Dial H (The Complete Series)

 

When I first started this blog I wrote about the first four issues of Dial H. You can read the full thing here but I summed up by saying that Dial H had been one of the surprise hits of the New 52 relaunch and was one of the most inventive and enjoyable comic books available.

A brief refresher for those who've forgotten or were unaware to begin with. Dial H begins as a story about Nelson Jent, an overweight fella who discovers a magic phonebox near his flat (apartment, whatves) that can turn people into superheroes for a limited time. It began as a reboot of old title Dial H For Hero, designed only to play a minor and peripheral part in DC's New 52 event-slash-crossover-slash-reboot.

The old title featured protagonist Robby Reed getting into scrapes that could only be solved via use of the phonebox (it was a simpler, less demanding time for comic writers). China Mieville, author of the New 52 edition, took a different approach. Instead of a weekly adventure approach he wrote a long-running plot that involved alternate universes, reality-eating monstrosities, and, fittingly but surprisingly, the history of telephones. It was often difficult to read but in hindsight that was only because Mieville was writing each issue as a chunk of a whole. When the first six issues were done they told their own satisfying story that made sense, though there were obviously some threads left dangling. With Mieville being a novelist this was to be expected.

And that was just the first six issues. After that Mieville began focusing on what really interested him: the origins of the phonebox. He took the relatively simple idea of a phonebox that gives superpowers to ordinary people (something I suspect original creators Jim Mooney and Dave Wood lifted from Superman) and created an entire mythology around them. It's staggering how much detail Mieville manages to pack in about the history of the dials. He works in an otherworldly war, phone lines as another plane of existence, and multiple new dials, as well as addressing the question of where the dialled superheroes actually come from. It's an incredible achievement not only to have thought of everything he has bit to have written it in a way that seems fluid and natural. It could easily have been a case of continuous and boring infodumping. Mieville writes a story that’s fascinating and enjoyable, something that can be appreciated for its invention, its humour and story.

The artists who worked on the series warrant a mention too. Mateus Santolouco drew the first six issues (numbered zero to five) and did just as much as Mieville to establish the tone of the book with his grubby, dingy backstreets and bright, colourful and charismatic superheroes. Fill in artist David Lapham did a fine job and was replaced permanently by Alberto Ponticelli. He was more in line with the regular DC artist, someone who draws action sequences and dynamic poses, but he also understood the quirky nature of Dial H. In particular he triumphed with Open Window Man and The Centipede, strange characters who could easily have lost a lot of their impact with the wrong artist. Brian Boland provided a cover for each of the series’ issues. They were predictably excellent.

Sadly DC is apparently not a company willing to fund satisfying creativity. Dial H didn't get good enough sales and so was cancelled after seventeen issues. As DC is a company that makes more than enough money from its big titles, merchandise and films I think they could have allowed for a title that lost them money but was a creative success. In the long run it probably would have paid off for them as trade paperback and digital sales could have recouped cash in the long term.

Apparently it wasn’t worth keeping around even for that. They did at least have the good grace to grant Mieville time to wrap things up and allocated him an extra-long final issue. The reduced time resulted in a truncated conclusion (I suspect far longer would have been spent exploring the concept of various other dials had the book continued) but it did at least get to end. So many inventive series don't even get that.

Although it didn't go on for as long as Mieville would probably have liked Dial H is still something worth treasuring. It's a clever, imaginative read that's uncompromising in its pacing but knows where it’s going. It is one of Mieville’s greatest accomplishments.

Dial H

At time of writing only the first four issues of revived DC title Dial H (previously referred to as Dial H for Hero during publication runs in the 1960s and 1980s) have been released and the central storyline is still in the process of being revealed. That in itself is a reason to read it in my opinion, as it's rare these days for mainstream comics to give us a storyline that hasn’t been crowbarred into a three or four issue arc. That gradual process of revealing what’s going on is rewarding and means you’re always left wanting a little more.

The general premise is simple. Pudgy, out-of-work everyman Nelson Jent is set upon by hoodlums when making his way home from visiting a sick friend in hospital. Seeking help he dives into a phone booth and attempts to dial H-E-L-P but accidentally (but conveniently as far as the plot is concerned) dials H-E-R-O instead.

Emerging from the phone box in his place is Boy Chimney. He makes short work of the thugs that troubled Jent and then goes for a night-time jaunt through the city. Sometime later our tubby protagonist finds himself back in his apartment, remembering what happened.

The obligatory “learning how the phone box works” scene, which so easily could have been an infodump, is instead used as a fun way of giving us a selection of fleeting superhero appearances.

The main plot itself has so far introduced a toad-like antagonist whose mode of speech flits between East End tough and educated mastermind and Ex Nihilo, a woman with mastery over nothing who is very interested in the magical phone dials. Joining him and protagonist Jent is a mysterious superheroine with access to a portable phone dial of her own.

The big attraction with the Dial H title is obviously China Miéville. His hefty reputation is what will initially draw a lot of people to the book. It’s what made me pick up issue one, along with Brian Bolland’s perfectly judged cover art. But readers will find themselves staying for the neat premise and Mateus Santolouco’s interior art, which is not only great but also an excellent fit with Miéville’s writing and the feel of the book.

The New 52 project has had many surprise hits and misses. Dial H is very much in the former camp. I hope we see the creative team, and Nelson Jent, stick around for a long time to come.

Critical information:
Writer: China Miéville
Artist: Mateus Santolouco
ISBN: Yet to be collected