WWE Heroes #1 - Comic Review

The Shadow King and the Firstborn have battled for centuries, and they’re now setting the stage for one final battle. But first he must find the Firstborn, and that’s easier said than done, because his appearance has changed since they last battled.

Now you’re probably wondering why I’ve mentioned this. You may be forgiven for thinking that I’ve set up the plot for the latest big fantasy novel or film. But it’s neither of them. It’s the story that belongs to the first issue of World Wrestling Entertainment’s new comic book series, WWE Heroes, published by Titan and released everywhere on March 23rd.

Yours truly managed to get an advance copy, and as a life-long comics fan, I must say that it looks pretty damn impressive.

Without wanting to give too much away, the story begins with the supernatural Shadow King and Firstborn battling through the centuries, encountering each other and taking on various guises down the centuries. These segments are interspersed with sections featuring WWE stars facing each other - Undertaker versus Kane in a Hell in a Cell match, Batista battling Randy Orton, and so on. The evil King then appears in the 21st century, looking for his foe, who may be a WWE superstar.

If you took out the wrestling segments you might think you’re reading a copy of a Hellboy or Constantine story. Writer Keith Champagne and artist Andy Smith have done a great job of setting the action up. In fact it bears a slight resemblance to the Undertaker series a few years ago, and thankfully it’s a million miles away from the old WWF and WCW comics of the late eighties and early nineties.

In conclusion - WWE Heroes #1 shows a great deal of promise. The first issue doesn’t give away much, and it will be interesting to see how these stories play out in the next few months. I’m hoping though that they’ll release a trade paperback version of this in the future, mainly because I’ll be able to read the whole story in one go, and I won’t have to wait four weeks at a time to find out what’s happening!

With thanks to Ricky Claydon of Titan Publishing for supplying a copy of this release. For more information on the WWE Heroes series, visit www.wwecomics.com.