Review: Neil Gaiman's Mr. Hero, the Newmatic Man

As I continued through my search for comic books and graphic novels in the steampunk genre, I was a little surprised to come across a title by Neil Gaiman, or at least one with Neil Gaiman's name in the title. Amazingly, no one had mentioned this one to me before, and I know quite a few fans of both Neil Gaiman and steampunk.

It turns out that while the original character concepts were indeed created by Neil Gaiman, the books were written by James Vance (of Kings in Disguise fame) and largely penciled by Ted Slampyak (whom I know from Art of Manliness).

Neil Gaiman's Mr. Hero, the Newmatic Man came out in 1995 and ran for 18 issues. They've since been collected into Neil Gaiman's Mr. Hero The Newmatic Man: The Complete Comics, Volume One (2016) and Neil Gaiman's Mr. Hero The Newmatic Man: The Complete Comics, Volume Two (2017). I obtained my copies through the magic of inter-library loan.

This...is a strange series. Our steam-driven hero has amnesia and can only remember his life in the 19th century working with a stage magician. He believes he was created by an English, but the reader knows that he was, in fact, created by the dreaded Teknophage (a.k.a. Mr. Henry Phage)

The godlike Teknophage looks kind of like an anthropomorphic dinosaur. He is basically the enemy of the universe, and he rules from a planet of violence and cruelty called Kalighoul. He sends agents to other worlds to make them miserable and eventually take over. (The Teknophage also stars in his own comic series as well as others.)

But as I said, the titular character doesn't remember him and therefore doesn't know to be wary of him or his agents posted on Earth. And yes, Mr. Hero is steam-driven. He must be given a constant stream of coal to keep him operational, which is problematic in our modern age. Our kind of coal is quite different from that of the 19th century.

In the late 20th century, Mr. Hero is discovered by Jennifer Hale, a poor street magician (who, incidentally, bares no small resemblance to Amanda Palmer, wife of Neil Gaiman, when in her street performer guise). Jennifer is somewhat erratic in her behavior, but always remains assertive. She grows extremely fond of Mr. Hero and, arguably, he of her.

Mr. Hero, a gentlemanly pugilist with a cockney accent, also has another head, known as the Ratiocinator. The educated Ratiocinator is rude, while the fighter is polite, and comes across as posh. At first, he and Jennifer do not get along and often quarrel. But eventually they grow begrudgingly fond of each other as well.

The Ratiocinator head is restored by the mysterious Adam Cain, a sorcerer who is never really explained, though it is established that he is an enemy of the Teknophage. Rather than explain to Mr. Hero what precisely is going on, Cain prefers to be grumpy and enigmatic.

Mr. Hero, the comic, is very much a product of its time. The way the story is told reminded me of the ongoing weekly Sunday comics that I sometimes read as a kid in the 1990s. The heroes are simple. The antagonist is dastardly.

The story arch given between these two books is complete. However, given the nature of the ending, I think the series was meant to continue. I won't spoil the ending here, though. It is a shame no further work was done on this series. Some questions may be answered in the other series that include the Teknophage, but I rather doubt it since these characters' stories are at an end.

If you like steampunk, and you have some nostalgia for the old 90s action comics style, you have to give this one a read. I would not begrudge anyone who chose to skip it, but I also find it an interesting addition to the steampunk comic landscape.

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