Hercules (DC Comics)

Hercules (also known as Heracles and Herakles) is a fictional Olympian god in the DC Universe based on the Greek demigod and hero of the same name.

Hercules first appears in All Star Comics #8 (January 1942) as part of a Wonder Woman story, and was created by William Moulton Marston and Harry G. Peter, in the first of several incarnations. Later versions appeared in Superman #28 (May 1966), created by Jerry Siegel and Ira Yarbrough, Wonder Woman #105 (April 1967) and Hercules Unbound #1 (October 1975) created by Gerry Conway and José Luis García-López.

Hercules is shown as a muscle-bound man wearing a lion-skin. The Amazons are slaves to Hercules, who is able to escape by tricking Hippolyta (spelled 'Hippolyte' in the original issue) into giving him her golden girdle on the bequest of Ares (referred to as 'Mars', the Roman version of the war god) who hates the Amazons. Centuries later, a picture of him, during Wonder Woman's time, shows him as the God of Strength with black hair and a beard.

In the pages of All-Star Comics #8 (published in January 1942), Hercules appears alongside other characters from Greek mythology in the first appearance of Wonder Woman. Hercules is depicted as a brutish 'hero' who represents masculine violence, and one of his 12 labors is to enslave the Amazons under Queen Hippolyte. "In the days of Ancient Greece", relates Hyppolyte to her daughter, "we Amazons were the foremost nation in the world. In Amazonia, women ruled and all was not well. Then one day, Hercules, the strongest man in the world, stung by taunts that he couldn't conquer the Amazon women, selected his strongest and fiercest warriors and landed on our shores. I challenged him to personal combat -- because I knew that with my MAGIC GIRDLE, given me by Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, I could not lose. And win I did! But Hercules, by deceit and trickery, managed to escape my evil clutches--and soon we Amazons were taken into slavery. And Aphrodite, angry at me for having succumbed to the wiles of men, would do naught to help us! Finally our submission to men became unbearable -- we could stand it no longer -- and I appealed to the Goddess Aphrodite again. This time not in vain, for she relented and with her help, I secured the MAGIC GIRDLE from Hercules. With the Magic Girdle in my possession, it didn't take us long to overcome our masters, the MEN -- and taking from them their entire fleet, we set sail for another shore, for it was Aphrodite's condition that we leave the man-made world and establish a new world of our own!"

Subsequently, in Wonder Woman (first series) #1, cover-dated summer 1967, the episode is recapped. Hercules is written as "The God of Strength" who "was half-mortal and half-God! When a mere child, he strangled two fierce serpents sent to slay him. He performed twelve labors requiring prodigious strength and upon his earthly death, was taken to Mount Olympus to dwell among the Gods ever after" (Wonder Woman #1, 1968). Thus, in his first appearance, Hercules has already finished his heroic deeds and has ascended to the status of a god. The same issue reiterates Hercules' deception and subsequent enslavement of the Amazons, this time being said to have been spurred on by the God of War, Mars, whose swordsmen "slew their weaker brothers and plundered them" and sold women as slaves "cheaper than cattle". When Aphrodite creates her race of Amazons to overcome Mars' slaves, the God of War "inspired Hercules, strongest man in the world, to make war on the Amazons". This Hercules is portrayed as a drunken, brutish warrior in his lion-skin, as mentioned above, who is determined to "take the magic girdle" of Hippolyte, challenging the Queen of the Amazons in personal combat. Upon being defeated by Hippolyte, he is given the chance "to return home and leave" but he conspires to "make love to her and steal the magic girdle" instead. Hercules feigns surrender and woos Hippolyte with his promise of "eternal friendship", while his comrades make merry with the Amazons. Once he seduces Hippolyte to remove the magic girdle, he and his men proceed to bind the prisoners, loot Amazonia and enslave the Amazons. It is not until the intervention of the Goddess Aphrodite that Hippolyte is able to recover her girdle and best the brutish 'hero' of Man's World. She takes her Amazons and leaves the world of men to form Paradise Island. Thus, this original appearance of Hercules subverts the heroic archetype, whose machoism is used to deconstruct traditional stories about heroism.

'Hercules' is also used several times in allusion in both Superman and Wonder Woman comics to allude to feats of strength. In Action Comics #7, cover-dated December 1938, Superman is said to be "A Modern Day Hercules"; while in Sensation Comics #2, (cover-dated February 1967) he is mentioned to compare Wonder Woman's strength, along with other gods and goddesses from Greek Mythology: "As lovely as Aphrodite -- as wise as Athena -- with the speed of Mercury and the strength of Hercules, WONDER WOMAN brings to America a new hope and salvation from Old World evils, conquest, and aggression!"

In other comics, Hercules is used as a foil to Superman. In these Silver Age books, Hercules usually appears as a giant, and frequently tests his strength with the Bible character Samson and Zha-Vam, another giant to whom he granted strength, as well as with Superman. In one story, he is transported to the 20th century by Lex Luthor, and, in the guise of reporter Roger Tate, falls in love with Lois Lane. He gains power from other gods and puts Superman into a 100-year sleep with the pipe of Apollo, saying that he will only revive Superman if Lois marries him. However, Venus realizes what has happened and wakes Superman up. After this, Hercules is tricked into flying back in time with the sandals of Mercury, and loses his memory of the events.

In 1975, DC produced a comic book series titled Hercules Unbound, featuring the adventures of Hercules in a post-apocalyptic future. This Hercules looks different from the other DC interpretations - he has long black hair and no beard. The series lasted 12 issues.