When I saw an ad for a knitting themed comic book on Ravelry, I was instantly stoked. I am not what you would call a wildly obsessed comic fan (ie, I do not regularly attend conventions or keep comics wrapped in plastic in my basement), but I do have a healthy chunk of my bookshelf dedicated to graphic novels. Also, I am pretty worn out on you standard knitting type chick lit- you know, woman learns to knit, bonds with other women, finds herself, and maybe solves a murder mystery or discovers the meaning of life. Not that there's anything wrong with those books, but I think knitters have more (and more interesting!) stories to tell. I see no reason why a comic book can't be an excellent place to start telling those stories, and the first issue of Handknit Heroes did not disappoint.
The story focuses on twins Ana and Alex Miller, who are teenagers dealing with… well, being teenagers, but also learning to live with extraordinary powers. It's hard to tell what the plot will be like in the long term, but there have already been a couple of interesting twists that left me wanting to know more. I think there's a lot of potential here! My favorite thing about the story was that the characters seemed like people I might know in real life. Well, they would be if I knew people with super powers, anyway.
Do I even need to point out that there is knitting involved? Besides the knitting sub-plot in the story, the comic comes with a pattern for a hooded scarf from Erssie Major, a designer you might know from The Anticraft, among other things. (Rav link here!) It's not exactly my taste, but probably just right for the teenager in your life. Which reminds me- this comic would be a great gift for any teenager you know, whether they knit or not!
All in all, I think this was a great first effort, and I look forward to future issues. I'm planning on subscribing, but also hoping to see this picked up by some of my LYS's. If it goes over really well, maybe there will be a knitting superhero movie!
(P.S. My husband couldn't resist my copy of Handknit Heroes and had to check it out too. If you're interested in a review from a non knitter's perspective, you can read it here.)
Knit on My Cat 
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