Abstract

Explores the shift in reception of the TV series Heroes in the context of comics history; arguing that many of the tropes used to naturalise its treatment of fantastic events and characters are drawn from this medium. It suggests that these elements were not effectively developed by the series (which ran for five seasons): for example archtypes becaome diluted by a TV aesthetic and repetition resulted in many tropes which once seemed fresh and original becoming stale and cliched.