Hercules #9 is dated February 1969. It's edited by Sal Gentile and the cover as always is by Sam Glanzman.
The lead story is titled "Diomedes' Curse" and it was written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Sam Glanzman. The story begins with a splash page with Mars the God of War threatening Hercules as he battles the carnivorous horses of Diomedes. After a summary of the feats of the Man-God from the last few issues, the scene shifts to the forge of Vulcan who is fashioning a new sword for Mars who says he's going to use it to frustrate the godly aspirations of Hercules and Vulcan reminds him he cannot take direct action by rule of Zeus himself. The scene shifts to the court of King Eurystheus who is giving an angry Hercules his next task, to retrieve the ferocious horse of King Diomedes of Thrace. Diomedes is tipped off by Mars that Hercules is coming. A storm is assaulting the ship Hercules is using to get to Thrace as Mars encourages Poseidon to sink it. He refuses but does let free a fire-breathing sea-dragon which does attack the ship only to be repelled by Hercules, much impressing the God of the Sea. After reaching Thrace Hercules is arrested and seeks a sign from Zeus as to what he should do. Zeus lets slip a thunderbolt which Hercules interprets as a sign and he breaks his chains and battles face to face Diomedes the King of Thrace. He defeats Diomedes then proceeds to find the savage horses. These he does find and defeats in quick order by binding their fanged snouts, and taking them to King Eurystheus much to the latter's great regret.
Next up is "The Hero Huang Gho" which is a text story telling of how the great Genghis Khan ultimately failed to defeat the city of Cheng-Tse because it was defended by a forty-foot giant named Haugn Gho who was quite strong and could emit flames from his fingers. Khan sees the giant and decides to move his army around the city. There is speculation that the giant was mechanical.
Thane of Bagarth is again written by Steve Skeates and illustrated by Jim Aparo. The story picks up on a battlefield where King Beowulf's man Eadstan is recoving from being knocked out only to find a beautiful girl standing over him. It turns out to be Freahulf, the daughter of Daeghred the Scholar who had been taken captive by the Swedes but had escaped. Eadstan orders her to follow him and they seek escape from the land of the Swedes. Meanwile the Geats fear Eadstan is dead and retreat. Then the story takes a most unexpected turn as we shift forward in time (and genre) to the year 2147 and meet a Time Traveler and his daughter and her boyfriend John. Despite rules against it, the old man wants to travel to the past using his newly created equipment. Despite warnings he does travel into the past, but his machine explodes leaving it to John and his daughter to repair it. Meanwhile (or earlier in time actually) the Traveller finds himself adrift but headed towards what appears to the Medieval past.
"Letters to the Editor -- Hercules" closes out the comic this time. There are three letters, most complimentary of the comic especially Thane of Bagarth. One writer does wonder what happened to the old Action Heroes, and is told they are cancelled but may return some day. Another wishes Herucles would fight fewer animals in the countryside and spent some more time in cities. The editors say they'll pass the request to Gill and Glanman.
This is a weird issue. The Hercules story is becoming very formulaic. Hercules gets task, completes task after some interference from either Hera or Mars or both, then agrivates Eurystheus by bringing his prize back to court. This is at least the third time this formula has been used. Glanzman's artwork is still exquisite and his panel arrangement is getting more experimental. Thane of Bagarth on the other hand spins completely away from its presumed heading and introduces a science-fiction concept completely alien to what has gone on before. Despite comments that the Hercules book is selling well, changes like that in Thane of Bagarth suggest otherwise. The artwork is superb still though.
One fun thing about this comic is the inclusion of a Joe Weider ad featuring muscle man Dave Draper. Seeing this in a Hercules comic is fun.
The lead story was reprinted in Charlton Classics #9, the last issue of that 1980's run. To my knowledge the Thane of Bagarth story has not been reprinted.
More to come.
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