A Look at the Hulk Vs Marvel Universe Gods: Hulk Vs Hercules

We've seen the headlines: Hulk vs Superman, Hulk vs Wolverine, Hulk vs the Thing, and, basically, Hulk vs other superheroes. Classics that piqued our imagination. Who's the strongest? Who's the best fighter? Who'll win?

Time and time again the Hulk has proven that he's more than a match to most, if not all, super heroes. But how does he fair against gods? Lucky for us, there are two gods in the Marvel comic book universe, one from Olympus and one from Asgard, who walk among mortals and they've scuffled with the Hulk on a few occassions.

Let's take a look at some of these matchups between Marvel powerhouses:

HULK vs HERCULES

Only a handful of characters symbolize strength. Throughout history, no one is more famous for strength than the Greek demigod, Hercules. His feats of strength, the 12 Labors of Hercules, are passed down from generations to generations. In the Marvel universe, however, Hercules, an immortal from Mt. Olympus, has had to contend with other powerful beings to earn the title of "The Strongest". And he doesn't always win.

Indeed, the Hulk and Hercules have met in various issues with mixed outcomes:

- AVENGERS #267. Comic book fans first saw the Hulk and Hercules battle it out in Avengers No 267. In this issue, Hercules and the Avengers were trapped in limbo by their nemesis, Kang. Upon their first arrival, the Incredible Hulk came out of nowhere to attack the Avengers. Hercules stepped up and delivered a single knockout blow to the Hulk. Puzzled over the quick outcome, after examining the unconscious giant, the Avengers concluded that the Hulk was under a trance which rendered him less of his usual threat. And then the Hulk faded away into thin air. source: The Big DataBase of Comic Books (comics-db.com)

Perhaps Avengers 267 should not count as an encounter, but it nevertheless gave comic book fans a sneak peek of future fights featuring Hulk vs Hercules.

- HULK #316. Many Hulk and Avengers fan still remember the big clash in Hulk No 316 when the Banner-less, rampaging Hulk took on four Avengers, namely Iron Man, Wonder Man, Namor and Hercules. The fight was interrupted by Doc Samson who felt responsible for removing Bruce Banner from the Hulk in the first place. source: LeadersLair.com

- HULK-HERCULES UNLEASHED. If you're a Hulk fan, you'll thoroughly enjoy this one. After the superheroes went missing because of Onslaught, Hercules tried to convince the Hulk, the lone survivor, in helping to find the other heroes. Hulk was not in the mood and a brawl ensued. Hercules was beaten so bad that he would have died had Zeus not intervened to save him.

Hulk and Hercules have scuffled in a handful of other issues. The latest being HULK VS. HERCULES: WHEN TITANS CLASH published on April 2008.

The complete article can be viewed at Planet Comic Book Radio. It includes part two listing Hulk vs Thor with pictures of cover pages and comic strip panels.