(I originally read these comics between late June/early July 2016)
Bob Layton's Hercules was one of Marvel's first "limited series" in 1982, ie, a series launched with a pre-determined number of issues. In it, the occasional Avenger and full-time carouser is exiled from Olympus to learn humility (just like Thor before him) and sets out across the expanse of space in a horse-drawn chariot, picking up a companion in the shape of the Rigellian Recorder along the way. He plays straight man to Hercules' impetuous, party-loving buffoon as they engage in light-hearted adventures. The final issue is semi-infamous for a scene in which Herc allegedly gets Galactus drunk, though, reading it, that's not actually what happens. I guess myths of Herc's prowess have bled into the real world, too.
The second series carries on in much the same vein but with the setting retroactively declared to be the 24th century. This does at least leave writer/artist Layton free to dispense with the entire pantheon of Olympian gods at the end. Another character joins our spacefaring duo in the shifting shape of the unsavoury Skyppi, a Skrull with a penchant for disguising himself as sexy women.
The back-up tale in Marvel Tales # 197 (not pictured) is merely a five-page vignette but the graphic novel moves the plot on as, decades after where we left off, Herc confronts the consequences of an earlier tryst in the form of his tyrant son, Arimathes. The tone's more serious this time (though in keeping with the upscale, more "adult" presentation, the humour is bawdier) and the idea that an all-out murderous despot can be redeemed, or is even worthy of redemption, rings hollow to me. Herc appeared next in three episodes of a story in Marvel Comics Presents, with Arimathes now a supporting hero.
After a wait of twenty-one years, in 2010, Bob Layton returned to conclude his future Hercules saga in collaboration with penciler Ron Lim. Arimathes is now aged and has offspring of his own, while Hercules, being immortal, has barely aged a day. Skyppi, meanwhile, is dying of tuberculosis. Galactus is evolved into a black hole, a logical development, and Herc sacrifices himself to save the day in a conclusion that's actually quite touching. It also sees the birth of a new Silver Surfer.
This is a readable comedy space saga that dragged occasionally due to '80s over-wordiness, but was highly enjoyable otherwise. Herc is a loveable oaf: arrogant, vain and all too eager to jump in with fists flying, though Layton does allow him to meet his end a matured and wiser god.
As an extra, here's Layton's cover to the first edition collection of the 1982 limited series.
Hercules, Prince of Power (1982) # 1-4 and Hercules, Prince of Power (1984) # 1-4 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
Hercules, Prince of Power (1982) # 1-4 are collected in:
Softcover:
Hercules, Prince of Power (1982) # 1 is collected in:
Softcover:
Marvel Tales (1964) # 197, Hercules, Prince of Power: Full Circle (1989) and Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 39-41 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Hercules: Twilight of a God (2010) # 1-4 are collected in:
Softcover:
