The Atlantis Project Hercules_in_Atlantis_

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Demon Realm

Medeia Press: Issue #0

The island of Santorini, which some claim is a remnant of Atlantis, is a nexus through which one can access other dimensions. The Olympians of Greek Mythology once vanquished the demonic Remithians on Santorini and expelled them from our world. They remained to guard the gates and their civilization flourished.

Five thousand years ago, devotees of the demons performed a foul blood-ritual that allowed the Remithians to return. The Olympians were able to defeat them once again, but at a great price. The Twelve sacrificed themselves to save our world.

Hercules, who wished to fight beside them, was instead charged with guarding the gates, keeping the Flame of Olympus burning and perpetuating the Olympian bloodline. From his loins would spring generations of heroic individuals, all with powers greater than Hercules, who would assume these responsibilities.

Alas, these tales were never published and remain untold.

Review by Hercules Invictus

The Incredible Hercules: Love And War

Marvel Graphic Novel

Collects The Incredible Hercules #121-125

In a NYC coffee shop, the Olympian Ares and his daughter Hipolyta, Queen of the Amazons, cross paths, both of them haunted by memories of Hercules.

Meanwhile, Hercules and Namora of Atlantis wrestle amorously on an island while Amadeus Cho, Hercules' side-kick, awaits them, impatiently, on the beach. He talks to Athena by phone, encounters an Atlantean patrol, learns of Hercules' ancient encounter with Atlas, and is kidnapped by modern-day Amazons who take him to modern-day New Amazonia in a stolen Atlantean airship.

Amadeus is under the impression that sensual bliss awaits him. Delphyne, an Amazon descended from Gorgons, attempts to disavow him of that notion. Hipolyta's clay-born daughter Artume overthrows her mother, then promises her sisters that, free of Hypolyta's influence, greater glories await them.

King Namor of Atlantis and Hercules duke it out until Namora convinces them both that they are actually on the same side. In New Amazonia, which is actually a captured Atlantean outpost, Artume seductively teases Amadeus into deciphering an ancient Atlantean artefact. We learn of Hercules' ancient encounter with the Amazons. After completing his task, Amadeus is imprisoned.

Hercules attempts to rescue Amadeus. He is blinded by Delphyne and captured by the Amazons. Namora rescues him and, with Namor and the Atlantean patrol, another captive is sought, and found: the Olympian Poseidon. After the Atlantean's god is rescued, he shares the tale of his capture, tells of the Titanomachy and the division of divine kingdoms, the crimes and punishment of Atlas, the rise and fall of Atlantis, and recounts the reasons why there is bad blood between the Gorgons, Amazons and Atlanteans. He also speaks of the Omphallos, the sorcerous device sought by Artume.

Hercules is healed by the Atlanteans. Delphyne and Amadeus discover that they really like each other. Athena explains the relationship between Atlas and the Axis Mundi and hints of what may happen if the Omphallos is brought to Washington DC. Artume and Delphyne wrest the Omphallos from its tentacled guardian deep below the waves. Artume shoots Delphyne in the back, a deed she gleefully shares with Amadeus.

Meanwhile: The Olympians, exiled to Earth, run the Olympus Group, a multi-billion dollar, multi-national corporation. Hera seizes power and declares a new Olympian age, one free from the influence of Zeus' half-breed bastards, notably Athena and Hercules. They share a celebratory meal of golden apples.

Artume frees Atlas from his burden and, with the Omphallos, creates a new reality. Women are now the dominant gender and most men tend hearth and home. Artume is the leader and Namora her mortal foe. Superheroes are predominantly female, and Y-Men threaten the status quo. Hercules is a prisoner awaiting execution. Amadeus is an ambitious male who has attained a very high position. Delphyne, his ex and a prominent military leader, and the prisoner Hercules, are both ineffective in shaking his long-held and - to him - very sensible views. His world is shattered by the discovery that the dread Namora is long dead, and that her terrorist assaults are orchestrated by Artume to control the masses.

A revolt led by Delphyne leads to Artume's death, and the dissolution of her reality.

Queen Delphyne can no longer entertain a relationship with Amadeus. Hercules and Namora also part ways. The world effectively saved, the guys, bummed at being dumped, go for pizza.

Review by Hercules Invictus

Larger Than Life Living in the World Today