chao did his research before drawing the comic, and that adds to the reality of the world portrayed in the book. Some of the illustrations of New York City show actual buildings of the city. Here I am not talking only about iconic buildings such as the Empire State or the Chrysler, but also about others, such as the Metlife tower or some oddly shaped midtown skycrapers. The same thing applies to the scene that takes place at the Lincoln Center. The inside of the Lincoln center is illustrated just as it looks in real life. This effect contributes to plunge the readers even more in the reality of the life of Johnny Hiro.
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| Volume 1 cover |
Volume 1: Johnny Hiro {Half Asian, All Hero} (2009)
Story & Art: Fred Chao
Every time I look at this comic book on my shelf, it makes me smile. It makes me smile because I think of New York City, I think of Brooklyn, and I think that after all, me too I could find myself jumping from rooftop to rooftop in Manhattan, to finally end my run by a rotating high-kick in the face of jet-lagged Godzilla, or more likely so, my neighbor from two floors upstairs. Johnny Hiro is a happy comic, not that it always has a happy ending, but it makes you feel happy, and here is why.
The Story:
In this volume Chao compiles 5 stories of the Johnny Hiro mini-series. Johnny Hiro is a young adult, who works as a bus boy in the Japanese restaurant of Mr Masago. He joined the restaurant with the hope of one day cutting fish alongside the big Mr. Masago - potentially they would form a nice pair as Masago is probably five times as large as Hiro. Johnny lives in Brooklyn with his cute girlfriend Mayumi, but has little spare time with her, as he works his ass off to make ends meet and afford living in the City.
So far, nothing sounds very special about the characters... but that is precisely the power of the book and what will eventually impact the reader more than other comics. Indeed, what's funny about this series is that the hero is very human and lives an apparently normal life - OK the craziest things happen to him. It is very easy for the readers to identify themselves to Johnny Hiro, or at least to identify someone they know to Hiro. This ability to relate to the world of the story and the characters plunges the readers in the adventures of Johnny, and let's be honest, his whacky adventures are pretty fun!
I have to acknowledge that for me it was particularly easy to connect with the world of Chao, as I myself have lived in New York City. So if you live, have lived, or are planning to live in NYC, you will like this book even more, as your own experiences in the city may have some similarities with those of Johnny Hiro - e.g. annoying landlords, the whole NYC food critic scene, construction works in the subway or even trying to make your girl happy by taking her to the Lincoln Center Opera House.
So I liked that this series takes place in a familiar, or at least relatable environment. But what I loved, is that Chao throws in fantastic, absurd or sci-fi elements in this setting, and integrates them in the most intelligent manner into the story. I was amazed by the writer's ability to mix an attack by a bunch of samurais hidden in a bathroom stall, with a night out at the opera, and make the result look perfectly normal and understandable. Even with the craziest story developments, at no point is the reader ever lost. Every absurd piece of the story - the fun parts - is balanced by some reality element that keeps the reader going and greatly entertained. Let's look at the first story for example -SPOILER ALERT, the following lines give up some of the story of the first issue, only the first issue though.
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| Mr Masago saving Johnny Hiro - (c) Fred Chao |
I have to acknowledge that for me it was particularly easy to connect with the world of Chao, as I myself have lived in New York City. So if you live, have lived, or are planning to live in NYC, you will like this book even more, as your own experiences in the city may have some similarities with those of Johnny Hiro - e.g. annoying landlords, the whole NYC food critic scene, construction works in the subway or even trying to make your girl happy by taking her to the Lincoln Center Opera House.
So I liked that this series takes place in a familiar, or at least relatable environment. But what I loved, is that Chao throws in fantastic, absurd or sci-fi elements in this setting, and integrates them in the most intelligent manner into the story. I was amazed by the writer's ability to mix an attack by a bunch of samurais hidden in a bathroom stall, with a night out at the opera, and make the result look perfectly normal and understandable. Even with the craziest story developments, at no point is the reader ever lost. Every absurd piece of the story - the fun parts - is balanced by some reality element that keeps the reader going and greatly entertained. Let's look at the first story for example -SPOILER ALERT, the following lines give up some of the story of the first issue, only the first issue though.
While Johnny and Mayumi sleep quietly in their Brooklyn apartment, Godzilla sneaks by their neighborhood and kidnaps Mayumi. After an epic chase, eventually Godzilla passes out in the street... However the young couple doesn't know how to get rid of the giant monster sleeping in the empty streets.
Therefore Mayumi decides to ring NYC Mayor Bloomberg to have him fix the situation. The mayor gets on site, has the area secured by NYPD and FDNY, and chats with the young couple while the monster is taken away by helicopter. This situation seems absurd, doesn't it? And that is precisely what Mayor Bloomberg tells the couple! This Godzilla story is unbelievable, so in exchange for helping them, the mayor asks them to keep the story secret, as revealing it would be risky and would hurt the image of NYC. The young couple will then try to stick to their promise in the following stories of the book. Therefore, without knowing it, the readers find themselves involved in a secret too big to be revealed, too absurd for anyone to believe and shared only by a handful of people, including Johnny Hiro, Mayumi and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg - how cool is that? Not only is this tie between the reader and the book very smartly done, but it also helps the reader to accept the fact that: yes, a monster strolled through Brooklyn, but, hey it's ok because if kept on the low key no one will ever know.
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| Mayor Bloomberg, Johnny Hiro and Mayumi - (c) Fred Chao |
Another cool aspect of this book is that Chao will include celebrities here in there, to play minor parts in the story. Even though I don't get so excited by celebs, and I definitely don't watch Celebrity Rehab, I always find it refreshing and fun when Gwen Stefani talks about the sweetest escape from the craziest situation, or when Johnny meets LL Cool J at a party and calls him "Mister Cool J". There are other celebs throughout the story, from many different fields, such as politics, music, food, TV etc...
This series is very entertaining, not pretentious and very easy to read. I picked it up quite randomly, though I knew it had been nominated for 4 Eisner awards - prestigious comics industry awards. I was very pleasantly surprised by the excitement and fun I had each time I grabbed the book, to read more of the adventures of this new type of ordinary "Hiro". So thumbs up for Johnny Hiro and hats off to Fred Chao.
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A raw copy of the cover for Johnny Hiro Vol. 1
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The Art:
Chao's art is great and illustrates very well the story. Though it is all in black and white, some coloring would have been welcome, especially in scenes where there are many people in the same picture. The style is very simple, ie the faces of most of the characters are pure and don't have many threads. Eyes are often drawn as two dots. In a way, that adds to the 2 main characters, Johnny and his girlfriend Mayumi. Indeed, both of them are very good-hearted people, who always try to do good for others, so this pure style adds a dimension to their innocence and naiveness.
The other thing that I appreciated about the art, is that, like every good artist, Chao did his research before drawing the comic, and that adds to the reality of the world portrayed in the book. Some of the illustrations of New York City show actual buildings of the city. Here I am not talking only about iconic buildings such as the Empire State or the Chrysler, but also about others, such as the Metlife tower or some oddly shaped midtown skycrapers. The same thing applies to the scene that takes place at the Lincoln Center. The inside of the Lincoln center is illustrated just as it looks in real life. This effect contributes to plunge the readers even more in the reality of the life of Johnny Hiro.
- Overall: 7/10 ... I reckon I may have a bias as a new yorker
- Acts as an upper when you are down: 7/10 ... as mentioned in the intro, the smiling factor is relatively high. You can also watch the Benny Lava video on Youtube, it will likely up your mood as well, 4 minutes of fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AHq78O7BX0
- Half Serious, All fun: 8/10
- Would I buy another volume if one ever gets published: yes probably
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