Comic Review: 'The Filipino Heroes League'

    'The Filipino Heroes League' is a refreshing and VERY different take on the Superhero Team from (oddly enough) The Philippines. While the series never gets didactic, a lot of the story is about how many of the conventional superhero team stories we see are very much viewed through the lens of a developed, first world country. 

    The FHL, for instance, don't have a skyscraper HQ, or a fleet of high-tech jet transports. Hell, most of them don't even have costumes. They're based out of a decommissioned ex-government building and have an army surplus jeep to get them around... when its starter motor works (which isn't often). 

    It'd probably be easy to make this a parody, like the Giffen and DeMatteis Justice League, with inept heroes screwing up and tripping over their own feet, but the threat the team faces is very real, and very dangerous, and they're going to have to rely on their own resourcefulness, ingenuity and make-do spirit to overcome a sinister and powerful enemy. 

    Speaking of whom, the villains in the FHL aren't the usual round of bank-robbers, purse-snatchers and alien invaders. They're definitely still supervillains with supernormal abilities and code-names, but they don't stand in the middle of the street in a colourful costume waving a death-ray around and making speeches. These villains have used their abilities to implant themselves in positions of power in a corrupt and broken system and while, their powers are formidable, it's their positions of authority within that system that makes them truly powerful.

    There's a LOT to love about this series. Writer, Artist and Creator Paolo Fabregas is tremendously talented, and does a great job in showcasing the many ways conventional tropes of heroes, villains, hero and villain teams, crimefighters, vigilantes and celebrities work differently beyond the familiar context we're used to. It definitely hits all the usual bases, but in a way I know that I've never seen done before.

    

(From L to R: Slick, The Maker, Invisiboy, Maria Constantino,
Flashlight, and Kidlat Kid)

    The series is a complete story consisting of Three Volumes, 'Sticks and Stones', 'The Sword' and 'Supreme Power'. For those interested in tracking down copies, I was lucky enough to get the first two volumes in hardcopy from a friend in the Philippines, but they can be hard to obtain. With that said, they are readily available in digital form from Comixology.