Herc #9 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), David Hahn (penciller), Roy Richardson (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Herc’s daddy issues interferes with his getting it on with the woman he loves.

The Review: After the completely baffling and apparently pointless crossover with Spider-Island, which seemed to include Herc only to sell some half-spider on half-spider intercourse, this title is set to get back to normal.  Problem is: you don’t know what “normal” is since the series has been plagued with Event tie-ins from day one.  With hardly a supporting cast and only a vague mission to protect Brooklyn, it almost feels like we’re back to where we started.

Herc #8 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), June Brigman (penciller), Roy Richardson (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Herc learns that even a hideous mutation can’t stop him from scoring with the ladies.

The Review: From what I’ve gathered, Spider-Island sure sounds like a fun romp.  But from the point of view of this title, the premise of the event comes across one-dimensional, random, and utterly pointless.  Having every Manhattanite, hero, villain, and civilian alike, transform into arachnid mutants may be a fun idea in theory, but once you have them, the question becomes: what do you do with them?  Cause a fly genocide?

Well, in Herc’s case, you can just sic him on a handful of X-Men for pretty much no reason other than because it pleases the Queen of Spider-Island for him to do so.  The ensuing action has its moments, like Storm whipping up a wind strong enough to launch Wolverine in a fastball special, but these hero-versus-hero battles rarely manage to gain much tension.  It’s not like there’s any real danger of them actually killing each other, so what’s to fear?

Herc #7 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), June Brigman (penciller), Roy Richardson (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Spider-Herc, Spider-Herc, / does whatever a Spider-Herc does.

The Review: Once upon a time, crossovers were a rare, novel event.  Then they became frequent pleasures, then common fool’s errands.  Now they come about every other month, and the effect on all comics, be they solid ongoings or criminally under-promoted minis, has been irritating, pointless, or detracting.  As a newborn series, Herc hadn’t a chance to stand on its own two feet before Fear Itself dragged it along in its wake.  Now that it’s over, we finally have a chance to see Herc grow into the title it’s meant to be.

Just kidding.  Enter Spider Island, ably demonstrating the downside of having all the heroes operate out the same city; if one has an epic adventure, shared universe etiquette dictates everyone has to participate, or at least acknowledge it.  Here, Hercules gets to join in on the fun, which makes sense as an entertaining interlude to an already prospering title, but when you have one that hasn’t even established much of an identity yet, it doesn’t seem wise to let the star attempt to take on someone else’s.

Not that Pak-Van Lente don’t bring their trademark humor to the gimmick.  Herc has clearly established himself as second only to Deadpool in the mockery department, and while Spider-Man is no slouch when it comes to self-deprecating jokes, there’s still plenty of laughs to be had at the web-slinger’s expense.  In the midst of crowing over his extra surge of power, Herc wonders, “But what is this strange new feeling?  With this great power…comes great…angst?”

Had the writers simply stuck with these kinds of gags, the issue probably would have worked better, but we also have three competing distractions: guest appearances by several X-Men (no telling why they had to show up in this title—don’t they have, like, eight of their own?), Anansi the African spider-god-trickster, and Arachne, who vaguely reveals herself for two panels and, aside from giving us a fine view of an arthropod behind, serves virtually no purpose to the issue.

Herc #6 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Neil Edwards (penciller), Cory Hamscher (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Brother, do you know the Truth about Herc?  Oh, ye of little faith…

The Review: For the last couple issues, I’ve concluded that even with the Fear Itself brand and obligatory tie-in issues, this title hasn’t really been affected all that much by the Event.  Pak-Van Lente have managed to execute a story arc that seems in keeping with their original agenda: let Herc savor the mortal life; give him a new residence, mission statement, and outfit; have him experience the ups of a loving crowd and the downs of a popular backlash.

As well as Pak-Van Lente have carried these points to fruition, there’s a rushed quality to it all that suggests Fear Itself actually has affected the title in a subtle fashion.  I noted last issue that since Herc has been mortal for only a short while (even shorter in context of the story), Hermes’ invitation to return to Olympus feels very premature.  The same feeling lingers through this issue’s major moments; they’re all good, appropriate scenes, but seem a couple arcs too early.

