Herakles Book 1

Herakles #1

by Édouard Cour

Brimming with pathos and dark humor, this portrait of Herakles is a graphic whirlwind leaving little respite and often revealing beautiful surprises.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Mythology, Bande Dessinée, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Folklore

160 pages, Hardcover

First published June 7, 2012

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herakles: From Hero to Zero Just Like That



So what did you think of your time in Atlantis?
Yeah, I agree...never understood why everyone made such a big deal about it.

Just a little summary of the myth for those out of the Greek mythos loop:
After Hercules killed his wife and children, he went to the oracle at Delphi. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance. Hercules was told to serve the king of Mycenae, Eurystheus, for 12 years. During these 12 years, Hercules is sent to perform twelve difficult feats, called labours.



And don't tell me that's a spoiler alert - that's mythology. Did I mention that Julius Caesar gets killed by conspirators? John Wilkes Booth offed Lincoln? Oops. If you didn't know, now you have some general knowledge going for ya.

Herakles must slay the mighty lion. And so our hero goes on a dangerous venture by starting his first trial.



"Here kitty kitty."

Alright. I can see where this is going.

Remember Hercules in the Disney Movie?



Well, Herakles is nothing like that. He also doesn't seem to have the brains, but boy does he have the humour. He looks more like Goliath than a pretty boy, which is a nice interpretation of his stature and mien.



Again, I'd like to emphasise that he's a total idiot of a caveman. And it's pretty freaking funny. He chucks himself into one situation and into the next. It really makes fun of the Greek myth without copying existing parodies too much.



Once again you proved me right...your stupidity knows no limits.
I mean eating a scorpion stinger and all?

I'm enjoying the diversity of comic artstyles today immensely. This is a distorted style, but it suits the story and fleshes out the dialogue which I quite enjoy. The landscape and buildings drawn in such a way that it sucks you into a different time, which I quite enjoyed. It's almost as if the artist drew it in thin crayons, which brings out a crass quality that coincides with Herakles' person.



I also enjoyed the interference from all the gods, like Apollo and Athena who just give poor Herakles a hard time. Even Dionysus, who is usually quite laid back, is impossible towards poor Herakles when he just wants some Centaur wine.



Each labour that Herakles must complete is introduced by a little talk he has with some sort of demon, who is later identified as Linus, son of Apollo whom Herakles accidentally killed. But the way in which Linus got his shape...well, let's just say Linus is a pretty fun character.



What I find quite well-thought out of is that outline of Hercules' family that he murdered watches him from the sidelines; sometimes he sees them and is saddened tremendously. It's a nice little addition.



He goes for a swim when he should be hunting "the lion with impentrable skin"

Also, I really didn't need to see Herakles' junk. Especially from all these angles.



I enjoy that Herakles is a tenacious doofus, but other than being a humorous retelling of Herakles' adventures and feats, this comic doesn't bring much to the table. In fact, it's a light salad when it could have been a big, juicy veggie burger.

And so Eurystheus continues to send Herakles on journeys to kill all the creepers and monsters featured in the mythos where he must complete the ten labours as requested by the king.

Look, I might be in the minority here, but I quite enjoyed the jokes plastered throughout this comic. Some of them fell flatter than badly baked souffle, but others were very well executed. As a love of all things ancient, I enjoyed the references and how well they were incorporated into actions sequences and dialogue.



I also like Iolaus, Herakles' nephew who journeys with him to some of his labours. He's an awkward, gawky teenager. Stereotypical but fun.



I enjoy how the topic of the danger of being around Herakles' is touched upon. Everyone who gets too close to him becomes a spirit or dies, never to return.

Consensus:

A fun, light-hearted look at Herakles - he's still a total idiot with a lot of luck. I'd re-watch the Disney movie over this anyway.

3.2 stars

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Édouard Cour retells the labors of Herakles without bringing anything new to the myth. The art is highly stylized and often too dark to make out what is happening. I didn't care for it at all. Do yourself a favor and read The Hero by David Rubin instead if you're looking for a new take on the Heracles story.

Received an advance copy from Lion Forge and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Melanie (Perpetually Reading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Herakles, Cour puts a new spin on the well-known myth of the labors of Hercules.

