Alright before I get to my review I just have a bit of a rant I need to let go of. It’s gonna be a bit nitpicky, I know, but I have to get it off my chest.

Ready?

(deep breath)

WHY IS THIS A FEAR ITSELF TIE-IN!? Other then making lame attempts to somewhat connect it to the event, there is absolutely nothing to tie in here! The prison riot could’ve been just that instead of saying ‘Oh read Fear Itself #2 to get the fully story’. Or have Herc say something to the effect of ‘Facing his Fears’. It doesn’t hurt this issue by any means but it’s really, really annoying Pak and Van Lente had to be forced to tie it into this event. Take out the stupid banner on the cover, and the one mention of Fear Itself in the book and it reads like any other book.

Okay rant over.

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For my money, this is where this series finally hits the ground running. It looks like Pak and Van Lente have gone away from the ‘grim and gritty’ tone of the book to more of the same. There are a lot of jokes in here and a lot of people getting stabbed and such. It’s not like that makes the book any better then normal, but I’m glad the guys are going back to their comfort zone. It’s looking like a lot of pieces are falling into place quickly for Herc. He’s already fighting Kyknos and even more mythological creatures/people are coming around. I still like it that the guys are using as much Greek mythology at their disposal to make a superhero comic. Hell even I haven’t heard of these guys until this issue. There are also some good jokes in here like Herc promising to let bad guys ‘taste his steel’ and this weird new relationship with ManBull. In the end Pak and Van Lente are using the bottom of the barrel for Marvel characters and Greek Mythology to tell a comic story which I am loving.

Neil Edwards is also improving a bit here but not by much if I’m honest. Characters are really stiff when it’s just talking heads and sometimes they seem to be posing instead of fighting. But when the action does heat up, it all looks very impressive and I like the amount of people he can put in a panel. But I think the coloring is still doing this book a bit injustice. Jesus Aburtov is making this look too bland with muted colors and brown seems to be his only ‘comfort’ color. It needs to be more bright in this book to match the silliness on the page, but it’s not there.

So with the stupid idea of trying to tie this into Fear Itself aside, this is a really good issue. Pak and Van Lente have taken away the ‘grim and gritty’ tone away from the book and have gone back to telling jokes while Herc is swinging a sword around. Throw in some obscure Marvel villains, a big fight, and more Greek characters even I never heard of before; and it’s a fun issue all around. I just wish Neil Edwards and his art team could also participate in the fun and not give us bland and boring artwork.