I’ve mentioned before that I’m not terribly impressed with what I’ve seen of Heroes. It’s not bad or anything, and maybe I’ll check it out on DVD eventually.
For some reason, though, I ended up checking out NBC’s online “interactive novel“, their complement to the TV show. I’m not entirely sure where “interactive” comes from – it’s a very simple up-down interface – nor why they skipped the “graphic” part. Still, it’s an interesting idea that makes some sense given the nature of the story.
Still, I can’t help being underwhelmed at the actual production values. NBC seems to have recruited some of the blandest and most conventional artists money could buy. (Though Phil Jiminez seems to have done one episode; that’s a step up, though present-day Jiminez is certainly a step down from his Invisibles-era work.)
It’s not entirely surprising, given that producer Tim Kring has proudly boasted of knowing nothing about comic books. But at the same time, this is a show that has Tim Sale working as a conceptual artist. Even if Sale is too expensive for this online tie-in, surely he could offer a bit of advice, or suggest a few names that might give the project more polish.