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Chaos War (Collected Editions)
Chaos War
Bigger than The Infinity Gauntlet! More cosmic than Annihilation! Since the end of Secret Invasion, the Chaos King has amassed his army of alien slave gods -- and the time to strike Earth is now! Only the greatest Marvel heroes can oppose him - all led by the newly-returned god of heroes- Hercules! But are even his incredible new powers enough to stand against the greatest threat the Marvel Universe has ever seen - a mad god who seeks to destroy Reality itself?
Collecting: Chaos War 1-5
Collecting: Chaos War 1-5
166 pages, Paperback
First published April 6, 2011
29 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Greg Pak
1,649 books581 followersGreg Pak is an award-winning Korean American comic book writer and filmmaker currently writing "Lawful" for BOOM and "Sam Wilson: Captain America" (with Evan Narcisse) for Marvel. Pak wrote the "Princess Who Saved Herself" children's book and the “Code Monkey Save World” graphic novel based on the songs of Jonathan Coulton and co-wrote (with Fred Van Lente) the acclaimed “Make Comics Like the Pros” how-to book. Pak's other work includes "Planet Hulk," "Darth Vader," "Mech Cadet Yu," "Ronin Island," "Action Comics," and "Magneto Testament."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
July 14, 2020
This casual 5 € tpb casual purchase was far better than lots of more recent events from Marvel for me.
Sadly, havin'not read the previous volumes of the Incredible Hercules series, it was like arriving late for a movie and watchin' just the ending.
Shame on me.
November 3, 2015
This comic does not have any redeeming factors. I cannot decide whether the writing or the artwork is worse. The premise is absurd; some king of good vs evil escalation that doesn't make any sense. There are cameos by as many gods as the author could think of (and all of the characterizations of them are unflattering). There is no flow from one chapter to the next. There is no central character. It is always unclear who the bad guy actually is. I could keep going but really - just look at the cover.
July 21, 2022
The Chaos War's biggest flaw is revealed on the last page: it's the "8th and final volume of Hercules". The problem is that it's disguised as a big Marvel crossover. Now maybe it succeeds as the final volume of Hercules. I dunno, because I like most was brought in by the crossover to other titles. And that's not at all successful.
We get a big hero who was dead (Hercules) who has to fight a big monster that we've never heard of (The Chaos King). Who knows why Herc was dead; who knows how he got resurrected; who knows who this Chaos guy is. Herc forms a coterie of heroes to help him, but there's little characterization. It's just pushing the plotline along.
And there's clearly some crossover, but they're almost entirely glossed over in this volume. I mean, it's hard to even figure out what's going on with resurrected heroes because it's so glossed in this volume.
So all I can say is: definite failure as a crossover or even as the spine of a crossover. But the best part is the Hercules and Cho, so maybe a fan of the series would like it more.
We get a big hero who was dead (Hercules) who has to fight a big monster that we've never heard of (The Chaos King). Who knows why Herc was dead; who knows how he got resurrected; who knows who this Chaos guy is. Herc forms a coterie of heroes to help him, but there's little characterization. It's just pushing the plotline along.
And there's clearly some crossover, but they're almost entirely glossed over in this volume. I mean, it's hard to even figure out what's going on with resurrected heroes because it's so glossed in this volume.
So all I can say is: definite failure as a crossover or even as the spine of a crossover. But the best part is the Hercules and Cho, so maybe a fan of the series would like it more.
November 26, 2019
2.5, I guess. The story is word stew, but the art is decent.
July 12, 2023
Chrises on Infinite Earths
Read for big art, fun with Galactus, and silly SFX.
Read for big art, fun with Galactus, and silly SFX.
March 15, 2012
I always find Pak & Van Lente a little jarring. I'm a Marvel zombie and I've read hundreds of Marvel graphic novels in the last few years. There's a certain style and reverence that nearly all the house writers bring to the Marvel universe (or so it seems to me in general), and when working together Pak/Van Lente tweak that style in nearly every outing of theirs I've read.
They start this book out like the others they've collaborated on, but once it gets into the "universe is ending" ramp-up, there's a lot less of the irreverence and a lot more of the supreme reverence for Hercules than I ever thought possible. I mean, I know these guys have invested years of their lives into this character and his pack of sidekicks - but geez, can you turn off the aggrandising and saccharine and just tell us about your beloved screw-up?
