Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #2 *Spoilers*

[Soundrave]

Story One

Herc’s funeral is interrupted by the Olympian pantheon!

Athena chooses Amadeus Cho to guide the pantheon’s mortal holdings in the Olympus Group, but Apollo objects and intends to stop her.

The gods decide to battle through mortal (or half-mortal) proxies.

Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, chooses an unwilling Amadeus Cho!

Apollo, God of the Sun, chooses Phobos, God of Fear!

Poseidon, God of the Sea, chooses Namor!

Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, chooses Skaar!

Nyx, Goddess of the Night, chooses Nightmare!

Hebe, Goddess of Youth, chooses Bruce Banner (much to Namor’s chagrin)!

While Namor battles Skaar, Cho and Banner take on Nightmare. Banner reveals a pocket teleporter within his backpack, and Cho uses it to send Nightmare to Banner’s lab.

Phobos briefly uses his powers to incapacitate the other combatants, but Cho (whose worse fear already came true in the form of Herc’s death) shakes it off pretty quickly.

Tired of being manipulated, the mortal proxies join forces to turn the tables on the gods. Namor and Skaar take down Apollo while Phobos uses his powers to force Pluto to grant Cho access to Hades.

While in Hades, Cho is confronted by Persephone, Goddess of the Dead, who implies that Hercules isn’t there (and therefore isn’t dead).

The next Monday, Athena arrives at the Olympus Group Building in Manhattan to find Cho operating as CEO and Hebe working as his executive assistant.

Cho reaffirms that he’s Herc’s (rather than Athena’s) champion and vows to use all of the Olympus Group’s resources to find him!

Foreshadowing: One “Mr. Halfling” calls the Olympus Group to discuss “something about acquisitions.”

Story Two

A touching tale of Herc's secret Hospital for the Children of Greek Mythological Monsters

[wayfarejourneyman]

Story One

Herc’s funeral is interrupted by the Olympian pantheon!

Athena chooses Amadeus Cho to guide the pantheon’s mortal holdings in the Olympus Group, but Apollo objects and intends to stop her.

The gods decide to battle through mortal (or half-mortal) proxies.

Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, chooses an unwilling Amadeus Cho!

Apollo, God of the Sun, chooses Phobos, God of Fear!

Poseidon, God of the Sea, chooses Namor!

Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt, chooses Skaar!

Nyx, Goddess of the Night, chooses, Nightmare!

Hebe, Goddess of Youth, chooses Bruce Banner (much to Namor’s chagrin)!

While Namor battles Skaar, Cho and Banner take on Nightmare. Banner reveals a pocket teleporter within his backpack, and Cho uses it to send Nightmare to Banner’s lab.

Phobos briefly uses his powers to incapacitate the other combatants, but Cho (whose worse fear already came true in the form of Herc’s death) shakes it off pretty quickly.

Tired of being manipulated, the mortal proxies join forces to turn the tables on the gods. Namor and Skaar take down Apollo while Phobos uses his powers to force Pluto to grant Cho access to Hades.

While in Hades, Cho is confronted by Persephone, Goddess of the Dead, who implies that Hercules isn’t there (and therefore isn’t dead).

The next Monday, Athena arrives at the Olympus Group Building in Manhattan to find Cho operating as CEO and Hebe working as his executive assistant.

Cho reaffirms that he’s Herc’s (rather than Athena’s) champion and vows to use all of the Olympus Group’s resources to find him!

Foreshadowing: One “Mr. Halfling” calls the Olympus Group to discuss “something about acquisitions.”

Story Two

A touching tale of Herc's secret Hospital for the Children of Greek Mythological Monsters

So Bruce has nightmare lying around. That might come in handy.

Bruce is becoming Thanos with glasses -- at least when it comes to super-tech

[Soundrave]

Bruce is becoming Thanos with glasses -- at least when it comes to super-tech

I wouldn't go that far until he gets his own private helicopter.

[CaptainCanada]

Olivetti acquits himself okay in the talking bits, but the fight scenes expose all the weaknesses of his style (plus, the rather blank backgrounds). Nonetheless, if he had to draw a story, it was good it was this one. Brown's work in the backup clearly shows that he's a much better choice.

The brief bits with the gods choosing their champions was quite fun (particularly Namor's annoyance at Hebe not choosing Thor, though he's a god, and Athena said you couldn't have a god; unless she just meant an Olympian). I especially liked Namor's attitude toward Poseidon, since you rarely see him being respectful to anyone.

I was expecting that Herc wasn't in the Underworld; he'd have been too easy to retrieve in that case. Is he not dead, or did his dying in an alternate universe send him elsewhere? Wait and see, I guess.

I do think that Athena's being a written a bit more hamhandedly in these last two issues, compared with her pretty much effortless smoothness in the rest of the series.

[NewMutant]

Anymore Northstar? ;) :P

[wayfarejourneyman]

Olivetti acquits himself okay in the talking bits, but the fight scenes expose all the weaknesses of his style (plus, the rather blank backgrounds). Nonetheless, if he had to draw a story, it was good it was this one. Brown's work in the backup clearly shows that he's a much better choice.

The brief bits with the gods choosing their champions was quite fun (particularly Namor's annoyance at Hebe not choosing Thor, though he's a god, and Athena said you couldn't have a god; unless she just meant an Olympian). I especially liked Namor's attitude toward Poseidon, since you rarely see him being respectful to anyone.

I was expecting that Herc wasn't in the Underworld; he'd have been too easy to retrieve in that case. Is he not dead, or did his dying in an alternate universe send him elsewhere? Wait and see, I guess.

I do think that Athena's being a written a bit more hamhandedly in these last two issues, compared with her pretty much effortless smoothness in the rest of the series.

I don't think Athena is used to catching flack.

