| Heroes Comic: Past Experience |
| Tuesday, 12 February 2008 | |
 If it's one thing you can count on, it's the Nakamura clans' ability to make a good story. Just as the best episodes of the TV show are usually Hiro-centric, the best issues of the comic usually involve his storyline, family, or enemies. Whether it's Ando fighting off Yakuza bikers to protect Kimiko, or Takezo Kensei reminiscing about his long life, or even the anime adventures of panda Hiro, they always amount to a great read, and this weeks issue is no different. What's really fascinating is the way in which this weeks issue stays within the formulaic boundaries of the Heroes graphic novel style, while still branching out enough to be interesting. The art is incredible, moving between different styles and lighting in only a matter of pages, as well as some incredibly well laid-out panels that impressed even a skeptical reviewer such as myself. It begins with Kimiko Nakamura recounting a tale told by her father when she and Hiro were just children. It's the story of Takezo Kensei and the sword of Oni, an allegory slightly familiar to the Judeo-Christian tale of King Solomon and the two mothers. Basically, after a huge battle, two warriors are fighting over who is entitled to the sword of their fallen enemy. Both fought fiercely and killed the same number of enemies, so both lay claim to the spoils of battle.  This is why you should always buy Ginsu brand swords... Takezo Kensei (and I'm not really sure if this is Adam-Takezo or Hiro-Takezo, because thanks to lasts seasons writers, we know next to nothing about either of their exploits, but it feels like Hiro) hears the two men arguing and joins in, asking who deserves more glory: a small boy who kills only a single enemy, or Takezo, who killed twice as many as either of the two bickering men? He answers his own rhetorical question by snapping the sword of Oni in half with his bare hands (take that, Joan Rhodes!) and giving half to each warrior, citing that it was only together that they won the battle. The broken sword was to serve as a reminder of how "their pride had damaged their honor". Kimiko then recalls a moment between her and her father where Kaito explained his love of the past: that in looking to the past you instill the qualities you want for the future. It is a quiet moment between the two and the art in this section of the issue is amazing, especially the following wide-shot of Kimiko and her father in their office:  After Kaito's tragic death, the leadership of Yamagato Industries falls to Kimiko. Others in the company try to distract Kimiko by burdening her with the failing Yamagato Fellowship (the museum-like display of Takezo Kensei artifacts and art). At first, Kimiko considers shutting down the Fellowship (which, thanks to Peter Jackson, I cannot say or type without subconsciously thinking "..of the Ring") but an encounter with two of her employees changes her mind. Both employees are arguing over who should be entitled to some free schwag (a PDA) sent over by one of their clients. Kimiko, taking the obvious lesson here to heart, takes a sword from a display near her fathers desk and slices the PDA in half, sending the clear message that a) it is not the individual that matters, it is only the company as a whole and b) don't  with the new boss because she's mentally unstable and will probably slice you up like a Christmas goose.Either way, I'd say it's pretty effective as a management strategy. You can download the PDF of this issue from the main Heroes site (www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels ) or read it online with their flash viewer HERE . Personally, I don't like either and prefer to read it in .cbr format using a freeware program called CDisplay (downloadable here ). WARNING: Downloading files is wrong and evil and illegal and makes you a terrible person. No one should ever download a file for any reason whatsoever. This website does not endorse illegal down- loading or file-sharing, P2P or otherwise. You should only download files from the original website in whatever crappy and useless format they deem worthy for the likes of you. Also, you should always pay the owners your hard-earned money, because that's how they make their living and if you don't pay them they will starve and their families will be forced into slave camps. However, if you'd still like to know where you can download this file (y'know, strictly for educational purposes), you can highlight the text in the box below . Or don't. http://rapidshare.com/files/91127206/Heroes_072__2008___heroes.nbc.com_.cbr Comments (2)
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