Hercules Unbound
 

Hercules Unbound No. 1
October-November 1975
Cover: Hercules breaking chains and lifting boulder //Ernie Chua / Wally Wood
Story: "Hercules Unbound!"  (18 pages)
Editor: Joe Orlando
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciller: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Inker: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Hercules (first appearance; not the character from Wonder Woman or Superman stories)
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Basil (a dog; first appearance for both)
Intro: Jason (in flashback; dies in this story)
Villains: Anti-Ares (called Ares thru issue #11; first appearance; true nature revealed in issue #12), Commander DiAngelo, Commander Antioni (first and only appearance for both), the Scavengers (in flashback; first and only appearance), the Smasher (Kevin's father; first appearance; dies in this story)
Comments: Story continues in next issue.
 This story takes place after October, 1986.
 DC COMICS PRESENTS #57 posits that Hercules's world, which is also that of the Atomic Knights, is an illusion in the mind of Gardner Grayle, who later becomes the Atomic Knight.  This is unlikely, as issues #4-5 tie the world of Hercules to that of Kamandi, who has been shown to be a "real" character in a variant timeline of Earth-One.  It is possible that the Gardner Grayle of DCCP #57 is tapping into the Hercules / Atomic Knights / Omac / Kamandi world in his dreams, as Gardner Fox of Earth-One tapped into Earth-Two in his dreams.
 Issue #12 reveals that Hercules has been bound for thousands of years.
Synopsis: Four weeks after World War III, Hercules, who has been trapped and chained by Ares, god of war, breaks his chains, teams with a blind boy and his dog, and begins striking back against his foe.

Hercules Unbound No. 2
December 1975 / January 1976
Cover: Hercules vs. Cerberus and two-headed dogs //Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Story: "Unleash the Hounds of Hell" (18 pages)
Editor: Joe Orlando
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciller: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Inker: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Hercules
Supporting Characters: Dave Rigg, Simon St. Charles, Jennifer Monroe (first appearance for all), Kevin, Basil
Intro: Adora (only appearance; in cameo)
Villains: Anti-Ares, Cerberus (first appearance), a witch (first and only appearance), Minnos (first appearance; dies in this story)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
 Hercules and Kevin meet three more survivors of war, but are beset by Ares's deputy Cerberus and his two-headed dogs of war.

Hercules Unbound No. 3
February-March 1976
Cover: Hercules vs. Cerberus //Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Story: "Within the Pit Below" (18 pages)
Editor: Joe Orlando
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciller: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Inker: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Hercules
Supporting Characters:   Dave Rigg, Simon St. Charles, Jennifer Monroe, Kevin, Basil
Intro: Orpheus (a ghost; only appearance), Eurydice (in flashback; dies in this story), Persephone (only appearance)
Villains: Anti-Ares, Pluto (first appearance; not the character from Wonder Woman stories), Cerberus (dies in this story)
Comment: Story continues in part in next issue.
Synopsis: Cerberus captures Jennifer Monroe in order to lure Hercules to a battle in Pluto's realm.

Hercules Unbound No. 4
April-May 1976
Cover: Hercules lifting car and fighting humanoid animals //Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez / Wally Wood
Story: "This Savage Strength" (17 pages)
Editor: Joe Orlando
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciller: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Inker: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Hercules
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Basil, Jennifer Monroe
Cameo appearance: Cerberus (in flashback)
Villains: Hunter Blood and his legions (including Rooden; first appearance for all), Urnak (first appearance; dies in this story)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
 This story and the story in next issue confirm that Hercules's timeline is linked to that of Kamandi's.
Synopsis: Hercules, Kevin, and Jennifer are attacked by the humanoid-animal legions of Hunter Blood, a mutant with death-dealing vision.

Hercules Unbound No. 5
June-July 1976
Cover: Hercules lifting Tower of London away from Jennifer Monroe //Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (signed)
Story: "War Among the Ruins" (17 pages)
Editor: Joe Orlando
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciller: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Inker: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Hercules
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Basil (dies in this story), Jennifer Monroe, Simon St. Charles, Dave Rigg
Intro: Durak Malloy (a humanoid ape), Dr. Janson and his two associates (in flashback; all three die in this story)
Cameo: Humphrey Bogart (in a movie)
Villains: Anti-Ares, Hunter Blood (probably dies shortly after this story) and his legions (last appearance), Pythias, Ormun, Jackul (first and only appearance for last three)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
Synopsis: Hercules learns the origin of the humanized animals from a gorilla-man as the two of them seek out Hunter Blood.

Hercules Unbound No. 6
August-September 1976
Cover: Hercules vs. mounted soldier of Anti-Ares //Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (signed)
Story: "Even a God May Die" (17 pages)
Editor: Joe Orlando
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciller: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Inker: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Hercules (origin details revealed in flashback)
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Jennifer Monroe, Basil (restored to life in this story), Dave Rigg, Simon St. Charles
Other Character: Durok Malloy (last appearance)
Villains: Anti-Ares (also appears in flashback, his earliest chronological appearance; next appears in issue #11) and his legions (last appearance), Deimos (first and only appearance)
Comment: Story continues in part in next issue.
Synopsis: Hercules tracks Ares down in Stonehenge and battles him for the lives of Simon St. Charles and Dave Rigg.