First off, I absolutely loved the art style. Cour's art has so much movement and emotion, it tied in perfectly to the tale of Hercules. There isn't much needed to be said about the story, since it is already very familiar. The twist that sets this graphic novel off from other retellings is that Hercules (or Herakles) is actually quite a jerk, although he is continuously haunted by his past and the people he has killed. I liked how this story gave me a new perspective on the myth of Hercules since I never really thought of him as a lonely, bitter man. He is half human after all.

Although it did shed some new light while I read, I couldn't really give it a full five stars because it didn't pull any strong emotions out of me. Even though I felt bad for Hercules, and the story was fun to read, it didn't have a lasting impression on me like a full 5 star novel would have.

Herakles is a fun retelling of the Hercules myth, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who love myths and graphic novels smashed awesomely together.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading Herakles, tome 1, but I really struggled to get through this. I thought the premise of Heracles being painted as a doofus-y jerk had a lot of potential, and I did see a bit of the humour I'd expected peeking through here and there.



But I could not get past the overly dark artwork and teeny tiny print. Some of the panels might as well have been blank for all I could tell what was going on.



In the end, there was just not enough of the humour I was expecting to make it worth having slogged through so many confusing pages. 1.5 stars for this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me with a free electronic ARC of this book.

[Dev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley

This is probably more of a 2.5 but I rounded down because it just could not keep my attention. It was an interesting enough concept and I did enjoy the manifestation of Herakles' 'demons' as it were, but there was definitely just something missing for me. Also while the art style is definitely interesting and unique, it is not a style that I really like and also was a bit dark and hard to follow at times. I'm sure this will be a great read for some people but it was a miss for me.

[Manon the Malicious · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*

I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this story that told the labours of Heracles.
I’m pretty interested in greek mythology but don’t know as much about it as I wish so I was pretty happy to read this.
But they were flaws. I didn’t really like the art and I didn’t feel anything for any of the characters.
Still, I’m planning to read the next books in this series.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting take on Herakles and his trials, but only if you know something about the mythology.

The comics starts with Herakles already working to achieve his first of the 12 labors given to him to pay for the crimes he committed against his wife and children, but none of what I just wrote is provided, as the reader is unaware as to why this brusque of a brute is even trying to accomplish anything.

Edouard Cour is taking a gamble here by going straight into the labors of Herakles with very little backstory although as one progresses through, there are hints along the way that may provide some character backstory which I can only hope will be further explained in the next volume as this one only covered 8 labors.

The art style was interesting and reminded of me of older drawings and illustrations of that era while the color scheme made me think of the limited color palette in Greek pottery - not sure if this was intentional but it lent itself nicely to the story.

If you know a little about the myth, that will help you along but if you don't, you might find yourself with more questions than not.

[Joe Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Édouard Cour - artist

I checked this out from the library on a whim and was absolutely blown away. New-to-me artist Cour manages a fresh and energetic take on one of the oldest stories in history: The Legend of Herakles (or Hercules, if you prefer). The art is stunning - simple, almost childlike lines evoke huge themes of drama and action while the artist deftly plays with deep, inky shadows and the emotions evoked within. The writing is top-notch, too. The story humanizes our hero, and dwells more on the inner thoughts and character of Herakles than the larger-then-life myth that other treatments tend to focus on (such as David Rubin's excellent "The Hero Book One" and "The Hero Book Two").

Overall, this was an excellent graphic novel! Édouard Cour is definitely an artist to keep an eye on.

5/5 - highly recommended.

[Ashley Owens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was provided with an electronic copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a strange way to tell the tale of Heracles. Firstly, we are thrown into his labors without any information about his background, why he is doing them, or anything along those lines.

The actual wording itself was I think poorly done. Every time anybody talked it was almost modern-sounding. And when they talk for the first time they don’t introduce themselves, so we are introduced to a bunch of new people with no explanation. We are also dropped into some of Heracles’ labors very randomly as well. The novel actually starts in the middle of him trying to obtain the fur of the Nemean Lion. Parts of this tale were unnecessarily gratuitous, for example when Heracles is in the lake going after the Lion, he runs after him completely naked and there’s a shot of his front completely bare. Like… why?

