The experiement of being a bi monthly series has now ended for Incredible Hercules. We end it with the finale of Amadeus Cho’s adventure and it has become interesting. His origin has been fleshed out further and this issue is going to show exactly why Cho is integral to the Marvel Universe. We’re also about one issue away from the big ‘Assault on New Olympus’ mini event for the characters. So is this a good end point for the arc and a great start to the new story?

Two big yes’s for me with those questions. This issue sees Cho finally confront the man who killed his parents and it reveals a lot about the character. Clearly the Greek Gods, notably Athena, has influenced Cho’s life before he was even born. The revelations we see in this and what may come in the future is promising. The pace does teeter abit because of the origin we’re getting here, but I can forgive it. As a man who’s followed this series since the beginning, I’m just reading this very careful to put all the peices together. What I also like about this is how it shows Pak and Ven Lente’s skill. Usually we talk about the big action or zany humor when it comes to this series. But this is a well constructed story as a whole and these guys show how serious they can get with an idea. I mean this is some heavy stuff and the end result of the villain is really dark considering the title. Still it’s a fun read, it just shows how great these two writers are.

People have sorta downgraded Rodney Buchemi’s artwork in this because of Reilly Brown’s involvment with the other arc. I find Buchemi’s work to be just as good as Brown’s and I find his work to be just as beautiful. There is a great amount of detail into each panel and the character models are really top notch. I also like how Buchemi uses the mathematical equations to show the characters intellect. There is a great page of Cho and the villain calculation each other’s move and it’s really cool to look at. I don’t know if they are real equations but I understood what they were planning in terms of movement. I can sorta understand why Buchemi isn’t getting as much love as Brown with this bi-monthly experiment. But I find this to be a really good looking book for different reasons.

You why I find this to be a great start to ‘Assault on New Olympus’? Because of the ending that I really didn’t see coming. For the sake of spoilers I won’t say what the reveal is here. But let’s say that Aunt May’s involvment with Hebe has definitely brought a famous superhero into this title. Those two pages alone are more then enough reason to buy the new mini event from Marvel. On the other hand this was a great story for Amadeus Cho and I cannot wait to see where Athena is going to take the character in the future.