From what I’ve read of it, I’m happy to say that Hercules is a fairly fun comic. Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente have given a voice to characters in the Marvel Universe that, up until now, one suspects were never particularly well-mined.  Although the series has been ticking over nicely, it’s never quite convinced me to buy it on a regular basis – however, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen, and since Marvel obviously feel that Assault on New Olympus is a storyline that demands some attention, I’m giving it some.

The issue sees Hercules and Cho re-uniting after some time apart, along with Spider-Man, who is along for the arc. Indeed, Spidey’s world plays a fairly major part in the issue, involving the FEAST shelters and Aunt May. The parts of the issue that are good – the snappy dialogue, the witty characterisation, the energetic and upbeat artwork – they’re really good. The parts that aren’t good aren’t bad, but they’re quite dull.

For example, large swathes of the plot hinge on allusions to classical mythology. Fair enough, if you’re got that knowledge in your head, but personally, I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t know who Hebe is without looking her up. Elsewhere, Hera’s designs against Hercules – something called Continuum – seem ill-formed and uninteresting. The only part of the issue that seems properly threatening is the appearance of an apparently rogue Japanese god, who is the only villain in the book that manages to achieve anything of note.

There’s every chance that Assault on New Olympus will turn out to be an entertaining storyline, but off the back of this prologue, it’s hard to trust that it will. The most interesting parts of the story involve Hercules fighting Spider-Man, but that’s not a good thing, because that’s the gratuitous action bit – the ongoing plot threads that are supposed to bring us back for the rest of the story don’t work remotely as well. It’s an odd thing to be largely entertained by a comic but uninterested in what comes next, but that’s the only way I can describe how Assault on New Olympus made me feel. The truth is, I want to like it more than I do.