Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man
Encyclopedia
Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man is a comic book
published by Tekno Comix
from March, 1995 to June, 1996. The original character concept was created by Neil Gaiman
, but the title was written by James Vance
and penciled mostly by Ted Slampyak
.
created by the villainous Henry Phage
. Intended to be a force of evil, he instead proves noble.
Henry Phage created Mr. Hero as a sleeper agent to send to Earth until such a time as he wished to conquer Earth. He was discovered in the 1800s by a farmer, who later sold him to a magician. The magician trained Mr. Hero to box and used him as a prop in his act. Using Mr. Hero's second head (the "Ratiocinator"), Mr. Hero would give advice to the audience. Then, his less rational but more physically able head would be fitted to his body and he would engage in Queensbury Rules
boxing with a member of the audience.
During the boxing, a member of the audience would be challenged to knock out Mr. Hero, while he would not attack. However, at one event he mysteriously lost control of his left hand, and inadvertently attacked an influential participant. This ended his career in shame, and he was crated and put into storage.
In the mid-1990s he was discovered and reconstructed by Jennifer Hale, a struggling street magician.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
published by Tekno Comix
Tekno Comix
Tekno Comix was an American publishing company that produced comic books from 1995 to 1997.-History:The company was founded by Laurie Silvers and Mitchell Rubenstein as a division of their publicly traded company, Big Entertainment...
from March, 1995 to June, 1996. The original character concept was created by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
, but the title was written by James Vance
James Vance (comics)
James Vance is an American comic book writer, author and playwright, best known for his work from Kitchen Sink Press and in particular the lauded Kings in Disguise.-Biography:James Vance was born on April 2, 1953...
and penciled mostly by Ted Slampyak
Ted Slampyak
Ted Slampyak is an American comic strip cartoonist who until recently drew Little Orphan Annie. He also draws the color webcomic Jazz Age Chronicles, a comic based in 1920s Boston....
.
Back story
Mr. Hero is a steam-driven automatonAutomaton
An automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot. An alternative spelling, now obsolete, is automation.-Etymology:...
created by the villainous Henry Phage
Henry Phage
Henry Phage is a comic book character, an intelligent dinosaur, created by Neil Gaiman for Tekno Comix and featured in Neil Gaiman's Teknophage and Neil Gaiman's Phage: Shadow Death and as a villain in Neil Gaiman's Mr Hero the Newmatic Man....
. Intended to be a force of evil, he instead proves noble.
Henry Phage created Mr. Hero as a sleeper agent to send to Earth until such a time as he wished to conquer Earth. He was discovered in the 1800s by a farmer, who later sold him to a magician. The magician trained Mr. Hero to box and used him as a prop in his act. Using Mr. Hero's second head (the "Ratiocinator"), Mr. Hero would give advice to the audience. Then, his less rational but more physically able head would be fitted to his body and he would engage in Queensbury Rules
Marquess of Queensberry rules
The Marquess of Queensberry rules is a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. They were named so because John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry publicly endorsed the code, although they were written by a sportsman named John Graham Chambers. The code of rules on which modern...
boxing with a member of the audience.
During the boxing, a member of the audience would be challenged to knock out Mr. Hero, while he would not attack. However, at one event he mysteriously lost control of his left hand, and inadvertently attacked an influential participant. This ended his career in shame, and he was crated and put into storage.
In the mid-1990s he was discovered and reconstructed by Jennifer Hale, a struggling street magician.
Publication history
Mr. Hero, the Newmatic Man was originally published by Tekno Comix under the header Neil Gaiman's Mr. Hero, The Newmatic Man. It enjoyed an 18-issue run. Its first 17 issues were published under the logo "Tekno Comix" and were appropriately numbered 1-17. The 18th issue carried the logo "Big Entertainment". Also, the 18th issue was intended to start volume 2 of the title, and so was numbered "Volume 2, No. 1". The title was then placed on hiatus until Big Entertainment ceased its publication of comic books.External links
- Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man at ComicBookDB.com