Back on the old board, the previous series (one of them anyway) had quite a strong following. I eventually started buying the collections just so I could participate in the discussions. I bought the new #1 in a hope to recapture some of that feeling [even though most (but not all) of those posters have moved on], but frankly I didn’t have much hope.
To my delight, I found myself pleasantly surprised. This series finds Hercules with more of a reputation for being a drunken, lay-about wastrel than a hero, but he’s trying to fix that. He’s characterized as a demi-god with one foot in the ancient world, one in the modern. His roommate is Gilgamesh, which raises a question. Is this the same Gilgamesh who once was a member of the Avengers and died in issue #300? If so, how/when/under what circumstances did he return? Or isn’t “continuity” a thing anymore?
Replies
Wasn't the one in Avengers the Forgotten One from The Eternals? I suppose one could hold that just as Zuras is not Zeus, and Thena Athena, he need not have been the real Gilgamesh.
My vibe is that this is the mythic Gilgamesh and not the Eternal one, but I"m open to correction.
The Avenger who called himself Gilgamesh and the Eternal who called himself the Forgotten One were and the same, but you're right: the mythic Gilgamesh could be another person. I was just assuming the Gilgamesh in Hercules #1 was the Eternal because, to the best of my knowledge, we've never seen another Gilgamesh in Marvel continuity. In either case, what's the story behind this Gilgamesh? In which comic did he first appear and how long has he been hanging with Hercules in the present?
No idea. this could be his first appearance, for aught I know.
A brief internet search tells me that "The Forgotten One" was revealed to be alive in Eternals (v4) #3 (2008). I think I knew that (?), but I couldn't find any information one whether the Gilgamesh from Hercules #1 was him or not, not how they came to be sharing a room. (Methinks there's a story there.) Now that you mention it, this Gilgamesh doesn't look all that much like the Eternal one (but that could be attributed to artistic license).
I kind of like the idea that it's a non-Eternal Gilgamesh. Never was wild about the "Forgotten One".
Well, we did have that whole Secret Wars thing -- I'm taking any resurrection with a shrug. Either Secret Wars hit the Reset button, or it's a doppelganger from another universe who doesn't know he's from another universe.
That being said, what's his purpose in this series? To be a counterpoint to Herc? To be a future villain? He doesn't seem to serve much purpose. I guess I'll have to wait and see.
And I agree with you that this was an enjoyable issue. I love "secret histories" and Herc has lived one. He knows stuff modern heroes don't about legendary monsters and ancient evils. An imaginative writer can do a lot with that.