Welcome once again, to another week of Marvel madness! This week I’ll be touching base with the Lion of Olympus himself, The Incredible Hercules. I’ve been a Herc’ fan from back in his early days as an Avenger and really enjoyed him on that book. I honestly didn’t pick up much from his ongoing series, but I do own a few issues from the limited series from back in 2005. I really hadn’t given much thought to Hercules until Secret Invasion came along. After reading that, I thought it was a good book but didn’t add it to my pull list yet. Probably because my list is too big to begin with.
So , for those of you who don’t know, I’ll tell you about the Secret Invasion issues. It was in my opinion the best tie-in out of all the mini’s and tie-in issues for Secret Invasion, without a doubt. We saw Hercules and his sidekick Amadeus Cho gather a team of big guns to combat the Skrull gods. The group was called ‘The God Squad,’ and it was comprised of Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Ajak, Demogorge, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and Snowbird. They went together, begrudgingly of course, on a mission of epic proportions with little chance of survival and made it out alive (well, except for Demogorge). It was a fantastic story written by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente, as are the current issues.
After SI, I let Hercules slip under my radar for a while, but when I heard of an issue involving my favorite character Thor, I just had to buy it. Issue #136, “HercuThor vs. ThorCules,” was one of, if not the funniest comic I’ve ever read. I bought the issue thinking there was going to be some huge brawl and maybe even a new arc lasting many issues with these two, but it was a one and done. That being said, if you haven’t read that comic, you need to pick it up. It was hilarious, especially the “fight scene,” where the two engaged in a staged fight dressed as each other to fool the on-lookers. After that one issue, I knew that I had to add this comic to my pull list, and I did. This writing team is great at telling a story and sucking you into the whole world of the Greek Gods.
Lately it has been revealed to Amadeus Cho that he is going to replace Herc when he dies. He’s been shown a great deal of things by Athena, who is Herc’s half sister, and seems to have an ulterior motive even though she claims not to. She has been helping Cho learn about his past and where his future lies, but he doesn’t always see eye to eye with her and that creates quite a problem sometimes. Zeus’s evil wife, Hera, is the reason for things being in the problematic state they are in now. She has usurped control over the council of Olympus, mainly because Zeus has been turned into a child, but she and Pluto are in control along with Hera’s boy toy, Typhon. Hera has been plaguing Hercules since forever, and this time with her new plan called “Continuum” she feels she cannot fail.
The current arc, “Assault on New Olympus ,” has been really cool. We’ve seen Spider-Man and Hercules in a fight over Herc’s always forgotten wife Hebe. Now, we have also seen that Cho has figured out Hera’s plan, and he and Hercules have recruited the Avengers (some Mighty, some New) to aid he and Cho in stopping Hera’s mad plan. She’s basically going to destroy all of Earth as we know it and create a new one using whatever this “Continuum” is. Cho has seen it as well as Zeus, but neither has spoken about what it is. I know one thing – at the end of Secret Invasion (Hercules #120), we saw Amatsu-Mikaboshi gain control over a hoard of evil Skrull beings, and I think that event is going to be a part of this next arc for Herc’.
**Spoiler Warning**
Speaking of the next Hercules arc. I just days ago read the new Marvel Previews book (#77) and was stunned to see “Hercules: Fall of an Avenger“! It’s going to be a two-part mini and claims to show the Death of Hercules. Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente will be writing, and Ariel Olivetti will be doing the artwork. The synopsis reads, “When the most beloved Olympian of all time falls, who will mourn him? Acclaimed Incredible Hulk artist Ariel Olivetti joins writers Pak and Van Lente for a two-part, mini-epic that marks the end of an era and the beginning of something utterly unexpected for Hercules, the Lion of Olympus. Bring your hankies- and your golden adamantine maces- as an all-star cast including Thor, Namor, Namora, Snowbird, Alfyse, Bruce Banner, and of course Amadeus Cho send off the son of Zeus with shocking tales, smash-tastic action, bawdy tomfoolery, and heart-rending drama that will change the course of Marvels marvelous mythological milieu…forever!” Now I don’t know about you, but I for one hope this is just a rouse to get people to buy Incredible Hercules, because I don’t want a Universe without The Incredible Hercules! This mini-epic is set to hit the shelves sometime in March. To quote Weezer, Say it ain’t so!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
My interest in Herc was sparked again when he took over Hulk’s title and I liked the direction the book was going but after Secret Invasion it seemed like it had no focus. I glance at it from time to time and actually liked the last 2 issues to have come out and since seeing that same ad in Previews I might check it out again! Nice one Billy
@Speech-This book has been consistently funny and witty. I always enjoy it. It’s a little too heavy on the guest appearances, but I can deal with that.
I’ve noticed that as well lol There’s always a guest appearence to help the story along but I did like those brief historic tales of Herc’s past that either preceeded a story or was a follow up to the main one