Kingpin prophetically commented that people love to build up an idol and tear him down, and while Herc now has firsthand experience of that, it doesn’t feel entirely genuine considering the Brooklynites’ behavior dances to the three magical tunes: the Norse serpent, witch-goddess Hecate, and son of Ares Kyknos.  Even so, that Herc’s unyielding courage proves affecting enough to sway the New Yorkers out of their panic-induced violence is heartwarming indeed.

Similarly, the big turning point in the issue involves Rhea drastically redefining her relationship with Herc, but since they’ve only known each other for about two days, their relationship hadn’t much of a definition at all beyond possibly “friends with benefits.”  The scene where she finally gives up her revolutionary ideals in favor of simple faith in our hero definitely builds well on her initial view of Herc merely as a useful symbol, but lacks the impact it’d have had we seen more interaction between the two or more of her rationalist behavior at work.

Herc #5 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Neil Edwards (penciller), Cory Hamscher (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: And here I thought New York City couldn’t get any weirder.

The Review: Even though in both his mythic and comic book incarnations Hercules technically gets counted as a god (of heroes, no less), it’s hard to think of him as such.  We are far more familiar with his exploits as an adventurer on Earth than those he ever had as a divinity, and especially in the comic books, his brash, gung-ho personality hardly lends itself to the lofty purposes of his fellow immortals.

Small wonder then that the cries of his “worshippers” for help serve to merely annoy him to distraction (“And if you left me in peace for five seconds perhaps they’d be answered!”) more than please him.  Still, even though he’s no god any longer, Herc is ever the mensch, vowing to do right by those that remain his faithful.  On an interesting note, one I’m rather ashamed to not have noticed before, does anyone find it odd how as a mortal, he can still hear “prayers” to him?

Considering Herc has been mortal for—what?—four days in-story, his meeting with Hermes, who bears a possible offer of godhood from Zeus, seems rather premature.  If anything, the speech and command for our favorite hero to return to Olympus and stand by while the world passes into its twilight hour is merely a contrived way for Pak-Van Lente to incorporate elements from Fear Itself, which has only tangentially affected this title despite the brand on the cover.

You’ll have the strong suspicion that, had it not been for the obligatory Event tie-in, the writers would’ve really preferred to devote more time to Herc’s struggles against the entire borough of Brooklyn gone wild magic.  Herc’s attempts to confront his challenges head-on, only to fall back thanks to new ones constantly popping up behind him, should be more enjoyable, but feels too truncated to develop beyond a passable energy.

Herc #4 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Neil Edwards (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: What?  No pitchforks and torches?

The Review: When it comes to solo heroics, writers usually take the trend of letting their hero baby-step his way long steadily bigger and greater trials before pitting him against the conflict of his life.  It makes sense; no point in tossing the rookie into the deep end of the ocean before he learns to doggy-paddle.  But Hercules is already a pro at this biz (a former god of it, in fact), so it doesn’t seem out of the question to throw a major challenge right off the get-go.

But experienced as he is, his new mortality has set him back to square one.  In his glory days, a few Raft escapees and Kyknos, son of Ares, would have been a walk in the park; now, he can literally be felled by a little girl (granted, she stabbed him in the back with a pair of clipping shears).  It doesn’t stop there, though.  Pak-Van Lente also drop in Hecate, witch goddess, and a whole NYC borough of mobbing civilians, a challenge worthy of a god he now faces as a mortal.

As you can tell, this issue has a lot of problems going against our favorite mensch, so such so to the point you’re left just as bewildered as he is.  Remarkably, Pak-Van Lente manage to give each set of conflicts some time to develop, especially where it concerns the growing disarray of Brooklyn.  We get some humorous scenes of neighborly confrontations gone out of control (“I know you’ve been laughing at us.  Ever since the bedbugs!”), but also some moments of genuine horror, like a pack of mauling dogs threatening children after ravaging their elderly owner.

Even though the descent into chaos seems universal, Rhea remains the only one seemingly unaffected aside from Helene and the Warhawks, devotees of Ares.  Her apparent immunity to the growing paranoia warrants investigating, especially since she’s so quickly become Herc’s lady-friend and loyal supporter, yet remains largely a mysterious, if well-read, figure.  But now that she’s a captive of the Warhawks, there’s plenty of incentive to dive deeper into her history.

