In the wake of a bunch of God-wars where Hercules was the main hero, Hera has decided that it’s time for some ethnic cleansing.
She begins killing demigods and mortals who were empowered by Athena, and also meets Norman Osborn.
She tells Osborn that he can work with her, or against her. Osborn, egomaniac that he is, picks against–HAMMER, not Hera, will police superpowered beings on Earth.
Hercules is a pretty self-absorbed guy, so he doesn’t know at first that Norman Osborn’s Avengers are not the heroes he grew up with. He figures it out quickly after “Spider-Man” tries to eat his fist. And so begins a three-way fight between the Dark Avengers, Team Athena (starring Hercules and Amadeus Cho), and Hera’s Olympians.
To foil Hera’s claim on the throne, Athena sends Hercules to Hades to find Zeus and bring him back. To pay the ferryman, they go to Atlantic City to win some money. It’s little touches like that which move this series consistently from good to great.
Once in Hades, Hercules interrupts Pluto’s trial of Zeus…
…With a jury of 12 truly angry villains.
Zeus saves the God, of course. Along the way, there’s great stuff about the origin of Zeus; Hercules fighting his dead “shade” who is named Heracles; and cameos by dozens of dead folks awaiting resurrection.
Which is odd, by the way, because why would they go to Hades and not a realm dedicated to the Greek Pantheon like Mephisto’s realm? Marvel Hells have never made much sense to me. But they’re always fun so who cares? Anyway, the cameos are fast and furious–I’m sure I missed some in the tags below. Please feel free to correct me.
To return to the land of the living, Zeus is reborn as a child, who Hercules and Hera must protect.
While Herc has his adventure and gets his daddy back, Amadeus visits the souls of his parents and learns that his sister is not dead, as he had thought. He is angered now, having knowledge he wasn’t supposed to have.
In the wake of this knowledge, he decides to save his sister from peril–but doesn’t want Hercules to help.
He sees Herc as preoccupied with the needs of Gods, while mortals suffer.
In the issues to come, Hercules and Amadeus will get separate stories.
English (US) · 