Incredible Hercules #128 (Dark Reign) – Review

By Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (Writers), Dietrich Smith (Pencils), Terry Pallot (Inks), and Raul Trevino (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The Incredible Hercules has disappointed me as of late. The series remains fun and humorous, but the storylines have been rather weak. If Hercules and Amadeus Cho weren’t so entertaining to follow, I probably would have dropped the book months ago. But since they are, I figured I might as well give Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente another issue or two to right the ship.

The Story: Incredible Hercules #128 is pretty much one big fight scene. Herc’s group, the Olympus Group, and the Dark Avengers square off in a battle filled with action and, unsurprisingly since Herc’s involved, comedy. Plot progression doesn’t really happen until the end, so in order to avoid a spoiler, that’s all I will say for this section.

What’s Good: As usual, Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente do a great job of handling the humor and character work that makes Incredible Hercules such a fun read each month. The writers’ efforts are complimented nicely by the art teams lively, cartoony visuals that keep the battle action-packed and, oddly enough, hilariously amusing. Watching The Sentry and Venom (Dark Spidey) get knocked around like Loony Tunes characters is quite satisfying.

What’s Not So Good: I wish the plot driving the big battle interested me more. The characters involved keep me reading, especially when the mythology behind some of them comes into play, but as a whole I can’t help but respond to the story with a resounding “Meh.” Maybe things will pick up next issue, but I’m not counting on it.

Conclusion: A Hercules flavored throwdown is always worth checking out. Just don’t expect much from the story.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny

Incredible Hercules #119 (Secret Invasion) – Review

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

This latest issue of The Incredible Hercules is really just one extended fight scene as Kirby, the pup recently revealed to be a Skrull, causes all sorts of trouble for the God Squad. While an extremely quick read, it sets the stage nicely for the showdown between the Skrull god and the God Squad. I really wish there was more to say about this issue, but, to be honest, the focus here is on action, not story.

I have no problem with comics featuring non-stop action, but I do have a problem if the action isn’t very well orchestrated. The scenes of calm look great, but those are few and far between. Maybe they were just running on a loose plot, because the art team just doesn’t seem to have a handle on everything that is going on in this issue. At times, it feels as though penciler, Rafa Sandoval, is more concerned with creature design than visual storytelling. There is a lot of good stuff to look at here, but you have to work to find it amongst the chaos. Truth be told, I happen to like this art team, but they have to get a handle on how to control the chaos because epic battles these are not.

As for the writing, it is as enjoyable as always. Incredible Hercules continues to be one of the best written books each month even when the writing takes a bit of a back seat to the action. The humor works as it should, the characters continue to entertain, and the visual chaos is translated into all sorts of fun dialogue. Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente continue to make one heck of a writing team.

While I like Incredible Hercules #119 quite a bit, the issue is weighed down by the poor art direction. I can understand what Sandoval and his team were going for, but there is just too much going on in nearly every scene. That said, I am still enjoying the hell out of this tie-in and can’t wait to see how the team handles Kly’bn, the Skrull God. (Grade: B)

-Kyle Posluszny