The show revolves around a group of people that awake one morning to find out that they have powers ripped straight out of the mind of Stan Lee.

“Heroes” can be accurately summed up as the love child of “X-Men” and “Lost.”

The televised superhero genre is one that has never been given its chance to shine.

Past attempts like the ’70s “Wonder Woman” and the ’90s “Lois and Clark” were bland attempts to make money off of an existing property.

The reason that “Heroes” works is because, first and foremost, it is a character drama. In a serialized drama, the most important ingredient is the development of characters and how well the actors can show that development.

Luckily, "Heroes" features just that. The show revolves around a group of people who awaken one morning to find out that they have powers ripped straight out of the mind of Stan Lee.

A New York politician can fly. A Texas cheerleader can heal any injury she sustains. A cop from Los Angeles can read people’s thoughts.

Some of the characters embrace their new abilities. They see them as a gift from a higher power. Others fear that their powers will make them outcasts.

Actor Masi Oka’s Hiro Nakamura is the deepest and most intriguing character on the show. A mild-mannered Japanese cubical grunt, he gains the power to bend time and space. Using this power, he believes that he can become a true superhero.

While the first few episodes focused on introducing the individual characters, the show picked up steam once the threads began to connect.

With the emergence of a shadow agency that seems to know of all the heroes, along with a superhero serial killer that absorbs the powers of his victims, the show is always fresh. A heaping dose of foreshadowing is constantly delivered in the form of prophetic paintings created by a heroin addict with the ability to paint the future.

In the very first episode, the audience gets a glimpse of a painting depicting an atomic bomb going off in New York City.

The entire show seems to be culminating toward this cataclysmic event. The near-perfect pacing of the show is what keeps viewers watching week in and week out. Questions are answered and posed every episode. Quick glimpses of the full mosaic are shown as characters see visions from the future.

There’s gratification in seeing events from the first episode have effects in the tenth. This sort of planning is rarely seen in television. Missing an episode of a serial drama can prove to be catastrophic to your viewing experience.

Luckily, NBC — along with most of the other networks — has been putting episodes of its shows on its Web site the day after they air.

“Heroes” has legitimized the comic book genre in ways that no other live-action program could achieve. Fans are eagerly awaiting its return on Jan. 22.

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