Incredible Hercules #120

Aug 13

Aug 13 Incredible Hercules #120

Secret Invasion Finale: Infinite Names

Secret Invasion Continues from X-Factor (vol. 3) #34….

Centuries Ago

Back when they were called the Changing People, the Deviant Skrulls were determined to become the dominant species on their home planet of Skrullos. Led by Sl’gur’t, they infiltrated the fortified home of the Skrullian Eternals using their shape-shifting abilities. They systematically slaughtered all of the Eternals until there was only one left. Confronting him, Sl’gur’t asked the Eternal for his name so they knew who he was when they killed him.

This lone Eternal’s name was given the name Kly’bn by the Celestials who created him. However, Kly’bn warned them to not put him to death as they will doom themselves. This causes the Skrulls pause as he told them of the great many worlds of singularly shaped creatures and gods that need to be conquered. He tells them that the entire universe is a Book of Worlds that will be written by Skrull domination. He then told the Changing People that he loved them. He also loved Sl’gur’t and asked for her hand in marriage. She accepted and after the ceremony, the two ascended to godhood. In these forms Kly’Bn sacrificed his ability to change form while Sl’gur’t vowed to never maintain a single form for longer than a few moments. Her name would come to mean “Infinite Names” in the Skrull’s Friti dialect….

Skrull Dreamtime, Now

Kly’bn is telling all of this to the so-called God Squad — Hercules, Ajak, the Demogorge, and Amatsu-Mikaboshi — and their human companion Amadeus Cho. They had come to the realm of the Skrull gods to destroy them as it would cause the Skrull’s planned invasion of Earth to fail in the process.[1] Hercules orders his team to charge into battle to avenge the death of their teammate Snowbird.[2] However, Ajak blasts Hercules with his cosmic eye blasts. He and the other members of the group have decided that Hercules’ leadership has been a failure and the Eternal is taking point. He tells Demogorge and Amatsu-Mikaboshi to fight Sl’gur’t while he deals with Kly’bn himself. He then instructs Hercules to stay back as the second wave, if he’s even needed.

While Ajak confronts Kly’bn (who is unphased by his threat), Demogorge attempts to consume Sl’gur’t whole. From the sidelines, Hercules knows that he will triumph over the Skrull gods as they did against Zom, SHIELD, and his brother Ares, the god of war.[3] All he needs is a plan formulated by Amadeus Cho’s great intellect. However, when Amadeus isn’t forthcoming with any ideas, Hercules realizes that the boy has lost faith in him as well.

That’s when Kly’bn seemingly slays Ajak with a cosmic blast, while Sl’gur’t’s infinite forms prove too much for the Demogorge who explodes into a torrent of gore as she frees herself from inside his body.[4] A bone from Atum’s body strikes Amadeus with enough force to knock him over the edge of of the temple. Hercules rushes toward Cho in order to catch him before he falls into the void below, but is too slow. Hercules is devastated as this reminds him of how he lost Hylas centuries earlier.[5] As Mikaboshi battles Sl’gur’t, Kly’bn tries to use Skrull scripture to convince Hercules to surrender to his love. At first, it seems like Hercules is giving in, but this proves to be a ruse to draw the Skrull closer so he can attack. As he overpowers Kly’bn he mocks the Skrull for being so afraid of anything that isn’t like him that he has to destroy it. Hercules himself has been among the mortals so long that he has tempered a god’s natural inclination to kill. However, since they have taken away the one person who keep him in check, Hercules is now ready to fully play the role of a god!

However, Amadeus Cho isn’t dead and is still falling in the void. He laments over his fate, but he thinks back to what Athena told him at the start of all of this: That when Hercules was at his weakest, Amadeus would have to do the hardest thing he would ever have to do. Cho had thought about it and realized that since the death of his parents,[6] he had vowed to always be there to help a friend in need. Cho realized that the hardest thing for him to do was to stand by and do nothing. Even though sacrificing himself sucks, Amadeus makes peace with the fact that he is going to die.

