The Incredible Herc, Part 1: Birds of Stymphalis

World War Hulk continues from World War Hulk: Front Line #6….

New York, Now

The war against the Hulk is now over,[1] and SHIELD is back in control. Agents review the details of the conflict and have taken special interest in Hercules and his group of Renegades.[2] They have located Hercules and Amadeus Cho and order them to surrender. Hercules responds by throwing a barrel of wine at the helicarrier. Cho suggests that Herc do something about the SHIELD agents. However, the Olympian demi-god wants to remember the Hulk. He can relate to how the Hulk lost his lover, one of of the main reasons for his want of revenge against the Earth….[3]

Thebes, 1277 BC

Hercules has just discovered that his wife Megara and their sons are dead. He demands to know who was responsible for such carnage. Theseus tells Herc that this was the work of Hera who struck him with an unstoppable bloodlust so that they would die by his own hands.[4]

Now

While Hercules was preoccupied with memories of the past, a team of SHIELD agents have surrounded him and Amadeus. Their fellow Renegades — Angel (Warren Worthington III) and Namora — suggest that they accept the amnesty given to them by Iron Man (Tony Stark).[5] However, the SHIELD agents will only give it to Angel and Namora as they want to take Herc and Cho into custody. Amadeus wants to put up a fight, but all Hercules can think about are his dead sons and surrenders instead. As they are taken in with Hulk’s confederates, Cho suggests using a device to scramble the SHIELD prisoner transports, but Herc crushes the device instead. He tells Amadeus that they need to atone for their part in the Hulk conflict. This upsets Amadeus who calls Herc a drunk and storms off on his own.

Hercules is taken to a processing tent where he is to be interrogated by his half-brother, Ares the god of war.[6] Ares takes great pleasure in having his brother a prisoner and Herc tells him to say what he says. He already knows that Ares is going to bring up the birds again….

Lake Stymphalis , Arkadia, 1271 BC

Following the murder of his family and the war against Lycus, Hercules sought atonement through 12 labors. The sixth involved killing the Stymphalis birds who feasted on the dead in the region. Hercules was to kill the creatures with bow and arrow, but upon seeing the horde he ripped up a tree and tried to swat them all. The birds all flew into the sky and started hailing down feathers that they could shoot from their plumage like arrows. Diving into the nearby lake for cover lessened the number of feathers Herc was stuck with. Hercules then tied these feathers (now tipped with the blood of the gods) and used them to slay all of the birds one after another until they were all dead….

Now

Ares gloats about how Hercules turned his atonement into embarrassing human weakness then as he has now by siding with the Hulk. Now, Ares is the one in charge and doling out the punishment. He has decided that once Hercules signs his registration papers his first order will be to rebuild Stark Tower (destroyed in the Hulk’s attack) all by himself.[7] After looking down at the paperwork for a moment, Hercules suddenly puts on a devilish grin.

In another tent, Amadeus Cho is being interrogated by SHIELD agent Jones.[8] He is impressed with Cho’s ability to to turn every day objects into weapons, like when Amadeus used a mirror on his motorcycle to take out an attack helicopter.[9] He chastises Amadeus for using this ability to assist the Hulk. Cho justifies it, pointing out that nobody was killed because the Hulk isn’t a murderer. The SHIELD agent then points out that the Hulk did cause untold damage to New York City and its residents are all now refugees in New Jersey. But the agent gives him the opportunity to make it right by using his great intelligence to help with the recovery efforts as quickly as possible. Amadeus refuses to do so, believing that this is just the first step to SHIELD using him to create weapons of war. That’s when Amadeus notices the water bowl his pet coyote cub is drinking from has begun to ripple and suggests his interrogator duck.

Seconds later, Ares comes crashing through the wall after being hit by Hercules. He grabs Cho and the two make a run for the Lincoln Tunnel with SHIELD Cape-Killers hot on their heels. As they weave their way through the abandoned vehicles, Hercules tells Amadeus to think of a way to help them escape. Looking around, Cho spots a crack in the tunnel roof. He instructs Herc to throw one of the cars at it and it causes the tunnel to give way, flooding it with water. The two ride out of the torrent inside a convertible car. Once they are on the other side, Amadeus reveals to Hercules that he stole Agent Jones’ laptop computer and suggest they use it to bring down SHIELD.

Meanwhile, the SHIELD agents have activated the locator beacon in the laptop and see that their fugitives have gotten away. Rather than allow them to keep sensitive SHIELD data, they try to remotely brick the laptop. However, Cho has anticipated this and when they activate the kill switch they fry their own tracking equipment instead. Ares tells them not to worry because he and his fellow Avengers — the Black Widow and Wonder Man — are going to bring Hercules back in.

Recurring Characters

Renegades (Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Angel, Namora), Mighty Avengers (Ares, Wonder Man, Black Widow), SHIELD, Kirby (unnamed), “Kirby”, (in flashback) Theseus, Megara (corpse),

Continuity Notes

1. The Hulk was exiled into space from Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #91 to 105. When his adopted home world of Skaar was destroyed, he came to Earth for revenge. This was primarily covered in World War Hulk #1-5, as well as various crossover issues listed below.

2. Amadeus Cho formed the Renegades to help the Hulk and resolve the conflict without more violent. See Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #107-108.

3. Hercules is referring to Ceirra Oldstrong, who became betrothed with the Hulk during his time on Skaar. While her physical body died in Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #105, her essence lives on the ruined world of Skaar as we’ll see in Skaar: Son of Hulk #1-12.