Hercules Unbound No. 7
October-November 1976
Cover: Casper Zedd vs. Hercules, Kevin, Simon St. Charles, and Jennifer Monroe //Rich Buckler / Wally Wood (signed)
Story: "To Slay a Legend" (17 pages)
Editor: Joe Orlando
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciller: Walt Simonson
Inker: Wally Wood
Letterer: Milt Snapinn
Colorist: Jerry Serpe
Feature Character: Hercules
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Basil, Jennifer Monroe, Dave Rigg, Simon St. Charles (last appearance)
Villains: Oceanus, Casper Zedd, Order of Tarn (first and only appearance for all)
Synopsis: Hercules battles Casper Zedd, a disciple of the Titan Oceanus, who plans to restore his master's strength by sacrificing Kevin.

Hercules Unbound No. 8
December 1976 / January 1977
Cover: War plane vs. Hercules, Jennifer Monroe, Kevin, and Basil //Walt Simonson / Wally Wood (signed)
Story: "Game" (17 pages)
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciller: Walt Simonson
Inker: Wally Wood
Feature Character: Hercules
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Basil, Jennifer Monroe, Dave Rigg
Intro: Lord and Lady Montague Simms (in flashback; only appearance)
Villain: Lady Agatha Simms (first appearance)
Comment: Story continues in the next issue.
Synopsis: Hercules, Kevin, and Jennifer are forced to take part in a war "game" played with real weapons by Lady Agatha Simms, but their opponent is Dave Rigg.

Hercules Unbound No.9
February-March 1977
Cover: Hercules, Kevin, and Basil vs. Agatha Simms's machines //Walt Simonson
Story: "Finale" (17 pages)
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Co-plotter, scripter: David Michelinie
Co-plotter, layout artist: Walt Simonson
Artist: Bob Layton
Feature Character: Hercules
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Basil, Jennifer Monroe, Dave Rigg (dies in this story)
Villain: Agatha Simms (last appearance)
Synopsis: Hercules and Kevin strive to keep from harming Dave Rigg as they play Agatha Simms's "war game", which now involves an atomic bomb.

Hercules Unbound No. 10
April-May 1977
Cover: Hercules and Atomic Knights vs. energy-being in Bryndon Smith's armor //Walt Simonson (signed)
Story: "Water, Water, Neverwhere" (17 pages)
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Writer: Cary Bates
Penciller: Walt Simonson
Inker: Bob Layton
Feature Character: Hercules
GS: Bryndon Smith (dies in this story), Gardner Grayle, Douglas Herald (the Atomic Knights; last appearance in STRANGE ADVENTURES #160)
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Jennifer Monroe
Cameo appearance: Dr. Skuba (from OMAC #8; in flashback)
Villain: An energy-being (first and only appearance)
Comment: This story reveals that Hercules inhabits the same world as Omac, the Atomic Knights, and Kamandi.  There is an inconsistency in that the Atomic Knights story in STRANGE ADVENTURES #144 posits that World War III was caused in 1985 by a machination of mole people, while last issue's story says that it was started by the explosion of an atomic bomb in October of 1986 sent by Lady Agatha Simms.
Synopsis: After burying Dave Rigg, Hercules, Jennifer, and Kevin encounter the Atomic Knights, one of whom has been destroyed and replaced by an energy being in search of the secret of exploding compressed water.

Hercules Unbound No. 11
June-July 1977
Cover: Hercules and Jennifer Monroe vs. monster //Walt Simonson (signed)
Story: "The Dark Side of the Gods" (17 pages)
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Writer: Cary Bates
Artist: Walt Simonson
Colorist: Jerry Serpe
Feature Character: Hercules
GS: Gardner Grayle, Douglas Herald (the Atomic Knights; last appearance for both; dream-replicas of the Atomic Knights next appear in DC COMICS PRESENTS #57)
Intro: Zeus, Hera, Athena, Ares, Hermes (not the same characters as in Superman or Wonder Woman stories)
Supporting Characters: Kevin, Basil, Jennifer Monroe (dies in this story)
Villain: Anti-Ares (last appearance in issue #6)
Comment: Story continues in next issue.
Synopsis: Hercules battles an Ares-possessed Kevin and is led to the rock that once chained him, which, Ares says, will unleash the secret of the "anti-gods".

Hercules Unbound No. 12
August-September 1977
Cover: Hercules vs. Anti-Gods //Walt Simonson (signed)
Story: "Chaos Among the Gods" (17 pages)
Editor: Denny O'Neil
Writer: Cary Bates
Artist: Walt Simonson
Feature Character: Hercules (last appearance; a dream-replica of Hercules appears next in DC COMICS PRESENTS #57; also appears in flashback; origin details revealed in this story)
Supporting Characters: Kevin (revealed as a construct of Anti-Ares in this story), Jennifer Monroe (restored to life in this story), Basil (last appearance for all)
Other Characters: Zeus, Athena, Hera, Ares, Hermes (last appearance for all)
Villains: Anti-Zeus, Anti-Athena, Anti-Hera, Anti-Hermes (first and only appearance for all), Anti-Ares (merged as the Anti-Gods and reabsorbed into the Olympian gods bodies; last appearance)
Comments: This is the last issue of HERCULES UNBOUND.
 Even though DC COMICS PRESENTS #57 posits that Hercules's and the Atomic Knights' world is just a dream-construct of Gardner Grayle of Earth-One, the Kamandi connection proves that this is not true.
Synopsis: Hercules learns the truth behind his imprisonment and battles the Anti-Gods to save the Earth and the five Olympian gods who are their sources.