Is it just me, or could this team of mortals probably put down the weakened Olympians by themselves? Heck, is anyone in the olympian pantheon strong enough to out fight Skaar?

[Soundrave]

Olivetti acquits himself okay in the talking bits, but the fight scenes expose all the weaknesses of his style (plus, the rather blank backgrounds). Nonetheless, if he had to draw a story, it was good it was this one. Brown's work in the backup clearly shows that he's a much better choice.

Agreed on that. This issue had much more action than last issue, and Olivetti showed again that his style just doesn't translate well to action scenes. Plus, it didn't help that I'm used to seeing Stefano Caselli's awesome rendition of Phobos in Secret Warriors month after month, which totally blows away the "Children of the Corn" Phobos that Olivetti draws in this issue.

[motteditor]

Lots of good stuff, but I think Reilly Brown just continues to get better with every issue he does. I enjoyed his Cable & DP work, but that panel with the little centaur girl playing with the cerebus pup. Too fricking cute. After I finished the backup, I checked who was the artist, and was surprised that it was Brown. There were a couple shots of Venus that I thought were a bit odd (though I was wondering if it might be the inking) but the pictures of the little children were just adorable.

[Cthulhudrew]

Foreshadowing: One “Mr. Halfling” calls the Olympus Group to discuss “something about acquisitions.”

Ah- I'd forgotten that the Pantheon was supposed to be making a comeback. Nice.

[seekquaze]

I don't think Athena is used to catching flack.

Is it just me, or could this team of mortals probably put down the weakened Olympians by themselves? Heck, is anyone in the olympian pantheon strong enough to out fight Skaar?

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Athena has predicted Cho's reaction and is still manipulating him.

As to the Skaar bit it is hard to say. Part of his power is strength and part of it is the old power. I would say Ares could potentially beat him if he was having a good day and not in jobber mode. Neptune and Pluto could as well.

If you start including their other powers Neptune and Pluto I am sure could beat him if they used their full range of abilities. Apollo as well. We have not seen enough of Athena fight, but from what she had demonstrated so far I could see her already having figured out how to beat him.

What makes the major Olympians more dangerous than the Norse is they tend to have greater energy powers on top of their physical abilities. If a writer uses these then they could conceivable beat just about anyone.

[CaptainCanada]

Athena's got Zeus's bolt now, which, on top of her mental acuity, would be enough for me to bet on her against Skaar.

[seekquaze]

Athena's got Zeus's bolt now, which, on top of her mental acuity, would be enough for me to bet on her against Skaar.

If the bolt possesses half of the power Zeus has shown in the past she should be able to beat him everytime. When thinking about it I was thinking how she would do with just her normal powers. She seems to be about equal to the Eternal Thena and Thena was able to defeat Gilgamesh.

[aquafanatic]

I wouldn't go that far until he gets his own private helicopter.

what book has the Thanos Copter?!?

I thought I had every Thanos appearance....hrrrmmmm

[Soundrave]

what book has the Thanos Copter?!?

I thought I had every Thanos appearance....hrrrmmmm

Spidey Super-Stories #39

[seekquaze]

A bit late perhaps, but here is my review of the issue.

Hercules: Fall of an Avengers #2

This issue has less to do with Herc's funeral and more with power struggles between the gods. Namely Athena and Apollo. Rather than battle directly they engage through mortal proxies.

Apollo has some nice moments hear and demonstrates a variety of powers that show he is more than a mere brick. I suppose it is possible Athena could have just blasted him into submission, but Apollo points out how dangerous he control of the sun truly can be. I can also see Athena engaging him indirectly as he makes her less of a tyrant, satisfies Apollo's challenge, and encourags less rebellion. That and either killing or imprisioning a long-time god like Apollo would upset the pantheon even more.

The choice of champions among the gods and the taking of sides was interesting and partly random. It looks like it was almost random. Poseidon sides with long-time rival Athena by selecting Namor. Artemis sides with Apollo. Hebe sides with Cho considering him her foster son. There is a surprise appearance by one night goddess and her champion that I no way saw coming.

One thing I liked is Pak and Lente got out of the way one thing I had been wondering. Why didn't they just go to the underworld and retrieve Hercules the same they did with Zeus? We get a satisfactory answer here that is opening up more story opportunities down the road.

Artwise, to me Olivetti's art is a mixed bag. I liked the attention to detail in some areas such as Athena'a shield when she is declaring herself the new queen early on. Other times he facial expression seemed a bit awkward or off. I did not care much for the depction of Apollo as a bodybuilder. He is supposed to be physically fit, but here he looked huge. More Hercules than Apollo. One scene has Namor shooting water from his hands instead of the trident. There is also a lack of backgrounds in some cases. This art also goes to show why I have issues with a double lance being Athena's weapon. She treats it like a staff.

Overall, I like this issue. This was the first time in a long time I think gods have been depicted like gods. Even the defeats of Apollo and Pluto were handled well. I have also surprised at how much pak and Lente crammed into this issue. If a few other writers were writing it I could see it being a four or five issue series instead of two.

Story: 9/10
Art: 7/10
Overall: 8/10

Agents of Atlas back-up:
I think its possible I enjoyed this as much if not more than the main feature. I continue to really enjoy both the work of Paul Tobin and Reilly Brown. The this conclusion adds a new layer of depth to Hercules I never thought he had. We are all familiar with Herc as the mighty monster slayer. He never stops bragging about it. But here we see another side of him. It also answers a question in a way we should have wondered about for a long time.

The only minor criticism I have of it is they get one of their creatures wrong. They refer to a Centaur as a Minotaur.

Artwise I am liking Brown's art more and more. I am glad he is going to be the closest thing this series has to a regular penciler. Kudos to the entire art team.

Overall: 9/10