Hercules has certainly had an adventurous couple of years. He’s fought Skrulls, Amazonians, formed a GOD SQUAD, became Thor, and turned into the strongest God of all mythologies. But now he’s back to square one by literally being a mortal again. Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente has written this character for a long time now and has given us some great, hilarious moments. Now that he’s mortal though, we might be in for a more ‘serious’ Herc then before.

One thing that did surprise me about this new series was the total shift in tone. Yes there are some good jokes in here, like various George Michael references, but it’s not the same humor I read from before. The previous series was a lot of slapstick with an emphasis on face punching. Here it’s all dark and moody with a sort of ‘Garth Ennis’-lite feel to it. Now there isn’t rampant amount of violent and toilet humor to it; but it feels like a new set of writers are on the character. It’s not a bad thing mind you, I enjoyed this just as much as any other Herc issue. I love how Pak/Lente frame the exposition in this and show us a detailed look into the equipment Herc is now packing. If there’s one thing these guys have always done well is mix mythology with comic books and it continues here. Now as a #1 issue it does suffer a tiny bit of too much exposition if I’m honest, and the reveal of the villain didn’t do much for me just yet. But I like the direction so far of Herc being a more ‘street tough’ hero.

Neil Edwards is only known to us as the guy who isn’t Dale Eaglesham or Steve Epting on Fantastic Four. I haven’t given him much of a fair shake because of that fact but now he gets to show his chops on this series. I like what I see but it definitely could be a bit improved. The characters look good, but sometimes they are positioned awkwardly and their faces look a bit too Barbie-ish. For example, there is a page where Herc is about to square off with the villain. The panel before that it’s oddly positioned and I’m not sure how Herc knew it was an ambush. Then the nex tpage, which is a full page splash, of the reveal just looks awkward with Hercules mouth wide open and the position the villain is in. There are other, better looking panels in this and he executes the exposition panels brilliantly. I just hope the panels don’t look as stiff in the future.

This is certainly a good start as a new series but I must admit I am a bit bias. Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente has written this character for years now so if you’ve read Incredible Hercules its more of the same. But then again it really isn’t when you go deep into the story. The tone is radically different, the premise is different, the humor isn’t slapstick (and there is very little of it) and the art by Edwards isn’t the strongest like some of the artists work on Hercules. Overall though it’s a nice starting point for new readers into the Hercules-verse and I know it will only get better from here. (Oh and also, I miss the hilarious sound effects. Where’s a CRACKAJAMMA when you need it?)