To Hel and Back

[colonel_green]

Four scans apiece from Heroic Age: Prince of Power #4 and Thor #613.


Cho and Thor make their make into Hindu-land to stop Vali from obtaining the moon-cup of Dhanvantari, the physician god of the Hindu Pantheon.  Thor reveals that he has decided that he doesn't trust Cho to wield the power it grants either, since he reminds him too much of a young Loki, and sucker-punches him, but Cho Batmans that he had anticipated that and channels the energy back at Thor, knocking him out.  He then fights Vali for a bit, but Vali is just stalling until Cup is raised, and once it is he goes to get it and opens portals to summon some of his Pantheon servants to hold Cho off.  Unfortunately for him, attempting to summon Atalanta instead summons the person who defeated her in combat:



Delphyne fights off Vali's demons while Amadeus completes the ritual to gain true godhood:





That's quite an upgrade, Herc.  Thor will be totally jealous.

Speaking of Thor, he continues his jaunt into Hell to rescue Hel from the evil Disir monsters, which requires traveling through Mephisto's realm to gain a magic sword stashed there.




You might ask who is narrating this, and the answer is, the real star of this issue:



TV-headed demon continues narrating Thor's journey across Hell, and even continues it when Thor makes it to Mephisto's chamber.  Thor attempts to draw the sword, which has been hexed to only be drawn by its rightful owner; he then receives a message from Hela that their defences are failing:



Thor speaks the name of the Disir, which means they can kill him - they are distracted from their mission.

Tune in next month!
 

Comments

[thanekos]

The Diabolical Narrator is right up there with that one Madrox dupe.

[sherkahn]

Now these were nice. Worthy of the name Epic.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

I want to enjoy the Cho solo arc, but man, the way the Pantheon was used really bothered me. We had rich characters boiled down to mooks simply because their founder had slight connections to Thor/the Gods.

It's not the first time it's happened, but still...

[colonel_green]

We only saw one member of the actual Pantheon other than Vali, so far as I recall (Atalanta, who got decent page-time in this issue); the rest were just generic footsoldiers.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

You mean we had the member who tried to kill Vali, the one who has reason to hate him most, fighting for him without explanation. Yeah...

Honestly, it's a bad habit writers are getting into, IMO. They latch onto one small element of a character and use it to define them regardless of their history or past characterization. Considering how little the Pantheon resembled the one from Hulk, why not just give Vali some different thugs?

[colonel_green]

She did explain it: because they agree with his goal of getting rid of the Skyfathers.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

And they would care because? As far as contacts with the Gods, Val is as close as the majority of them have ever come (excluding the Asgard arc).

Vali's the one who sold them out to aliens, Vali's the one who used their dead relatives as a zombie army and he's the one who blew up their base with them *inside* it.

That explanation seems more like a handwave than anything else. Since the Pantheon added nothing to the story, why not use someone/thing else? It just seems to me that they were used because of their 'Godly' origins, but said origin was so marginal it had no influence on the characters.

[shadowpsykie]

hmmm so.... Herc is the Skyfather instead of Athena?

[colonel_green]

No, she's still Sky...mother, I guess, of the Greeks; Herc's been given a sort of super-omniscience greater than that of any (all, actually, from how Vali talked about it) of the Council Elite. Hence being called 'god of gods', or, in interviews with the writers, God of Heroes.

[shadowpsykie]

hmm cool.


awe he gets his girlfriend back but looses his Boyfriend best friend

[nezchan]

Is there no harem for Amadeus Cho?

[shadowpsykie]

i don't see Herc or Delphyne objecting, they are Greek... Amadeus might need some.... prodding....

what? why are you looking at me like that...


i merely meant that Amadeus might need to be wrestled with a few times before he submits to the idea....

[nezchan]

The line that launched a thousand fanfics.

[shadowpsykie]

*giggles*

im s ure i have no idea what you are talking about...

oh look Amadeus has four arms... hmm what could he do with those....

.....i'm kinda evil

[nezchan]

If only I had a couple more years' experience, I'd have some serious drawin' to do.

Fortunately, this is S_D, and the crack will still be flowing when I get there.

[shadowpsykie]

heh he's kinda bendy too :)

[nezchan]

Don't make me come over there!

[shadowpsykie]

i'm just saying... four arms, bendy, godHEAD.... torn (or smashed:) between two lovers....

Hell throw in his first love (hulk) or maybe his new "friend" thor... and we got us somethign here :)

besides....

what if i want you to come...

over here....

[nezchan]

Huh? Wha?

Sorry, I got distracted by just how pretty naked!Cho is.

Naked...Cho...with four arms...

I'll be in my bunk.

[shadowpsykie]

*smokes a cigarette and takes a sip of wine... smiles wickedly*

"My task is done, anyone else who reads this will be as putty..."

[dorksidefiker]

... I think I would sell the soul of my brother's firstborn to see that.

[shadowpsykie]

your welcome :)

i'll be in my bunk</>

[lieut_kettch]

I believe the word for Herc you're looking for is erastes.

[yaseen101]

I liked the look they gave to Godmedues but so far I've found this to be kind of 'meh' really. Judging from the scans, the quality was consistent but I didn't expect Herc to come back this early plus I was hoping that the other Gods would get more screen time.

[falseaesop]

Yeah I was hoping Hebe would play a bigger role for some reason. Still it was a good ride.

[blackruzsa]

Hollleeeee crap, Amadeus and Delphyne and HERC YOU JUST WASTED A LOOOT OF EFFORT.
Oh, tie in to the chaos war, I'm guessing?

[colonel_green]

Yeah, the final page is Mikaboshi and his army appearing in the cosmos heading toward Earth, with Herc's captions announcing that he has returned.

[twigcollins]

Dear Amadeus:

Excellent choice in girlfriends. Would approve inter-comics crossover with Traci 13.

Consider double date with Blue Beetle & co.

[polarisnorth]

I am interested in your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[falseaesop]

Jaime and Amedaus would make a fine pair in the next DC/Marvel cross over. Jaime's Kaji-da scarab text vs Cho's hypermind calculations!

[stig]

Oh the irony. In Hindu legend, Vali is the unrightful usurper to the throne of the Monkey King, toppled by his brother Sugreeva in concert with Prince Rama.