Incredible Hercules #129
The Descent
Hercules, and Amadeus Cho have traveled to Atlantic City for their next mission for Athena. She has them wash their bodies in the Jersey Shore, as it is (apparently) the strongest potion to wash away their sins (gross). After this revolting task, she has them dress up in rented suits so they can go into the Stygian Casino, owned by Pluto the god of the dead. She gives them gambling chips to give to Charon, the ferryman of the dead, because she wants them to venture into Hades and rescue Zeus.[1]
Hercules is upset that Athena didn’t tell him that this was their plan to deal with Hera and the Olympus Group until now. Still, he and Amadeus go along with the mission. Once they enter into the casino, Hercules is suddenly struck with the memory of his mortal death centuries earlier. At the time, his wife Deinira was tricked into putting a shirt on Hercules that was soaked in the poisoned blood of the Centaur Nessus. This caused Hercules excruciating pain that was so extreme he had his shield-bearer — Iolaus — build a funeral pyre to immolate himself.[2] Hercules plunged into the afterlife for three days until Zeus took pity on him and pulled his divine essence from his body and remade him into a god. As reward for his suffering, Zeus then had Hercules marry his favored daughter, Hebe, the goddess of youth. While this was a good deal at the time, Hercules couldn’t stand all eternity with Hebe and went his own way. But this is besides the point as he recounts how, despite being Zeus’ favored son, he himself has found himself banished and punished quite a bit over the years.
In the lower levels of the casino, they are greeted by Aegis who, — despite being dead — will be their guide. He tells them that the casino floor is actually Erebus, the realm between life and death. They soon begin to notice that many of the patrons are dead superheroes.[3] Aegis explains that this is the spot where fallen heroes gamble their way back into the land of the living. That’s when Hercules sees the Wasp, who died during the Skrull invasion, at one of the slot machines.[4] He tries to get him to notice her but she is too focused on her gambling. Aegis pulls Herc away warning him that if he breaks the rules, Pluto will become aware of their plans. Watching all of this, Hercules is disgusted by how the dead remaining dead is being left to games of chance. Trey explains this has always been the case since Zeus died, as he was the only one keeping his brother Pluto in check. Now that Zeus is gone, Pluto has lost interest in being lord of the dead. However, to maintain his new freedom, he has stashed Zeus’ soul deep within Tartaurus on the other side of the River Styx.
They soon leave the casino where Charon is waiting for them out front of a massive river boat. Charon is unhappy to see Hercules and is unwilling to help since he was seriously punished after Hercules forced him to go to Tartarus for one of his legendary Twelve Labors.[5] Hercules reminds Charon that Charon has to accept anyone who pays his fare. Knowing that Herc can’t force him without alerting Pluto, Charon tells him the fare will be one gold casino chip for everyone Hercules has killed over the years. Charon tells them that the cost is 10 thousand chips.
Meanwhile, back in the land of the living, Hera returns to the Olympus Group head office and confronts Hebe over her tipping off Norman Osborn with a false claim about Continuum.[5] Hebe defends herself by saying her first duty is to her husband, Hercules. This enraged Hera enough to toss Hebe out of the office window to the streets below. This angers Delphyne Gorgon, who is only siding with the Olympus Group to eliminate Athena. However, as leader of the Amazons she will not tolerate women fighting among one another. In fact, she sees mother killing daughter as the greatest blasphemy. Hera finds this hypocritical since Delphyne wants to eliminate Athena, a woman, for her Gorgon’s curse.
On the street below, bystanders have come to gawk at the ruined body of Hebe. They are in for a shock as her body starts regenerating to heal her injuries. Fearing that Hercules is in deep trouble, she runs off into the city to go and find him. Seeing this, Hera disowns her daughter. After warning Gorgon not to point a gun at her again, she then orders the Huntsman to go after Hebe. However, since he isn’t capable of regenerating from injuries quite as well as her, Hera gives him the enchanted breast plate once worn by Aegis.
Back in Erebus, Amadeus Cho is at a poker table using his great intelligence to count cards and win big. While he thinks this will get them the needed chips to pay Charon, he is unaware that casino security has taken notice of his success. At the same time, Hercules watches all the dead people gambling at a chance at renewed life. He is disgusted how Hera and Pluto have been dereliction of their duties for petty vendetta. While he used to enjoy clamor and distraction, he finds all of this less fun. That’s when Aegis warns Herc that the security has come down to check Amadeus Cho’s identification since nobody under the age of 21 is allowed in New Jersey casinos. Cho figures he’s got this all sorted out by handing them a fake identification that identifies him as one Salieri Yoo of the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Explosives. This doesn’t work and Hercules comes to his young friend’s aid. Knocked aside, Herc then grabs a gambling wheel and throws it at the chains keeping Cerberus restrained as part of a stage performance. Once the three headed dog is loose, it attacks the two guards hassling them.
