Incredible Hercules #125
Love & War, Finale: Liberated
Using the mystical Omphalos, Artume of the Amazons has altered reality, creating a version of Earth where women are the dominant gender and she rules a world inspired by ancient Greece.[1]
The night previously, the Avengers — The Ms. Fantastic, Spider-Woman, Phoenix, and Wolverine — clashed with the patriarchal terrorists known as the Y-Men. It ended with the death of their leader, Iron Man. President Artume holds a public address commending the all-female Avengers and promising her subjects that male aggressors and Atlantean fascists will be dealt with swiftly.
After the address is over, Artume checks her schedule with her assistant, Amadeus Cho. Artume cancels all of her plans and makes small talk with Amadeus to find out how things are going with his ex-wife Delphyne Gorgon. He says that he is going to dinner with her as friends that evening. However, the President tells him that she has a task for him before he is dismissed for the day. She looks out the window and has pity for the subject of this task, her relative Hercules. He was one of the Y-Men captured by the Avengers and is now being trotted out as part of a victory parade.
Later that day, Amadeus goes down to an underground prison complex. Here is where all the undesirable and unnecessary men are taken to be sterilized. He goes to the holding cells to bring Hercules a gift from his grandniece, the President. Herc dismisses Cho’s position, calling him a slave to a system of oppression. Amadeus scoffs at this, but Hercules debates him on the gender disparity in the world, which he was taught by Namora, the leader of the Atlantean fascist movement. He can’t understand how someone who has access to Artume’s secrets could be so blind to the oppression going on all around him. While Amadeus claims to be unwaveringly loyal to the status quo, Hercules’ words manage to instill a bit of doubt in the young man.
Later that evening, Amadeus meets with Delphyne for dinner and the two talk about his meeting with Hercules earlier that day. Delphyne doesn’t think Herc’s beliefs are wrong. This leads to talk about why their relationship ended and how Gorgon went from being one of Artume’s generals to a simple school teacher. She explains that things didn’t work out because she wanted a man with drive, and a relationship where they were both equals who protected one another. She tells him that there are secrets within the Lotus — the head office of the government — that Cho refuses to see. Their dinner is then interrupted by a suicide bombing, that happens near the diner. Unharmed by the blast, Amadeus and Delphyne look at the damage in stark horror as the other bystanders wonder if this was the work of the Y-Men or the Atlanteans.
Despite his beliefs, the seed of doubt in Amadeus Cho’s mind continues to grow and he decides to prove Hercules wrong. While everyone in authority is busy with other matters, he uses a guard change to sneak into the one room in the Lotus that he has no authorization to access. Inside, he is shocked to find the dried out corpse of Namora, who has apparently been dead for a long time. Here he is caught by President Artume, who scolds him for sneaking around behinds her back. She found out thanks to the psychic abilities of the Phoenix. She reveals that Delphyne was responsible for killing Namora, and that she quit the military after Artume refused to make her victory public. Amadeus pretends that he doesn’t care about the truth of the matter, but Artume still believes his lack of faith needs to be punished. At the door to this secret chamber, Wolverine watches intently.
Meanwhile, in the holding cell, the gift given to Hercules starts to beep. Suddenly, a mechanical device inside rips free and disables the force field to his cell. He is then greeted by Delphyne Gorgon and the rest of the Avengers who have also seen the truth about the farcical society that they are forced to live in. The fact that an army of women are willing to stand by his cause makes Hercules smile.
Later, Amadeus Cho is taken to a coliseum for a public execution as punishment for his crimes. However, before he can be decapitated, Hercules comes crashing in. Artume orders her Avengers to deal with him, only to discover that they have betrayed her. That’s when Delphyne challenges Artume to a formal battle of leadership. Thinking she can defeat the Gorgon, Artume accepts the challenge. As the two women lock swords, Hercules frees Amadeus and thanks him for stashing the device that freed him from his prison.
In the end, Delphyne beheads Artume and at the moment of her death, reality snaps back to the way it was. Artume’s dead body is turned into stone revealing that she was the product of reversing the Gorgon curse of turning flesh into stone. With their leader dead, Delphyne is crowned the new leader of the Amazons.
In the aftermath of the battle, Amadeus talks to Gorgon about what he remembers of the other reality. He recalls that they were in a relationship and hopes that they can have one now. Unfortunately, Delphyne cannot do so now that she is leader of the Amazons. She tells him if they were to mate, by Amazonian law, she would have to kill him afterwards. She then kisses Cho on the cheek and bids him farewell. Both Hercules and Namora see how this hurts Amadeus but know that he will get over it eventually. Hercules on the other hand, got a glimpse of what Namora wished when the Omphalos was briefly in her hands, that she wanted a relationship with her cousin Namor the Sub-Mariner (ick!). Namora takes offense over Hercules having issue with this, mentioning the litany of women he has had relationships with in the past.[2] That’s when she gets a telepathic summons from the Uranian and has to go help the Agents of Atlas on a mission[3]. As she departs, she tells Hercules that she’ll call him, even though he doesn’t have a phone.
Hercules and Amadeus sit together and bond over their recent relationship woes. That’s when Athena arrives to tell them that she used the Omphalos to restore everything to normal. She is annoyed when they don’t thank her for doing so. Uninterested in this, both Herc and Amadeus go off to get some pizza, much to Athena’s chagrin.
Recurring Characters
Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Delphyne Gorgon, Namora, Amazons (Artume), Spider-Woman-92124
Continuity Notes
This alternate reality was given a designation by the Unofficial Appendix to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. It has been stated as Reality-92124. As this reality designation hasn’t be used in an official publication, time of this writing, it too could be subject to change. While not explicitly stated elsewhere, we can infer from the House of M event that this is an instance where one reality temporarily overwrites another. For more on this phenomenon see Exiles #70-71.
There are mentions of the various women Hercules has had a relationship with. They are:
Hippolyta: Kind of gross since she is his step-grand-niece and all, but that’s Greek mythology for you. In the fiction, their complicated relationship was first touched upon in Incredible Hercules #122.
Black Widow: Hercules and Natasha Romanov had a brief relationship while they served on the Champions. See Champions #1-17 and Spectacular Spider-Man #17-18. It lasted through the Korvac Saga in Avengers #167-177.
She-Hulk: Herc has had two romantic encounters with She-Hulk, the first in Sensational She-Hulk #25, and the second in She-Hulk (vol. 2) #30.
Snowbird: Hercules and Snowbird found a brief moment of companionship when they were fighting the Skrull Gods, as seen in Incredible Hercules #118-119.
For more on Namora’s mission with the Atlas Foundation, see Agents of Atlas (vol. 2) #1.
