Hercules Prince of Power, Volume 2, #2

(MARVEL)
April 1984



Good Guy: Hercules
Bad Guy: Zeus

Cameos: Dionysus, Hephaestus, Apollo, Athena, Red Wolf, Recorder

Synopsis

“Red Wolf stalks the Stars!”

Creator of Nifty Words and Pictures: Bob Layton

Hercules, Recorder and Skyppi the Skrull are pursued by Stratos Patrol as they attempt to escape the planet Deniciere in Hercules’s chariot. Hercules leaps off the chariot to confront them and Recorder, Skyppi and chariot go flying into a building.

Eventually they escape and travel to Starstation Philord. Here they find that a Skrull has been disguising himself as Parnal Banak a candidate for President. The Red Wolf appears and kills Banak. He himself is shot and reverts to a more frail human form.

Upon arrival at the Starstation Hercules is arrested and put in the same cell as the man who converted into the Red Wolf. Hercules notes that he is aging and at that same moment Zeus has begun killing all the Gods of Olympus and retrieving his power from those he gave.

The man in the cell with Herc is Rojohn Smythe an archeologist who came upon the power of the Red Wolf while visiting a planet called Talbosia whose inhabitants had been wiped out by the Skrulls. He became an unwilling spirit of vengeance against the Skrulls.

Skyppi comes to rescue Hercules and this triggers the Red Wolf transformation in Rojohn. A fight ensues and Hercules saves Red Wolf from being sucked out into space.

Rating: 7/10

Red Wolf is very similar to Orion of the new gods from DC comics. Good issue. Zeus killing the gods is the highlight/lowlight whatever you want to call it.


Favorite Panel:

I couldn’t split these three panels of Zeus really losing it… reminiscent of Lord Vader wiping out the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith...