Marvel

Preview art by Salva Espin

By Marc Strom Hercules might want to get in touch with his feminine side real soon. On January 28, INCREDIBLE HERCULES #125 sends its titular hero and his incorrigible sidekick, Amadeus Cho, into a whole new world ruled by women, courtesy of writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and artists Clayton Henry and Salva Espin. After the Amazons' leader, Artume, succeeded in transforming the world in her own image, Herc and Amadeus wake up in a world where women reign supreme. According to Pak, the idea of altering our heroes' world came about when he and his co-writer put their respective research together. "If memory serves, I'd stumbled across a mention of an Amazon/Atlantean war in real world mythology, which seemed like a great inspiration for a Herc story," Pak remembers. "Meanwhile, Fred turned up the myths about the Omphalos, or the 'Navel of the World,' which could serve as a fulcrum for turning everything topsy-turvy. Combine the two and you get the United States of Amazonia!" Van Lente also saw the chance for some good old fashioned satire with this latest plot development. "At the same time Greg was talking about using Amazons in HERCULES, I had been researching the life of William Moulton Marston for my history-of-comics series,

Preview art by Salva Espin

Comic Book Comics," Van Lente elaborates. "Marston created comicdom's most famous Amazon for the Distinguished Competition, and had some rather strong opinions about what a utopia the world would be if it was run by women instead of men. Since we already had a satirically villainous version of Marston's creation as the main baddie here, it seemed logical to go one step further and have her head up a fascist matriarchal dystopia as well." Hercules, who in Greek myth doesn't have the best track record when it comes to women, will react to the new world he's found himself in "with characteristic macho swagger," says Pak. "Which goes over even more badly than usual." But this time, Hercules' machismo will have a political tint to it. "Herc has joined a guerilla group called 'The Y-Men' that fights for male rights," Van Lente reveals. "But whether you consider them to be terrorists or heroic rebels may depend on your indoor plumbing. "And the Y-Men are up against this world's Avengers—a formidable bunch comprised of Emma Frost/White Phoenix, X-23/Wolverine, Susan Storm/Ms. Fantastic and Mary Jane Parker/Spider-Woman!" While the demi-god faces a world ruled by women, the Greek pantheon has also seen a bit of a shakeup recently, with both Hera and Athena becoming major power players in a group of gods previously ruled by its male members.

Preview art by Salva Espin

"Zeus' death at the hands of Mikaboshi has led to a vacuum in the Olympian power structure, and both Hera and Athena have legitimate claims to be heirs to the throne," Van Lente explains. "Hera has made the first big stab at seizing power, and this is a sub-plot that drives pretty much everything that happens in the book in 2009." Setting Herc against antagonists like Hera or the "She-Vengers" plays perfectly into Pak's conception of the hero's character: "Honestly, I think a big part of the joy of Hercules is that he works best when you make fun of him a bit," Pak divulges. "He's both the epitome and the parody of the overconfident hero. And he's literally a man three thousand years out of time. So giving him foils who accentuate his anachronistic qualities just makes sense." Besides having, in Pak's words, "fewer skyscrapers, obelisks and flagpoles" than the regular Marvel Universe, fans can expect a number of other differences in the United States of Amazonia. "There are a few obvious things, but some are subtler," Van Lente shares. "Susan Storm, for example, was the only person to go up in the space capsule to be bombarded by cosmic rays, so she's known simply as 'Ms. Fantastic.' "Women have more positions of power in this 'House of A'—as I've already seen one fan online describe it, which amuses me greatly—so Carol Danvers is head of the space military, Susan Storm leads the all-female Avengers, She-Hulk is Attorney General. Oh, and of course in a female

Preview art by Salva Espin

dominated world, Jennifer Walters is just known as 'Hulk.' And Bruce Banner is called 'He-Hulk.' "Technology seems to be way more advanced than in our world, and crime is way down, so maybe Marston was right and a female-run world would be some kind of 'femme-topia.' But there's an old saying, that the good and the bad side are one and the same, and Amadeus Cho and Hercules will learn the dark side of the Mad Amazon Artume's new world the hard way." After the next issue's conclusion to the current "Love and War" storyline, Pak promises fans will get plenty of answers to questions new and old. "If you ever wanted to learn the true origin of Hercules—and find out just what happened to Amadeus's coyote pup Kirby—don't dare miss INCREDIBLE HERCULES #126, an oversized issue that plumbs some uncharted emotional territory." "And say, isn't Herc's arch-nemesis Ares the member of a new 'super hero' team?" Van Lente teases, referring to the Dark Avengers. "Expect them to show up very soon, thirsty for blood." See how the other side lives in INCREDIBLE HERCULES #125, coming January 28. For more Herc, check out Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. Check out the official Marvel Shop for your favorite Marvel Heroes!