Herc #10

December 11, 2011

Title: Storybook Ending

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: David Hahn
Inks: Roy Richardson & Rebecca Buchman
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov & Antonio Fabela
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover Artist: Carlo Pagulayan
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publisher: Marvel Comics

With his father on Earth and powerless, Hercules decides to teach him a lesson in humanity – something that becomes a bit more difficult after a confrontation with the Kingpin leads them into battle with the ancient witch Baba Yaga and the assassin Elektra. Once again, I’m watching as a book I’ve really enjoyed comes to a premature end, although considering that these two writers did have a pretty substantial run with the character before this title, it’s not quite as premature as it seems. Still, the adventures of the non-powered Hercules have been really entertaining. Which makes it even sadder that this last issue is so weak. It feels rushed (and probably was) and ends in a way that ties up some of the outstanding plot threads, but doesn’t really satisfy in the way you would hope. The artwork is, sadly, even weaker. I really like David Hahn in general, and I’ve been a fan of his on many projects, so I have to wonder if this issue’s visual problems aren’t the result of weak inks. The characters aren’t often defined very well, and the expressions on their faces aren’t… well… expressive enough. The Baba Yaga house looks nice, but not spectacular, and Zeus doesn’t carry a powerful look to him at all – which, even on-powered, you’d expect to see in his frame and his attitude. As much as I’ve loved the run of these writers on Hercules ever since they took him into the fold during World War Hulk, and as sorry as I am to see their tenure with him end, this isn’t the way I wanted them to go out.

Rating: 6/10

Incredible Hercules #114

February 19, 2008

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Walls of Troy (Part Three of The Incredible Herc)
Rating: A

As Ares goes on the offensive, a crazed Hercules tears up what’s left of New York!

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Khoi Pham
Inks: Paul Neary
Colors: Stephane Peru
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Arthur Adams
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Last issue, Ares poisoned his brother with the blood of the fearsome Hydra, sending him into a fit of violent delusions. As Wonder Man searches for Ares, hurled away in the battle, Hercules’ old friend the Black Widow may be the only thing between him and a Hulk-level rampage.

As I’ve come to expect from Greg Pak, this was a highly entertaining, truly exciting issue. He and Fred Van Lente have managed to seamlessly blend Hercules’ classical origins with his status of a superhero, with flashes from everything from a pre-Illiad Troy to Herc’s stint with the Champions of Los Angeles. As he continues his rampage, Amadeus Cho puts another of his own crazy schemes into motion. There’s an interesting bit in this issue where we’re reminded of how Cho doesn’t really have much of a moral compass. He’s loyal to his friends – he demonstrated that during World War Hulk, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to a true sense of right and wrong, and that moral ambiguity makes him a far more interesting character than he was before.

Khoi Pham’s artwork is nice, and I especially appreciate some of the panels that pay homage to the 70s style with the Champions sequence. Arthur Adams, of course, draws a beautiful cover, which is about as obvious as statement as pointing out that the sun is rising in the east tomorrow morning.

I feel like a broken record, but I’ve got to say it again – I’ve quickly fallen in love with this book. It’s one of Marvel’s best.

Rating: 9/10

Herc #5

August 1, 2011

Title: Lost City

Writer: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Neil Edwards
Inks: Cory Hamscher
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover Artist: Ale Garza & Christina Strain
Editor: Mark Paniccia       
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Hercules and his unlikely allies, Man-Bull and Basilisk, find themselves going into battle against the worshippers of Kyknos. Battle is nothing new for Hercules, of course, but now he finds himself powerless, overwhelmed by the prayers of his own worshippers, fighting giant insects in the middle of Manhattan while his more powerful allies are busy beating the hell out of each other elsewhere in the Fear Itself crossover. As formidable a warrior as Hercules is, this time he may have to swallow his pride and turn to the one place he never wanted to go again: his father, Zeus. This new angle for Hercules has really made the new series a joy to read. Pak and Van Lente haven’t decreased the level of the threats our former Prince of Power has to deal with, but with that power gone, he’s had to change his entire approach to battling the creatures. The result is a way of looking at Hercules that nobody has ever done before. Entertaining, different, and exciting – this is some great work.

Rating: 8/10

Herc #4

June 11, 2011

Title: All Versus All

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Neil Edwards
Inks: Scott Hanna
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover: Michael Kaluta & Jim Charalampidis
Editor: Mark Paniccia       
Publisher: Marvel Comics

A powerless Hercules has found himself helping defend a group of escaping supervillains against the son of Ares, Kyknos. But when the people of Brooklyn see Herc fighting on the side of known villains like the Basilisk, they turn on the hero, forcing him into a fight he didn’t want.

Herc has been de-powered for this entire series, but this is the first time we really see the sort of toll it can take on the former Prince of Power. We see Hercules not just hurt (he’s been hurt before), but worse than that: weary, exhausted and worn-down. It’s clear, both from the writing and some great artwork, that he’s not used to feeling that way. It’s also kind of stressful for him to have to worry about PR, of all things, but it puts a nice, different kind of spin on the book.

