Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Dial H Discussion Thread

With the beginning of the new Dial H series by China Mieville and Mateus Santolouco, I thought it appropriate to begin a new thread dedicated to discussing the Dial H mythos.

Beyond the new series, we can talk about what came before. Robby Reed, Chris King and Vicki Grant, Hero Cruz, all of them.

What did people think of the first issue?

It looks like three dial owners have already appeared. Check this page for their appearance.

The boy with the glasses is possibly Robby Reed, and the couple in bed look like Chris King and Vicki Grant.

Love China Mieville! This is definitely on my list (haven't gotten it yet) and your review made it sound very enticing.

I only read a few of the initial Dial H run - then there was the execrable Lori Morning version... high hopes for this take on the concept!

I'm going to try this out too. Out of all the 'new 6', this one looked the freshest and most exciting.

I've read numerous Dial H series over the years and it's really never been my cup of tea. But it really works as a more esoteric type approach, which this seems like it'll be.

I'll give it two more issues to wow me. But so far, I'm not getting any sense of personality.

I loved the Pfeifer H-E-R-O series because it was a character study. Brilliantly executed. This one so far has yet to grab me.

When I was a kid, I loved the "Adventure" revival where you could send in your ideas. I never did, but I still thought it was cool.

I like this version. It's a bit more horror, which is fine if it doesn't get too gory. I think what sold me were the two heroes: Boy Chimney and Captain Lachrymose. They're just so weird, which I guess is Mieville's specialty. (I'd never heard of him before this.)

I just hope Mieville doesn't follow the path of many novelists turned comic writers and give up or fall waaaaaay behind.

This could be where Lori Morning makes her big comeback!

:ducks:

I'll admit I thought it was a little cheesy when I first saw that name, Boy Chimney. Finally reading the full issue made me ashamed of my reservations.

I found it simply fascinating!

Can't wait for #2!

#2 was enjoyable but not as good as #1, #3 was AMAZING.

Nelson Jent and Manteau bring you the amazing debut of Team House!

I can't wait to see # 3. I was lukewarm after # 1, but things are starting to come together in # 2.

Hmmm... superhero names like "Boy Chimney" make me think I should have picked it up...

OPEN.

WINDOW.

MAN.

How can it be that no one's mentioned that one of the villains is named "Ex Nihilo". Can other genderbending versions of Legionworlders be far behind?

What do you mean?

http://www.legionworld.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_profile;u=00001348

He's more active in other parts of Legion World.

Oh!

I thought you meant a callback to an obscure Legion character.

Hmph... a villain, indeed!

An editorially mandated character, no doubt. Is this how low we've sunk, Dan DiDio?

The problem with that character is that she wasn't developed organically within the storyline. She just seemed to appear out nowhere!

rimshot!

Ha!

One of my brain cells was like, 'I don't get it' and the other one slapped it and said, 'dumbass.'

The first story arc closes out rather anticlimatically. I'm still enjoying the off-the-wall identities, but I found Ex Nilo/Squid/The Abyss to not be very compelling threats. Despite spending 5 issues on them, they just seemed under-developed. That said, the brief appearance of the "shadow on the line" and its mastery of dialing was really cool. Setting it up as a dial hunter gives it all sorts of potential.

I am concerned about the upcoming artist shift, as this book has such a distinct tone, that I don't know if the Frankenstein artist (who's name escapes me), is up for the task.

I'm quite upset that the Onion thought of this before Dial H used it as a dialed hero. It would fit right in with "Pelican Army."

I think that was the point, that they were supposed to be seen as big threats when in reality they were little fish compared to Abyss. And Squid himself was more neutral and pragmatic than evil. He just wanted to find his companion and go home, but X.N. kept him stuck there and used him to try and find Abyss for her own purposes. She was the truly villainous one, but in the grand scheme of things she was just a little too proud and couldn't really match up to Abyss or the shadow on the line.