Herc #4

I'll be up front about this: I HATE HATE HATE "tearing down the hero" stories, and sadly, that's exactly what this tie-in arc is. After exactly one issue of Herc being the celebrated hero, we're tearing him down and having normal people assault him in the street. I hate this kind of writing. I don't really care what the explanation is, magic, fear, etc..., I just know that I can't stand to read these kinds of stories, because it requires the people that AREN'T the hero to take insane leaps in logic in order to vilify him, and it's annoying to read. That said, this issue was better than most issues in this vein. Herc's still entertaining, and, while it's a bit inexplicable, Griffon's going feral makes for a pretty neat little plot device. The son of Ares and Hecate are interesting villains, I just wish we'd gotten a little more build-up to them appearing. This whole arc feels a bit rushed to me, I guess. The art's still slick and awesome, and, like I said, Herc's still very charming and entertaining in his own heroic idiom. This arc just isn't resonating with me like it should, and I realize it's not a fault with the writing, just my own personal tastes. I just cannot stand this kind of story. I really enjoyed the first two issues when we had street level Herc taking on street level villains. Now we have street level Herc taking on demi-gods. It's just a bit of a leap. Hopefully, it gets resolved in a satisfying manner.