The whole Fear Itself thing has felt pretty tenuous. I’m still not getting just how or why this book ties into that main crossover, except for some vague sensation that “fear” is spreading across the Marvel Universe, but the writing team of Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente are at least making the most out of what’s been handed to them. The book is exciting, well-written, well-illustrated, and full of real character drama and development in the midst of all the action. That’s how Herc has always been at his best with this creative team, and this arc is no different.

Rating: 8/10

Herc #3

June 3, 2011

Title: Fear Itself

Writer: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Breakdowns: Neil Edwards
Finishes: Scott Hanna
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Cover: Chris Stevens & Leonardo Olea
Editor: Mark Paniccia       
Publisher: Marvel Comics

When the Raft is blown open, Hercules comes to blows with some of the escapees that start tearing through Brooklyn. When the villains are targeted by an even more powerful force, though, Herc is forced to step up and defend even his foes in the face of a greater power. I’m so glad that Pak and Van Lente have managed to continue their association with this character, and this book shows exactly why. Their Hercules is far more than the braggart who has gotten himself and his comrades into hot water time and again with his mouth – although that Herc is still a part of him, to be sure. This Herc, though, is utterly powerless, but doesn’t hesitate to charge into battle against the likes of Man-Bull. Then when Man-Bull is the one who needs defending, Herc doesn’t hesitate to do that either. The story works for two purposes, both demonstrating Herc’s overwhelmingly heroic nature, but also setting him up for some mistrust on the part of the people he’s there to defend. The book doesn’t really have a lot to do with the overall Fear Itself crossover, save for using the escaping villains as the crux of the story, but it looks like next issue will have a deeper tie. This is another really good issue for a great creative team.

Rating: 8/10

Incredible Hulk (2000 Series) #111

November 19, 2007

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Warbound Part VI (A World War Hulk tie-in)
Rating: A

The renegades face the end of the War!

Writers: Greg Pak & Jeff Parker
Art: Leonard Kirk
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Carlos Pagulayan
Publisher: Marvel Comics

World War Hulk may have ended last week, but there’s still time for one last tie-in comic. The last chapter of “Warbound” happens pretty much simultaneously with World War Hulk issues four and five, and basically shows the events of those two issues from the perspective of Amadeus Cho and his ragtag group. As the Hulk forces the Illuminati in their own battle, then takes on the Sentry, Cho and his group are forced to hunt down the demon inadvertently unleashed by Dr. Strange.

Not surprising, given who’s going to be taking over this title in short order, there’s a lot of room given to Amadeus and Hercules, and to a lesser extent, the rest of the “Renegades.” The story itself isn’t particularly groundbreaking, especially if you read the core miniseries, but it’s a nice angle to take.

Leonard Kirk’s art, as always, is great. He has a good handle on all the diverse characters in this group, and who else could possibly draw such a convincing demon-inhabited suit of Hulkbuster Iron Man armor slugging it out with Hercules? That’s right, no one.

The new lead character for this book is a bizarre choice, but an intriguing one. As long as Greg Pak is staying with this title, I will too.

Rating: 8/10

Incredible Hercules #113

January 15, 2008

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Shirt of Nessus (The Incredible Herc Part Two)
Rating: A

Ares and Wonder Man chase down the rogue Hercules!

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente
Pencils: Khoi Pham
Inks: Paul Neary
Colors: Stephane Peru
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Arthur Adams & Guru eFX
Publisher: Marvel Comics

As Hercules and Amadeus Cho plan their way out of the Hulk Refugee Camp, Ares and Wonder Man make plans to track him down. Ares pulls out a secret weapon – a danger from Hercules’ past – to take his brother down.

There’s an awful lot to like about this comic book. First of all, like last issue, Pak and Van Lente are dipping back into classic Greek mythology for their plot points. The weapon Ares conjures up isn’t some deus ex machina or Star Trek-style technobabble weapon, it’s something very real to Hercules. Treating the original myths as in-continuity as any comic book appearance they’ve made is a great way to handle this character.

Ares, an Avenger now, is being played as the Big Bad in this arc, and that also works wonderfully. The natural friction between these two sons of Zeus provides the drama in a very organic way. Wonder Man’s confrontation with Herc goes over very well too – these guys are old friends. Neither of them wants to fight, and they both make that clear just before the fisticuffs begin anyway.

Khoi Pham, Paul Neary and Stephane Peru give us some fine artwork. The Greek monsters we see in this issue look great, as do all of the thrilling heroics.