At the heart of it, I just don't see quite what all the tears and legend-making is all about. He's a funny guy, got heart to beat his brains, all that usual "humanity is better than we give it credit for" - but really, does he deserve his turn as the single most important character in the saving of the Marvel Universe? Geez. Maybe if it wasn't so obvious when they turned from "cloddish boob" to "supremely street-wise über-god", I'd be more impressed.
Galactus? Ares? Hot generic goddesses? Cool. Too much time on C-list characters? Meh.
Not a huge fan of the art either. Looks way to digitally processed, no attempt whatsoever to blend or shade - yes I'm sure it's a style but it's rather distracting. I'm focused more on the Photoshop layers that are supposed to delineate light and shadow, and I actually have to force myself to look past that at what the scene is trying to illustrate.
They start this book out like the others they've collaborated on, but once it gets into the "universe is ending" ramp-up, there's a lot less of the irreverence and a lot more of the supreme reverence for Hercules than I ever thought possible. I mean, I know these guys have invested years of their lives into this character and his pack of sidekicks - but geez, can you turn off the aggrandising and saccharine and just tell us about your beloved screw-up?
At the heart of it, I just don't see quite what all the tears and legend-making is all about. He's a funny guy, got heart to beat his brains, all that usual "humanity is better than we give it credit for" - but really, does he deserve his turn as the single most important character in the saving of the Marvel Universe? Geez. Maybe if it wasn't so obvious when they turned from "cloddish boob" to "supremely street-wise über-god", I'd be more impressed.
Galactus? Ares? Hot generic goddesses? Cool. Too much time on C-list characters? Meh.
Not a huge fan of the art either. Looks way to digitally processed, no attempt whatsoever to blend or shade - yes I'm sure it's a style but it's rather distracting. I'm focused more on the Photoshop layers that are supposed to delineate light and shadow, and I actually have to force myself to look past that at what the scene is trying to illustrate.
July 12, 2011
The culmination of a years-long comic book adventure about a guy who gives the gift of punching to all, and an insufferably brilliant teen who is an aspiring snarkitecht.
Can Hercules and Amadeus Cho save the Marvel Universe from the entropic annihilation of The Chaos King? What odd and amusing things will the sound-effects spell if you sound them out? Anybody you like going to bite it? Find out here- fans will be glad they did.
Can Hercules and Amadeus Cho save the Marvel Universe from the entropic annihilation of The Chaos King? What odd and amusing things will the sound-effects spell if you sound them out? Anybody you like going to bite it? Find out here- fans will be glad they did.
August 1, 2018
Given that the two characters on the front cover are Hercules and Thor, it is fitting that a great deal of Greek and Norse mythology is expressed in the story. Specifically, the lineage of the various Greek gods, including that of Heracles in Greek. The son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene, that is a fact that is important in this story. The other heroes believed Hercules to be dead, but he comes back with more power than before and with a dire warning. The Chaos King is coming, and he is so powerful that only a consortium of the most powerful superheroes has a chance against him. Given that the goal of the Chaos King is the destruction of reality itself, the stakes cannot be higher.
The battle is joined with many gods involved, yet the outcome of the battle is dependent on the actions and skills of a rather nondescript young male human that shows no outward indication of having superpowers. The story is a good one with a lot of intense action very well depicted by the artwork. One humorous aspect is the textual sound effects, a point raised in an interview with the creative team that developed the story.
The battle is joined with many gods involved, yet the outcome of the battle is dependent on the actions and skills of a rather nondescript young male human that shows no outward indication of having superpowers. The story is a good one with a lot of intense action very well depicted by the artwork. One humorous aspect is the textual sound effects, a point raised in an interview with the creative team that developed the story.
June 23, 2024
The premise is great. Hela running to Maphisto's realm, as the Chaos King wants everything destroyed including all the underworlds was great. The God squad the included Galactus was great. The grand scale of destruction and the hopelessness of even getting out of this jam, was a dire problem with interesting and exciting implications.
