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Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion

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"Incredible Hercules"'s debut arc was a knockout, spinning out of the events of Marvel's 2007 summer event "World War Hulk". No sooner was that over then the book dived into a new crossover, Marvel's 2008 "Secret Invasion". "Sacred Invasion", so called, addresses an obvious angle to Brian Michael Bendis' Skrull religious crusade for Earth: the confrontation between the gods of Earth and the gods of the Skrull. Kly'bn the Eternal Skrull and Sl'gur't of the Infinite Names are out to usurp the Earth deities, and it's up to our heroes to deal with them.

The story opens with Hercules, his teenage companion Amadeus Cho (boy genius), and his sister Athena, Goddess of Wisdom (who has uncovered the Skrull plot) heading to San Francisco to rendezvous with the Council Elite of the Pantheons. After a scuffle with the Eternals, under the impression that Hercules is one of them, the main plot gets underway. As Athena explains, a Skrull victory will cause the cosmic axis to shift, resulting in the various Earth deities being replaced by Kly'bn and Sl'gur't. Athena's proposal: that Earth launch a preemptive strike on the enemy gods to kill them before they can replace them. She nominates Hercules to lead, to his consternation. Inter-pantheon rivalries result in a rather small force, with representation from each continent: Hercules himself from Europe; Snowbird, the granddaughter of Hodiak, the Inuit Skyfather (North America); Ajak the Eternal, at the bequest of the Aztec, Mayan, and Incan gods (South America); Atum, aka, Demogorge the God-Eater, the omega of all gods and founder of the Egyptian pantheon (Africa); Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the God of Evil of the Kami of Japan (Asia); and, as the Australian contribution, a ship capable of sailing through the Dream-Time to the Skrull gods' residence. Along the way they have various little adventures, a la "The Odyssey".

Writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente have reached across a remarkable breadth of Marvel continuity, from "Alpha Flight" to Jack Kirby's "The Eternals" to Michael Avon Oeming's "Ares" miniseries. Almost every character brought in is accorded some measure of character arc, most notably Snowbird, whose grief over the death of Alpha Flight in 2006 is finally addressed. The writers weave together various different strands of Marvel history to create a coherent whole. There is an expert balance of humour, drama, and pathos, and the writers excel in handling these characters as genuine gods. The origin of the Skrull gods and the final confrontation with Kly'bn and Sl'gur't are both utterly epic; they far exceed anything in "Secret Invasion" itself. The story ends with a couple of dynamite hooks for future stories.

The art is provided by Rafa Sandoval, and it is incredibly beautiful. This arc made me instantly a fan of Sandoval's work, and I hope that he can do another arc at some point in the future.

Pak and Van Lente's Hercules series is a great Marvel saga in the making, and I cannot recommend it more highly.

"Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion"
(Marvel Comics, 2009)
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The third volume of the newly-revitalized Hercules series finds Herc and his sidekick, Amadeus Cho, the world's smartest tweener, smack dab in the middle of the Skrull-related Secret War mega-crossover. But while the regular Marvel super-dudes are slugging it out with regular Skrulls, Herc has been put in charge of a multicultural "god squad", sent by Athena to go to the heart of the Skrull's own pantheon and destroy their own gods. It's a big cosmic journey with some nice twists and interesting religious concepts... Amadeus is largely irrelevant in this story arc (perhaps writer Greg Pak is getting as bored with him as we are?) but Herc is definitely coming into his own. A nice treatment of a hero who has historically been one of he flimsiest characters in the Marvel universe... This is a series that is fun to read and has great potential to get even better. This volume collects issues #116-120... Looking forward to the next volume! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

After Marvel baited-and-switched fans by changing "Incredible Hulk" into "Incredible Hercules" post-World War Hulk, I immediately dropped the title. I didn't believe that a mythological Greek hero and a super-smart boy could hold a candle to Hulk, but I was wrong.

This "Secret Invasion" tie-in is a fun-filled romp. The beer-chugging Hercules is far more interesting than the angry Hulk (currently rampaging in the dreadful "Hulk" series). Fred Van Lente's dialogue is actually humorous without being juvenile, something that's a rarity in comics. I'm glad I picked up this tie-in, and I'm definitely going to stay along for the ride (until the title is canceled, I'm sure).

The best thing that came out of World War Hulk was definitely Hercules getting his own starring title, Incredible Hercules. Those who have been following the surprisingly great series no doubt know this already, but for those uninitiated, Herc's adventures during Marvel's Secret Invasion mega-event is as good a jumping on point as any. As the Skrull invasion gets fully underway, Hercules finds himself battling for the Gods of Earth, with his sister Athena and his boy-genius cohort Amadeus Cho in tow. Once again providing riveting action and some dynamite humor, writers Greg Pak (World War Hulk, Planet Hulk) and Fred Van Lente craft the most compelling tie-in of Secret Invasion, which shouldn't be much of a surprise if you have been following Incredible Hercules. Rafa Sandoval provides some excellent artwork as well, helping make this tale all the sweeter. All in all, whether you're interested in the tie-in's to Secret Invasion or have just been following the Incredible Hercules series, you can't go wrong here at all. And if you are only pretty much interested in Secret Invasion-related books, check this out anyway, and there's little doubt you'll be converted to one of the best ongoing books that Marvel currently has to offer.