And on a personal note, the first page of this book kinda took me aback. I’ve often been heard to voice disapproval of the depiction of Louisiana or New Orleans in comic books, as the depiction often falls into bad stereotypes. Imagine how much more I was stunned when I opened up the book to a scene set in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, which is actually my home. The depiction? Well… I wasn’t happy to see another thatch-roofed hut, and my girlfriend, who is thirsting to see an alligator in person, would be astonished at the fact that there is evidently an alligator farm in my back yard. But since there are really swamp tours in this area, I’m willing to let it slide. For once, I found it more amusing than insulting.

But I digress. The point is, this second issue of Hercules’ story is even stronger than the first, and it’s rapidly on its way to becoming one of the best comics Marvel is publishing.

Rating: 8/10

Hulk Chronicles: WWH #1

July 12, 2008

Hulk Chronicles #1 (Marvel Comics)
By Greg Pak, Peter David, Gary Frank & John Romita, Jr.

With Civil War Chronicles finished, it looks like Marvel is going to continue the format with Hulk Chronicles, collecting the World War Hulk-related titles. Conceptually, I think this is a pretty decent idea — one problem that every crossover has is figuring out which chapters are most important and in what order everything goes. These reprint volumes theoretically will solve that problem, especially for people who didn’t read the books the first time and want to jump in without having to flip through a dozen trade paperbacks in various orders. This book collects the World War Hulk Prologue and Incredible Hulk #106, which were both pretty good issues in their own right. There is one sizeable mistake, however — the stories are out-of-order. The prologue story actually references past events from Incredible Hulk #106 which don’t happen for another 20 pages. It actually takes away from the point of this series a bit. It’s not a killer, but the editors need to keep on top of things like that.
Rating: 7/10

Incredible Hulk (2000 Series) #105

April 1, 2007

Quick Rating: Heartbreaking
Title: Planet Hulk: Armageddon Part 2
Rating: A

Hulk has brought peace to the planet Sakaar – but can that peace possibly last?

Writer: Greg Pak
Pencils: Carlo Pagulayan
Inks: Jeffrey Huet
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Ladronn
Publisher: Marvel Comics

After 14 issues of some of the best stories Marvel has been putting out in the last two years, “Planet Hulk” comes to its heartbreaking conclusion. After months of fighting on the planet Sakaar, the Hulk has taken the crown and taken an empress, bringing peace to a planet torn by war. He’s found joy. He’s happy.

Of course, it can’t last.

This issue turns on a dime, going from joyful and happy to horrifying and heartbreaking. You feel for the Hulk here like never before, and you’re almost anxious to see him lay waste to the planet Earth once he makes it home. I’m still wary of yet another event story so closely on the heels of Civil War, but Greg Pak has really made this lead-in to World War Hulk feel like a natural, organic outgrowth of the story.

Carlo Pagulayan, Jeffrey Huet and Chris Sotomayor provide some really fantastic art, and Pak gives us a text piece at the end that gives us some really nice insight into how the story was put together.

It’s hard to say much more without spoiling anything. Suffice it to say, if you’re looking for a happy ending, go read Uncle Scrooge or something. If you’re looking for a story that will genuinely affect you, make you feel for a character that’s always teetered between the man and the monster, this is the book.

Rating: 9/10

Skaar, Son of Hulk #1

May 10, 2008

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Cradle of Fire
Rating: Parental Advisory

The son of the Hulk stalks the remains of Sakaar!

Writer: Greg Pak
Pencils: Ron Garney
Colors: Paul Mounts
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Cover Art: Ron Garney; Carlo Pagulayan & Julie Bell (Variants)
Publisher: Marvel Comics

When the planet Sakaar was destroyed in the tragic ending of Planet Hulk, the Hulk’s bride Caiera was pregnant with the son of the rampaging man-monster. The Hulk left Sakaar to seek vengeance on the Earth, unaware that his child – against all odds – survived.

The explanation for Skaar’s survival here is a little iffy, but that’s not really important. It’s good enough for a John Carter-style planetary romance, which is what this book quickly reveals itself to be. Picking up a year after the explosion devastated the planet, a new tribe of barbaric aliens is trying to hunt down the legendary son of the Hulk, the only obstacle to their domination of the planet.

Although it’s set on a distant planet, with plenty of sci-fi trappings, the book reads more like a sword-and-sorcery fantasy series like Conan or Red Sonja than anything else. Skaar isn’t really much of a character at this point, but he does exhibit the same sort of disparity between his savage nature and a protective tendency that’s so indicative of his father. He needs more time to develop, but there’s a seed of something interesting here.

Ron Garney is a good match for this book. I’m more used to seeing his style on action-oriented human heroes like Captain America and Spider-Man, but he shows a real skill here for monsters and beasties, and that’s just what this book needs.

Right now, Skaar doesn’t really serve much more of a purpose than to stand-in for the Hulk’s savage incarnation in a barbarian setting, but Pak has more than earned enough currency as a writer to wait out the first story arc and see what this is going. This issue didn’t blow me away, but as introductions go, it isn’t bad.

Rating: 7/10