Comic Review – Hercules: The Knives of Kush #4 (of 5)

Hercules: The Knives of Kush is the long awaited sequel to Steve Moore’s previous Hercules mini-series ‘The Thracian Wars’. Released through Radical Comics, Hercules: The Knives of Kush, is written by Moore, and features interior artwork by Cris Bolson, and digital colouring by Doug Sirois.

‘The Knives of Kush’ finds Hercules and his band of mercenaries in the Egyptian city of Memphis, in the service of Pharoah Seti II. Egypt is embroiled in a civil war between Seti II and his half brother Amenmessus, who rules the Southern Egyptian realm of Kush. Amenmessu is aided in his conquest by an evil Kushite sorcerer called Khadis, who is rumoured to be able to control the power of lightning!

Having proven themselves useful, Seti has been employing the Greeks as the personal bodyguards of his favourite wife, Queen Tiia, but their true mission is far grander than this. The Pharaoh has reason to believe that there is someone in the palace who is passing vital information on to 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…

So far, the Greeks have had no luck in hunting down the traitors in Seti’s palace, but they have successfully spread misinformation about Seti’s defenses, which resulted in a great victory for the forces of Memphis. Following this battle, Hercules set free some of Khadis’ cultist warriors, ‘The Knives of Kush’, but amongst their ranks he has secreted two of his own men, Autolysus and Iolus, who then journeyed to Thebes in order to penetrate Khadis’ cult, to discover the identities of the enemy spies.

The story

Last issue closed with Autolysus and Iolus in the palace of Amenmessu, In Thebes. Unwittingly, they found themselves involved in an orgy, a display of great hedonism in honour of the god Apedemak. Joining the revelry this evening is the dark sorcerer, Khadis, who it turns out is actually a woman. Undercover, and wearing masks, it’s not long before a guard challenges the Greeks. With no other alternative, Autolysus stabs the guard and hides his body, but pretty soon the alarm is raised, and the pair have to steal a chariot, and race back to Memphis.

Shortly, all the Greeks are back together in Memphis, and preparations have begun for war. Still no closer to finding the spies, the Greeks find themselves the focus of accusation, when High Chancellor Bay threatens to torture the truth out of them. After avoiding this fate, Hercules confers with Seti, who it seems is not quite the altruistic and benevolent leader that Hercules first took him for, as Seti and his priests are slaughtering captive women and children, to produce powerful black magic in their defense. Vowing to leave this land as soon as he can, Hercules and the Greeks set out to finish what they started, and accompany Seti and his troops into the final battle.

The remainder of the book is dominated by the a battle between the forces of Memphis and Thebes. It’s a bloody battle, that only gets worse when Khadis turns up and unleashes her lightning powers on Seti’s troops. However, Khadis soon discovers that you should never bring lightning to battle against the son of Zeus himself…

The rating

What can I say about Steve Moore that hasn’t been said before? He’s one of the greatest comic book writers of all time, hell, he even taught Alan Moore to write comic scripts! Moore has created another perfect issue here. The plot is enthralling, the script is flawless, the pacing is intense, but not overwhelming, and the the dialogue is excellent!

Cris Bolson’s artwork on this issue is some of his best yet, and his photorealistic illustration style makes the action in the book feel like it could really have happened. Combined with Doug Sirois‘ wonderful colouring job, the artwork has a fully painted look to it, which is just breathtaking . My two favourite scenes would have to be the battlefield view of the legions of troops clashing together, and the scene where Hercules absorbs Khadis’ lightning; lightning tends to look cheesy as hell in comic art, but here it looks quite wonderful!

Hercules: The Knives of Kush #4 is another fantastic installment in a miniseries that started out on a high, and has never once wavered! As we move forward into the final cataclysmic showdown between Seti & Amenmessu, things are only going to get bigger and better! This is going to be an unmissable conclusion to an epic series!

Hercules: The Knives of Kush has been a thoroughly amazing miniseries, and in my opinion is some of Steve Moore’s finest work to date! Radical are on to a real winner with this series, and I hope there’s a third volume planned.

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