Hercules: The Knives of Kush is the long awaited sequel to Steve Moore’s previous Hercules mini-series ‘The Thracian Wars’. Having read ‘The Thracian Wars’ is not at all essential to understanding the plot of the second book, but obviously it will enhance the reader’s enjoyment, seeing all these familiar characters returning. If you have not yet read Hercules: The Thracian Wars, then I would urge you to pick up the trade of the series!

Hercules: The Knives of Kush is a five part miniseries, released through Radical Comics. Each issue of the story will contain 24 pages of story for $2.99, rather than Radical’s new comic format that they are rolling it, which will see readers getting more than two issues worth of story. Whether it’s a 56-page Incarnate from Nick Simmons, a 64-page October debut of FVZA: Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency from David Hine, or a 72-page Earp: Saints for Sinners, the modern reinvention of the Wyatt Earp legend, from Matt Cirulnick and M. Zachary Sherman, the price will be the same for every single one of these issues: $4.99

Hercules: The Knives of Kush, is written by legendary comic writer Steve Moore and features the artwork of Cris Bolson, coloured by Doug Sirois. The series ships with three different covers featuring the artwork of talented artists like Jim Steranko, Clint Langley, and Arthur Suydam.

Cover A - Jim Steranko	Cover B - Clint Langley
Exclusive Cover - Arthur Suydam

Following the events that Occurred in ‘The Thracian Wars’, Hercules and his band of Greek mercenaries are traveling across the Mediterranean sea, bound for the port of Piramesse in the Nile delta, with hopes of then moving on to Memphis to seek work as mercenaries. However, their plans are scuppered when the vessel they are traveling on is raided by the pirate lord Black Caunus of Balbara. A massive fight ensues, and when Hercules defeats Black Caunus, the pirates decide to cut their losses and flee. Although victorious, Hercules and company find themselves on a sinking vessel surrounded by dead crew; worse still, the ship is aflame, and its cargo of Olive oil is about to explode. With no other choice, the Greeks jump ship and swim for the nearest land mass.

The Greeks find themselves in a foreign land with nothing to their names other than their weapons, and their brutal fighting skills. These skills come in handy pretty soon though, as the group happens upon a bandit raid of a caravan of Egyptian nobility. Deciding to prove their skills to the Egyptian nobility in hopes of finding work, Hercules and co. dispense of the barbaric attackers in a relentless display of force. For their assistance the Greeks are given great thanks by the Egyptian commander Khons, but the high chancellor is less than happy to see foreigners on his soil, and thinking that they are the dreaded sea people, he orders their execution. Luckily for the Greeks though, aboard the noble caravan is one of the Pharaohs wives, and she demands that their execution is stayed, and that they are escorted to Memphis where the Pharaoh will decide their fate.

Hercules soon learns that the raid that they just witnessed was far more that just a random bandit attack, but was actually designed to target the Pharaoh’s wife Twoscret. Apparently, even though Pharaoh Seti the Second is the rightful heir to the Egyptian royal throne, he has a half brother who opposes his rule. This half brother, Amenmessu, has caused Egypt to descend into civil war, and he and his cohorts have begun waging war against Seti out of his empire in Upper Egypt and Kush. Amenmessu is aided in his conquest by an evil Kushite sorcerer called Khadis, who heads the cult of “The Knives of Kush”, those responsible for the recent attack on Twoscret.

Once in Memphis Hercules is granted an audience with Pharaoh Seti the Second. In the audience chamber their fates are much debated, with both Queen Twoscret and Queen Tiaa claiming that the Greeks should be rewarded for their selfless act, and with the high chancellor and Lady Takhat claiming that they should be fed to the crocodiles for their insolence and barbarism. The Pharaoh takes this all into consideration, and decides to keep the Greeks in the palace as guests until their fate is decided.

Later that evening the Greeks are summoned to a private audience with the pharaoh, away from prying eyes. The Pharaoh has decided to make the Greeks the personal bodyguards of Queen Tiaa, but their true mission is far more than this. The Pharaoh has reasons to believe that there is someone in the palace who is passing vital information on tp Amenmessu, and he tasks the Greeks with discovering who amongst his trusted entourage is responsible. With the war effort going poorly, and the forces of Amenmessu bearing down on Memphis, Hercules and his band of Greek mercenaries must rush to discover the traitor before it is too late…

Hercules: The Knives of Kush #1 is a fantastic first issue for this new mini series. On the first page of the story Steve Moore subtlety introduces new readers to the cast of characters and their recent adventures, through both the voice over monologue by Iolaus the Charioteer, and the dialogue between the Greek mercenaries. This is done in such a way as to not bog down the reader with tons of continuity, and will also not annoy returning readers by regurgitating information that they already know. This issue is packed to the brim with new characters, new mythology, new concepts, and new motivations. This is something that would daunt a less experienced writer, but Steve Moore pulls it off beautifully, whilst still managing to fit in a great plot, fresh dialogue, character development, and lots and lots of bloody violence. Moore really is one of the all time greatest comic writers!

The artwork on this title is really quite breathtaking. At first I was under the assumption that the art was fully painted, but the ‘artist’ credit is given to Cris Bolson, and the ‘colorist’ credit to Doug Sirois, which means that this is not possible. I am assuming then that Bolson pencilled and inked the title, whilst Sirois worked some sort of digital wizardry to create the painted look. Whatever the case, they have done an amazing job and have created some truly beautiful artwork that really bring the book to life.

Hercules: The Knives of Kush is an amazing follow-up to last year’s ‘Thracian wars’ mini-series. In fact it is actually quite a lot more entertaining, because we get to see a really interesting mixing and juxtaposition of both Greek and Egyptian cultures and mythology. The combination of true Egyptian history and the imaginary mythology elements work to great effect in this book, and the reader is never left scratching their heads in disbelief.

Steve Moore’s interpretation of the Hercules myth is possibly the greatest version of the legendary character in popular culture. Moore does away with some of the cheesier elements that have become associated with the character, and goes back to the more ancient interpretation, giving us a version of Hercules who is draped in the skin of the fabled lion that he slaughtered, and carries around a powerful club with which to vanquish his opponents. Hercules and his band of Greek mercenaries are depicted here as honourable rogues, travelling the world doing what they can to get buy, which often involves large amounts of very bloody violence. Hercules: The Knives of Kush is an amazing book, full of high adventure from start to finish. Steve Moore has been writing comics since time immemorial, and this might very well be his greatest work yet!

Hercules: The Knives of Kush was released in stores last Wednesday August 12th 2009, and you should still be a able to grab a copy. Whilst you are at it I would highly recommend picking up the first Hercules series, although it is not necessary for reading this second series, it is still an amazing book, and deserves to be bought!

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