Review: Hero

Moore, Perry. Hero. Hyperion, 2007.

High school basketball star, Thom Creed, comes from an unusual background. His father is a disgraced, washed-up superhero, reduced to working in a factory, and his mother, also a superhero, has literally disappeared.

Thom’s father is a bitter, emotionally distant man who has made it clear to his son that he has no time for either “fruits” or superheroes. So Thom feels it necessary to hide two profound aspects of who he is. He knows he is gay and he also knows that he has a superpower of his own: he can heal living things, just by touching them.

When Thom’s special talent comes to the attention of members of a superhero organization known as the League, he is given the opportunity to try out, along with other aspiring heroes. He’s placed on a team of hopefuls that includes Ruth, a chain-smoking old lady who can see the future; Scarlett, an angry girl who can conjure up fire; Typhoid Larry, who can make people sick just by touching them, and Golden Boy, a.k.a. Kevin, a demoted superhero who has the power of speed. The team competes against other teams of applicants by trying to save the day in a variety of scenarios, both created and real.

Through it all, Thom faces the added challenge of hiding his sexuality while making his first forays into sex (an anonymous pick-up that doesn’t amount to more than a kiss once the stranger realizes how young he is) and romance (a strong attraction to a boy on a rival basketball team whom he meets for early morning work-out sessions). And to make things even more complicated, Thom has had a long-standing crush on a superhero named Uberman, and his attempts to impress him always seem to fall short.

Thom is eventually forced to out himself to his father and to the League in order to serve as the alibi for a supervillain who has been falsely accused, and he is immediately terminated from the probationary team. But the adventure doesn’t end there for Thom, as he and his rag-tag team of heroes join forces to uncover corruption within the League.

Hero is a funny, entertaining, action-packed story that will appeal to both gay and straight teen readers, whether they are fans of superhero comics or not. Queer readers will recognize some interesting parallels between their world and that of the superheroes. In each world, Thom leads a double life, struggles with the need for a secret identity, and is relieved to find a community of kindred spirits. Above all, it’s the story of a gay teen’s search for his place in the world and for people he can trust and love, whether they have superpowers or not.