Let’s begin the last stretch of the Dial H retrospective.
The series has had a couple of new revivals in the new millennium, with varying degrees of quality.
While they fall way beyond the main scope of the site, I will be having a look at how Robby Reed factors in the new revivals.
Which means I will skip the 2012 series, because Robby doesn’t show up there at all.
But before I tackle the issues of the 2003 series that do feature Robby, I first have to set the stage.
H.E.R.O. #1 (2003)
By Will Pfeifer & Kano
cover by Jon Van Fleet
This series can get VERY dark. As proved by the fact that its first scene is a guy calling the suicide hotline!
He narrates his extremely depressing life story. The thing that sent him over the edge was witnessing Superman, of all things.
While it sounds edgy for the sake of it, there IS a story there: he’s depressed because he WAS a superhero…
…thanks to the H-Dial, which he found washing dishes at the restaurant where he works.
While this is the original H-Dial, it doesn’t really look like it up close.
Let’s quickly cover issues featuring the first new H-Dial user, Jerry.
The transformation didn’t make him invulnerable, so after he’s hit by a car he has to change back.
We get a bunch of different transformations in a quick montage.
But he’s not completely heroic: he burns down the plant that he blames for ruining his town’s economy.
Yeah Jerry sucks at being a hero.
The one time he DOES stop crime, he nearly kills a drug dealer by accident.
That’s why he wanted to kill himself: he tried to be a superhero and just couldn’t make it, and everything else in his life sucks.
But he eventually turns his life around, thanks to the courage he built up trying to be a hero.
However he runs into the old lady who dropped the H-Dial in the restaurant.
When he can’t save his love interest from being shot, he carries on with his suicide: flying into space and changing back to human there.
But the story is not THAT dark, because Superman saves him off-panel.
The old lady turns out to have been a previous H-Dial user.
This series is unusual in the Dial H franchise because it doesn’t have a single protagonist throughout the whole run.
Jerry only keeps the H-Dial for the initial four issues.
And his story ends with him convincing the old lady to don’t kill herself, because he has learned you don’t have to be a superhero to give meaning to your life.
Not all other users in this series will be as lucky.
The following issues rotate protagonists. Issue #5 follows Matt, who focuses so much on his superhero career that he ends up ruining both his career and his marriage.
The story ends with his wife leaving him, and she inadvertently took the H-Dial with her without even knowing what it does.
His daughter Andrea is the protagonist of #6, where she and her friend Julie share the dial.
The fact that the H-Dial works under the original rules is important: you can’t just wait for the transformation to fade, you HAVE to dial back.
The girls end up losing the dial at the end. Which as you might have guessed is a theme in the series.
The artwork is a little off-putting for me, but this is a very charming little issue.
Issues 7 and 8 features a group of five friends that use the H-Dial to create a website where they do superpowered stunts, under the collective name of Captain Chaos.
The “Captain Chaos” name is also a reference.
But more importantly, this is where we meet a familiar face: Robby Reed is in jail!!!
And he has powers for some reason that will be (poorly) explained later.
Issues 9 and 10 are another mini-arc: a small-time Gotham City crook named Tony Finch gets the dial, and tries to use it to become a big shot.
As we will see later, this series COMPLETELY ignores the 80s revival. Including the idea that you can dial something else.
Tony has a hard time coming up with a superhero name. Mostly because he’s using a dictionary where most words are defined only by random letters.
Tony is probably one of the smartest Gotham City criminals.
We also learn Tony’s backstory: he was henchman for the Joker, but he was too pathetic for him.
Like most other protagonists of this series, in the end he loses the dial and his life is ruined.
During all this, Robby is keeping track of where the H-Dial ended up.
And he keeps getting new powers.
Yeah this version of Robby is hardcore.
But using powers gets him into trouble.
H.E.R.O. #11 (2003)
By Will Pfeifer & Kano
cover by Jon Van Fleet
I’m keeping this issue separate for two reasons. First, it’s the only one that is going to SLIGHTLY matter in the end.
