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Hench
The fine line between hero and villain is just another of longtime super-villain henchman Mike Fulton's many scars. Now, faced with a terrible choice that could mean life and death for heroes, villains, his family, and himself, Mike ponders just how his normal life went so crazy.
Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
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About the author
Adam Beechen
322 books10 followersFor more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Bee...
Writer Adam Beechen is the author of several comic books, including Robin and Justice League Unlimited . Adam also writes for tv on such shows as Teen Titans, The Batman and is the story editor on HiHi Puffy Ami Yumi for Cartoon Network.
Writer Adam Beechen is the author of several comic books, including Robin and Justice League Unlimited . Adam also writes for tv on such shows as Teen Titans, The Batman and is the story editor on HiHi Puffy Ami Yumi for Cartoon Network.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 10, 2018
The local comic book store has a bargain bin where if you buy X amount of books you get a significant discount per book and being as I’m
Leap of faith taken.
And I’m happy I did. The writing is fairly solid.
The story begins with Mike Fulton holding a gun on the hero, Still of the Night, as he reflects back on his life in service of sundry villains. Fulton was a college football player, who injured his knee and ended up doing menial jobs until he met a friend who did the hench-thing. His pal, gave him the ins and outs on who’s hiring…
Mike went through a rigorous interview process…
…lands a job, gets a hench-name and a costume…
…ends up in jail a few times, loses his family as circumstance force him to work his way down the pecking order of villains.
Bottom line: Not as on point (or as funny) as say, The Superior Foes of Spider-Man Omnibus, in its attempt to skewer super hero conventions, but worth a quick read. The art sort of grows on you and there are full page panel spreads that provide nods to comic artists of the past, so kudos for that.
Three and a half stars.
February 24, 2015
I absolutely loved the first half. The book answers the question, "Why would anyone be a henchman for these crazy-ass villains?"
Which is a valid question.
I'll always remember the henchman from the first Batman movie. Bob. They made Bob stand out a little in the movie. Bob wore the Joker henching uniform, which was a purple windbreaker with a picture of the Joker on it. Why a custom clothing place would ever agree to make these is beyond me.
Bob had a few little scenes in the movie. When the bad guys were messing up all the art in the museum, Bob is about to slash a painting when the Joker stops him and tells him to go ahead and leave THAT one alone. The painting is Bacon's "Figure With Meat", which seems like a painting the Joker might dig.
Most memorably, near the end of the movie Joker gets frustrated, asks Bob for his gun, and then uses said gun to shoot Bob. It's fast. It's not drawn-out. He gets the gun, and he blows Bob away.
Such a terrible end. I mean, Jesus, the guy has an action figure!
It makes total sense that the Joker would shoot the guy, but how the hell does a Joker keep getting henchmen? When Mr. Freeze blasts a henchman who was just being helpful and handing him a newspaper, don't the other guys see that and think, "Screw this. I'm outta here."?
This book answers that question. And it does so in a way that doesn't make fun of comics while still recognizing the inherent silliness of henchmen, as a concept.
The second half is a little weaker in that regard.
The pitting of regular people and superpowered people works in the book, but when the main character makes attempts at gaining his own superpowers, things get a little flat. It's kind of played for comedy, kind of serious, and overall doesn't do it for me. It also kind of pumps out that old idea of "The heroes are just as crazy as the villains. Maybe, -gasp- even crazier!"
There's something worth exploring there, for sure. But now that the gritty 90's are over, you're going to have a tough time convincing me that Batman is, perhaps, crazier than the Joker. Or, you're going to have trouble convincing me that's a good story.
Here's the thing. We all love to wonder what would happen if Batman snapped. If he went crazy and fought against the people he normally fought alongside. But, we've told that story, and now that we've come out the other side, I think that what makes Batman into Batman is that he doesn't. He COULD do a lot of stuff, but he doesn't. What makes Batman interesting to me, in 2015, is his willpower. He could definitely kill the Joker, and he doesn't. I'm ready to admit that this, in itself, is a form of crazy. But it's a very different form of crazy than shooting poor ol' Bob. It's manipulative, and it's grandiose in thinking you can orchestrate everything, that you can go so far as to SAVE the Joker, essentially deciding when he lives and dies. But when a book, a book like Hench, reduces that character to being crazy in the "I'll kill you!" way, I think it misses the mark. Or, at the very least, tells a story that doesn't need to be told again and again.
Which is a valid question.
I'll always remember the henchman from the first Batman movie. Bob. They made Bob stand out a little in the movie. Bob wore the Joker henching uniform, which was a purple windbreaker with a picture of the Joker on it. Why a custom clothing place would ever agree to make these is beyond me.
Bob had a few little scenes in the movie. When the bad guys were messing up all the art in the museum, Bob is about to slash a painting when the Joker stops him and tells him to go ahead and leave THAT one alone. The painting is Bacon's "Figure With Meat", which seems like a painting the Joker might dig.
Most memorably, near the end of the movie Joker gets frustrated, asks Bob for his gun, and then uses said gun to shoot Bob. It's fast. It's not drawn-out. He gets the gun, and he blows Bob away.
Such a terrible end. I mean, Jesus, the guy has an action figure!
It makes total sense that the Joker would shoot the guy, but how the hell does a Joker keep getting henchmen? When Mr. Freeze blasts a henchman who was just being helpful and handing him a newspaper, don't the other guys see that and think, "Screw this. I'm outta here."?
This book answers that question. And it does so in a way that doesn't make fun of comics while still recognizing the inherent silliness of henchmen, as a concept.
The second half is a little weaker in that regard.
