“The Warrior Princess Part 2: The Shaper”
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artists: Jeff Butler Rick Magyar & Steve Montano
Hercules and Xena come on a village being pillaged by the army of the false Hercules. They defeat the soldiers and find out the shapeshifter has gone to Hercules village. At his village of Thebes, the false Hercules manages to lure Alcmene his mother away. Hercule’s friends defeat the army, but the false Hercules gets away. The real Hercules and Xena come and agree to split up. Hercules and Iolaus figure out the logical location of the shapeshifter. On a mountain some strange guy that is grey has created a formula to turn lead into gold. The shapeshifter comes and we find out that he is the twin brother of the other smaller guy. The evil shapeshifter takes the formula and manages to enhance his powers. He turns into a giant Chimera which is a half lion and flying dragon. The Chimera goes after Hercules.
This was another fun issue of Hercules. We find out a little more about the evil shapeshifter. He has a brother and some formula that can both turn lead into gold and give people more power. The evil shapeshifter has plans to kill the real Hercules and take over the world. What’s new. All the characters are in character just like from the TV series. Thomas does an excellent job of giving us a fun story that due to budget constrains couldn’t be shown on TV.
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