I remember reading the classic Dial H comics back in the day. It was definitely a pretty neat concept about how a phone dial could let the kid turn into many different superheroes. This modernized version definitely takes a darker twist on the classic series, but keeps in the key elements. It’s a fairly interesting start to the series, even if it is very convoluted. It can’t quite match up to the original, but it’s safe to say that it’s a little better than expected.

The main character is an overweight guy by the name of Nelson. He smokes a lot and his body’s not doing so well anymore. His friend tries to get Nelson to adopt a healthier lifestyle, but the guy won’t hear it. He likes the way that he is and doesn’t plan on changing. Of course, Nelson has little choice in the matter when his friend is beaten up by the gang that he had been working for. Nelson finds a dial and manages to turn into a superhero! He has fun messing with the gangs for a while, but the villains hire a super powered thug of their own. A mysterious individual by the name of Roxie (Well that’s her real name. I forgot the alias) appears to help Nelson fix his dial so that they can stop an evil threat that is quickly approaching. Will they be able to stop the villain?

Throughout the whole collection, we don’t really get to see what the Dial can really do since Nelson’s is broken the whole time. This means that he can’t control which hero he will turn into and some are definitely weaker than others. There was an interesting Chicken form, which had a chicken whose legs were just a cycle. Another form was an Indian who was essentially just a guy with arrows so he wouldn’t be much help against the monsters that the heroes would fight. Nelson actually got off pretty easy for the most part since he mainly just had to deal with ordinary crooks.

Towards the end of the collection, we got to see the all powerful villain, Abyss. He’s essentially made of cosmic energy and seemed to be just about invincible although X.N. was able to injure him a little. He doesn’t make a whole lot of sense like several of the other characters and speaks in backwards/fragmented English a lot of the time. Despite his gibberish, he is powerful and I like the design, even if the actual character is pretty bland as a result of his nonsensical dialogue. X.N. was also pretty insane. She tortures Roxie even when it’s obvious that the hero doesn’t know anything about what’s happening. None of them really had a clue since everyone was guessing with the dials. She wanted to revive Abyss, but didn’t think too much about what would happen after that. Naturally, Abyss wasn’t about to listen to an ordinary human and he was too powerful for her to control afterwards. She had a dial as well and got some pretty cool forms like a robot suit. It’ll definitely be neat to see how many other forms the author can think up as the issues go on.

I’m not a big fan of Nelson or Roxie either, which makes the cast one of the comic’s weak points. Nelson arguably means well as he uses the Dial for good, but he doesn’t have much of a personality and he certainly didn’t look so good in the intro comic. Hopefully he’s taking better care of himself now though and he’ll need to be ready for action since the Dial villains are only getting stronger. To clarify, Nelson’s not a bad character, but he’s not ready to be called a good one yet either. I’ll need him to get more personality in future volumes.

The art isn’t my favorite style as it’s more noir centered, but it’s not bad. The writing keeps the issues interesting and the art is clear enough for you to follow with what’s happening. It shows signs of being a DC styled book artwise during some of the scenes, but naturally takes a different approach from the average superhero adventure. I’d say that the art is “good” if I were to give it a ranking and is definitely passable in the end.

This volume was a little light on the superhero action bit, which makes sense for the series. Abyss made for a decent antagonist, but I’m certainly more hyped for the next arc. Near the end of the fight, the heroes were saved by another character wielding a dial. This character defeated Abyss with ease and we finally got to see a dial that could work. One that lets you switch between heroes in the blink of an eye. I definitely look forward to seeing more of that character, especially since the scene proved to be too much for the art. It couldn’t keep up with the forms and that’s one moment where the art could have been better.

Furthermore, the final issue showed us a glimpse into the other world where the heroes are from. As you likely suspected from the first issue, the heroes are real. That’s why they come with their own set of personality and memories. Whenever Nelson or another character summons them from the dial, it steals away their abilities in the other world. It proved to happen at a fatal moment so one of the heroes went into the real world and destroyed the Dial user. She went to jail willingly, but this does prove to be a serious issue for the residents of that planet. If Earth continues to suck away their powers whenever the users feel like it, the heroes will always be in danger. I’m assuming that they are going to have to invade Earth soon and maybe that could be an opportunity for some guest stars since the Justice League should be present for something like that. Yes, I’m definitely anticipating that to be a fun arc and hopefully it happens before the series is over since I found out that Dial H only made it to 15 issues.

Overall, Dial H was an interesting comic. It went for plot over action and that’s always a decent option to have at the ready. I nearly gave it a 7, but the weak characters coupled with Roxie getting kidnapped and Nelson just chilling out at home while she was being interrogated was a little iffy. Nelson shouldn’t need to be reminded that he has a job to do. Throwing in the new characters should definitely be a lot of fun and it’ll give us some extra action as Nelson hopefully fixes his dial so we can have some hero against hero battles. I recommend checking this volume out if you’re looking for a unique superhero story. It’s not like the usual comics so it’s a good change of pace.

Overall 6/10