Hercules #2

by Dan Abnett, Luke Ross, Emilio Laiso and Guru-EFX

Even though Hercules #1 rated pretty highly with us last time, it doesn’t feel like enough people are talking about this book. As though mirroring some of the problems in the book–no, not giants–people are sort of over Hercules and his drunken antics over the last handful of years. It’s hard to say what it is, but make no mistake about it: Hercules is a book that you should be reading.

Dan Abnett has done a great job, in just two issues, of putting a new foot forward for Herc while simultaneously making it action packed and intriguing all with one swoop of the pen–or Macbook, whatever. Putting all his past transgressions behind him, Hercules is a likeable guy; he seems to want to do right by the world and make up for some of his past mistakes, even if it’s simply moving a dryer for his current landlord. Abnett has a great thing going here, no question, and he’s more than skilled enough to keep this going and really sink his hooks into the reader.

The art is shared by both Luke Ross and Emilio Laiso and much to the relief of most readers, it’s not a jarring change between the two. If you’re looking for it, you’ll see it since no two artists are the same, but to the more casual reader or people who just don’t care you’ll do just fine. Both Ross and Laiso are tremendous talents and both really put out some great work here. It’s easier to just give them both equal credit here because it’s such a pleasant surprise that Marvel managed to find artist that complement each other this well and not pull the reader out of the book. It is a little concerning that on only issue two there’s an artist split, but we’ll save those worries for the issues to come and see what happens.

As you’ve probably come to expect with Guru-EFX, the colors are on point. If you’re looking for a comparison, it really has a Mighty Thor feel à la Matthew Wilson. It’s vibrant and beautifully with just the right amount of darkness where it counts. Even jumping between artists, Guru-EFX never misses a beat and might even be a big part of the smooth transition that keeps the eye from being pulled away.

More people need to be talking about this series. Hercules is definitely setting itself up to be something special; we’re talking along the lines of Jason Aaron’s Thor, or something similar. Maybe it’s the subject matter, maybe it’s reaching, but so far in the All-New, All-Different world, Hercules has been magnificent and it’s more than worth your time to pick it up.