Marvel Comics 2016
Written by Dan Abnett
Illustrated by Emilio Laiso
Coloured by Guru-EFX
Lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino
The world is on the brink of chaos, with heroes on all sides of the war...but when only the best are called into action, where will the world's first superhero land? Join us for an all-new epic Civil War II series that takes Hercules right to the front lines! As a God, is he responsible for a larger role in the potential destruction of the Marvel Universe? Or does he have the power to alter fate?
One thing i’m thankful for is this leads right out of his all too short lived series. Hopefully with this and after whatever this Civil War II is about we’ll have another series that stars Hercules. This whole take of him being worthless and doing his darndest to change his image and the fighting The Storm so that the old Gods can survive in this modern world and not be wiped out by the New Gods well it’s too darn good to stop.
Now i’m not terribly sure why this is a Civil War II tie-in series. Personally I think it could have continued the run of his series considering that so far it seems his involvement in this Civil War has already occurred. At least Dan wrote this through it’s conclusion and i’m sorry we won’t see the chance for him to continue this amazing story and characterization after issue four.
Meanwhile this story was fantastic! Yes we see him open talking to Amadeus, when did he become the Hulk?, and it’s cute and it leads into his brief involvement with Civil War II. It seems the Avengers, Iron Man and Captain Marvel, called everyone in on this, except for Hercules. It’s just happenstance that he’s there when it happens and races to help. Instead Cryptomnesia is there with a few lackies to taunt him and make him look bad in front of the others. Wow ya know he really has hit rock bottom and his reputation may be beyond salvaging but still think these current arcs are the best we’ve seen of him.
He has the most amazing supporting cast of characters i’ve ever seen in comics and if the title of this one didn’t give you a clue he’s gonna be sporting a new team again. At least for now. Also what i’m really enjoying about his supporting cast is that they too have been directly affected by the Storm. Gilgamesh has his own issues and feelings of inadequacy to contend with and Ire doesn’t want to be killed but it’s Teresias who has suffered the most. From being a true gender fluid being to having the same mind set but in a damaged body stuck in one form which now comes across as an aging drag queen has suffered the most. His supporting cast in many ways is as damaged as he is and him leading them is the road he needs to follow to regaining his status in the Marvel U.
Emilio has some nice artistic chops, though ditch that dumb man-bun already. It’s that mix of traditional comics mixed with cartoon styling that works well in this environment. Also he has a nice eye for storytelling through pages and panels.
There’s so much promise here for one of the world’s first superheroes. This is one of those rare books that breaks from Marvel’s norm and that makes it well worth reading.