Musing: Heroes

We can thank the Toronto Star for their interview with Heroes creator Tim Kring.

"I kind of saw that this was the type of show the network needed ... This show was always designed to have a big footprint. We had a big presence on the Internet, and we had plans for ancillary material and comic books and merchandising, so we approached it as though we were going to be big."

I'll admit, I'm fascinated with Heroes on almost every level.

I think the writing is amazing. The plotting is engaging. The concepts are refreshing. The acting is great. The characters are real. This is a compelling show. A masterful work of fiction.

With all that taken for granted and left unanalyzed, the one thing that interests me the most about Heroes is it's success. Who could have foreseen the reception this show would have? It's compared constantly to other huge successes such as 24 and Lost; in a good way.
It has all this going for it, and to top it off, it's based on traditional comic book archetypes.

Heroes success has been credited to the characters. They certainly aren't traditional super hero fare at all. No, this book would probably fall to a Major's imprint or it would be an Indies poster child.

Heroes has something I'm calling Spider-Man syndrome. The characters in Heroes are real people, in all walks of life, with powers that happen on them. Spider-Man was a normal kid, maybe a little nerdy, but perfectly normal, who had powers thrust on him. The exception being is that Peter Parker chose to don a costume and actively help people. This makes the thrust of many of his stories external, plot motivated. the Heroes in Heroes are just trying to deal with the newness of their situations and the drama is created by the choices these characters make.

It's my opinion that the future of comic books can be found in the success of Heroes and to a lesser extent 24 and Lost. Aside from the stigma of Comic Books being childish, people want to read stories that will entertain them. I think, once educated, the common person really won't be so fickle as to ignore a great story due to it's medium.