[spoilers]
The issue starts with Nightmare realizing Hercules has somehow been returned from the dead, and suddenly Chaos King rips out Nightmare's heart and decapitates him (aka he's dead now). Mystical/Telepaths feel that something wrong has occurred but can't tell exactly what it is.
Herc is next shown in NY with waaay too much power, he steps and there are aftershocks. Heroes come to "talk" to him only for Amadeus Cho to come and save the day. He claims he collected the necessary materials to make someone Godlike, and he gave those materials to Herc when he returned which explains his crazy power levels. He talks Herc down, and suddenly they're brought before the Council of Gods or some BS like that.
Herc goes crazy and starts beating them senseless. Think Rulk hitting the Watcher crazy, lol. Thor comes in to save the day, and they go back to Earth. Back on Earth, anyone who falls asleep instantly goes crazy. People wonder whether this is Nightmare doing this, but Brother Voodoo can't sense Nightmare anywhere. Herc proclaims to Earth about the coming dangers from the Chaos King, and of course the heroes don't believe him. So he transports them all to one location to talk, and shares a fraction of his abilities with them (Spidey chats with Wolvie about whether they're flying or just crazy).
So now a shitload of heroes, all sharing godlike powers, are flying towards the dream world. They witness all creatures actually fleeing the area, and onward HO!
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Overall a good start, I think I'll continue with the core series. Not sure about the tie-ins, there are a shitload of them. 14 tie-ins plus 5 core issues, so 19 total at $4 a pop is $76 for the whole thing. I might only buy a few tie-ins (X-Men, Alpha Flight, maybe Avengers) and download the rest.
Chaos War #1
Moderator: XIII