9th Wonders!
Encyclopedia
Metafiction
Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
al comic-book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series in the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
drama Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
. In the show, it is written, illustrated, and self-published by Isaac Mendez
Isaac Mendez
Isaac Méndez was a fictional character in the NBC drama Heroes. Portrayed by Santiago Cabrera, he had the ability to paint the future.-Genesis:...
. In reality, Mendez's artwork is provided by comic-book illustrator Tim Sale
Tim Sale (artist)
Tim Sale is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book artist. He is primarily known for his collaborations with writer Jeph Loeb.-Early life:...
.
History
The stories that take place in 9th Wonders! are a direct reflection of Mendez's own precognitive visions. When Hiro NakamuraHiro Nakamura
is a fictional character on the NBC fantasy drama Heroes who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time. Previously, his ability allowed him to teleport, stop time, or travel through time, but recent events in the series have prevented...
arrives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
five weeks into the future (having teleported there from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
by use of his space-time manipulation abilities), he is surprised to discover the book for sale on a local newsstand with his recent arrival pictured on the front cover. Upon reading through the story, Hiro discovers it depicts his daily life of the past few weeks in alarming detail. The panels of the book even include his exact dialogue, transcribed into English.
9th Wonders! is self-published, as the creator's name and home-studio address appear prominently in the back of the issue. The "official" company name listed on the issue's cover is the "Helix Comics Group" (a reference to the TV series' helix symbol). The "official/unofficial site" is 9thwonders.com.
Appearances
Micah Sanders
Micah Sanders, portrayed by Noah Gray-Cabey, is a fictional character on the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. He is the son of Niki Sanders and D.L. Hawkins. He is a child prodigy and a technopath.- Beginnings :...
is visible in the debut episode "Genesis
Genesis (Heroes episode)
"Genesis" is the pilot episode of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. It was directed by David Semel and written by Tim Kring. The episode focuses on several of the main characters discovering their superpowers for the first time, and attempting to find out more about them...
". Also in this episode, Hiro can be seen with 9th Wonders! artwork on his computer monitor. During the second episode, "Don't Look Back", another issue is visible with its cover numbering partially obscured. It is shown in the following episode to be number 14. The nature of the book appears fluid, as Nakamura references it heavily in order to receive prompting for his choices of action, leaving even the final page count (monthly books averaging 21–24 pages) in question. However, this is not fully explained.
In ".07%", Isaac Mendez
Isaac Mendez
Isaac Méndez was a fictional character in the NBC drama Heroes. Portrayed by Santiago Cabrera, he had the ability to paint the future.-Genesis:...
is in his gallery with a courier who is an avid fan of the comic. He shows the courier the new issue and tells him that in it, Hiro travels to the future. He also says that it is the last issue, as he had just found out that he was going to die through his portraits. Isaac then gives the courier his sketchbook and sends him on his way. However, its shown not to be the last issue as in It's Coming and The Eclipse its shown that at least two issues are published posthumusly and the last one was #31. In "Five Years Gone
Five Years Gone
"Five Years Gone" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. It is the last episode before the three-part finale of season one....
", Mohinder
Mohinder
Mohinder is an Indian male name, possibly a variant of Mahendra. Among the people named Mohinder are:*Mohinder Amarnath, Indian cricketeer*Mohinder Lal, Indian hockey player*Mohinder Pratap Chand, Indian poet*Mohinder Purba , Kenyan actor...
shows the past Hiro Nakamura
Hiro Nakamura
is a fictional character on the NBC fantasy drama Heroes who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time. Previously, his ability allowed him to teleport, stop time, or travel through time, but recent events in the series have prevented...
the comic book and tells him that the events in the book show that Hiro kills Sylar
Sylar
Gabriel Gray, more commonly known by his assumed name of Sylar , is one of the primary antagonists and antiheroes in the NBC drama Heroes. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a superpowered serial killer who targets other superhumans in order to steal their powers...
in the past, but this had not happened in the future that they were in. Later, Mohinder injects The Haitian with the poison intended for Hiro (as shown in the same comic). Mohinder gives Hiro the comic and sends him to the past again with Ando. This comic is then taken by Ando in order to help him find Sylar but upon confronting him in "How to Stop an Exploding Man
How to Stop an Exploding Man
"How to Stop an Exploding Man" is the twenty-third and final episode of the first season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. The episode was written by Tim Kring and was directed by Allan Arkush. It is the conclusion of the three-part finale for season one.The episode started filming...