Second, I think this is the best Dial H story ever told.
It’s also very much a standalone. The framing device follows a couple of archeologists (no relation) that discover some used the H-Dial in cavemen times.
Aside from some occasional commentary from the archeologists, the whole story is without dialogue. And it follows the arrival of the H-Dial on Earth, literally falling from the sky.
This transforms “Oot” in probably the first superhero in prehistory.
Despite the lack of dialogue, it’s a complete journey: Oot is first praised as a hero, then he’s ostracized by his community.
He ends up repeating this cycle for the rest of his life.
Until he reaches old age, at which point he tosses away the H-Dial…
…and having done everything his era had to offer…
…he went to the Moon to die, leaving behind a last memento of his native planet.
I’m not giving this issue justice. Like I said: best Dial-H story ever.
Issues 12 to 14 are another arc. They follow construction worker Joe Hamil, who has the bright idea of using the dial while sitting on the back of a truck.
He transforms into Electro Lass and IMMEDIATELY loses the dial.
So most of his storyline is more about adjusting to being a woman than to having powers.
After a lot of shenanigans, Joe ends up being dumped by his girlfriend…
…and loses his job.
In the end, the girlfriend comes back with the H-Dial and a happy ending…
…but it turns out to have been a dream sequence.
The REAL ending has Joe suck in the body of Electro Lass, without her powers even.
So he lives the rest of his… her days as a stripper.
It should be noted that Joe is consistently portrayed as not exactly smart, so no wonder he couldn’t find a way to turn his life around like other protagonists.
Also he was extremely sexist before the transformation, so it’s kind of an ironic punishment.
Robby’s subplot continues: he’s escaped from prison, and now he can erase memories.
And that’s a good point to stop, because the rest of the series will focus on a continuous storyline directly involving Robby.
Unfortunately the series won’t exactly stick to landing in terms of quality.
Historical significance: 0/10
As far as I know, this series is completely ignored by future relaunches.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
It really, really goes out of its way to avoid it.
Does it stand the test of time?
Even if some moments are edgy for the sake of it… the misuse of Robby is the worst part… this part of the series is highly recommended.
#1-4 (Jerry): 9/10
A rollercoaster that goes from grimdark to hopefulness.
#5 (Matt): 8/10
Easily the story that hammers in the most the idea that the Dial is addictive.
#6 (Andrea): 8/10
A cute little story about friendship, growing up and imagination.
#7-8 (Captain Chaos): 7/10
A neat idea that gets a bit lost in the shuffle.
#9-10 (Tony): 8/10
Definitely needed more time to develop. Kudos for having the courage to have a story set in Gotham City and not have Batman show up, to highlight how much of a small fry Tony is.
#11 (Oog): 10/10
Haven’t I praised this story enough?
#12-14 (Joe): 8/10
It goes for low brow a couple times, but it’s a smarter story than it looks.
Dial V for Vicki transformations: 78
Dial K for King transformations: 77
Dial R for Robby Reed identities: 54
Dial Z for Hero Cruz identities: 15
Dial J for Jerry identities: 13
For a guy who only lasts the first four issues, Jerry gets through a lot.
Dial N for Nick identities: 4
Dial M for Miscellaneous identities: 39
The old lady from Jerry’s story used the Dial once.
Matt gets 5 transformations, as does his daughter Andrea, while her friend Julie gets two.
The Captain Chaos kids collectively get 28 transformations across two issues, with a staggering 23 in #7 alone. Most of them are through montages.
Tony only gets 8 transformations across his two issues.
Oot gets 1 transformation, although I imagine it’s the one that lasts the longest.
Joe is only Electro Lass, much to his despair.
Dial C for the superpowers count: 79
Robby demonstrates super-strenght, telekinesis, memory manipulation and being able to explode. The latter two are getting into the count.