4. According to Greek mythology, Hera (the wife of Zeus) had a particular hatred of Hercules because he was born out of infidelity between Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmena. The death of Megara was first depicted in Hercules (vol. 3) #5, this account differs from the one told here, see below for more on that. More over, in Incredible Hercules #115 we learn that Hercules’ wasn’t under the spell of Hera at all. His rampage was in response to Lycus seizing the throne of Thebes. He accidentally killed his wife and children during his rage.

5. At the time of this story, the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) was in force, starting in Civil War #3. It requires all superhumans active in the United States to register with the government. Hercules was one of the heroes who opposed registration, making him an outlaw. This law will remain on the books until Siege #4.

6. At the time of this story, Ares is on the pro-registration side of the SHRA debate, having joined Tony Stark’s team in Mighty Avengers #1.

7. Avengers Tower was destroyed during a brawl between Iron Man and the Hulk in World War Hulk #1.

8. As we’ll learn in Incredible Hercules #119, prior to Cho’s interrogation he is gassed by Skrull spies posing as SHIELD agents. They then replace his coyote pup, Kirby, with another Skrull spy. This is ahead of a planned invasion of Earth that will take place between Secret Invasion #1-8. Kirby is unnamed here, he will be given his name in Incredible Hercules #118.

9. That was in Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #15.

Topical References

• Amadeus is depicted as repurposing a pocket tape recorder into some kind of scrambler device here. This could be considered a topical reference as cassette players are pretty well an obsolete technology and mostly used by analogue aficionados now. You could argue that Cho prefers to use vintage tech to make his devices, so YMMV.

• When considering the SHIELD offer, Cho declines saying he’s read Ender’s Game. This was a 1985 science fiction novel by OrsonScott Card. The story centers around children who are recruited into military service to defend the Earth from an alien invasion. It spawned 4 follow up novels, a film adaptation in 2013, and Marvel even published graphic novel adaptations from 2008 to 2012. It is considered a contemporary classic and is suggested reading of many military services including the US Marine Corps. You could consider this a topical reference as you could replace it with a more contemporary example, I’m sure, but YMMV.

The Death of Megara

As stated above, there are two differing accounts and details surrounding the death of Megara and Herc’s children. Let’s break down these versions of events:

Greek Mythology: There are varying accounts regarding the marriage of Hercules and Megara. The number of children they had and their names changes depending on the author. In all accounts they were all boys. Depending on the account they had between 3 and 8 children together. In most accounts, Hercules was put in a state of bloodlust by Hera and wipes out his entire family. While others say that Megara did not die and Hercules would give her away to his 16 year old cousin Iolaus. Regardless of the discrepancies, this was the inciting incident that led to the 12 labors.

Hercules (vol. 3) #5: This version of the tale states that Hercules came home after a night of drinking and blacked out. When he woke up, his wife and children were dead and he had blood on his hands. Other than being drunk, there is no mention of Hera being involved in the incident. In that story, Hercules goes to Hades to seek forgiveness. This story only depicts two children (one boy and one girl) in both the flashback and in Hades. This series reinforces the idea that Hercules carried out his 12 labors as an act of atonement for their murders.

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5: This accounting states that while Hera was suspected of being involved in Hercules’ bloodlust, it apparently was never proven. Here, the inciting incident that led to Hercules going berserk was due to King Creon condemning Megara and his children to death. In the rampage, Hercules inadvertedly killed his family as well. That accounting states that Hercules completed his 12 labors prior to the death of his family.

The accounts in Hercules (vol. 3) #5 and Incredible Hercules #115 contradict one another. While Incredible depicts Hercules 3 dead sons that doesn’t discount that there might have been a daughter. One could assume that she is off panel. The appearances of only two children in Hades also doesn’t negate the existence of others. It would be reasonable to assume that of the children Hercules had with Megara, only two accompanied her to meet with him and give forgiveness. If Hercules murdered his family in a fit of rage and not why blackout drunk, it stands to reason that Megara wouldn’t have recounted it that way.

As of this writing (August, 2024), Marvel has yet to provide an official explanation for this discrepancy. I think the simplest explanation is probably best: Given that Hercules history of alcoholism we can assume that his slaughter at Thebes was because he was drunk.

Since the flashback in Hercules (vol. 3) #5 shows that Megara and her children were murdered in their sleep, perhaps we can assume that Hercules killed them first before waging war against Lycus, hence why Megara only recalls that Hercules was drunk and not that he attacked Lycus and his followers. Given the level of shame that Hercules is revealed to have felt for their murder (as told in Incredible Hercules #115), one could assume that he went along with Megara’s recollection of events to further hide his shame.

World War Hulk Reading Order

Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #106, World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1, World War Hulk #1, Ghost Rider (vol. 6) #12, Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #19, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #11-13, Irredeemable Ant-Man #10, Ghost Rider (vol. 6) #12-13, World War Hulk: Front Line #1, World War Hulk :Gamma Corps #1, 2, 3, 4, Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #20, World War Hulk: X-Men #1, 2, 3, World War Hulk #2, Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #107-108, World War Hulk: Front Line #2, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #12, Avengers: The Initiative #4-5, World War Hulk: Front Line #3, World War Hulk #3, Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #109-110, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #14-15, World War Hulk #4, World War Hulk: Front Line #4-5, World War Hulk #5, Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #111, World War Hulk: Front Line #6, Incredible Hercules #112, 113, 114, 115, World War Hulk: Aftersmash #1, World War Hulk: Aftersmash - Damage Control #1, 2, 3, World War Hulk: Aftersmash - Warbound #1, 2, 3, 4, 5