 One day, people all over the world woke up and discovered they had unusual powers. One could hear people's thoughts, one could fly, one could predict the future, and one could manipulate time. There were many others too, including a cheerleader who was indestructible. All they had to do was learn how to master these skills and save the world. They would become Heroes .
On September 25, 2006, a new show premiered on NBC that instantly grabbed the attention of sci-fi and action fans. Heroes became NBC's highest rated new show in five years. After the first season's smashing twenty-three episodes, the shows of 2007 were eagerly awaited. Only eleven new episodes aired before the season was cut short by a disaster none of the Heroes could have prevented: the Writers Guild of America strike, which brought a screeching halt to all dramas and comedies on network TV.
When the strike was finally settled in March, production on new episodes began in April, however, they will not appear until Fall of 2008. The third season will feature more than the usual 22 episodes to make up for the shortened second season.
When Season Two opened, four months after the events of Season One, we found Hiro Nakamura facing Samurai warriors in feudal Japan . We also saw the introduction of new characters, good and evil, like twins Maya (Dania Ramirez) and Alejandro Herrera (Shalim Ortiz) on the run in Honduras for murder. We also met Elle Bishop (Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell), as a mentally unstable manipulator of electricity and employee of The Company. The Company wants to capture and study those persons with special powers, just one of the dangers the Heroes must face. Who knows where a complete Season Two may have taken us? Its final new episode, televised on December 3, 2007, left viewers hungering for more. The first episode of Heroes Volume Three will take up where we left off last year, with killer Gabriel Sylar (Zachary Quinto) heading a cadre of new villains with special powers to do battle with the Heroes .
As with any hit show like this one, Heroes has generated lots of new products, such as a glossy magazine and an action-packed graphic novel. Later this year, Mezco will release a detailed set of action figures, with Claire, Hiro, Sylar, Peter, and Mohinder in the first wave. Thankfully for us, Topps got on the Heroes bandwagon with a nicely done Season One set, which hit the shelves early this year.
The 90-card set began with 24 character cards, identifying all the major players from the show. The set followed a run-down of the episodes, and a great subset devoted to artist Tim Sale, who creates the eerie paintings of Isaac Mendez. Sale is an Eisner Award-winning artist who has illustrated many comics and graphic novels of Batman, Spiderman and the Hulk. Foil portraits found in hobby and retail packs, and retail exclusive lenticular cards, made up the insert subsets.
Of most interest to collectors were the autographs, costumes and sketches, found only in hobby boxes. The ten autos featured many of the major cast, including popular Hayden Panettiere as indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennett, and Masi Oka as geeky computer programmer turned master of time and space, Hiro Nakamura. The five costumes included a variant of Claire's cheerleader uniform. Rounding out the premium inserts were some beautiful sketches, done by a number of artists, including sketch card superstars like Cynthia Cummens, Cat Staggs and Allison Sohn, and a small number of drawings by Tim Sale himself.
So what do you do to follow up? Produce a set based on Season Two, of course. Called Heroes, Volume 2, the set will pick up right where Topps left off with the first set. Topps Editor, David Waldeck, gave NSU a quick run-down of how this second set will shape up. He says, "The basic breakdown is going to be very similar to what we saw last time out. We're going to start things off with a new section of characters that will explain where our favorites have been and what they've been doing in the four months since Kirby Plaza . In addition, we'll introduce many of the new major players we've met on the show during Season Two such as Maya and Elle."
If collectors are wondering how the shortened season will affect the new set, Waldeck has good news, "One very big difference you'll notice though is the amount of coverage provided for each episode. In the Season One set we had 90 cards to cram in all 23 episodes, and Tim Sale's incredible artwork. In our second set we've expanded our coverage to five cards per episode, which was possible because the season was unfortunately cut short."
There will be a new look to this set as well, says Waldeck, "The general look of the set is strongly influenced by comic books, comic panels and the color palette that was available years ago. This motif is evident through every component and ties the entire set together very strongly."
Waldeck continues, "As for inserts, the setup is just as it was with the previous set. We'll see a new set of foil cards, brand new motion Lenticular cards, which are retail exclusives. For the hobby inserts this time, we'll once again see Autographs, Memorabilia and Sketch Cards. The autographs will bring back many of the signers we had for Series One, and a few we didn't, plus many new faces and signers from Volume 2. This early on we're still in talks with everyone, but it looks to be shaping up quite nicely so far." So, another chance to pick up some of the major players from the first set, and as far as new signers, Kristen Bell has signed twice for Veronica Mars, a very good sign.
"The Memorabilia looks great," says Waldeck, "we've got a ton of new costumes direct from the set of Volume 2, including at least one article from just about every single major cast member. Peter, Nathan, Hiro, Elle, Noah, Maya, Monica and a brand new Cheerleader uniform from Claire. Sketch Cards will welcome back many of our favorite artists and introduce some new blood who will soon be your favorites." No word on insertion ratios, but we can probably expect one auto, costume or sketch per hobby box.
Have you ever wondered what it's like to work for a card company? (Of course you have — we all have!) Waldeck has this to say, "The set overall looks terrific so far and we've having more fun putting it together than we did last time (if that's even possible!)"
Heroes Volume 2 promises to be a great collection of images and text for fans of the show. Let's hope Heroes continues for several more seasons; there is much to be told in this saga of normal people struggling to master abnormal powers. Anything can happen, heroes can die, new heroes will emerge, a show like this will always keep you guessing, and Topps will be right there to tell us the story. Watch for Heroes Volume 2 to be released in late June.
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