Marvel Unveils Newest Rainbow Brigade Member: Hercules (and maybe Namor)

I have never been particularly drawn to the character of Marvel's Hercules. He always seemed like the poor man's Thor, and his costume choices were uninspiring to say the least. Between the boisterous drunken carousing and the stylized "have at thee" dialogue, I always wrote off Hercules as a B-list brick Marvel editors would pull out every now and then to fulfill a cameo role.

His partnership and close friendship with Amadeus Cho brought him back onto my radar, as Amadeus is one of Marvel's more interesting rising stars, plus created by the ever dreamy Greg Pak. But it was not until Hercules' death that I have become truly interested in the character.

As some of you may know, it's hard out there for a god-- at least in the Marvel Universe. Between the besieged Asgard and New Olympus falling apart, those mythic heroes seem to be falling left and right. The most recent has been the long-time Avenger, Hercules.

I picked up a copy of Hercules: Fall of an Avenger #1 this past week just to peruse. I am very interested by Amadeus' eventual rise to become Hercules' replacement as the Prince of Power, so I thought I'd brief myself on the happenings. What I was shocked by was the seeming acknowledgement that Marvel's most piggish, sexist, hegemonically masculine character, Hercules... is in fact, bisexual. Check out the scan after the jump:

via scansdaily

It's up for debate on whether or not Namora's statement implies only Northstar or her cousin, Namor as well. But nevertheless, it's now cannon: Hercules and Northstar totally banged. This might make Hercules the highest profile bisexual male in all of Marvel. Sure there's Shatterstar but he's always been a bit B-List.

Someone please make some fan-art of Hercules/Northstar/Namor and send to me... PLEASE?!?!

edit: Evidently, writer Fren Van Lente has verified Hercules' queerness via twitter, "Clearly, Hercules and Northstar had a 'team up'." GASP!