DeFalco/Frenz Retrospective: Hercules: Heart of Chaos #1


 

Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciler: Ron Frenz

Synopsis: With the all the world's heroes gone, Hercules is recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. for a mission. 

Comments: Hercules uses the alias "Harry Cleese" that he used in Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz's run of Thor. 




This took place after the Onslaught story arc before the superheroes came back and all their titles started over again at issue #1. 




This is pretty dark for a DeFalco/Frenz comic. 



Ares killing the man who failed him reminds me of Strange Tales #135, although the Hydra agent in that story at least got a somewhat fighting chance, however rigged it was. 





It's good that Hercules is mourning Thunderstrike also. 



Zeus breaking up the fight between Hercules and Ares in the flashback reminds me of his first appearance in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 and the cover of Thor #129. 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DeFalco/Frenz Retrospective: Krrish: Menace of the Monkey Men

Image
  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciler: Ron Frenz Synopsis: A story featuring Krrish, India's superhero.  Comments: Ron wrote on his Facebook page that editor Scott Peterson contacted him when the movie company, FilmKRAFT, behind the Bollywood blockbusters featuring Krrish wanted an old fashioned Marvel comic book, Peterson knew that DeFalco and Frenz's style would play into their sensibilities. I first read this on Hoopla, a library app, and I remember asking Ron about it when I met him in Akron, OH in 2017.  When the project was announced it got a warm write up in Indian edition of Business Insider.    This story is kind a change of pace for DeFalco and Frenz in that it's set in a different country. If go through their body of work, DeFalco and Frenz stay usually in New York City. If one of their heroes travels, they go to a fictional countries like Belgruin and Latveria or other dimensions.  All that talk about powers and responsibility, where have I heard that ...
Read more

The Randall Frenz Interview

Image
  Superman #149, brothers Randall and Ron Frenz credited on the cover. The Randall Frenz Interview When I first read the issues of Thor #400 and #401 back in high school (this would have been in the early 2000s, years after they were first published in 1989), I saw the name of Randall Frenz. I was familiar with Ron Frenz, the penciler of Thor , The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Girl , but who was Randall Frenz? Was it Ron's real name? Was it his alter ego? I even admitted as much when Ron wished Randall a happy birthday on Facebook.  However, I saw that there was confusion from others online as to who Randall Frenz is. The above commenter is correct, but they should have written  is, not was.  Years later, with the advent of YouTube and a book written by Tom DeFalco titled  Comics Creators on Spider-Man , I also learned that Randall Frenz is Ron's older brother through various interviews that Ron has conducted.  Randall wrote 13 published comic book stor...
Read more

MC2 Dangler: J2's place on the Avengers

Image
 Tom DeFalco is not Chris Claremont in how he would leave plotlines unresolved that fans call "danglers", but there were some subplots in MC2 that were not resolved or at least not resolved to my liking. This is the start of a series where I examine a dangler and its non-resolution.  By the second issue of A-Next, Thunderstrike (Kevin Masterson) was already annoyed by J2's enthusiasm, but that annoyance turned to dismay when he finds out that J2 is a really young teenager named Zane. Thunderstrike thought they shouldn't allow someone so young on the team because of the risk and the liability. Stinger, who I suspect already knew, had them table the conversation for later. Thunderstrike responded that they weren't going to ignore the issue.  If Thunderstrike wanted to press the claim that J2 was too immature to be in the Avengers, he was a given several opportunities in issue #2 and #3. During the fight with the Sentry, J2's recklessness style of fighting almost...
Read more