In the meantime, Herc gets left largely on his own, one vulnerable man with some fancy weapons against an entire city gone to heck.  His only ally: Griffin, the Raft prisoner gone feral, thanks to a magical twist that probably should’ve been shown to us, since I, for one, already forgot about that character since last issue.

Herc #3 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Neil Edwards (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: None of you guys are holding, right?  She’ll get seriously mad if you’re holding.

The Review: Sometimes crossover events can really hijack a title, forcing the storyline into a direction it never had any intention of following, or at least one that doesn’t suit the title’s tone or interests (e.g., Brightest Day and Birds of Prey).  Other times, the crossover can be so superfluous, it makes you wonder why they even bother to drag the title into it in the first place.

Anyone who’s worried having the Fear Itself brand stamped onto this issue means distracting spillover for a fledgling title that’s barely got its own story going yet, have no fear.  The one direct connection to Marvel’s summer Big Thing involves a breakout on the Raft (of less scale than the one that launched The New Avengers).  Other than that, the issue’s left to its own devices—evidence of the often pointlessly invasive nature of these big events, I suppose.

Pak-Van Lente continue building on the complications from previous issues; though the plight of Hercules’ followers remains a foreboding mystery, Kingpin’s foretelling about Herc’s newfound public support plays out to a tee.  His popularity quickly builds to a fever pitch, which he handles with characteristic breeziness (“Snuffles will taste my steel.  Next!”) despite the predictably selfish concerns he faces (“First, you gotta get the socialists.”).

Herc #2 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Neil Edwards & Scott Hanna (artists), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Step right up and have your drink shaken, not stirred by a living legend!  Seriously.

The Review: There are plenty of mythological figures running around in comics, two of the biggest being Thor and Wonder Woman (who isn’t really part of mythic canon, but whose roots are so deeply embedded in myth she might as well be).  What sets Hercules apart from these characters, and also what makes him so special, is his enthusiastic embracing of modern life and pop culture, things from which Thor and Diana still tend to keep their distance—and thereby us.

By comparison, Herc’s so much more relatable, even more so now that he’s been rendered mortal, with mortal concerns, such as trying to find a job and a place to live.  In spite of all this, he remains a hero to the core, and to be worth his salt, he needs a mission.  Since he can’t always depend on villains like Hobgoblin to pop up on a regular basis, Hercules makes up his own agenda to protect a New York City borough from the Ares-devoted mobsters, the Warhawks.

This perfectly balanced melding of mortal concerns infected with mythic influences has been a great trademark for Pak-Van Lente’s conception of Hercules and his stories.  Not only do they use Herc’s ancient origins largely to comic effect (“Who’s thy daddy, now?”), they also make some clever parallels between his famous exploits (the lifting of the world on his shoulders) and the current action (his inability to keep a building from collapsing on him).  These are fun details for mythology buffs, but they also highlight the uphill battles he’ll have to fight from now on.

Herc #1 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Neil Edwards (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Uh-oh…does the incredible Hercules have a little boo-boo?

The Review: Despite being one of the most likable and collaborative heroes around, Hercules’ godlike powers don’t really allow him to mix up with his fellow Avengers and their usual foes too often.  But with his superhuman powers diminished and the title of his newest ongoing reduced simply to his nickname, Pak and Van Lente show that Herc’s going to have to rub shoulders with the rest of us mortals for a while.  There’s of course a lot of potential for that kind of storyline, and Pak-Van Lente have already begun mining it in this first issue.

Nothing starts the blood pumping for an action series like guns and fisticuffs on a speeding train.  Herc’s takes down the gang of Warhawks in neo-classical fashion, proving his power loss hasn’t affected his battle skills any.  Pak-Van Lente also smartly use the opportunity to give brief intros to his arsenal of weapons and demonstrate their surprising effectiveness against conventional arms (his arrow piercing through one thug’s Uzi into his shoulder is especially great).

There are plenty of other myth-based superheroes that don’t really figure their mythological roots into their stories except as a theme, so it’s really impressive how present Herc’s ancient Greek origins stay throughout the issue beyond his weapons.  The prayers of his worshippers seem to be guiding him toward a more Herculean challenge than disarming the Kingpin’s street mafia.  No doubt the two tie together somehow, but this issue remains determinedly vague on that front.

