Hercules: Prince of Power #3: Review

Nov 1982

Bob Layton, Luke McDonnell

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Story Name:

Whom the God Would Destroy!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Hercules: Prince of Power #3 Review by Peter Silvestro (June 22, 2020)

Review: A more action-oriented entry in the miniseries, though humor still plays a part, especially in the bar fight and the opening adventure. Herc’s fight against the Brotherhood is pretty exciting though the story is marred by the Brothers being portrayed as the usual stereotypical religious fanatics. Galactus makes for a nice last page reveal, though.

Comments: Title is a play on the ancient proverb “Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.” Hercules describes Ciegrim-7 as the “distiller’s planet;” Seagram (same pronunciation) was a major Canadian corporation in the alcoholic beverage industry and their signature whiskey was called Seagram’s 7. Luke McDonnell is credited as image enhancer.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Hercules: Prince of Power #3 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Flying through the Omacron system via Sun-Chariot, Hercules and Recorder 417 are fired upon by a space patrol under orders to destroy any encroaching craft. This annoys Hercules so that he tears his way into the lead craft, takes control, and demands they return to their base so that he can clear this up. The patrol returns to Starstation Raga where Herc meets Commander Malin who explains that the star system has been under martial law for five years. It seems that one planet of the system has disappeared without a trace every year for the past five years and the due date is that very day. In the station’s bar, the pilot of the lead ship recognizes Recorder and picks a fight, which leads to a huge brawl which is single-handedly put down by Hercules when he arrives. Then the alarm sounds: the planet Ciegrim-7 has been ensnared by a pair of planet-sized ships. The space fleet scrambles and Hercules hops in his chariot to join them but the alien ships shoot down most of the Omacron craft. Hercules boards an alien ship, hoping to avenge the men who have died and when the Recorder has his legs shot off by defensive weaponry, Herc stops long enough to be captured. Herc finds his captors are of the Brotherhood of the True God of Vengeance, who is appeased only by the sacrifice of a world and so spares the galaxy. Herc is freed by the legless Recorder and battles the Brothers, finally destroying their master towing device. At this, the Brothers confess that they have failed and initiate self-destruct procedures; Herc and the Recorder make it to the Sun-Chariot and escape the ensuing destruction. Herc takes a minute to reflect on the early worship of his own Greek Pantheon….

Epilogue: Recorder is repaired and Herc relaxes aboard the Starstation….

Epilogue 2: We learn that the Brotherhood was serving Galactus, who is quite miffed that the planet he was promised is not at the predesignated place….

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