I think the one thing I liked about this novel is the art style. Everyone had long faces and long lines and everything was angular. It seemed like they were trying to evoke the style of Ancient Greek reliefs on pottery, etc and it’s very unique.

Overall I was let down by this novel, but I think it’s my own fault and I should have gone into it with lower expectations.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5. An adaptation of the well know myth of Herakles or Hercules, if I'm not mistaken those two are actually the same person. The graphic part of it is beautiful and have a different style, so it get out from the mass in this aspect. The story in itself, well it's an old story, but I would say the adaptation doesn't bring anything really new and I find some part kind of flirting with a style of humor that didn't please me, so it loose some points theres for me. Original, but not that great.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunted by ghosts, the most vocal being Linos, who comes off looking more like a devil (by the way, did you know Herakles killed Linos with his own lyre, true, true) than a ghost, Herakles begins he's legendary journeys with the Nemean Lion.

Iolaus (his nephew by his twin Iphicles) briefly joins Herkales in taking down the Hydra and the Crab with it, a labor that is discredited, and off Herakles goes, this time alone, to "hunt" the Golden Hind of Artemis. He must capture it alive. We get the first glimpse of the gods Apollo and Artemis (previously with the Lion, Herakles had thought he'd seen Athena), huge shadows, with eyes their only color. Herakles is a large man, but among the gods he's short and stout.

While drinking with Pholus on the way to get the Erymanthian Boar, Herakles while trying to defend himself, kills his host's relatives and his host is killed, a incident that will haunt him later. Before going to clean the Augean stables, Herakles and Iphicles chat. It doesn't end well, with Herakles vowing to remember the kind taking back his words and it being another labor that Eurystheus decides must be a "do over", as this time Herakles expected payment.

Herakels is hosted by Dexamenus, who's daughter Mnesimache is unwillingly being married to Eurytion, a centaur.

After laying among a group of women with no explanation (possibly they are the fifty daughters of Thespius, king of Thespiae) Herakles is off to slay the Stymphalian Birds, here Athena helps him. He returns victorious to Eurystheus, only to be sent off again by Copreus to Crete for the Bull. After being brought to madness by Hera while being hosted and murdering them (perhaps a dream, perhaps not, as no names are mentioned) Herakles sails for Crete.

After riding the bull over sea back to Eurystheus, but before going to steal the Mares of Diomedes, Herakles meets up with Admetus, who's wife Alcestis had died in place of her husband, Herakles, drunk goes to Hades to get her back - and doesn't remember much of it. Abderus finds Herakles and given that we first meet Abderus naked with Herakles, I believe that it is clear that they're lovers.

Of course, given how the the Mares of Diomedes goes, the ending of the comic is quite depressing.

[Ioanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a unique retelling of the life of Hercules, one of the greatest figures of ancient Greek mythology. Along with the spirit of his teacher, Linos, we follow Hercules on his path to completing the tasks set to him by King Eurystheus.

The artwork is very engaging, and the whole depiction of Hercules as a lot grimmer than what Greek mythology tells is very interesting. There is also a lot of dark humor involved, making this graphic novel all the more enjoyable. A very good read overall.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book grew on me. At first I didn’t care for it, but by the end I was entertained and interested to see who the story plays out. Herakles, is the Greek equivalent of Hercules so the story is very familiar. He is sent on his trials and tasked to impossible quests. This Herakles is more a Game of Thrones type character than a Disney character. He is brash, gruff, and very rough. We travel with him to complete four or five labors, and they are not pretty. They are violent, but not bloody as drawn in this book. I now want to see how this author/artist bring this story to completion. But at the same time, I don’t find it so unique and great that I would buy it for my library.

