Title: Hercules: Fall Of An Avenger (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Jesse Schedeen (Don't click it, read the review here... )
Review: Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1
- When a comic book hero falls, his or her friends must then gather to mourn and regale each other with tales of their past deeds. This is one of the immutable laws of superhero comics. "Assault on New Olympus" culminated in the death of Hercules, and now a bevy of Marvel favorites have gathered alongside Amadeus Co to celebrate the life of the Lion of Olympus. Though undeniably formulaic, Hercules: Fall of an Avenger is still a charming and reasonably entertaining method of sending off Herc in style.
Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente don't make any real attempt to deviate from the formula. A downtrodden Amadeus Cho shows up at Hercules' temple looking to palaver with Athena. Instead, he's met by Thor, the Warriors Three, and numerous former allies of Herc's from the X-Men, Avengers, and Champions. One by one, they take turns regaling one another with tales of Herc's exploits. Often these tales reference or build on the events of older comics. For instance, Thor's tale takes place after their encounter in Journey Into Mystery Annual #1. Most of these stories are simple but fun, reminding readers once more both of Herc's strengths and failings as a god. Despite the pervasive tone of sadness in this book, the writers aren't afraid to add a dash of humor here and there. I think readers of Incredible Hercules would expect nothing less.
The only point where this blend of humor and melancholy doesn't work is when dealing with Herc's legendary sex life. The aforementioned Thor tale ends up playing out almost eerily similar to a certain episode of Futurama involving Amazons and snu-snu. Later, a group of Herc's former lovers show up to celebrate his many romantic conquests. This scene is just incredibly awkward for a number of reasons. I realize you have to be a little more lenient with characterization in a humor-oriented book, but I find it hard to believe characters like Black Widow or Snowbird would so willingly behave like drunken sorority sisters, especially at such an occasion. This entire sequence reads like a forced and unnecessary attempt at humor. On the plus side, it is strongly suggested that Herc had relations with the last Marvel hero I would have expected. So the humor wasn't all a lost cause.
Ariel Olivetti was a strange choice of illustrator for this issue. I'm not accustomed to seeing Olivetti handle quieter, more introspective tales like this. On the one hand, Fall of an Avenger does allow Olivetti to focus a great deal on facial expressions and body language, areas he is admittedly pretty adept with. On the other hand, Olivetti doesn't quite capture the proper tone for the story. His work is too surreal and detached, in part because of his unnatural and sometimes nonexistent backgrounds. Characters often seem to be occupying a field of haze or just nothing at all. The visuals certainly could have been worse, but I feel one of the regular series artists might have handled this story better.
As always, the Agents of Atlas backup feature is a blast to read. The current story is especially poignant because it deals with similar subject matter. Jeff Parker manages to find more poignancy in Herc's death even without the use of characters like Cho or Thor. Especially considering Herc mainstay Reilly Brown handled the pencils here, it's enough to make one wish this creative team were the ones to handle the main story.
Hercules: Fall of an Avenger has its entertainment value, but aside from the backup it lacks the true emotional punch of the better heroic tribute issues. Judging by the ending it appears the real meat of the story is being reserved for issue #2 anyway. Let's hope Pak and Van Lente have a stronger dose of drama planned for the second half.
More info:
- Written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente
Art by Ariel Olivetti
Publisher: