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Jen Finelli is a military medical doctor, a sex assault medical forensic examiner, a rogue doctor with a Fellowship of Advanced Wilderness Medicine certification, a global adventurer, and an author. Finelli is passionate about bringing awareness of the lack of proper medical and social care in developing countries. One way that Finelli raises awareness about her humanitarian endeavors is through her writing and comic books, like her meta and sci-fi comic Becoming Hero.
Becoming Hero is a story about suffering, trauma, rebelling against social norms, revenge, and redemption. The two main characters are Skye, an Asian comic book character who crosses over into the real world with a grudge, and Jace, a black teen and math genius, unappreciated by his peers and grappling with family issues.
As Skye crosses over into the real world, he meets Jace. Both teens then have to make hard decisions about how they deal with trauma, the price of revenge, and the consequences of redemption when trying to be a good person in a cruel world.
Becoming Hero
Becoming Hero is a novel and comic book hybrid that Finelli wrote over several years. The inspiration for the story arose from Finelli’s ambition to see more stories featuring characters of diversity. Finelli also likes writing about characters dealing with suffering, trauma, unfairness, and examining how they resolve their issues. The themes that Finelli writes about are a reflection of her life experiences, beliefs, and ambitions, with her humanitarian initiatives in developing countries.
Skye
Skye is an Asian superhero and the star of an imaginary ZP Comics solo title within the world of Becoming Hero. While Skye is heroic and does his best to stop every evil threat he encounters, he always suffers a drawback for every victory. Every woman that Skye dates or loves ends up dead. Or, she turns into a villain intent on taking over the world.
Skye can’t even trust his closest friend, who suddenly becomes his deadliest enemy. His best friend kills Skye with a disintegration weapon in the last issue of Skye’s comic book. However, Skye learns that he is a comic book character.
In a meta commentary about the constant suffering and meaningless deaths comic book characters encounter in comic books, Skye becomes aware that he is a comic book character. He learns to hate his creator for all of the arbitrary suffering Skye endures.
Skye didn’t die in the last issue of his comic; he was transported to the real world where his creator lives. Suffering from PTSD and uncontrollable feelings of revenge, Skye sets out to kill his own creator.
Jace
Jace is a high school student, a mathematics genius, and a comic book expert. However, no ones, no one appreciates it, and Jace finds himself the constant victim of bullying and persecution because of it. Jace is the subject of bullying by gang members and drug dealers.
Jace’s father, being a cop, makes it hard for them to connect with the neighbors. It also makes Jace a target of wrath by local gang members. All Jace wants to do is do his school work, haunt his local comic book store, and become the best version of himself. Unfortunately, no one appreciates Jace’s personality in a community where negativity, criminality, and making others suffer are things people respect.
Jace and Skye
After Jace and Skye meet in the real world, they become friends and roommates. Jace is soon alarmed by Jace’s PTSD and tries to help him to no avail. Even though Skye is no longer in his former ZP Comic, his friends are, and Skye knows that his creator is making them suffer. Skye now wants to get his revenge.
Jace does not know how to help Skye or himself. Skye does not know if killing his creator will free his world and make him the ultimate hero or just a killer with a grudge.
Becoming Hero: A Creative Meta Comic and Sci-Fi Mystery
Don’t worry, I have not spoiled the comic, and I do not want to give away much of the plot. Becoming Hero is a 366-page novel and comic hybrid that features prose and interstitial comic book sections. There is a lot more to the story, and you get to experience Skye and Jace’s separate worlds before they narratively collide.
Finelli’s Becoming Hero tackles themes of PTSD, suffering, isolation, and revenge in very inventive and creative ways. The characters and story mirror real-world issues of good people suffering, the price of revenge and redemption, and difficulties of wanting to be the best version of yourself in a world that seems to reward the opposite.
I highly recommend that you read Becoming Hero. It dares to be different in a genre where every comic book copies the last big hit, and that ambition should be rewarded. Buy it now for $43.97 at Amazon.
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