Dial H #5
Dial H #5 (October 2012) closes out the five-part opening arc of China Miéville's New 52 relaunch of the Dial H for Hero concept, delivering the resolution of the Abyss storyline while simultaneously planting the hook for the series' larger mythology. The issue is notable as the debut appearance of the dialed hero Cock-a-Hoop — arguably the most remembered of Miéville's inventively absurdist hero-personas — and as the issue that formally names Roxie Hodder on-panel, cementing Manteau's biography as a 1960s telephony scholar whose history with the dial predates Nelson's by decades. It also introduces a mysterious new figure who emerges from within Abyss itself, the dial-wielder who had been trapped inside the entity and becomes a key dangling thread for subsequent issues. As the conclusion of the first arc, it is the issue most reprinted in the Dial H Vol. 1: Into You trade paperback, making it the de-facto 'first look' at the series for many readers who came to Miéville's work in collected form.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Dial H was announced as part of DC's New 52 'Second Wave' in January 2012, replacing six original launch titles and debuting in May 2012. Miéville — a Hugo Award-winning novelist best known for his 'Weird Fiction' novels — had long sought to write the property, telling CBR that reviving Dial H for Hero was something 'I've been thinking about for a very long time.' He was joined on the first five issues, including this one, by Brazilian artist Mateus Santolouco, with Brian Bolland providing covers throughout the run; colorists Richard and Tanya Horie handled the book from issue #0 through #16. Dial H #5 went on sale October 3, 2012, and was later collected in Dial H Vol. 1: Into You (April 2013).
Trivia · 8 facts
- Written by China Miéville with interior art by Mateus Santolouco and a cover by Brian Bolland; on sale October 3, 2012 as issue #5 of the 2012 Dial H ongoing series.
- Closes the five-part opening arc ('Into You') that introduced Nelson Jent and Roxie Hodder / Manteau as the two new wielders of the H-Dial in the New 52 continuity.
- First named on-panel appearance of Roxie Hodder as herself: the issue reveals her full name and backstory — a PhD student in telephony at Boulder in the 1960s who discovered her own dial during the 1967 counterculture era.
- Debut of the dialed hero Cock-a-Hoop, a rooster-headed, hula-hoop-bodied persona with a sonic-cry attack, called up by Nelson from his hastily repaired and unstable dial during the climactic battle with Abyss.
- Dr. Kate Wald (alias X.N. / Ex Nihilo) appears as the form Hairbringer — a prehensile-haired hero she dials while attempting to control Abyss — confirming that the dial can generate the same persona for multiple users.
- The Squid dies in this issue, sacrificing himself so Nelson and Manteau can escape and repair the dial; Ex Nihilo also perishes when Manteau's dial is destroyed, returning her to Dr. Wald and causing a fatal fall.
- A mystery dial-wielder — trapped inside Abyss for years after originally banishing the entity — emerges at the issue's end, establishing the next major thread in the series and foreshadowing the broader mythology of previous H-Dial users.
- Reprinted as part of Dial H Vol. 1: Into You (DC, April 2013, ISBN 978-1401237752), the trade paperback that collects issues #0–6 of the series.
Cast · 11 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Dial H - Bei Anruf Held #1 (2013), Dial H #1 (2013), Dial H: Dentro de Ti #[nn] (2013), Dial H: The Deluxe Edition #[nn] (2015)
Key issues in Dial H
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