Unfortunately, the ending didn't stick the landing. Our main hero Hercules didn't rise up or have any character development for us to see him as a main player in the end. There's a panel where Cho is in tears, as he's out of ideas, meanwhile he's cracking a joke in said panel. Which makes me realize there's zero emotional interest in this. Meanwhile we have a one note villain, dragging the plot along.
I've started to accept artists different art style, but there's something.. Too much lacking in this, be it inking, editing weird shading, just crudeness overall.
The last issue ends mentioning it as the 8th and final Herc volume. Yes, as a Hercules volume it may have been great with guest stars galore, with the same levity balanced with its seriousness. But as an event? Fun but empty.
Unfortunately, the ending didn't stick the landing. Our main hero Hercules didn't rise up or have any character development for us to see him as a main player in the end. There's a panel where Cho is in tears, as he's out of ideas, meanwhile he's cracking a joke in said panel. Which makes me realize there's zero emotional interest in this. Meanwhile we have a one note villain, dragging the plot along.
I've started to accept artists different art style, but there's something.. Too much lacking in this, be it inking, editing weird shading, just crudeness overall.
The last issue ends mentioning it as the 8th and final Herc volume. Yes, as a Hercules volume it may have been great with guest stars galore, with the same levity balanced with its seriousness. But as an event? Fun but empty.
July 27, 2020
Chaos War Review:
Marvel's Chaos War is a 2010 storyline written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente. It is about the character Chaos King killing all the Gods and is trying to destroy existence itself. Now it is up to Hercules and his God Squad to stop the Chaos King from ending the whole universe.
I saw this on a ad for Secret Invasion back then and was always curious about it. I finally was able to read it and this book is really weird. I really don't liked this story tbh and while it has its potential, the execution though is lacking a lot. The execution is where it really falls apart for me.
Starting with the artwork, I really didn't liked it. The art here is really bad, where there was even a panel where I thought Hercules and Thor was Sylvester Stallone. I also found the story to be really convoluted and the characters really didn't worked as well. The dialogue here is also very poor.
So overall, Chaos War could have been an interesting story. Instead, the execution was very poor that it ended up being a mess from start to finish. The artwork is bad here and the story and the dialogue as well didn't also worked. There really isn't that much good here and so I found it to be bad in the end.
3/10
Marvel's Chaos War is a 2010 storyline written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente. It is about the character Chaos King killing all the Gods and is trying to destroy existence itself. Now it is up to Hercules and his God Squad to stop the Chaos King from ending the whole universe.
I saw this on a ad for Secret Invasion back then and was always curious about it. I finally was able to read it and this book is really weird. I really don't liked this story tbh and while it has its potential, the execution though is lacking a lot. The execution is where it really falls apart for me.
Starting with the artwork, I really didn't liked it. The art here is really bad, where there was even a panel where I thought Hercules and Thor was Sylvester Stallone. I also found the story to be really convoluted and the characters really didn't worked as well. The dialogue here is also very poor.
So overall, Chaos War could have been an interesting story. Instead, the execution was very poor that it ended up being a mess from start to finish. The artwork is bad here and the story and the dialogue as well didn't also worked. There really isn't that much good here and so I found it to be bad in the end.
3/10
April 23, 2020
Weak plot, heavy exposition
The end of the world probably shouldn't be this dull. Full of big scenes of battle with little detail so it's hard to figure out what's going on. Tons of exposition and so little emotional impact from page to page. At one point I was sure a character had died only for them to pop up again later without comment. Not keen on the art either and it all feels a bit of a chore to read rather than a joy. So much is just waiting for Hercules to save the day that the rest is just marking time.
The end of the world probably shouldn't be this dull. Full of big scenes of battle with little detail so it's hard to figure out what's going on. Tons of exposition and so little emotional impact from page to page. At one point I was sure a character had died only for them to pop up again later without comment. Not keen on the art either and it all feels a bit of a chore to read rather than a joy. So much is just waiting for Hercules to save the day that the rest is just marking time.
August 29, 2022
I was a bit cheesed off to finish The New Prince of Power and realise that the story concluded in another book I didn't have, one that didn't even have Hercules' name in its title. But I'm glad I read it. Not the best book in the series, but it's an appropriately apocalyptic conclusion to this saga, and pays off well on story elements from the previous seven books.