The pitting of regular people and superpowered people works in the book, but when the main character makes attempts at gaining his own superpowers, things get a little flat. It's kind of played for comedy, kind of serious, and overall doesn't do it for me. It also kind of pumps out that old idea of "The heroes are just as crazy as the villains. Maybe, -gasp- even crazier!"
There's something worth exploring there, for sure. But now that the gritty 90's are over, you're going to have a tough time convincing me that Batman is, perhaps, crazier than the Joker. Or, you're going to have trouble convincing me that's a good story.
Here's the thing. We all love to wonder what would happen if Batman snapped. If he went crazy and fought against the people he normally fought alongside. But, we've told that story, and now that we've come out the other side, I think that what makes Batman into Batman is that he doesn't. He COULD do a lot of stuff, but he doesn't. What makes Batman interesting to me, in 2015, is his willpower. He could definitely kill the Joker, and he doesn't. I'm ready to admit that this, in itself, is a form of crazy. But it's a very different form of crazy than shooting poor ol' Bob. It's manipulative, and it's grandiose in thinking you can orchestrate everything, that you can go so far as to SAVE the Joker, essentially deciding when he lives and dies. But when a book, a book like Hench, reduces that character to being crazy in the "I'll kill you!" way, I think it misses the mark. Or, at the very least, tells a story that doesn't need to be told again and again.
November 15, 2013
I picked this up because in a review of my novella, The Villain's Sidekick, on io9.com, Charlie Jane Anders compared my story to this one. Which only made it sound like it would be right up my alley. I love stories that take place on the fringes of superhero worlds, like Joe Casey's "Nixon's Pals," which is about a parole officer for supervillain's, or Ed Brubaker's "Incognito," which concerns a super villain in the Witness Protection Program. This story is right up there with those, though it's a bit more "indie," with a much simpler, more cartoony art style. But Beechen's writing is excellent, and he strikes a nice balance between the mundane reality of a henchman's life and the absurdity of the villain's he works for and the heroes that thwart his various jobs. The central character is sympathetic, and though he's doing bad, you can't help but root for him. If you read and like my book, you're sure to enjoy this. And if you read this first, you'll probably like mine pretty well. too!
January 15, 2018
In terms of the art, I liked the aesthetic, from the designs to the direction, and while not the most innovative book out there, it had a lot of dynamic panels to admire. There were also quite a few homage pages that avid comic readers would find fun. In terms of the story, being that I loved the premise, I was super-excited to read this, but was a bit disappointed to discover it was told mainly in narration. (Oh, how I adore my character interaction and repartee.) Luckily, the cool and slang-y noir tone and dark humor made it an entertaining read. Not surprisingly with first person narration, you got a good sense of who the main character was, and I felt for the guy. Tough choices, hardships, and human emotions came through.
April 13, 2018
Meh. Cool concept at the outset: a comic following the life and misadventures of a henchman for hire to various eccentric super villains. I just found it difficult to connect with the main character, and found my mind wandering as I read it.
October 24, 2022
In a world where superheroes and supervillains are always in the limelight, the "average joe" is forgotten. But what do these normal folks do to survive the super-battles and not be part of collateral damage? Sometimes they work for the bad guys.
Sort of in the same league as a lot of Astro City stories, Hench is not about the supers/metas. It's about a normal guy that's just trying to provide for his family.
A nice and refreshing take on the hero/villain genre, the protagonist is not a good guy or bad guy; they're just a "powerless" person trying to make the best of a difficult situation. They work hard at the job of being a villain's goon in order to pay off medical debts. I don't think I have ever thought about where do henchmen come from, or how they got recruited, or what were their motives. This book is the 'behind the scenes' look at that process and mentality.
I also enjoy the way media and government skew the truth of super-battles to not tarnish appearance of squeaky-clean superheroes. It's very real and relatable.
I also really enjoyed the way henching is portrayed as just another job, like contracting. The reality breaking aspect I caught myself asking is how do the henchmen justify the large sums of earned money without government taking a closer look? Do they pay taxes? Are there W-2? Suspension of belief is needed in that regards.
In all, this is a new view of a classic trope thats been around for almost 100 years (and way longer, if you take in the inspiration from classic ancient tales), then twisted in skewed mirror for some light-hearted fun.
Sort of in the same league as a lot of Astro City stories, Hench is not about the supers/metas. It's about a normal guy that's just trying to provide for his family.
A nice and refreshing take on the hero/villain genre, the protagonist is not a good guy or bad guy; they're just a "powerless" person trying to make the best of a difficult situation. They work hard at the job of being a villain's goon in order to pay off medical debts. I don't think I have ever thought about where do henchmen come from, or how they got recruited, or what were their motives. This book is the 'behind the scenes' look at that process and mentality.
I also enjoy the way media and government skew the truth of super-battles to not tarnish appearance of squeaky-clean superheroes. It's very real and relatable.
I also really enjoyed the way henching is portrayed as just another job, like contracting. The reality breaking aspect I caught myself asking is how do the henchmen justify the large sums of earned money without government taking a closer look? Do they pay taxes? Are there W-2? Suspension of belief is needed in that regards.
In all, this is a new view of a classic trope thats been around for almost 100 years (and way longer, if you take in the inspiration from classic ancient tales), then twisted in skewed mirror for some light-hearted fun.
August 16, 2008
I wish that the author would have done more with this concept. If you're a fan of the Tick, you'll enjoy this graphic novel. But, the author doesn't take many risks.
Still, there are a lot of neat homage splash pages that are pretty funny.
Worth a read.
Still, there are a lot of neat homage splash pages that are pretty funny.
Worth a read.
November 17, 2014
Fun stuff! Art and story are maybe not the best I've ever seen, but the idea is entertaining enough to carry it. There are some fun homages in the art, though their frequency becomes annoying after a while. This is decent stuff, but probably not worth rereading.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews