Review -- HERCULES: THE KNIVES OF KUSH

Hercules: The Knives of Kush
Written by Steve Moore
Pencils by Cris Bolson
Colours by Doug Sirois
Radical Comics
When it comes to fantasy, myth, legend and lore, all cornerstones of the comic book industry, few characters are truly more iconic than Hercules. In many respects he was one of the world’s first superheroes, and while he has been used as the central figure in various stories, it’s hard to resist when a new one comes down the pike.
When the new book comes from Radical Comics, a small company with a growing stable of high calibre titles, the allure is even greater.
The Knives of Kush is a follow-up series to the previously produced Hercules: Thracian Wars.
Writer Steve Moore has created a somewhat grittier telling of a Herculean tale. The talk of chopping up the bodies of captured women and children to spread the pieces before the advancing army is darkly descriptive and graphic. It is likely a truer picture of the era than many white-washed telling of Hercules, but it may not be for everyone.
Personally I accept the gritty realism of the story, and quite enjoy Moore telling an adult story.
Asked how it was to write an established character, Moore said he simply focused on his own story.
“Well, actually, I never really thought of Hercules as someone else’s creation. Sure, there are the ancient legends, which I reread in summary before I started thinking about what I wanted to do, and Radical came to me and briefed me on a few basics: that the story should be set in the ancient world, should concentrate more on Hercules’ human side rather than the mythology, and so on,” he said. “But then the development of the storylines, the secondary characters, and suchlike, were all pretty much down to me, and Radical very kindly didn’t interfere in anything I wanted to do, story-wise.
“So I tend to regard these two series (‘Thracian Wars’ and ‘Knives of Kush’) as pretty much ‘my’ Hercules … the story and characters are very much the way I wanted to present them, and I studiously ignored everyone else’s versions of the character, whether that be in comics, movies, TV, or whatever.
“I pretty much wanted to approach this as if I was an ancient Greek storyteller, providing new tales of the original Hercules, and not doing anything stupid like bring him into the 21st century, or turn him into a rubbishy superhero.”
The art by Cris Bolson, aided by Manuel and Leonardo Silva has a sort of Illustrated Classics feel, and those books are fondly remembered from childhood.
Again there are more splashes of blood than those old books, but you are with the same feeling of subdued realism.
Moore said he had input into the art which he appreciated as the writer.
“Yes, I had quite a lot of input into the look, as I decided right from the start that I wanted this to look as authentically Bronze Age as possible, within the constraints of it being a modern comic-book,” he said.
“So right from the start I was providing loads of reference pictures for costumes, architecture, etc. And, of course, being an old-time pro, I write a very detailed script, occasionally with a page or more of description for a single panel.
“Things have worked out better with the second series as well, as the editor, Renae Geerlings, has been sending me everything to look at, from layouts to pencils, colours, etc., so I’ve been able to keep an eye on things at all stages and get things changed if necessary, which wasn’t always the case with the first series.
“So I’m generally happy with the art style and, of course, being set in Egypt, this series gives us a much richer visual texture than the earlier series, which was set in more barbarous Thrace.
“And, Cris Bolson, the penciller, has put in a tremendous amount of work on costume, architecture, etc., while the ‘painted’ finish adds that extra touch of realism. It’s probably about as good as I could have ever hoped for, taken over all.”
Beyond the art Moore, who said he finds himself “in a position where I can retire from mainstream comic-book writing” said his last series is one he is satisfied with.
“Generally I’m pretty happy with things,” he said. “The story’s pretty much exactly what I wanted to write and, like I said, the artists have done a great job. There’ve only been two minor problems. Because of scheduling constraints, the artwork has got a little behind and we’ve had to bring in assistants in the final couple of issues. They’ve done a really nice job, but obviously it would have been great if Cris Bolson and Doug Sirois could have completed the book on their own.
“And because I’m told the distributors won’t allow it, I’ve had to slightly overdress the female characters … there was a lot more nudity in the ancient world, but it seems that modern America prefers to live in a sort of Victorian fantasy-world, rather than face historical facts.
“Apart from that, though, I’m pretty pleased with things.”
The five-issue mini series looks great. The story is great. That just about says it all. Mark this one as well-worth seeking out.Readers can order Hercules: The Knives of Kush from their local comic book store. If they are unable to find it there, they can always order it from http://www.radicalcomics.com or via www.radicalcomics.com. The trade collection of Hercules: The Knives of Kush will be distributed by Random House and will be available in May 2010 in bookstores such as Borders and Barnes & Noble.
-- CALVIN DANIELS

-- Appeared on Yorkton This Week WebXtra