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.

Last issue saw the tensions between Seti and Amenmessus come to a head, as war erupted between the cities 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, Hercules, being the son of Zeus, was able to absorb Khadis’ lightening, and release it back on the troops of Thebes, turning the tide of the battle. This valiant effort on the part of Hercules drained Khadis of all her powers, but also left the son of Zeus incapacitated, and perhaps dead…

The Story (spoiler free)

Well, not to ruin the suspense, but obviously Hercules didn’t die at the end of issue#5. It’d be pretty hard to have a book called Hercules without it featuring the titular character

With Hercules back in the game, the Greeks devise a cunning plan to defeat Khadis and Amenmessu. But even once the battle is won, there still remains a traitor in the royal house of Seti II - and when the dust has settled on the grounds of war, Hercules will not rest until the spy pays for his or her crimes against the sovereign of Egypt!

The Rating

This is another brilliantly written conclusion, to what has been an incredibly memorable series. Steve Moore has really outdone himself! There really isn’t anything to fault in this issue - the plot and pacing are perfect, the dialogue is authentic and realistic, and even though some plot points are inevitable, Moore manages to through in a few twists and turns, to keep readers on their feet. Being the conclusion, this issue is obviously mostly dominated by action scenes, and tying up loose ends of the plot, but Moore still manages to throw in some wonderful character moments, and even the odd bit of humour.

Cris Bolson has produced another issue of gorgeous looking artwork. Most of the issue is taken up with intense and bloody battle scenes, which Bolson makes look really cinematic, and easy to follow. Despite all the busy scenes of this issue, Bolson’s artwork remains highly detailed, and he never seems to sacrifice the small details, even in scenes packed full of soldiers fighting! Before reading this series, I’d not seen Bolson’s artwork on any other comics, but I think that is about to change, and this is definitely a name to watch!

Hercules: The Knives of Kush #5 is a stunning conclusion to one of the year’s best miniseries! This series has been an epic of Greek proportions, and I can’t wait to read the next miniseries! I can recommend it highly enough!
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Hercules: The Knives of Kush #5 goes on sale on Wednesday, January 5^th

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