Comic book reviews for Assault On New Olympus by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker, The Incredible Hercules #138 by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker, The Incredible Hercules #139 by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, and Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker
Assault On New Olympus by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente
Overall, this was a very entertaining comic. I like this refreshed take on the Greek Pantheon, especially in light of how stuck they seen in the DCU.
This was really the perfect use of Spider-Man. He got to be witty, have bad luck as Peter, and have Aunt May get him into trouble. Plus, I thought his skills were nicely showcased against a god.
I was with Hebe all the way about Hercules’ infidelities. Maybe I’ve just read a little too much She-Hulk, but Hercules’ appearances in her comics always led to him hitting on her with varying degrees of success. It’s also nice that for once a comic has a little humor.
Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker
Agents of Atlas was the perfect back-up for this tale since the current plot deals with Venus’ conflict with Aphrodite. Or more Aphrodite’s jealousy of anyone else having her name. I know how she feels; when I found out there was someone else on the internet with my unusual name, well, I didn’t have any sea gods at my disposal.
The Incredible Hercules #138 by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente
The humor in this story just works so well. I’m glad that neither of the writers see it necessary for Hercules to be as quippy as Spider-Man or purposefully humorous as that would degrade the comic. Hercules is more humorous in his irony and hubris.
I liked US Agent and his snarky “aren’t gods just people with superpowers” rant. Because, yes, aren’t they? Toss in some immortality, which pretty much every major character in comic books seems to have anyway. The comparisons of Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, and Wolverine to gods worked really well.
Hebe is great here with her Trojan horse and defying her mother, Hera. I love how she’s so quickly accepted into the inner circle. Aunt May is a good judge of character. Hebe wanting to mother Amadeus is just too cute. As is his snark.
While I don’t care much about Hercules either way, I do hope Amadeus saves him. Mostly for Amadeus’ self-esteem.
Aphrodite and Ares hooking up is so seekvy. It would be even more so if it wasn’t such a part of the Greek pantheon already.
Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker
Somethings tells met that Aphrodite won’t be too happy with Venus escaping being Phorcys’ minion again. It would be funny to have an issue where Venus tries to change her codename. Then she runs into the same problems as The Captain with all the good names being taken.
My favorite part was Jimmy reminding Venus how she’s become a hero and that’s how she breaks out of the spell. Excellent agency.
The Incredible Hercules #139 by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente
This issue was really awesome. I loved the focus on the different parts of the battle, while maintaining a few of the whole front. Choosing Amadeus as the POV was a wise choice since he’s not preoccupied fighting the baddies.
My favorite battle point was Spider-Man fighting Arachne. The “I do it while kicking people in the face” was brilliant. Plus, I think it does a nice job at illustrating why Spider-Man’s web slingers just aren’t a match or really on par with what a real spider could weave.
The story also had a nice pacing. Obviously, the heroes were going to lose this chapter.
I really did love the deflecting that it was going to be Athena who died, not Hercules.
Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker
Venus riding on Ken’s back was too awesome. Seriously, check it out:
Eccentric love goddess indeed.
I do think this back up suffers greatly from being too short. I don’t think Parker can tell the stories he needs to in that little of space. They feel squashed, cramped, and edited down.