[Aali Hashim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

So, I went into this with low expectations, because I saw so many bad reviews. But I was pleasantly surprised. I don't like the art style, but I think it fits perfectly with the tone of the book. What I enjoyed the most though, was the fact that we see Herakles in a different light. He's dumb, impulsive and basically a dick, and I love it lol. I will definitely be reading the other two volumes.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adaptación muy fiel a la historia clásica que, sinceramente, me ha hecho vibrar de emoción. El dibujo espléndido.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. The art in this is gorgeous, and I think Cour does a fantastic job of conveying Heracles' negative characteristics (brutal, thoughtless, overemotional) without losing sight of the traits that make him sympathetic and admirable (regret, loyalty, longsuffering in the face of the cruel vagaries of the gods). The humor, dark and wry and snagged subtly in the lines of the artwork, left me struggling to muffle snickers in public more than once.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun to read and the art style is something I haven't seen before, very cool! an interpretation of Herakles that i appreciate

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Herakles Book 1' with story and art by Edouard Cour gives us a different look at the famous Greek hero.

When we first meet Herakles, he is beginning his tasks. The first one is slaying the lion that lives in the hills of Nemea. He starts the task by getting stung by a scorpion. This is a Herakles who seems to be not so bright sometimes. Herakles is a big lumbering brute of a man who seems to mostly be saying "Fine. Whatever." He lumbers along through his tasks. Sometimes being given hints, mostly just by brute force.

He is more complex than this, of course. He is racked by guilt over the ghosts of his childhood, like Linos, son of Calliope, who was his music teacher, who hangs out and makes sarcastic comments at him.

I liked this version of the myth. The art is chunky and crude, just like the character it portrays. This volume isn't all of the tasks, so there are further adventures to look forward to.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Susan Wilander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was first published in Read, Write & Publish

Herakles Book 1 by Edouard Cour is a stunning work of the legend of Herakles. He depicts the hero with warmth and humanity, giving his heroic deeds new depth. But what makes this graphic novel exceptional are its illustrations.

Edouard Cour uses the possibilities of visual telling in an impressive way. Every new page is more beautiful than the previous one. The color scheme of mainly black, yellow and shades of red gives the story extra power.

The story is old and well-known, so nothing more about that. What matters is how Cour is handling it. Herakles is a middle-aged, bitter man. He’s doing his labours, but without any real interest. He’s pissed off by the way the gods treat him – and rightfully so. All this generates quite a lot of humour, which is in delicious contrast to the colour scheme reminiscing an evening at a campsite fire.

The one minus I’ll give this book comes from the size of the texts on some pages. I read a digital version and some of the texts were nearly impossible to read because of their small size.

[Glen Farrelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been a great graphic novel. There are times when the artwork is stunning - original, vivid, dynamic. There are many wordless panels that are among the best I've ever seen for wordless, graphic storytelling.

And then there are pages that are so dark, that it's impossible to figure out what is depicted.

And the story - - it direly needs some work. It's difficult until the end to figure out who some of the many characters are and why they are in the story. The story focuses predominantly on the labours of Hercules, but some are dealt with so quickly it is difficult to figure out what happened at all. There are plot points that arise from nowhere and seem pointless. Perhaps Cour is trying to be faithful to the original myths, but nonetheless stuff needs to be cut for clarity and momentum of the main narrative.

I would love to see an entirely wordless graphic novel from this artist as this is where he is most strong and unique (and also because his writing abilities are not particularly strong here).

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

In Volume 1, Herakles tackles the first half of the 10 labors given to him by King Eurystheus as penance for killing his wife and children.

The graphic novel is mostly pictures, without much text outside of some conversations. Therefore, I think it will most be enjoyed by those who already know the details of Heracles' labors. There is an appendix at the end of the book with a map of Greece and short descriptions of who the different characters in the book are. Some of the panels in the comic were a little too dark to make out much of what was happening in the scene, although I know that matched the tone of the book. I didn't dislike the graphic novel, but I think I would have preferred the story in its original word format.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure this is not the only graphic novel to whimsically cast Herakles as an early superhero, able to fight this, run for a year, leap tall buildings at a single bound, etc. This might be the only one, however, with his winkie on display. I didn't mind the additions to the story, nor the extractions, which make the novice unaware of either Herakles' nature or even the reason for the labours at first, although there are some peculiar decisions along the path of this book. The artwork is not always to my taste, but can show some clever dynamism, and is forever interesting, to say the least (winkie excepted). The end result from this opening third of the story is a pleasant and engaging enough read, if nothing particularly surprising. Three and a half stars.