May 21, 2020
The book was awesome
This book was amazing. Hercules was awesome the whole way. He truly learned what it means to not only be a good but to truly be a hero. That journey was awesome to see. The book was well written and told the story well.
This book was amazing. Hercules was awesome the whole way. He truly learned what it means to not only be a good but to truly be a hero. That journey was awesome to see. The book was well written and told the story well.
October 25, 2021
Don't be deterred by the overall average rating...horses for courses.. this was a fun event and still way better than some of the events Marvel has put out recently...if you love Herc (like me)...you'll love him in the spotlight here
December 13, 2025
Greg Pak creates a cosmic super-battle just for his special boy Hercules, who again becomes the least expected leader of all the heroes of the multiverse for merry battle. Only Pak can make a story this insane feel grounded and emotionally relevant.
June 4, 2018
Ugh. All that is wrong with crossovers....there are talented creators involved here, but the story is convoluted and not particularly interesting.
February 23, 2020
It's ok, the artwork isn't bad.
July 1, 2020
Above average, below spectacular.
May 16, 2021
Bang average save the world/universe Marvel affair. Nothing original going on here but a decent way to pass the time
March 31, 2023
Evento muy malo que empieza bien, pero después no pasa nada. Encima el dibujo es de los peores dibujos que vi en mucho tiempo (sacando el dibujo de Hulk, Dead Avengers y X-Men)
August 13, 2024
I have officially finished the Incredible Hercules storyline. My heart hurts.
February 27, 2018
This was none of the fun or old school heroics of Greg Pak's Hercules run. Kind of a letdown.
July 6, 2016
"Война Хаоса" – это очередное глобальное событие во вселенной Марвел, в котором появляется невероятное, могущественное зло, стремящееся уничтожить всё и вся. И только один герой способен остановить его и спасти весь мир.
На этот раз мир спасти может только герой Геркулес, что обрёл почти что всемогущество. В итоге в центре истории у нас оказался не только скучный и банальный злодей с мотивацией из серии "хочу уничтожить всех богов и простых смертных просто потому что я злой", но и инфантильный, практический всемогущий герой, что всё может. Просто комбо какое-то, создающее невероятно скучное чтиво, ведь за обоими очень скучно следить.
Так это ещё добавьте сюда слишком предсказуемый и стандартный сюжет, с клишированными сюжетными ходами, жутко слабым финалом и перебором пафоса в диалогах. Добавьте безумное количество экшена, который почти не прекращается на протяжении пяти выпусков, и вот тогда вы получите невероятно слабую глобалку от Марвел, которая совершенно не стоит вашего внимания, и особо не стоит большого обзора.
Было бы ну совсем всё плохо, если бы не рисунок, что тут вполне себе ок, плюс экшен всё же эффектный и красочный, да и парочка дельных моментов в сюжете было. Но этого всё равно не хватает для положительного впечатления. Читать не советую, перечитывать тем более.
На этот раз мир спасти может только герой Геркулес, что обрёл почти что всемогущество. В итоге в центре истории у нас оказался не только скучный и банальный злодей с мотивацией из серии "хочу уничтожить всех богов и простых смертных просто потому что я злой", но и инфантильный, практический всемогущий герой, что всё может. Просто комбо какое-то, создающее невероятно скучное чтиво, ведь за обоими очень скучно следить.
Так это ещё добавьте сюда слишком предсказуемый и стандартный сюжет, с клишированными сюжетными ходами, жутко слабым финалом и перебором пафоса в диалогах. Добавьте безумное количество экшена, который почти не прекращается на протяжении пяти выпусков, и вот тогда вы получите невероятно слабую глобалку от Марвел, которая совершенно не стоит вашего внимания, и особо не стоит большого обзора.
Было бы ну совсем всё плохо, если бы не рисунок, что тут вполне себе ок, плюс экшен всё же эффектный и красочный, да и парочка дельных моментов в сюжете было. Но этого всё равно не хватает для положительного впечатления. Читать не советую, перечитывать тем более.
October 8, 2019
**second read**
The original review stands. This could benefit from a more focussed story. There were a handful of cool characters (like Pele) who were introduced but never utilizes. Would have liked to see Galactus do more stuff. Whatev. Still good, but I noticed more problems.
