The Skrulls' Secret Invasion was in a way akin to a religious crusade, both sides fighting in the name of their own gods, challenging each other's faith and everything else it stood for. Incredible Hercules #117 - #120 is quite the inverse, as the ancient gods mankind once worshiped centuries ago took the fight to their own hands against the Skrull gods, who actually exist themselves.
The Lion of Olympus, Hercules was entrusted by Athena the goddess of wisdom to lead the ancient gods into war against whatever divinities responsible for the Skrull invasion: Snowbird of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, Ajak of the Eternals, Atum representing the Egyptian pantheon or also known as Demogorge the God-Eater, and Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the haiku-tongued god of evil from Japanese mythology. Oh, and let's not forget Hercules's super intelligent lackey, Amadeus Cho and Kerberos the coyote. Labeled the God Squad, and with the likes of the god-eater and Mikaboshi spelling disaster, Hercules certainly had his hands full as one who'd never even regard himself to be a leader of sorts.
There were certain confusing parts which tend to leave the reader wondering, 'What happened?', such as the time Mikaboshi somehow slipped out of Nightmare's grip when the latter tried to feed off whatever fears the deity might hold inside. The whole Lovecraftian-inspired affair of being assaulted by the seeming infinitude of alien slave gods the Skrull gods had circling their extra-dimensional palace seemingly stayed in accord of the whole theme: alien gods whose names share a disturbing resemblance to Cthulhu the winged anthropomorphic squid, dreadful worshipers with their even more dreadful rituals, and such. All in all, the Skrulls' faith could be summed up as a disconcerting amalgamation of Christianity and... whatever religion was conceived in the grace of Lovecraft's Old Ones.
It's fascinating to see a team of supernatural entities, each trying not to rip each other's throat out while working towards a common goal, though Athena certainly could make do with better options for the team, considering it is Athena we are speaking of right now. It is the Secret Invasion after all. I mean, Amadeus's pet coyote didn't exactly appear to be what it seem. The vague point here is Mikaboshi's presence, which was accounted for by the fact that the deity is a superb shape-shifter as the Skrulls are, a mere excuse for the gods of the East trying to be rid of him. There should at least be a list of specific requirements to participate in this venture, such as 'Are you the god of evil in your native culture?'
There were certain confusing parts which tend to leave the reader wondering, 'What happened?', such as the time Mikaboshi somehow slipped out of Nightmare's grip when the latter tried to feed off whatever fears the deity might hold inside. The whole Lovecraftian-inspired affair of being assaulted by the seeming infinitude of alien slave gods the Skrull gods had circling their extra-dimensional palace seemingly stayed in accord of the whole theme: alien gods whose names share a disturbing resemblance to Cthulhu the winged anthropomorphic squid, dreadful worshipers with their even more dreadful rituals, and such. All in all, the Skrulls' faith could be summed up as a disconcerting amalgamation of Christianity and... whatever religion was conceived in the grace of Lovecraft's Old Ones.
It's fascinating to see a team of supernatural entities, each trying not to rip each other's throat out while working towards a common goal, though Athena certainly could make do with better options for the team, considering it is Athena we are speaking of right now. It is the Secret Invasion after all. I mean, Amadeus's pet coyote didn't exactly appear to be what it seem. The vague point here is Mikaboshi's presence, which was accounted for by the fact that the deity is a superb shape-shifter as the Skrulls are, a mere excuse for the gods of the East trying to be rid of him. There should at least be a list of specific requirements to participate in this venture, such as 'Are you the god of evil in your native culture?'