Top Five Heroes

5. Matt Parkman, mind reading
4. Micah Sanders, influence over electronics
3. Eden McCain, power of persuasion
2. Peter Petrelli, absorption of other super powers
1. Hiro Nakamura, manipulation of space/time

That would be my Top Five Characters From Heroes, my current favourite bit of escapism (yes, better even than that thing with the Time Lord) rather than my Top Five Heroes Of All Time or From Marvel Or D.C. Comics. Influenced ever-so-slightly by which super-power I'd most like to have! We've been having some lovely Spring weather lately and I've noticed most of it through the window to my left as I watch television.



So what's so great about Heroes?

5. Each episode looks the proverbial million dollars, with sumptous colours and daring comicky compositions.
4. It's made up of several mini-arcs for each character which resolve/evolve every three or four episodes, rather than leaving you dangling unsatisfied for years like Lost or confused with irrelevancies like 24. In related news, you are absolutely rewarded for making the effort to see every episode.
3. Mr. Bennet (played by Jack Coleman).
2. The subtitles in scenes with Hiro and Ando have a habit of drifting up near the characters' mouths where speech bubbles are normally drawn. They play with the font size for shouting and whispering too!
1. For all of the above reasons and more, it feels more like a modern Marvel comic brought to life than any big screen outing save the universally-acclaimed Spider-Man films.

Heroes will be on the B.B.C. in a few months when Sci-Fi Channel here finishes the U.K. first run.

Update 2007-04-10: The original prop painting of the eclipse above by Tim Sale was auctioned by N.B.C. for $7,650. The series' core painting (the cheerleader on the steps) went for $25,000.