Entertainment Weekly thinks that it may have seen NBC’s Heroes before:
[A]nybody heard of the Wild Cards books? It’s a long-running series of novels (which are themselves collections of storytelling experiments by various SF authors) about a world where an alien virus has jump-cut evolution, killed 90 percent of the world’s population, and divided the remainder into three groups: Superpowered ”Aces,” suffering mutant ”Jokers,” and ”Deuces,” people with basically useless abilities (like, say, blogging).
Wild Cards is an alternate-history of the 20th century, a Watchmen-esque attempt to reconcile golden-age comic book fantasy with jaded contemporary reality. Like most contemporary superhero fantasias, it’s about cataclysm, exceptionalism and social Darwinism. And while we probably won’t be seeing Fortunato in prime time, the Wild Cards character roster does bear some superficial similarities to the Heroes lineup. (Consider Shad, for example: an Ace with a murderous multiple personality disorder — sounds a bit Niki-esque, no?)
Now, I spent at least three books of my childhood reading these books, but have only spent maybe twenty minutes watching Heroes – I’m back from vacation with a TiVo full of Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars and Dirty Jobs, what d’you want from me? – so, two questions: Is Heroes worth my attention, and is it similar to the work of George RR Martin and friends?
October 13th, 2006 at 8:02 am
First, glad to see another unabashed Gilmore Girls fan. That show is such a guilty pleasure of mine.
Second Heros is currently worth your time. It’s the kind of show that’s taking a page from Lost in that they are likely going to use a whole season to tease the audience… I mean expand the story. It’s slow going. I’d honestly consider waiting for the DVD’s so you can watch it all in one sitting. I have a feeling it’d make more sense that way.
October 13th, 2006 at 8:20 am
That’s my plan.
October 13th, 2006 at 8:29 am
“Heroes” shares a few similarities with the “Wild Cards” series. Both have a drug using hero, are both dealing with more “realistic” takes on super-heroes and have a more mature/adult feel to them than supers comics used to have.
Still “Heroes” doesn’t really have the depth of character or story of the majority of the 17 (so far) “Wild Cards” books. But its definately worth at least trying to catch an episode of…
October 13th, 2006 at 8:51 am
Heroes is a fine filler until January.
Unfortunately for Heroes it is in the same time slot as 24!
Unless NBC moves heroes it will tank in the ratings as a TIVOed show does count.
October 13th, 2006 at 9:34 am
The pilot did not thrill me. The second episode was much better, but it was an extension of the pilot, though it did extend into the life of the psychic policeman and government involvement. Same for the third episode.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:04 am
I’ve recorded the first three episodes of Heroes. I’m going to watch them all back to back to back this weekend, so I can’t say if it is worth while or not. Gilmore Girls, however…
(No Spoilers, just a RANT)
I’m of the opinion that GG was the best show on TV the last few years. Last year and the beginning of this year? Ugh. I’m frustrated because I know how good it CAN be, but I’m not seeing that on the screen. Personally, I can’t stand Logan’s character, and making him a regular on the show has turned me off BIG TIME…
October 13th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Heroes vs. Wild Cards? Hmmm, well they both have the same root (answering the question of “what happens when normal people get superpowers”), but other than that I don’t see a lot of similarities. The Wild Cards books spent a lot of time on the Joker/Ace struggle, and all of the folks on Heroes fall into the realm of “beautiful people”. There are also so many characters in the Wild Cards universe that of course you’re going to run into overlap with a bunch of characters created with deliberately generic superhero powers.
I mean, you might as well say that Heroes has a lot of overlap with Jim Shooter’s “New Universe”, JMS’s “Rising Stars”, or the White Wolf game “Aberrant” – they’re all about “normal” people getting superpowers and how the world deals with it.
BTW: Heroes is actually quite good for a TV show, even if it feels like I’ve seen some of this stuff before. And I wouldn’t be suprised if it keeps viewers like me who can’t stand 24 but like dramatic/action TV shows when January hits. Whether that’s enough to keep it up in the ratings, I suppose time will tell. And Graeme, if its a choice between catching up on Veronica Mars and watching Heroes, you’re making the right choice – VM is definitely worth it.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:18 am
Umm, isn’t this Newsarama where all things comic related are spread out to the world? Wouldn’t watching at least a few episodes of Heroes kind of be part of your job?
That being said, Heroes is a decent show. It’s getting good ratings and seems to have hit a resonance with the mainstream. The plot, while easy to predict for the comic book crowd it does have a decent pace and some interesting twists. The acting leaves a little to be desired, but it is cool to see how regular people would deal with superpowers.
October 13th, 2006 at 11:02 am
Hmm, isn’t this Newsarama where all things comic related are spread out to the world? Wouldn’t watching at least a few episodes of Heroes kind of be part of your job?
Did I miss the story where it was announced that Graeme has been hired full-time at Newsarama, with a commensurate salary?
