I thought Invincible could never be topped as a truly inspired funny book, but The Helm does so with little to no effort. The book is truly one of the funniest I’ve read ever. Written by Jim Hardison, The Helm is about a slacker who finds a magical Helmet that is supposed t be worn by a great hero, instead it’s stuck with him, a slacker named Mathew.

Mathew is a huge comic cliché; he’s over weight and lives in his mother’s basement. The first issue deals with him losing his girlfriend and his job. Right off the bat Hardison does a great job of making you feel bad for the guy, just before his life is turned upside down by The Helm!

The funny begins almost immediately after Mathew gets the Helm, their first conversation is classic as the Helm realizes that Matthew isn’t exactly hero material. “I beg thine pardon. You are not the one . Sorry.” This is after the Helm comes in contact with Matthew for the first time. Don’t worry I won’t spend this entire review simply quoting the book, but I had to share that one.

With only four issues to work with (three are out and the final issue is on the way) the story moves pretty quickly. The Helm is convinced that Mathew isn’t the Chosen One after all and attempts to have him killed by setting him up to face a giant Hobgoblin. The dynamic between the Helm and Mathew is awesome; you’ll be holding your sides reading the back and forth between the characters as the Helm tries to get Mathew into fighting shape.

Issue two focuses on that training and the reentrance of Matt’s love interest Jill. The Helm doesn’t like the idea of his hero becoming involved with a woman and won’t let Mathew hear the end of it. He even gives them a hard time during their more intimate moments which is hysterical. As far as action go’s the book portrays that very realistically, Mathew is no warrior and the action supports that, all his fights are over quick and brutal, but even those scenes are filled with humor.

Despite its fantastic nature the book does have real world consequences for all the actions. A battle against an evil sorcerer shows up in the paper as a home invasion robbery and things of that sort. Its cool how the bad guys are still regular people with regular 9 to 5’s as you’ll see when you read this series of books.

The third issue delves deeper into the consequences of Mathew’s new lifestyle. When a battle against evil hits too close to home, Mathews life begins to take a turn for the worse again. The book is funny as hell and very realistic in the way the characters behave toward one another and how they react to the world around them which is very rewarding to read.

Each issue is funnier and more interesting than the next as the story builds to a conclusion that I couldn’t begin to guess at. The book fires on all cylinders and keeps you guessing from page one, allowing you to just sit back and enjoy this extremely funny tale, I highly recommend it.