Years back, when this site was but a wee youngin’ in the eyes of the internet, one of my very first blog posts was a Friday Recommendation highlighting one of my favorite books: Incredible Hercules. Well, two years later, that series ended, Hercules died, came back, became an All-Father, fought the Chaos War, and now has his own relaunched series that isn’t a spin-off from Incredible Hulk in the slightest.
And can you guess what I’m recommending this week?
As you probably can tell from the above statement; it’s no secret I am an unabashed fan of the Marvel character Hercules. Spinning out of a sort of forgotten sibling event to Civil War and Secret Invasion, Hercules had a lot going against it. But it persevered and became one of the best titles out there. But after Chaos War, which could have been the end of Hercules’ saga, I was a bit worried.
“This is Hercules, without his trademark strength; or even Amadeus Cho to play the plucky sidekick to his bombastic personality? How were they going to pull that off?” Turns out they had a plan all along. There wasn’t going to be any more traveling across the country and world, but he’d be centered in a small part of Brooklyn. He wouldn’t have his legendary powers, no, but he’d have a whole manner of magical gadgets like the shield of Medusa to help him defend the innocents from all manner of criminal and magical scum. If it makes it easier: imagine a blue collar Batman with MUCH cooler gadgets. That are magic. It’s kind of like that.
And then there’s his new supporting cast. If there was one thing Herc was missing, it was the interaction with a relatable population that he protects. Before it was mainly Herc and Amadeus you had to look forward to, without any real impact on the “real” world. But in the new series, there’s a Greek family in Brooklyn Herc lives with and works for that makes the title a real grabber. He has a family now, something he didn’t have much of before. But why would he, when your sister is manipulating you, and your parents are Zeus and Hera, you probably wouldn’t have much of a family life either. With this new family, he has someone relatable to bond with, and make him more human. And since they own a bar, he can get plum wasted in the streets of New York.
And all the while, Herc has been guided by two of the most underrated writers in comics: Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente. Most writing teams get their just accolades, like Danny Abnett & Andy Lanning (affectionately known as DnA), Palmiotti and Gray, and probably the best known: Keith Giffen and J.M. DaMatteis. But Pak and Van Lente should be put in this upper echelon as well, but for some reason, they haven’t. As soon as I think of a snappy portmanteau, I’ll use it as much as I can. Van Pak? Vanny Pak? Oh, I know it needs work (even though Vanny Pak is probably the funniest thing I can think of at the moment.) But regardless of if they get that nickname like DnA currently enjoy, they have created one of the best stories in the Marvel Universe in the past 5 years, and they kept it going beyond what anyone expected. They didn’t skimp on dropping us right into the action either. The first two issues were a rude awakening, having an incident with the Hobgobin and ending up meeting The Kingpin in his first adventure. There also seems to be a new storyline completely coming through, now that Mikaboshi is gone. This cult is bad news, and they’re bringing a different sort of story to the former God of Strength.
And while Vanny Pak (can I make this a thing? OK) are some great writers, a lot of the heavy lifting has come from the artists because so much of what they do is visual. The onomatopoeic sound effects that have been trademarks of the series as well as the comedic facial expressions from the series have returned (remember; a whole internet meme came from the previous volume with “Cool Story, Bro.”). But now there’s a darker, almost moody quality to them to differentiate from the previous volume, and it totally works.
Everything about this book feels like a sequel to the previous volume, but has a moodier setting along with a surprisingly more vibrant cast of average people with whom to connect. Herc is adjusting to a totally new world where he’s not the most powerful but he’s surrounded by those to make him human once again. I personally can’t wait to see how this unfolds. And since there have only been four issues (the aforementioned Hobgoblin arc was the first two, now there’s a Fear Itself tie-in.), it’s the easiest thing in the world to jump in and enjoy what I’m calling “The Best Solo Book at Marvel.”
Get on it.
