Disney's Hercules Returns in New Sequel Comic

Nearly 30 years after Hercules went the distance from zero to hero, the demigod-turned-mortal has returned in Dynamite's Hercules comic. Written by Elliott Kalan (Spider-Man and the X-Men) and drawn by George Kambadais (Gargoyles), the new ongoing series is set after the events of the 1997 Disney animated movie. Having proven himself a hero after defeating Hades, the hot-headed ruler of the Underworld, Herc rejected godhood and chose to stay on Earth with his human love, Meg, rather than join the pantheon of Greek gods on Mt. Olympus.

In Hercules #1, the hunky hero is still championed by the citizens of Ancient Greece for his feats of godlike strength, but his father — the mighty and thundering Zeus — wants Herc to embrace his birthright and be worshipped as a god on Olympus. As Phil's star pupil-turned-famed Monster Hunter, Hercules has been performing his labors and ridding humanity of the monsters put on Earth by Zeus.

He's summoned by Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who tells Hercules that the sculptor Pygmalion prayed she would bring his statue to life. Learning that a marble monster is on the loose, Hercules soars into action with his winged horse Pegasus... only to learn that the "monster-statue-thingy" isn't a monster at all, but a sweet-talking, super-strong statue named Galatea. But after the goddess goes missing, Hercules' Olympian mission turns into a mythological mystery... and Hercules begins to suspect that Hades, Lord of the Dead, has somehow returned.

"The Greek gods don't really get why Hercules chose a mortal life over the opportunity to join them on Mt. Olympus, but since he proved his mettle as a hero many times over, they're happy to enlist his help with missions that require interventions in the earthly realm," the official synopsis reads. "So when Aphrodite grants an artist's wish that his sculpture be brought to life, Herc gets the call to clean things up when the newly conscious artwork proves to be more bone-crushingly lively than expected! But after discovering that the rogue statue is just misunderstood, and a little rambunctious (much like himself as a youth), Hercules returns to explain the situation to Aphrodite — only to find her temple empty and abandoned. Is the goddess of love just pouting, or is something more sinister afoot? If you know anything about classic mythology, you know it's going to be the latter!"

Hercules #1 is out now, with issue #2 hitting comic shop shelves on May 8.