# Hugo Hercules > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hugo_Hercules > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hugo_Hercules.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Hercules > Source revision: 1351912801 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American comic strip (1902–1903)}} {{italic title}} thumb|right|180px|Hugo lifting a car. '''''Hugo Hercules''''' was an American weekly comic strip published in the ''[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)'', written and drawn by [Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev Körner](/source/Wilhelm_Heinrich_Detlev_K%C3%B6rner). It ran for five months, from September 7, 1902, to January 11, 1903, totaling seventeen strips.{{cite book |last1=Holtz |first1=Allan |title=American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |location=Ann Arbor |isbn=9780472117567 |page=198}} Despite its short run, it is considered the earliest [superhero fiction](/source/superhero_fiction) comic.{{cite web |title=William H. D. Koerner |url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/koerner_whd.htm |website=Lambiek Comiclopedia |publisher=Lambiek |accessdate=5 July 2019}} ==Characters and story== A good-natured man endowed with [superhuman strength](/source/superhuman_strength), Hugo wandered about town, helping people with their problems and shocking them with his surprising displays of power. He was so strong he could pick up an elephant,{{cite web | author = William H. D. Koerner | title = Hugo Hercules performs another prodigy | url = http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021012.jpg | publisher = The Chicago Sunday Tribune | accessdate = 2007-09-21 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110707212808/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021012.jpg | archivedate = 2011-07-07 }} kick a house like a football,{{cite web | author = William H. D. Koerner | title = Hugo Hercules misses the football, but— | url = http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021116.jpg | publisher = The Chicago Sunday Tribune | accessdate = 2007-09-21 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110707212812/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021116.jpg | archivedate = 2011-07-07 }} wield an artillery cannon like a handgun,{{cite web | author = William H. D. Koerner | title = Hugo Hercules does a little holding up himself | url = http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021207.jpg | publisher = The Chicago Sunday Tribune | accessdate = 2007-09-21 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110707212817/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021207.jpg | archivedate = 2011-07-07 }} and lift a locomotive engine off the tracks and pull its cargo behind him at train speeds.{{cite web | author = William H. D. Koerner | title = Hugo Hercules comes to the rescue of the Cannonball Limited | url = http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021214.jpg | publisher = The Chicago Sunday Tribune | accessdate = 2007-09-21 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110707212821/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021214.jpg | archivedate = 2011-07-07 }} Casual about his incredible feats, Hugo often repeated his catchphrase, "Just as easy", shrugging off the adoring crowds. Sometimes referred to as the first [superhero](/source/superhero), the strip was not a great success and Körner eventually left comics to become a painter.Bill Blackbeard & Dale Crain, ''The Comic Strip Century''. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1995. 2 volumes. 480 pp. {{ISBN|0-87816-355-7}} ==Strips== * Sept 7, 1902: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511174626/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc020907.jpg Hugo Hercules Obliges Beauty in Distress.] * Sept 14: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511174510/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc020914.jpg Hugo Hercules Stops the Terrible Runaway.] * Sept 21: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120323224100/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc020921.jpg Hugo Hercules to the Rescue Once More.] * Sept 28: (no strip) * Oct 5: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120505080818/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021005.jpg Hugo Hercules Rescues Lady Disdain Once More.] * Oct 12: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120208053904/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021012.jpg Hugo Hercules Performs Another Prodigy.] * Oct 19: (no strip) * Oct 26: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120428153050/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021026.jpg Now, Wasn't This Kind of Hugo Hercules?] * Nov 2: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120309044051/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021102.jpg Hugo Hercules Saves Four Comic Supplement Lives.] * Nov 9: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120214033345/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021109.jpg Hugo Hercules Has a Great Pull with the Conductor.] * Nov 16: [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725220909/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021116.jpg Hugo Hercules Misses the Football, But --"] * Nov 23: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120405233852/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021123.jpg It's Just as Easy for Hercules to Make a Touchdown.] * Nov 30: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120309044230/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021130.jpg Hugo Hercules Gets Along Quite Well Without a Cab.] * Dec 7: [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725220919/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021207.jpg Hugo Hercules Does a Little Holding Up Himself.] * Dec 14: [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725221001/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021214.jpg Hugo Hercules Comes to the Rescue of the Cannon Ball Limited.] * Dec 21: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120420192541/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021221.jpg The Fire Engine Broke Down - But Hercules Was There.] * Dec 28: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120309044233/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc021228.jpg Hugo Hercules at New Year's Bowling Contest.] * Jan 4, 1903: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120511174129/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc030104.jpg Hugo Hercules Goes Ice Boating.] * Jan 11, 1903: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120224125354/http://www.barnaclepress.com/cmcvlt/HugoHerc/hugoherc030111.jpg Hugo Hercules Wrestles with a Bear.] ==Other appearances== Hugo Hercules appears in the 2015 graphic novel ''[Nemo: River of Ghosts](/source/Nemo%3A_River_of_Ghosts)'', written by [Alan Moore](/source/Alan_Moore) and illustrated by [Kevin O'Neill](/source/Kevin_O'Neill_(comics)). ==References== {{reflist}} Category:American comic strips Hercules, Hugo Hercules, Hugo Category:1902 comics debuts Category:1903 comics endings Hercules, Hugo Category:Superhero comics Hercules, Hugo Hercules, Hugo Hercules, Hugo Category:Comic strips started in the 1900s --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hugo Hercules](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Hercules) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Hercules?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.