****first read****
It’s a pretty cool story.
Hercules, Thor, The Silver Surfer, Amadeus Cho, Cersi, Venus AND FUCKIN GALACTUS form an awesome team to battle The Chaos King.
Talk about a stacked team. It’s even more impressive than The Annihilators.
The battles are badass. There’s some cool mythology meets sci fi stuff. I really like the nebulous, esoteric religion stuff (and I’m not usually a fan).
The tie in books are pretty lame. I wouldn’t bother. Sure, there are some small gems, but overall... don’t worry about what Hulk and Co, the dead Avengers and the dead X Men are doing. I wouldn’t worry too much about Alpha Flight either. The tie ins are not worth it.
This story makes me wanna go back and read more about the Marvel version of Hercules. He rules.
The art was badass. The villainous Chaos King is appropriately sinister.
I recommend this book!
The original review stands. This could benefit from a more focussed story. There were a handful of cool characters (like Pele) who were introduced but never utilizes. Would have liked to see Galactus do more stuff. Whatev. Still good, but I noticed more problems.
****first read****
It’s a pretty cool story.
Hercules, Thor, The Silver Surfer, Amadeus Cho, Cersi, Venus AND FUCKIN GALACTUS form an awesome team to battle The Chaos King.
Talk about a stacked team. It’s even more impressive than The Annihilators.
The battles are badass. There’s some cool mythology meets sci fi stuff. I really like the nebulous, esoteric religion stuff (and I’m not usually a fan).
The tie in books are pretty lame. I wouldn’t bother. Sure, there are some small gems, but overall... don’t worry about what Hulk and Co, the dead Avengers and the dead X Men are doing. I wouldn’t worry too much about Alpha Flight either. The tie ins are not worth it.
This story makes me wanna go back and read more about the Marvel version of Hercules. He rules.
The art was badass. The villainous Chaos King is appropriately sinister.
I recommend this book!
February 1, 2011
The far less humorous follow-up to Pak and Van Lente's Prince of Power, Chaos War is one long doomsday scene. The Anti-God Mikaboshi, who existed when there was nothing in the universe, has risen to consume all life and bring things back to the way they were. Almost every page of Chaos War rolls along with the action as he conquers Hell, unleashes the dead on earth, pacifies earth's heroes and attempts to consume astral planes. All the while earth's smartest mortals and last remaining immortals struggle to fight off his hordes and find a way to save the last bits of creation. There are flashes of humor (Cho's palm pilot says everyone surviving is "0%" in line with the laws of probability and physics), but it's largely a tense five chapter story about Hercules trying to play god and savior. Pak and Van Lente should be very grateful to their artists for packing so much emotion and actions into so few pages. This could not have been an enviable task, and turned out quite fun.
July 9, 2012
I thought the Incredible Hercules series by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente was a fun book that wasn’t too serious but still entertained. This is basically the culmination of that series. Sadly, this just didn’t resonate with me. The Chaos King was a one note bland villain. The comic book “science” behind some of the events here were pretty hard to follow the logic. The dialogue was just as good and the Herc series but the story was just lacking. The art by Koi Pham was good not great. Overall a letdown based on the previous work.
October 26, 2013
Having read the entire Chaos War--including all the cross-overs--I can say that there just isn't much here. The main story has a few good ideas, and the Hulk issues are fair enough, but most of the crossovers are just terrible. Even as an event, the idea seems sort of ok, but the execution is just really sloppy--the Chaos King pretty much takes over in issue 1, then 30 issues or so go by where nothing happens, then they save the day. It's just very hard to like.
October 8, 2014
Well, after a while, I got the impression that all-out cosmic wars in comics tend to be pretty messed up and catastrophic. This is no exception, but it doesn't mean that it isn't any good. Actually, I enjoyed a huge part of it.
October 28, 2012
As far as events go this was ok. It is kind of cool that someone remembers the other Earth pantheons. However I think it ends far too quickly.
August 1, 2015
This seemed like an excellent send off to the Incredible Hercules series. It makes me sad that I did not read it immediately following those. Hard to get these things in order.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews