Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 (1965)
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Verily, ‘tis the fist appearance of the greatest hero of comics!
Because thou demanded it.
The story isn’t super clear wheter it’s set in the present or not, but it’s far more likely that this is happening in mythological times.
I find it hard to believe that the Thor of the 20th century would willingly go on an adventure with Loki.
This is an interesting way to link the two mythologies. Both Norse and Greek myths include giants, so having the Norse giants be among those that attacked Olympus is neat.
This isn’t just the first time Thor meets Hercules: it’s the first time he learns Greek mythology is real. Which feels a bit weird, I was always under the impression that all gods know each other, but admitttedly this makes more sense.
Also, ironically enough, Thor’s mother will be retconned in the 80s to be Gaea… so in a way Thor is also part of Greek mythology!
Smashing the giants, Thor discovers a hidden passage to Olympus.
Considering that Olympus is famously a mountain, both in mythology and in real life, it looks nothing like a mountain.
I don’t really see the a parallel to Marvel’s Asgard, Thor. Only one out of five people here is wearing a silly helmet.
Verily, the Muses shall sing of this moment for ages!
Not in a good song, but still!
The main conflict of the story, and the reason why these two would battle to the death for millennia if given the chance, is about who gets to step on a bridge first.
Despite the fact that one of these two CAN FLY.
Having read quite a bit about Greek mythology… this is 1000% something that would happen.
This turns into, what else, a Big Dumb God Battle.
Which is the whole reason we’re here, so no complains here!
Hercules debuts his trademark weapon, his Golden Mace. It’s not used often in modern Hercules stories, and I totally understand why: it’s the unfair comparison to Mjolnir!
After all, Mjolnir has all sorts of crazy powers: it can control the weather, it lets you fly, it transforms you into Thor, it gets back if you throw it, it can only be lifted by those who are worthy, it can cross dimensional barriers, and that’s not even a complete list.
The Golden Mace can be used to hit things really hard.
That’s it.
Still more interesting that his mythological favorite weapon: a big stick.
I’m sure you expected Hercules would try to grab Thor’s hammer.
You didn’t expect to see him reach for Thor’s thong.
The fight, which I remind you started because of a bridge that Thor doesn’t even need, lasts for EIGHT PAGES.
Highlights include Thor hitting Hercules where Helios doesn’t shine…
…the most awkward uppercut ever…
…and Hercules doing the superhuman equivalent of throwing sand into the opponent’s eyes…
…until Zeus shows up tell them to stop fighitng.
Yep, the ending is basically “stop guys, you’re both beautiful”.
Thor is returned to the land of the giants, where Loki isn’t disappointed at all by the fact that his brother is still alive.
And Zeus makes sure the giants won’t invade Olympus again by throwing a mountain over the passage.
Thou shalt meet Hercules again, Thor, after the scores.
Historical significance: 10 / 
‘Tis Hercules!!! But less importantly, this is the story that officially confirms that Norse mythology isn’t the only “real” one.
Silver Age-ness: 4 /
This is closer to the mythological Silver Age than the comics one.
Does it stand the test of time? 6 /
The story promises a fight between Thor and Hercules, and it delivers it. Nothing more, nothing less. While I appreciate the honesty, and it is indeed an entertaining fight… it’s more than a little hollow.
How close is this to the modern character? 8 /
At first glance, Hercules is an extremely simple character. It will take decades before writers start to go into his surprising depth.
This isn’t the first time Thor meets Hercules in a Marvel comic: he was already summoned by Immortus in Avengers #10. Considering he’s radically different from the one introduced later, this specific Hercules will be retconned into being an impostor.
After the Annual, Thor wouldn’t need to wait much longer for a formal meeting with Hercules: just three months, until Journey Into Mystery #124.
In that story, Zeus has grown tired of Hercules picking fights with every single god of Olympus, so he sends him to Earth on a quest.
The story explicitly says that it’s been centuries since Hercules has been to Earth.
Later stories will add TONS of visits across the millennia, which I don’t think necessarily invalidates the original version.
This is the first time in ages that Zeus has sent Hercules to Earth… the other times he just went without his father’s permission.
In the following issue, he’s taken to the city by the mortals. This panel alone exemplifies one of the big reasons why I just love Hercules… he’s just fun! His enthusiasm for life is just contagious.
Not to mention that he’s the ORIGINAL super-celebrity!
Unfortunately he’s in the Thor series, so he is contractually obligated to fall in love with Jane Foster.
This leads into the celebrated fight between Thor and Hercules in modern times, which is so awesome that the series is retitled from “Journey into Mystery” to just “Thor”.
This issue is Kirby at his Kirbiest, and it’s so dumb that it goes all the way around to become absolutely brilliant.
Thor eventually loses the fight (!!!) because Odin took away his strength.
Hercules wanders off, accepting an acting gig for a director what will later turn out to be his uncle Pluto in disguise.
But before he can continue that storyline on Thor, we have an early example of cross-continuity with Hercules showing up on the Hulk serial in Tales To Astonish #79.
This issue is notable because it’s generally acknowledged to be the beginning of the Hulk talking with his trademark, well, Hulk Speak.
Hercules hangs around the Thor book for a while. It’s when another of his most recognizable traits is established; it’s something that some writers took way too far, turning him into a caricature.
But even as a massive Hercules superfan, there’s no denying that… Hercules is kind of dumb.
Like “won’t recognize Pluto is making him sign away his soul even when he’s literally spelling it out” kind of dumb.
Hercules and Thor eventually patch things out and become friends.
Departing from the Thor book (where he will occasionally return countless times over the decades), Hercules then joins the Avengers in the Roy Thomas run.
He will stay there from Avengers #38 in 1967 up until #50 in 1968.
They should have kicked him off when he shaved his beard in issue 46.
Hercules without a beard NEVER WORKS.
Hercules would bounce between books for a bit, mostly Thor, but I have to mention a famous story: Marvel Team-Up #28 from 1974.
Or rather infamous: it’s the story with the two-page spread of Hercules moving THE ENTIRE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN.
To quote the corresponding www.supermegamonkey.net review:
Not only is it an unrealistic feat of strength, not only is it geologically impossible, but the art depicting the scene has some bizarre perspective problem that shows Hercules walking parallel to the island on some other landmass out in the Atlantic.
I first became aware of this moment from the Marvel No-Prize Book, which lists other absurdities.
The incident was SO ridiculous that it was retconned in 1979 by Incredible Hulk #241.
In 1975, Hercules became a founding member of the gloriously unhinged Champions.
A period that included Hercules fighting Godzilla, by the way, in Godzilla #3 in 1977.
After jumping between books again, Hercules would receive a boost of popularity by two miniseries, both written and penciled by Bob Layton.
They’re set in an alternate future and they’re some of the best Hercules stories ever told.
It’s one of the most bonkers premises you could come up with… Hercules on a space adventure with an emotionless robot as a companion… but somehow it works!!!
I mean, it’s a series that ends with Hercules attempting to stop Galactus by making him drunk…
…which works, only because Galactus finds the idea SO HILARIOUS that he takes off his helmet to laugh it off!!!
And it ends with Hercules sleeping with his herald Nova, because of course he does.
The miniseries was popular enough to receive a follow-up sequel two years later.
Hercules would finally return to the Avengers in 1984. This is when I first discovered the character; he did make brief appearances in previous comics I owned, but he wasn’t under the spotlight there.
This is also when he gets his second most used costume.
He’s the ONLY character who can pull off those bare-chested straps… sorry Hawkeye.
Specifically, the issue where I fell in love with the character is Avengers #262.
It’s the issue where the Avengers come across Namor, who is depressed because he recently lost his crown, and Hercules ends up fighting him.
It’s initially played as Hercules being Hercules, but this is when the character starts to show signs of being deeper. Because the only reason he attacked Namor was to shake him out of his depression!
That’s when Namor joins the Avengers, and these two would continue to be frenemies during his entire membership.
The 80s are also the period where another aspect of Hercules, which had only been hinted in previous years, takes more prominence. His love for the ladies, more often than not reciprocated.
His two biggest weaknesses, booze and women, are his downfall in Stern’s masterpiece, the Under Siege storyline, where he’s drugged into being too weak to fight half a dozen of super-strong villains.
Although he spends a part of it in a coma (!!!), Hercules ends up quitting the team in #285: that’s just a three-year membership.
Hercules would then, what a shocker, bounce around between books, mostly Thor.
Including being something of a mentor for Eric Masterson when he received Thor’s powers.
Tom DeFalco has a lot of fun with Hercules, but he’s one of the writers who tends to write him as a complete idiot with no nuance.
Hercules would rejoin the Avengers in the 90s, once again shaving his beard.
Zeus ends up taking away his immortality because he went against his orders.
You’d expect this to matter, but not really… he still has his strength, and his thoughts on the possibility of growing old and dying are hardly ever mentioned.
He would eventually recover his immortality, leave the Avengers and, say it with me, bounce around between books.
Including joining the Heroes for Hire for a bit.
Nothing seemed to really stick for Hercules until World War Hulk, where he joins a ragtag team of heroes to stop the green goliath.
Including one of my absolute favorite Hercules quotes ever: “Thou shouldst learn the keystroke commands”.
Hercules such a memorable part in the latter half of World War Hulk that, after the event was over, “Incredible Hulk” was renamed “Incredible Hercules”.
The series would focus on both Hercules and his co-star, teen supergenius Amadeus Cho.
And it is an absolute masterpiece, REALLY expanding Hercules in terms of characterization and depth.
It also delves into the darker parts of his mythology, and gives an in-universe reason for why he calls himself Hercules that isn’t just a throwaway detail, it’s part of his growth.
AND it gives an explanation for why Marvel mythology is so different from classical mythology… framed from the point of view of a very human demigod.
It’s also HILARIOUS.
That’s Hercules dressed as Thor. Long, and hilarious, story where they have to pretend to be each other.
A specific moment even broke containment and became a meme known outside of comics!
That happens when Hercules goes to rescue Amadeus, who has been kidnapped by the Amazons to translate an ancient text…
…and either because he thinks Amadeus is about to sleep with her, or because he wants to signal he’s going to rescue him, or most likely BOTH, it results in the most Hercules panel to ever exist.
I love this bearded goofball so much.
Eventually Hercules dies, and after the funeral we learn that not all of his fortune derives from Olympus.
Hercules would be resurrected… he’s both a superhero AND a god, there’s no way it would have stuck… and guess what happens?
He bounces around from book to book, eventually landing another series.
Where he was a roommate with a very depressed Gilgamesh.
The series had a very interesting hook: it was Hercules attempting to redeem his image, because his troubles with alcohol and women had turned him into a joke.
It’s hard to picture Hercules using weapons to fight monsters, but this series even managed to find a logical explanation for it that I actually like.
It’s basically a story where Hercules grows up.
Hercules would later rejoin the Avengers, and in the very good series “Avengers: No Road Home” series his self-image problems would be addressed again.
After leaving the Avengers, Hercules would have some adventures with the Guardians Of The Galaxy and even start a relationship with Marvel Boy.
Marvel had been REALLY reticent to mention Hercules being bisexual, the most being a couple of minor jokes here and there.
If you think that’s the weirdest pair… there’s a 2013 alternate reality where his boyfriend is a Wolverine with magic metal claws.
And as recently as 2024, he’s back in a secondary team of Avengers.
Not that surprising: like I often say, adding Hercules to your comic immediately makes it better.
You can definitely go too far in making him dumb and the butt of the joke…
…but he CAN be absolutely hilarious.
Come on, how can you dislike this teddy bear of a man?
He’s often dismissed as a knockoff Thor, which is unfair: he brings A TON of personality, and you can do SO much with Hercules that you can’t with Thor.
Despite the mythological aspect, he’s still fundamentally just a dude who wants to help people while having lots of fun.