With this distraction, Hercules and Amadeus grab the chips they need and rush to Charon’s river boat. They are then taken to Tartaurus which is the lowest level of the Olympian underworld. When they arrive they find a group of twelve villains — the Abomination, Jack O’Lanturn, Iron Monger, Kyknos, Queen Veranke of the Skrulls, the Scourge of the Underworld, the Centaur Nessus, Armless Tiger Man, Commander Kraken, Artume, Orka, and Baron Zemo — waiting for them. Hercules finds these small numbers underwhelming, however that’s when Pluto appears before them with Zeus in chains. He tells Hercules that these 12 villains aren’t here to fight him, but to act as a jury for the trail he intends to hold!
Recurring Characters
Hercules, Amadeus Cho, Athena, Olympus Group (Hera, Typhon, Pluto, Huntsman, Delphyne Gorgon, Hebe), Cerberus, Charon, the Dead (Aegis, Artume, Hippolyta, Kyknos, Nessus, Zeus, Abomination, the Ancient One, Armless Tiger Man, Baron Zemo, Banshee, Blink, Cypher, Commander Kraken, Darkstar, Goliath, Iron Monger, Jack of Hearts, Jack O’ Lantern, Namorita, Orka, Elvis Presley, Puck, Scourge of the Underworld, U-Go Girl, Veranke, “Wasp”) (in flashback) Dianira, Iolaus
Continuity Notes
Zeus was killed when Olympus was invaded by the Japanese god Amatsu-Mikaboshi. See Ares #1-5.
We have seen versions of the Nessus deception in Marvel Super Heroes (vol. 2) #1, Incredible Hulk: Hercules Unleashed #1, and Incredible Hercules #113.
We see and hear about various heroes who were considered deceased at the time of this story. I’m going to get all the dead characters out of the way here. Unless otherwise stated, all characters are still currently deceased time of this writing in August, 2024:
Aegis died in Incredible Hercules #127 after he jumped out an apartment window to avoid capture by the Huntsman.
Artume, former leader of the Amazons, she died in battle with Delphyne Gorgon in Incredible Hercules #125.
Hippolyta: Was killed by the Amazons in Incredible Hercules #121. She’ll be resurre'cted by Hera in Fearless Defenders #2.
Kyknos: Died in ancient Greece after making the poor decision of trying to kill Hercules, as we saw in Incredible Hercules #115. He will be resurrected in Herc #2.
Nessis: Was killed by Hercules in ancient Greece as well. I already got into his situation above.
Zeus: Again, Zeus we already got into how Zeus died. He will be resurrected in Incredible Hercules #131.
Abomination: Emil Blonsky was killed by the Red Hulk in Hulk (vol. 2) #1. He will be resurrected during the Chaos War as seen in Incredible Hulks #618.
The Ancient One: Master to Doctor Strange, he sacrificed himself to make Strange Earth’s new Sorcerer Supreme in Marvel Premiere #10. He will be resurrected by Dormammu in Doctor Strange (vol. 5) #9.
Ant-Man: He only appears on the cover of this story. He was seemingly blown up in Avengers #500. However, we’ll later learn that he cheated death by being pulled forward in time in Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #5.
Armless Tiger Man: A Nazi war criminal, Armless Tiger Man was shot and killed by the Howling Commando Gabe Jones in 1941 as seen in Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our Fathers #4. Somehow he is resurrected and appears in Ziggy Pig-Silly Seal Comics (vol. 2) #1.
Baron Zemo: Heinrich Zemo famously died in battle against Captain America back in Avengers #15.
Bucky: The “Wasp” (see below) mentions how Bucky was able to cheat death. For the longest time everyone believed Bucky died during World War II as seen in Avengers #4. However, it was later revealed that he survived and was turned into a Russian assassin known as the Winter Soldier, as was explained in Captain America (vol. 5) #11.
Banshee: Sean Cassidy died when struck by the X-Men’s Blackbird jet in X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2. He will be among the many dead mutants resurrected by the Transmode Virus in X-Force (vol. 3) #21.
Blink: Sacrificed her life to save a group of young mutants from the Phalanx in X-Men (vol. 2) #37. She will be resurrected by Seline in X-Necrocia: The Gathering #1
Cypher: Doug Ramsey was fatally shot back in New Mutants #60. He is also resurrected by Seline and the Transmode Virus in New Mutants (vol. 3) #6.
Commander Kraken: This criminal pirate was shot dead by the Scourge of the Underworld in Captain America #319. He is somehow resurrected and seen again in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 3) #5
Darkstar: Laynia Petrova was killed by Fantomex in New X-Men #130. She is also resurrected in X-Necrosha: The Gathering #1.
Goliath: Bill Foster was killed by a clone of Thor in Civil War #4. He is briefly resurrected as revenant in Strange (vol. 3) #7.
Iron Monger, aka Obadiah Stane. He committed suicide in Iron Man #200.
Jack of Hearts: Was made to blow up by the Scarlet Witch in Avengers #500. His body will reform at Project PEGASUS in Marvel Zombies Supreme #2.