October 13th, 2006 at 11:05 am
It would help if the EW summary of Wild Cards was anywhere near correct. The Wild Card virus didn’t kill 90% of the world’s population: it kills 90% of those who come in contact with it. So the world still has “normal” people in it, as well as Aces and Jokers. Hard to take that article seriously when the writer likely hasn’t read the books.
October 13th, 2006 at 11:18 am
Chad – If you’ve missed it, then so have I. And Matt Brady owes me some money, in that case, as well.
October 13th, 2006 at 11:53 am
My first reaction was the New Unvierse connection long before I ever thought of Wild Cards, but that might just be because I’m stoked for the revival.
October 13th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
It saddens me you didnt list the premier of BSG in your TIVO.
So sad…
October 13th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Rolando – I think you mean “Veronica Mars”, not “Gilmore Girls”, unless GG also has a “Logan as a regular character”. I miss “Arrested Development”.
October 13th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
A show that features Jeph Loeb on its writing staff is accused of being unoriginal? I’m shocked, I am SHOCKED!
October 13th, 2006 at 1:22 pm
me – Don’t worry, I’m watching BSG avidly, listening to Ron Moore’s podcast commentary, the whole thing…
Ugly American – Yes, GG has a Logan. But Veronica’s is more interesting, I think.
October 13th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
“… listening to Ron Moore’s podcast commentary, the whole thing …”
I’m addicted to those damned podcasts.
October 13th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I’m enjoying Heroes, or at least I’ve enjoyed it enough to watch a few more episodes. It can be a little over the top in how seriously it takes itself, but I’m enjoying the characters so far.
Not sure what I think about the new vibe on Veronica Mars. It’s probably just a matter of getting used to the new setting and characters. The prisoner/guards story from last week was fun; Logan is awesome.
BSG’s premiere is the best thing I’ve seen on TV this season.
October 13th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Except for maybe the Ventures Brothers. Hmmm … I really need to think about that.
October 13th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
The BSG podcast commentaries are great.
I watch the show without it then rewatch with it as a kinda fix until my next hit!
So happy for the BSG love!
i saw a commercial for a Mr. T show called “I pity the Fools!” I am so curious about it.
October 13th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
You will be so-o-o-o bummed out after watching the Gilmore Girls. It’s even worse than last season. Lorelai has become an idiot.
October 13th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
I’ve watched the first few episodes of Heroes, and haven’t really loved it. Too many 1-dimensional characters, too much silly foreboding voiceovers, dumb premise. But there’s lots of homoerotic subtext to distract you from all the bad writing. And it’s very very Jeph Loeb-esque.
October 13th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
Yea thats not even close to heros.
Hell that sounds like the show “The Tribe”.
October 13th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
Wild Cards was far less slow to reveal it’s origins, the tone was more whiz bang sci fi/fantasy with strong characterization than leaden overblown yet somehow neutered TV drama.
And as mentioned earlier the real story of Wild Cards was the Joker/Ace rift and the resentment of the majority of Wild Cards(Jokers) for the Aces who worked as super heroes.
Wild Cards was simply better, more dangerous, took more chances and was much more Super Heroes For Adults/Teens than Heroes can ever wish to be.
Fortunato(Tantric Pimp Super Hero) and Captain Trips(drug using hippy multiple super hero) alone make Wild Cards “not ready for prime time”.
And the Joker angle made it far more interesting.
Honestly, I enjoyed the Wild Cards more than any comics I’ve ever read. It was just more satisfying to see these cahracters treated with maturity as opposed to fawning fanboyish “we can’t do anything dangerous with these characters or we’d piss off the fanbase” style of mainstream super hero comics.
I mean, they entertain me, but they rarely stick with me like the Wild Cards books did. Character seem to be much more lifelike when they aren’t boxed in by a fanbase.
Astro City comes close, very close.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Heroes is awful – cliched characters, hackneyed, silly, drawn out, confusing plot line. In short, it takes the worst of superhero comics excesses and puts it on a TV screen every week.
The only reason to watch is to see the great Masi Oka steal every scene he’s in and give the show some life. Otherwise, stick with Veronica Mars, the best show on TV that no one is watching.
October 14th, 2006 at 11:47 am
ElCoyote -
Wow. I would never think to compare Wild Cards to Astro City. Wild Cards has about 6 compelling characters – and unfortunately almost all of their best stories are in the first 4 books. After that, the series seemed to become a contest for the writers to see who could be more over the top with the sex and the violence (mainly the sex). I know this was standard for series sci-fi at the time (or maybe just the books that I was drawn towards as a teenager…), but the WC series just went totally over the top with it.
There were some good bits in the Wild Card series – mainly the Joker/Normal and Joker/Ace “race” relations, some really, really good stories about the Turtle and the human side of superheroics (things that make me wish that George RR Martin could get a Spider-man writing gig), and most of the “historical” stories in the first book. But after the initial few books, the series just turned into sensationalistic crap.