I should have reviewed this one at the beginning of the Dial H relaunch, before Adventure Comics #479: this is the REAL start of the revival serial, published as an insert for Legion of Super-Heroes #272.
Legion of Super-Heroes vol.2 #272 (1981)
“Who Are the Heroes?”
by Marv Wolfman & Carmine Infantino
In my defense, there are three reasons why I skipped it, in order of importance:
1) I forgot
2) it was surprisingly hard to find decent scans
3) you’ll see this one later
We begin with the King family moving into a new home. Or rather, a haunted house.
The epic saga of finding furniture for the King family begins.
I should’ve known the series would share the same exact beginning of 99% of series starring a teenager: the family just moved to a new town. I get that it’s very useful from a narrative standpoint, but am I the only one who’s sick to death of that cliché?
Chris immediately falls for Vicki. If she’s a cheerleader, we’ve never seen her in that role in any of the following 10 stories.
Chris, I don’t believe in ghosts either, but ONE look at that house immediately told me “yep, that’s definitely a haunted house”.
Knowing the eventual truth behind their origin story (no spoilers in the comments, please!), it’s amazing that it fits AND that it will take forever to be called back.
Also, this is basically the only time Infantino draws both kids like they’re 14 as they’re supposed to be.
They eventually find an old chest in the attic.
Alright, he’s the real inscription.
I share part of Chris’s doubts. How exactly were they “summoned” here?
This is our first look at the new Dials, especially the pendant: I didn’t even realize it was a clock!!!
Also it only has FOUR letters, presumably because this way they can’t spell V.I.L.L.A.I.N. or as an excuse to have Vicki dial H.E.R.O. and not H.E.R.O.I.N.E.
Presumably you should only dial H.E.R.O. and O.R.E.H., but a future issue will give us another option.
Vicki is the first one to change.
Unlike Robby’s transformation, the kids won’t always randomly have the power of flight in addition to their main power. Not this time, though.
Chris decides to use his dial as well, although Vicki has to encourage him to do so.
Vicki definitely got the better transformation this time!
Title drop!
And now we’re back to the third reason why I forgot to review this one before Adventure Comics #479… it repeats the SAME scenes of its beginning.
So I thought that the whole story would’ve been part of #479!
But this one ends on a cliffhanger, so technically it lacks an ending.
And #479 skipped the origin proper, so technically it lacks a beginning.
Weird, isn’t it?
Historical significance: 6/10
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
Same of #479.
Does it stand the test of time?: 3/10
SLIGHTLY better than #479 since this one at leaves gives us an origin. It’s extremely vague and cliché, but it’s something!
Dial K for King transformations: 57
Dial V for Vicki transformations: 50
Dial R for Robby Reed identities: 51