And Herc wouldn’t be the hero we love without his enthusiastic embrace of modern American culture.  His delight in liquor gives us a pretty good joke (seeing a can of beer offered at his altar: “Best.  Offering.  Ever.”) and gets him a temp job, which can only mean more hilarious beats to come.  And there are few heroes in either of the Big Two who are as sexually comfortable as Hercules—the cut from meeting Rhea to him sprawled naked in bed is possibly one of the best scene-jumps you’ll have read this year.

Incredible Hercules #118 (Secret Invasion) – Review

Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, (Writers) Rafa Sandoval, (Pencils) Roger Bonet, (Inker) and Martegod Gracia (Colorist)

The last time I opened up a comic to the first page and laughed out loud, I was reading Incredible Hercules #116. I found the beer road map to be one of the funniest things I had seen in a comic and was fairly certain it would be hard to top. It was quite a surprise to find that Herc #118 manages to top the beer map in a big way by offering up…wait for it…FREE GOD SQUAD TRADING CARDS!! Needless to say, this awesome first page, featuring an Amadeus Cho rookie card nonetheless, set the bar pretty high for this issue. Does the rest of the issue manage to live up to the first page? Read on to find out!

Incredible Hercules #118 continues right where the last issue left off as the newly formed “God Squad” makes its way toward the Skrull Pantheon by way of the Dreamtime pathways. The only problem is the Skrull Pantheon is far from easy to find so the team must attempt to persuade Nightmare to give them the coordinates necessary to find the Pantheon. An interesting deal is struck, tensions flare, Skrully accusations are made, and the team faces its first true challenge. All in all, this is a compelling chapter for both the Incredible Hercules series and the Secret Invasion.

As usual, Pak and Van Lente have crafted a funny, suspenseful, and action-packed story. The interaction between the team members is a real high point as both humor and tension is used to great effect. Also, they make some nice additions to the Skrull side of the conflict (for those interested in the way Skrulls treat other religions). The writers show they have a strong grasp on how Hercules and the God Squad should fit into the bigger picture and the book is all the better for it. To be honest, this is just an incredibly fun story and if you aren’t along for the ride yet, you’re missing out. Pak and Van Lente have made Incredible Hercules one of the most consistently entertaining books on the shelf.

The artwork for this series continues to be strong. The team does a great job crafting aspects of the Dreamtime and some of the scenes featuring Nightmare are outstanding. Martegod Gracia’s work was particularly impressive with some fantastic use of color. If I have any issue with the art it is that some of the action gets a bit confusing and there was a few times I felt the scenes lacked direction. Still, this is quite a good looking book.

In closing, Incredible Hercules scores again with another good issue. The story is fun, the writing is excellent, and the artwork is almost always a treat to look at. As I said before, if you aren’t reading this series, you should be. Also, think about this…do you really want to miss out on that Amadeus Cho rookie card? In all seriousness though, pick this one up. While the issue as a whole can’t quite match the bar that was set with the awesome first page, this is still one of the best releases of the week. (Grade B+)

-Kyle Posluszny

A Second Opinion

Maybe I was just tired when I read this, but I found the story a little hard to follow when the God Squad confronts Nightmare. Nevermind, I see Kyle had the same problem as well. Anyway, while the coloring is superb throughout the issue, it gets a little muddled during this sequence and I had to do some backtracking to get my bearings. Also, naming the dog Kerberos and then referring to him as Kirby later on was a bit confusing, too. And why does this coyote pup look like a labrador? Eh.

Dog gripes aside, this is another fun-filled issue that rates high on the humor scale. There’s times where things do get serious and our gods put themselves in danger, but those moments are brief and quickly off-set by a gag or joke. For example, when a bevvy of nightmares is unleashed on our heroes, one of Amadeus’ biggest fears is realized: an over-sized Rubik’s Cube with an additional row of squares on each side. Having that thrown into a sea of bad, nightmarish creatures made me laugh out loud.

There’s just no way to take this book seriously. Sure, there may be a moment where things get heated, but for the most part, it’s very reminiscent of an action-comedy or cop-buddy flick. Again, much credit to Grek Pak and Fred Van Lente for writing one of the best titles on Marvel’s block. Rafa Sandoval’s art, along with his supporting team of Roger Bonet and Martegod Gracia are outstanding as well. (Grade: B)

– J. Montes