[Jill Jemmett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Greek mythology, but the story of Heracles is one that I never read.

I think this book is meant for fans of the story, rather than new readers. I know the general story, that he had to do tasks, but not specifics. I was confused through most of the story, especially by all of the different characters. There was a glossary of characters at the end of the book, but it would have been much more helpful at the beginning.

Herakles wasn’t a likeable character at all. He was a jerk most of the time, and pretty gross. He also passed most of his tests by fluke, and without using much skill.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher on NetGalley.

[Philmore Olazo · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I began reading this, I couldn't leave the book alone until I finished It.

The legend of Herakles has always been one of my personal interests, and I've seen many variations and retellings for years now.

This one is deffinetly one of the best, along with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
We have here an incredibly profound way of telling the tale of this demigod in search for redemption.

Think of it like watchin Samurai Jack or Primal, we have powerful images and little dialogue, because it's mostly not needed as the story is told more visually than in writing.

I'm excited to see what waits for me within the pages of next tomes.

[Amarine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really know what to think of this comic book. I enjoyed the graphic style, humor and sense of cinematography of the artist but i don't see the point of the way he adapted Herakles' myth. The main character is obviously introduced as a rough idiot, who nevertheless always wins his battles. Then we delve deeper into his psychology and "discover" -well, we are interested in mythology aren't we- his backstory and understand why he decided to accomplish his 12-steps quest. However, from my humble viewpoint, the ending is kinda nonsense.
Off topic but i wanted to add it: i disliked the depiction of women in this book which doesn't fit greek mythology's one.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

183×260+[|₀₉₈|] ¦ A.I. 05/2014 ¦ D.L. 06/2012 ¦ flap:₂+₁tomes
→3rd tirage (wildly uncommon #line for a bd)

Narrative: ***
I like it but wait for there to be less dominance of action when the trials end so the path of his fate can be traced and Olympian machinations can be spotlighted.

Visual: ****
It's a bit pre-professional rough-looking for the first few chapters until I noticed the art getting better significantly by the finish and look forward to the skill that will be acquired by the next two tomes. I love who/how the "horned" spirit ends up to be- totally singular character design!

[Drsilent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got the integral of this 3-book series for Christmas. It is a nicely modern take on the traditional myth, in the sense that all that happens is strictly what you have always learned in school (or elsewhere), but the tone is resolutely 21st century. That sounds gimmicky but Cour makes it work. The art belongs to the distinctly minimalist-evocative style which was popularized by authors such as Trondheim or Sfar.

Overall it was nice to revisit a well-known story in updated clothing. Not sure how it would fare in translation though, the dialogue is very French.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free electronic ARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly I was not blown away by this book. I was able to follow it mainly because I already knew the myths. I was a bit thrown by the language usage. I got where the author was going with it, trying to make the stories more accessible to younger, more modern readers. It just wasn't what I expected. The artwork was sometimes confusing, so dark that I couldn't really tell what was going on. Not completely sure that I would read the next book in the series.

[flaams · Rating 3 out of 5]

C’était une lecture légère et agréable, mais rien de plus.
Ce qui m’a dérangé un peu, c’est que j’attendais une contribution plus grande par l’auteur.
Édouard Cour raconte l’histoire d’un des personnages les plus célèbres, sa contribution s’arrête-la. Il n’y a aucune caractérisation des personnages, il n’y a aucun commentaire, même pas teinté.
Cependant, il s’agit d’une manière bien pensée pour se rapprocher à la mythologie.

Ce que j’ai bien apprécié ont étés les cartes dans les dernières pages et les descriptions des personnages.

[Carrie Griffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting take on the tale of Herakles (Hercules) but was not really in a style that I loved. I did enjoy how Herakles was not glamorized in this graphic novel but it was a bit darker than I had expected. If you enjoy Greek Mythology and a grittier story this might just be right up your alley. Also, this is an adult story.

The art style was really not to my liking.

*I received a copy of this book for an honest review from NetGalley*