I'm really enjoying Incredible Hercules (Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente) as a series. You've got a superhero who is also the classical definition of a hero - half god, half human - who is thousands of years old and trying to grapple with the modern world of superheros with a boy genius at his side (see previous post on Amadeus Cho). It's somewhat similar to certain episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which claims that Kevin Sorbo is the real Hercules who is producing a TV show about his life, but rather than the half-god going incognito, Incredible Hercules is out and proud and facing a world full of all kinds of supers - mutants, aliens, chemically enhanced soldiers, and more.
With Sacred Invasion, the writers have taken it to another level and created I think the cleverest crossover tie-in I've ever seen. While the Skrulls are invading Earth, Herc's sister Athena calls a conference of all human deities and says if the Skrulls win, the deities will lose their followers and be destroyed as well. They decide to fight back by directly attacking the Skrull gods, and they form a strike force (which Amadeus quickly labels the God Squad). Herc's team includes the Inuit SnowBird, the Mayan Eternal Ajak, a Japanese god of death who speaks in haiku, and an Egyptian god (I forget which one). They travel in a ship, granted to them by an Aboriginal deity, that moves through the dreamtime to seek out the Skrull gods and kick their butts.
It's not just the usual crossover story ("and THESE heroes fought the bad guys over THERE!"); it's unique to these characters and a brilliant side of the larger conflict to explore. And then it's grounded in world mythology, and that's always a big win with me.
- JC
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