Heroes: New Ways to Survive the Superpower Outage

Heroes may be sidelined by the writers' strike, but desperate fans still have a few options for keeping the story alive during this hiatus. On sale today is Heroes: Saving Charlie, a novelization that chronicles Hiro's relationship with Charlie, the waitress he met during Season 1's "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" arc. The book fleshes out a six-month chunk of time - only hinted at on TV - that Hiro spent with Charlie when he teleported into the past in an attempt to save her from Sylar's murder spree. Though viewers know how the story ends, the book paints a more vivid tale of their courtship and puts aside any questions of Mr. Nakamura's asexuality.

In addition, NBC's Heroes 360 site will be up and running at full force for at least the next three months, even if the strike soldiers on. Weekly graphic-novel chapters, posted on Tuesdays, will continue to tell stories of the various characters. "January is a big month for us," says Joe Tolerico, producer/project manager for Heroes 360. "A couple of heroes finally get together. And they're making some plans to take down the Company." In addition, various offshoot sites (such as PrimatechPaper.com, YamagatoFellowship.org and "Wireless" Hana's blog) will be updated throughout the winter. "Our goal right now, in the situation we're in, is to bridge the gap between Volume 2 and Volume 3," Tolerico says. "We're not working without a net. We are working with the show; it's all show-approved." - Rich Sands