The Hercules comic books definitive issue-by-issue collecting guide and trade reading order for omnibus, hardcover, and trade paperback collections. Find every issue and appearance! Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated December 2017 with titles scheduled for release through May 2018.
Hercules has had a peculiar career as a Marvel superhero.
After what later proved to be an imposter appearing in his stead in Avengers #10, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby debuted the real Hercules in Journey Into Mystery Annual 1. There, he appeared along with his father Zeus in an attempt to create a set of worthy colleagues for Thor, Odin, and the Asgardian pantheon.
In short order, Hercules was established as a sort of good-time loving, screw-up demi-god, repeatedly cast out of Olympus by Zeus for his various transgressions.
During an early expulsion he rooms with the Avengers, assisting them in several adventures as repayment. Later, after a run of adventures with Thor, he moves to Los Angeles to found the short-lived Champions with other characters who were team-less in the mid-70s – Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Iceman, and Angel.
Hercules rose to solo prominence in the early 1980s with a pair of mini-series and a graphic nove. However, this Hercules penned by Bob Layton, wasn’t the one readers knew from The Champions. He was a 24th Century future version of the god who was – once again – exiled from Olympus!
In the early 90s, Hercules settled in for an official run as an Avenger with his Champions colleague Black Widow. However, after Onslaught caused The Avengers to disappear from the Marvel Universe while he was on leave, he became a hero adrift – appearing briefly in Heroes for Hire as well as his first in-continuity mini-series in 1997.
Hercules would finally get his starring turn as a result of a battle with an old foe – Hulk! In the 60s, Hercules proved to be one of the few heroes who could stand toe-to-toe with the Jade Giant. In 2007, he took over Hulk’s title in the wake of World War Hulk, becoming The Incredible Hercules! His book was a fan favorite, spawning two mini-series and another brief ongoing in 2011 before Hercules disappeared from the page. He would see revival in a 2016 All-New, All-Different Marvel series, which controversially ignored his canonical bisexuality.
While Hercules still isn’t a marquee hero at Marvel, it seems that he won’t ever disappear again for more than a few years at a time. [Read more…] about The Definitive Hercules Collecting Guide and Reading Order