Moore's script proves more verbose than Sarkar's, but since a good amount of the dialog is devoted to nasty put-downs ("If you're getting into a strange bed," narrator Iolaus tells a young soldier as they pass the Odrysaen whores, "check it for knives first. And check the girl for maggots."), it all reads more quickly than you'd expect - even if you have difficulty keeping all the Greek names (Amphianaus, Autolyeus, et al) straight. Once our not-much-larger-than-life hero ("You were expecting someone bigger?" Herc says as he approaches the apparent king of the Odrysaens) struts on panel, bedecked in his lion skin, the focus naturally shifts to him.

It's all smoothly rendered: Moore, who cut his teeth scripting British comics, is an old hand at this type of material, while artist Wijaya really picks up in the action sequences. I can see both books finding an audience - and, perhaps the lucrative movie production deal, eh? But I still continue to chafe at that inapt company name.

How about Working Within The System Comics?