Luckily, he is rescued by Snowbird who had seemingly sacrificed herself earlier in a battle against a horde of enslaved gods. As she carries Amadeus back up to the Skrull temple, she explains she survived the horde by turning into a swarm of mosquitos in order to escape. Now as they arrive, they see that Hercules and Kly’bn are still locked in battle. Amadeus scans the area for something to help and finds the spine of the Demogorge. He points it out to to Snowbird who uses it to impale Kly’bn from behind. This kills the Skrull Eternal, sending shockwaves from Dreamtime to the real world.[7]

Aboard a Skrull flagship orbiting the Earth, the master copy of the Book of Worlds — the Skrull’s religious text — suddenly explodes. The priests realize that they are now spiritually lost. That’s when radio reports that Reed Richards has escaped come in, signaling the ultimate end to the Skrull invasion of Earth.[8]

Back in Dreamtime, the palace of the Skrull gods begins to crumble as Sl’gur’t rips Mikaboshi in half. With the place coming down around them, Hercules and Amadeus hitch a ride on Snowbird who has taken on the form of a giant arctic bird. As they flee, Narya asks about the others and Hercules and Cho explains that they all fell in battle. Hercules considers them all heroes — even Mikaboshi, whom he sought to get revenge on for murdering his father Zeus — and sheds a tear for those they lost. Amadeus and Snowbird also soon find themselves crying as well.[9]

However, not everyone died in the destruction of the Skrull Dreamtime as one person remains standing. It appears that it is Sl’gur’t, but in reality this is Mikaboshi in disguise. Dumping the dead body of the real Sl’gur’t to the ground, Amatsu proclaims that he is now free of the Kami and vows to have his revenge![10] This is observed in a scrying pool by Athena and her pet owl Pallas. Athena is pleased because everything is going even better than she planned!

… Secret Invasion continues in Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #1.

Recurring Characters

God Squad (Hercules, Ajak, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, Atum/Demogorge, Snowbird), Amadeus Cho, Kly’Bn, Sl’gur’t, Athena, Pallas

Continuity Notes

This story takes place during the Skrull invasion of Earth that primarily takes place in Secret Invasion #1-8 as well as various crossover issues listed below.
Snowbird seemingly sacrificed her life last issue. She didn’t really die as we’ll find out later.
During the events of World War Hulk #1-5, Doctor Strange was forced to summon the power of the demon known as Zom to try and stop the Hulk. Zom’s influence mad him go on a rampage until the various heroes involved stopped him. Herc and Cho fought both Ares and SHIELD in Incredible Hercules #112-115.
Although seemingly slain here, Ajak and Atum/Demogorge will eventually return. Ajak in Eternals (vol. 4) #9, while Demogorge will be seen again in Journey into Mystery #627. Not explanations are given for their miraculous returns. However, both Eternals and gods are notoriously hard to kill. I think it’s safe to assume that they weren’t killed here but rather incapacitated for a period of time. Hercules says as much later on in this issue. Eternals specifically can be resurrected by an Activation Chamber, as first seen in New Eternals: Apocalypse Now #1.
Hylas was Hercules’ companion back when he was with the Argonauts in ancient Greece. While on a supply run on an island, Hylas was spirited away by water nyphs. Hercules’ greatest fear was that Amadeus would meet a similar end as we learned in Incredible Hercules #118.
Phil and Helen Cho were murdered by rival genius Pythagoras Dupree. See Incredible Hercules #133-137 for more on this.
Killed here, Kly’bn his and Sl’gur’t’s souls are later seen in Chaos War: Chaos King #1 as one of the many gods whose essences he sought to use to erase all existence.
Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four was captured by the Skrulls in Secret Invasion #1. He will later be rescued by Abigail Brand of SWORD in Secret Invasion #5.
Prior to his membership in the God Squad, Mikaboshi waged war with Olympus, leading to the death of Zeus in Ares #1-5. Zeus will later be resurrected in Incredible Hercules #130-132.
Mikaboshi will attempt to get his revenge by wiping out all existence, as seen in Chaos War #1-5, Chaos War: Thor #1-2, Chaos War: Chaos King #1, Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1-3, Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1, Chaos War: God Squad #1, Chaos War: Ares #1, Chaos War: X-Men #1-2, and Incredible Hulks #618-620.