Jack O’ Lantern aka Steve Levins was murdered by the Punisher in Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #1. He was seemingly resurrected when the Jackal cloned his body in Prowler (vol. 2) #1. However, Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #67 has called into question if the Jackal’s “resurrections” were the real deal or just clones that thought they were the originals, at least at the time of this writing.
Namorita: Namorita was also killed during the Stamford Disaster circa Civil War #1. She still remains among the deceased, but a past version of herself has been pulled forward in time in Nova (vol. 4) #32. However, this would not be the same Namorita, but a variant.
Orka: Was killed by a reprogrammed Doombot in Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #6. Somehow he turned up alive again in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #13.
Elvis Presley: Is a real life person who died on the toilet in 1977. Since he is dead IRL, his appearance here wouldn’t be considered topical.
Puck: Was killed with his fellow Alpha Flight teammates by the Collective in New Avengers #16. He will be resurrected in Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1.
Scourge of the Underworld: It is unclear which Scourge of the Underworld this is, as many have held this name with other taking on the mantle after their predecessor is killed. Given the costume he is wearing here, he could be the Scourge who died in Captain America #320, 362, or US Agent #4.
U-Go Girl of the celebrity based X-Force team. She died in a battle with the Bush Rangers in X-Force #128.
Veranke: Leader of the Skrull Invasion of Earth, she was shot and seemingly killed by Norman Osborn in Secret Invasion #8. However, she was later revealed to be alive in Spider-Woman (vol. 7) #18-19. So this is likely an impostor.
The Wasp appears here among the deceased because she was believed to have died in Secret Invasion #8. However, it is revealed in Avengers (vol. 4) #31-34 that she didn’t actually die, but was shunted to the Microverse. How she could appear here is not clearly explained. However, this is not the first instance where a character believed to be deceased has been seen in a version of the afterlife even though it is later revealed that they are alive. The Legion of the Unliving profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005 #1 explains that those who dabble in the souls of the dead often employ impostors to pose as individuals that are believed to have died. This is likely the case here.
This was likely during Hercules’ twelfth labor where he ventured to the underworld to capture Cerberus. We saw glimpses of this in the fiction in Hercules (vol. 3) #1, 5 and Incredible Hercules #115.
What exactly Continuum is not explained here. We will learn in that it is an attempt to replace Earth with a new one with none of the historical baggage and more aesthetically pleasing to the Olympians. See Assault on New Olympus #1 and Incredible Hercules #138-141.
Topical References
Hercules states that his mortal death occurred three thousand two hundred and fifty seven years pervious. This measurement of time should be considered topical as it is relative to the date this story was published. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the number of years between Hercules’ mortal death and the Modern Age will continue to grow over time.
When referring to the afterlife like a web browser, Aegis name drops Firefox and Safari. Amadeus makes reference to Minix, which is a version of the Unix operating system, not a web-browser, but whatever. The point is, all of these are real world brand and their references here should be considered topical.
Why Are So Many Heroes and Villains in the Olympian Afterlife?
It goes unspoken here, but it seems rather odd that there are a number of heroes and villains in the Olympian afterlife, given that none of them are on record as worshiping the Greek gods. The Marvel Universe has many afterlives that are, for the most part, denominational. Meaning that you usually end up in the afterlife of whatever faith you choose to believe in. In particular, Thor #360-362 there has been a stated case where if a pantheon of gods are no longer widely worshiped they are not even allowed to claim any mortal souls at all. That doing so is to violate some kind of pact.
This leaves a few explanations as to why these characters are depicted in the Olympian afterlife:
1) As Hela did in Thor #360-362, Pluto has been breaking the rules and taking souls that don’t belong to him. We can then infer that these souls are either still trapped there or, if they are seen again in a different afterlife later on, it could be that their souls were transferred to their proper place. Such as the case with the Ancient One and U-Go Girl who later appear in a different afterlife in X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1-5.
2) There is also a possibility that all of these “souls” are impostors. As stated in the Legion of the Unliving profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror 2005 #1, bad actors (demons and the like) frequently employ impostors to pose as the dead. This has been used to explain away instances where characters believed to be dead appear in the afterlife when they are later revealed to be alive (Bucky and Norman Osborn, for example). There is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t also do this for characters who are confirmed to being dead at the time of the story. Particularly if whoever is involved in the deception wants to use the vision of a dead ally or lover as a form of psychological torture.
3) The various death gods, particularly the demonic ones that rule over eternal realms of punishment (Such as Mephisto, Pluto, Hela, and the like) all have pacts with one another, as we saw in Thor Annual #10. We also saw Mephisto lease out land to Hela when she had no domain of her own in Journey into Mystery #622-645. Throughout that run we saw that these entities engage in the commerce of souls with one another or steal them through trickery and deceit.
Based on these instances, I think we can assume that the souls seen here are either impostors or that Pluto temporarily claimed ownership of their souls. Which of these two options is true has yet to be revealed (time of this writing), but I don’t suspect that we will get much in the way of explanations as Marvel tends to be incredibly vague when it comes to the dealings of demons and death gods and the goings on in the hereafter.
