The Hero Trade isn’t just the name of the most famous bad idea. It’s also a meta commentary on modern superhero consumption. Throughout most of Bad Idea’s run are stealthily published one-shots of a superhero universe. All of which deal with an overarching theme, the commodification of superheroes. Because how else are you going to compete with the likes of Marvel, DC, and a few others? Through supply, demand, and the reactionary nature of advertisement by reputation.
Where Did This Bad Idea Come From?
Hero Trade #1 appears in Bad Idea’s comic store network before all series’ official releases and their delay. Series creator, Matt Kindt and artist David Lapham sent the initial ashcans out to the retailers complete with a direct means to order more. This is more or less a sneak preview for comic retailers to get Bad Idea into their heads. Thus by the time of the official release, comic store owners and fans would want more. But they couldn’t directly order the ashcan’s anymore. So influential this stunt turns out to be, these first printings resell on eBay for hundreds to thousands.
What’s Hero Trade All About?
As for what makes Hero Trade so influential, best guess it’s a bit of meta-commentary with its content. In the first ashcan as well as subsequent backup stories in Bad Idea comic books, it deals with the commodification of superheroes. Anybody who comes across anything in relation with superheroes in this odd universe sells them to the highest bidder. Sound familiar to what Kindt did? This includes some very bizarre means like selling the body parts of a supposedly invulnerable hero.
As the promo for ashcan’s say: “It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does”. It’s one of the oddities of capitalism, creating demand for something people might not need. But it also shows the ugly byproduct, consumerism, which commodifies everything people will love.
It’s no secret that superheroes are a hot topic among fans, casual or diehard. But when you compete with the big leagues in Marvel, DC, and some of the alternative properties, it’s difficult to stand out. Not to mention it’s a little problematic. As the 90s speculator boom will tell you, putting the collecting aspect of comics over telling their stories is a bad idea. If anything, it wastes paper and puts very little effort into making exciting things to latch onto. Rob Liefeld for example put so much effort into making merchandise, he never really made any memorable stories with his content.
How Kindt Made It Work
Now Matt Kindt as a creator has a reputation of messing with people’s heads, both in and out of the pages. In his other Bad Idea ENIAC for example, he goes into how memes can reprogram people’s minds. While Kindt always tries to make a good story (and has the awards to back it up) he also has to create demand for it. When Bad Idea was reportedly shutting down, this brings up a meme of my own. In the event of Bad Idea’s closure, Kindt is ensuring that the Hero Trade IP is worth an investment for a new publisher. Which brings me to his most recent release.
Hero Trade: …Aggressive
Hero Trade: Passive/Aggressive release was delayed for two weeks. But when I visited my local comic store with a pre-order, there it was waiting for me with August’s other Bad Ideas. Now having read the issue, it deviates from the other stories.
Instead of capitalistic crimes, it involves a ruthless vigilante chasing a Russian hacker who stole his fortune. There are a lot of questions to ask, complete with intentionally blank pages that Kindt uses to tell the reader they’re missing something. Reading back and forth through the A and B sides of the comic, I could only assume one thing. Passive/Aggressive was intentionally delayed so that people who pre-ordered it like myself could make reactions to it.
With how 2021 is full of people making commentary about police brutality, corrupt billionaires, and Russian hackers, Aggressive looks like something journalists are ready to roast. The Watch has all of the wealth, training, and gadgets of Batman, but none of the moral discipline. It doesn’t even matter if they’re drug dealers or protestors, the Watch shows no mercy. He’s simply an angry man who went through trauma and channeled it in an unhealthy way. Even if it is to fulfill someone’s power fantasy of fighting Russian hackers. Liberal or conservative, outrage is cheap, far-reaching advertising.
Passive/…
After the delay, I find out just how biased I am; the blank pages actually mean I didn’t get the full story. It turns out there are two halves of Passive/Aggressive, with the Passive side goes into another direction of speculator satire. The events of the Aggressive side were caused by some random hacker working for the Russian government. But he embezzled the money to get away from them with his girlfriend. It’s an intense game of risk for big payoffs, much like if the reader is willing to sell their copy.
Since most pre-orders will only get one copy, fan demand for the other half of Passive/Aggressive skyrockets. I’m willing to wager my entire collection of Bad Idea comics that people will buy copies of Passive and Aggressive for more than their initial prices.
As for the ending of this dual-sider, it asks who is the Greater Fool. Would getting the full story be fulfilling? Both the Hacker and the Watch certainly didn’t need it. Did you make a payment? If so what did it cost; business as usual, carrying some emotional weight?
What did I do? I played what the characters couldn’t afford: the long game. I don’t really care about completing a collection, couldn’t afford it all anyway. But I got it all and more with The Complete Hero Trade.
The Complete (Story of) Hero Trade
Speaking of, let’s go into what was added to this saga. Everything from Passive/Aggressive, Comic-Con exclusives, and a “sequel” are included. Connecting these all together is a keen self-awareness of the speculator market. From profit, hype, investing, gains & losses, hoarding, manipulating, and the motivations going into people’s actions. That sequel for example is actually a prequel, commentating on probably the most condemning aspect of the speculator market. To succeed, you have to destroy what you love in a cycle doomed to repeat itself.
An Inflated Bad Idea?
Hero Trade as a whole is either a stroke of genius in terms of marketing, or the most meta exploitation. The most memorable superheroes get around most days through licensing. While many people will want to find stories that bring out the best of these characters like All-Star Superman; the people who own the means to provide them to the masses are more interested in the money they generate. But it’s only the die-hard collectors and impulse buyers who throw money at something next-to-worthless.
Yet it’s that very nature of exclusive, trend worthy consumerism that attracts people towards something. PS5’s at the time of this initial post for example sell out the moment they become available because they’re so well in demand.
At its core, Hero Trade is about pushing the speculators to their very limit. It also represents Bad Idea risking it all to prove everyone that they can thrive without the safety nets of its competitors. Not only to prove their old employers wrong but use it to move onto bigger, better ventures. Because everybody else became complacent. In terms of story and presentation quality, I’ll at least give this series/franchise a 9/10.