Incredible Hercules #131

The cover of Incredible Hercules #131 frames a quietly charged moment: a young man in a casual jacket stands tense and downcast on the left, while the massively muscled Hercules — clad in his golden armor and leather strappings — turns his back to him, the two figures separated by body language as much as anything else. The tagline "My Friend— My Enemy!" says it all, hinting at a relationship pushed to its breaking point against a smoldering, fiery backdrop rendered with real drama by cover artist David Williams. Writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente were consistently delivering some of Marvel's most emotionally resonant superhero storytelling in 2009, and this issue's "The Harrowing" promises that same blend of myth and genuine heart.