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Or rather, Incredible Hercules. Yes, folks, this is the issue where the title changes hands in all but name (that’ll be happening next month) – the Hulk has disappeared from his own title. Standing in his place are World War Hulk survivors, the demi-god Hercules and child genius, Armadeus “Flex Mentallo” Cho.
Now, it’d be very easy to hate this book. I’ve previously yammered on about how I think changing the cast and title in this way is a horrible and cynical marketing idea, but since I’ve already covered that, I’ve decided to give it a chance and consider it on its own merits.
And, well, it’s pretty good. Pak and Van Lente take the time to really round out Hercules as a man trying to do the right thing but who all too often lets his emotions cloud his judgement, illustrating many examples of this throughout existing Greek legend. After being denied the pardon extended to any other supporters of the Hulk due to their destruction of a Helicarrier, Hercules convinces Cho that they should hand themselves in, following his sense of honour.
While Cho is asked to use his super-brain to co-ordinate the cleanup of New York, Hercules discovers that his half-brother, god of war and Mighty Avenger Ares will be his new commander in the Initiative. Enraged by his goading, Hercules breaks free of SHIELD, taking Cho with him. Cho suggests that the two join forces and take down SHIELD together.
The dynamic between Hercules and Cho is remarkably compelling. Cho is the impetuous brains of the outfit while Hercules represents the much slower, if easily-led brawn of it. There’s plenty of potential for comedy and the use of Ares as the first arc’s “villain” makes a lot of sense, given how Hercules was previously an Avenger and now finds himself on the outside. It’s not a perfect comic, of course – the main question is whether or not anyone wants to read about Hercules and Cho trying to take down SHIELD – but at least it’s got direction. Either way, it’s going to sell more comics than if they cancelled it in favour of the new Hulk series…
“the main question is whether or not anyone wants to read about Hercules and Cho trying to take down SHIELD”
Unfortunately, I do not. I wasn’t a big fan of Hulk’s title during WWH and will probably be skipping anything with his name on it…with the possible exception of Hulk #1. There’s something about the red one that draws me to it…
Nice review J!
Thanks. I have to say, I’ll probably also be dropping the title. It’s a nice premise and it’s been written well, but I’m finding that I’m not really interested in a Hercules/Cho book. If they were supporting characters in a Hulk book, that could’ve been great, but what it comes down to is that if the next issue had been released as Hercules #1, I wouldn’t have bought it. It’s unfortunately that simple.
I am definitely looking forward to Hulk #1, though. If changing colour works for Spider-Man, it can work for Hulk too ;-)
I agree about the change of color. It’s always nice to see the character switch up his costume every now and then. However, I liked seeing Spider-Man back in his good old red and blue.
Make me wonder how long it’ll be until we see Hulk back in green…