By Ethan Kaye
As anyone with siblings can tell you, that rivalry between kids pops up constantly. Dad gave your brother some candy, you demand some too. Mom likes your sister more than you, you resent your sister and hide her Barbie dolls in the woods by the abandoned well. You get kicked off the Avengers and your brother, the god of war, takes your place and…well, you're just ticked off a whole bunch.
That's pretty much the first story arc of INCREDIBLE HERCULES in a nutshell, although it does leave out the major plot points of Amadeus Cho stealing a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and attempting to single-handedly dismantle that spy organization as revenge for hurting his puppy. Intriguing? Hellz yeah. If your idea of a fun night happens to be watching ancient Greek gods whale on each other,
read this book now.
But what motivation lurks behind the massive, earth-crushing punches? Why can't all we mythological characters get along? Today, INCREDIBLE HERCULES writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente seek to enlighten us as on this sibling rivalry imported all the way from Olympus.
First off, the idea that Hercules lives his life as a blameless, cheerful man-about-town has to go.
"The interesting thing is that if you look back over their histories, Herc's been in the wrong pretty darn often," notes Pak. "At certain times, there hasn't always been so clear a distinction between the actions of the two brothers. Maybe that's what makes their relationship so compelling—maybe on some level, Herc has to fight Ares partly toprove to himself that he's not like him."
Van Lente agrees: "Hercules is a complex character in the myths. He does amazing feats of heroism, but also [commits] many petty acts of murder, theft and adultery. I sort of see him as the world's first manic-depressive superhero. And there is that drinking problem..."
If Ares needed reason to launch a few punches at his half-brother, that's a pretty good one. Everyone loves Herc but when it comes down to it, both immortals can produce a rap sheet that's tough to beat.
"[Hercules] killed Ares' son, Kyknos," begins Van Lente. "And seduced, then spurned, his daughter, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons; and in some versions of that myth, Herc killed her for good measure—talk about a bad date."
"Oh, and Herc killed Ares' beloved arrow-shooting birds," adds Pak.
"I had found online that the whole birds of Stymphalis incident was what pissed Ares off about Herc in the first place," continues Van Lente. "I thought, 'Why don't we just do that?' I pitched it to Greg, he liked it, our editors liked it, and it's been a non-stop roller coaster ride of awesome ever since!"
Past aggressions aside, the Marvel Universe version of Hercules lives a generally laid-back existence, but the presence of his brother brings out the worst in him.
"Herc's about as live-and-let-live as heroes get in the Marvel Universe," says Pak. "But every once in a while, Ares crosses ye olde line."
"I don't think [Hercules] likes Ares, personally, and would rather not hang out at his house watching the game," concurs Van Lente. "But he's fundamentally a supremely good-hearted person who bears no ill to anyone, and, frankly doesn't have the attention span to carry a serious grudge. But Zeus help you if you piss him off."
And Ares pisses him off to the nth degree. More specific grudges Ares harbors against his brother reveal themselves in INCREDIBLE HERCULES #115, on sale March 19, but deep down the brothers know they're both too strong to solve all disputes in a fist fight.
"More often than not, this is the Olympian equivalent of brothers giving each other really, really painful noogies and wedgies," suggests Pak. "But from time to time, genuine homicidal intent enters the picture. We might see some of that in INCREDIBLE HERCULES #115..."
Almost as an afterthought, Pak and Van Lente had to comment on one of Hercules's trademarks: the Renaissance Faire speak.
"Sometimes we just can't resist, like when Herc was having his Champions flashback in INCREDIBLE HERCULES #114," laughs Pak.
"I don't care if I get [people mad], I would like to go on record as intensely disliking the Shakespearean way Marvel has traditionally had its gods talk," Van Lente
passionately argues. "It was fun and clever when Stan Lee did it, but now it just seems phony to me. These are Greek gods running around in America today. Why do they speak English in a British dialect almost six hundred years old , when as far as I know the Olympians were all still in Olympus.
"It's also one of the leading reasons Herc has been seen as a comedic foil for most of his Marvel history," the writer continues. "Which just doesn't fly when he has to support his own title. I'm so glad Greg jettisoned that aspect of the character when he first introduced Herc into the World War Hulk storyline of INCREDIBLE HULK."
Imagine a world where Hercules ditches the Ren Fest talk. Yeah, it's happening right now. Be sure to pick up INCREDIBLE HERCULES #115 on March 19 for the greatest god-on-god battle since Thor last whupped on Loki, and check out the personal web sites of
Greg Pak and
Fred Van Lente. Oh, and don't forget to visit Herc and Amadeus Cho's
blog!
And also be sure to read up on Ares' past exploits with Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.
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