Alright I’m not gonna beat the bush around this issue today. I’m starting to get tired of this series and I’ll tell ya why. As much as I love the Incredible Hercules run by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente that feels so long ago (when it really isn’t). But this series just doesn’t have the magic that that book had. Incredible Hercules had:

A) A great mix of hilarious dialogue and non-stop action.

B) A good mix of talented artists and a creative letterer by their side.

This series just has none of that going for it and this particular issue highlights all the problems. I just don’t find myself caring on what Herc is doing. The pacing is pretty hectic in itself with one minute Herc is fighting off demon cops, then he’s talking to Hermes, then suddenly we’re at the ending. Then we have this pointless tie-in to Fear Itself when this story was doing just fine trying to do it’s best to never talk about it. But ultimately I don’t care about the villains involved in this arc. They are B-level mthological characters and even if their plan was to work (bringing back Ares) then I’m confused why that would be a problem since he died a hero in Siege (kinda..). Then you have the art by Neil Edwards and even though I’m excited he’s off the book once this Fear Itself tie-in ends (of course not now), I am not interested in who’s coming after. Basically Edwards pencils are stiff at best and at times confusing to follow at worst. It doesn’t help that the coloring is very muted and nothing really strikes me coming off the page.

So why am I sticking this for one more issue? Well basically it’s the completeist in me since the final Fear Itself tie-in will be next month. But then we go right into Spider-Island with this book which makes no sense to me. Yes Herc is in NYC but really? A tie-in to a Spider-Man mini event? That’s low even for a book like this. Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente aren’t getting help with editorial on this series but then again they’ve done nothing to impress me here with this issue or for the entire run so far. Unless some Olympus size miracle occurs then with the next issue, I don’t see myself buying this series in the future. What a shame to what has been one of the best character’s Marvel has used in recent times.