", Sylar overpowers Ando and takes it for himself. Amused by the idea that Hiro would be able to kill him, Sylar disregards the comic.
In the second season, Bob is shown reading an issue of 9th Wonders! while waiting for Mohinder to arrive in the episode "Kindred
Kindred (Heroes)
"Kindred" is the third episode of the second season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. The episode was written by J. J. Philbin and was directed by Paul Edwards. It originally aired on October 8, 2007.- Plot :...
". In "Fight or Flight
Fight or Flight (Heroes)
"Fight or Flight" is the fifth episode of the second season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. It aired on October 22, 2007. This episode marks the first appearance of Elle, played by Kristen Bell, credited as a series regular...
", Micah shows Monica issue #10 of 9th Wonders!, which includes a character called St. Joan whom Micah describes as a muscle mimic or copycat (similar to Monica's ability). The blade held by St. Joan on the cover can be seen in one of the cases in the vault where Peter vaporizes the Shanti virus in "Powerless
Powerless (Heroes)
"Powerless" is the eleventh and final episode of the second season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes and thirty-fourth episode overall. It was written by co-executive producer Jeph Loeb and directed by executive producer Allan Arkush. The episode aired on December 3, 2007 as the...
". Also, in "Four Months Ago", Micah is shown with a 9th Wonders! birthday cake.
In the third season episode "One of Us, One of Them
One of Us, One of Them
"One of Us, One of Them" is the third episode of the third season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes and thirty-seventh episode overall. It was written by Joe Pokaski and directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan. The episode aired on September 29, 2008.-Plot:The episode opens with Angela...
", a turtle is briefly seen crawling by a copy of 9th Wonders!. In the episode "It's Coming
It's Coming
"It's Coming" is the ninth episode of the third season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes and forty-third episode overall. The episode aired on November 17, 2008.-Plot:...
", Hiro teleports both himself (while thinking he's still 10 years old) and Ando to a comic store in Tokyo. While there, Ando picks up the newest edition of 9th Wonders to prove to Hiro what he's supposed to do. Notably, this edition of 9th Wonders has a cover and most of its text printed in Japanese, with the exception of the final page. However, this may have just been the Japanese edition of it as an earlier episode showed some French versions of a couple when Hiro and Ando were in Daphne's apartment. The last page of the comic simply has a picture of an eclipse akin to that seen in "Genesis" and the two words, "It's Coming". Hiro and Ando used it to find Matt to try to fix Hiro's lost memory and later to find Daphne after she ran away.
In "The Eclipse", Hiro and Ando use the back issues of 9th Wonders! at Sam's Comics to try to find out how to regain Hiro's memory. The very last published issue which had just come out that day, issue #31, depicted Hiro and Ando's attempts to regain Hiro's memories and the cover showed Hiro and Ando arriving with Sam and Frack looking at the comic depicting that in shock. Hiro found out about some of the things he did and didn't want to remember as it was scary, but Sam, through Ando convinced him to not give up. In issue #1, Frack found a clue that showed Hiro had to go back to the past with Claire to the day that baby Claire was given to Noah as in one of the pictures, present day Hiro and Claire could be seen hiding behind a fern. Hiro used the comics to teleport to Claire's house then take her with him into the past where he used issue #1 to show her what was going on. It is also revealed that Isaac's sketchbook contains the last of the 9th Wonders! story. This is found by Ando, Matt and Daphne in the penultimate episode of Villains, "Our Father
Our Father (Heroes)
"Our Father" is the 12th episode of the third season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. The episode aired on December 8, 2008.-Plot:...
", titled "Hiro Lost In Time". This one seems to be incomplete (presumably Issac didn't get the chance to finish it before he died), but it showed that Hiro got trapped in the past before he was rescued by Daphne and Ando thanks to Ando's new power. As it was incomplete, it didn't show Ando, Matt and Daphne what to do like the other 9th Wonders! comics usually did, but they figured it out for themselves.
External links
- NBC's Heroes - Official Heroes Website.
- 9th Wonders - Semi-official Heroes fansite.
- Tim Sale's Official Website.