GORDON ALLSWORTH

Real Name: Gordon Allsworth

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Television host, director and writer

Group Membership: Monsters, Myths and Marvels crew

Affiliations: Henry Peter Gyrich, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Hercules, Jimmy, Carlton LaFroyge, Robert, Andre Simard, Tiberius Stone, Cletus Williams Jr., Wizard (Bentley Wittman), Wolverine (James Howlett)

Enemies: (by association with Hercules) Achelous, Eurystheus, Fantastic Four (Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Invisible Woman (Susan Richards), Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), Thing (Ben Grimm) ), Jean Guy, Hera, Punisher (Frank Castle), She-Hulk (Jen Walters), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Dr. Stephen Strange, Wendigo (Luc Lemay);
formerly Wolverine (James Howlett)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Hollywood, California, USA

First Appearance: Hercules III#1 (June, 2005)

Powers/Abilities: Gordon Allsworth possesses the normal human strength level of a man of his size, height and build who engages in extensive regular exercises. He has no known superhuman powers. In the Hollywood film industry, he is known as a capable TV director known for movies/TV series such as "Booty Call Island" and "The New Labors of Hercules."

History: 

(Hercules III#5 (fb)) -  In his youth, Gordon Allsworth became a fan of mythology and spent his time reading the myths of Hercules while his friends and classmates usually spent their time reading comic books.  

(Hercules III#1) - Gordon worked as a host and director for a TV series called "The New Labors of Hercules," which documented the modern exploits of the actual Hercules playing himself. During the shooting of a scene from the infancy of Hercules, he stepped in to complain that the fake snakes near their child actor playing the infant Hercules looked too fake. His assistant director, Robert, accused him of venting his hostility on the crew just as producer Ty Stone arrived to view the production. Allsworth immediately cowered in Stone's presence who in turn criticized him for taking the material too seriously and producing tabloid footage revealing the hero in an embarrassing light at the funeral of several fallen Avengers. Stone suggested that Allsworth start incorporating more footage of Hercules in this light in the program, but Allsworth lightly resisted. When Stone asked where Hercules was at that moment, Allsworth could only verify that their cameraman, Jimmy, was keeping him company at the Extra Points Bar.

(Hercules III#2) - Gordon and Robert eventually caught up with Jimmy and Hercules at the modern-day penthouse of Eurystheus, Hercules' cousin, who had been restored to life by Hera. (Whether Hera had teleported Eurystheus through time or if he had been alive through the ages is unrevealed.) Gordon heard from Eurystheus the details of his resurrection and proposal that Hercules regain his fame and pride by having the TV production document Hercules pulling off new modern versions of his famous labors with recent icons from the superhuman community. Gordon thought the idea would be a monumental TV success. However, just before they could work out the details, Achelous, another enemy of Hercules, barged in trying to finish his feud with Hercules. Quickly trouncing the former river-god, Hercules agreed to the new television direction. 

(Hercules III#3) - Gordon accompanied Hercules and his crew to the Savage Land looking for, Zabu, the saber-toothed cat and companion of Ka-Zar, to stand in for the Nemean Lion, but either out of haste or confusion, Hercules immediately attacked and subdued a Tyrannosaurus rex (or similar predator). As Jimmy and Robert began worrying over this obvious mistake and how to handle future misconceptions, Gordon reminded them that they were only along for the ride and that Hercules would have to deal with his own errors without help from them. Just as Hercules found and tied up Zabu, Gordon realized he had another problem with calming down Ka-Zar and his wife, Shanna, over Hercules beating up and incapacitating Zabu. 

    For the next labor involving the Hydra, Gordon followed Hercules to a HYDRA base where Hercules fought and defeated the entire HYDRA faction single-handedly. One of the HYDRA agents held a gun on him, but upon hearing that Gordon worked in the television industry, the agent lowered his weapon to try and pitch his own documentary reality show involving his life in HYDRA. Afterward, Gordon followed Hercules to the Blue Area of the Moon to capture Lockjaw from the Inhumans and then back to Earth to capture the Dragon Man, stand-ins respectively for the Erymanthian Boar and the Cerynean Hind. Following the defeat of Attuma in Atlantis for his Fifth Labor, Hercules had to stand up against the Red Skull's Dust of Death and conquer his Neo-Nazi supporters, a parallel to the odoriferous stables of King Augeas in his Sixth Labor. Worked into a good mood by the adventures, Hercules slapped Gordon in the back, accidentally sending him through a wall.

    Wrapping up the episode with the Red Skull, Gordon testified on Hercules having accomplished his labors so far through luck alone and without much skill. Robert and Jimmy accused him of selling out Hercules' reputation for ratings, but Gordon just dismissed them. For the Seventh Labor, Hercules was set to wrestle the Abomination as a substitute for the Cretan Bull, but during Gordon's interview with the gamma-spawned monster, Hercules came out and sucker-punched the Abomination with a street pole, laying him out cold.

(Hercules III#4) - For the Eighth Labor involving the Man-Eating Mares of Diomedes, Gordon traveled with Hercules to the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands and lent him his credit card to purchase whatever he needed to claim the rock giants of the Mole Man. 

    For the Ninth Labor, Gordon followed Hercules to the Avengers Building in New York City to claim the shield of Captain America, a substitute to the girdle of Hippolyta. Gordon was refused entry into the building along with Robert and Jimmy for a short period before Hercules came running out with the shield afterward.

    For the Tenth Labor, Gordon had reservations with Hercules stealing one of the Doombots from Latveria and crossing Doctor Doom. Following the capture of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier for the Eleventh Labor, Gordon learned Hercules had to return back to Eurystheus to get the details of the last labor in person. As Hercules realized he had to face off with the spirit of his first wife in Hades, he finally became repentant as well as reluctant, but Gordon just encouraged Jimmy to keep filming his remorse. 

(Hercules III#5) - Gordon followed Robert and Jimmy to find Hercules back at the Extra Points Bar. Destroying Jimmy's camera to prove he didn't care about the TV show, he revealed that was shocked to realize the truth about Hercules having murdered his wife and children in ancient Thebes. Screaming at Hercules to goad him into finishing the labors and regain his pride, Gordon started to leave when Hercules stopped him and applauded his pluck for standing up to him. As Hercules went to get permission to enter the underworld, Gordon's bravado and courage wore out and he fainted.

    At the Gates of Hades, Gordon chided Robert for comparing Charon the Ferryman of the Styx to the Crypt-Keeper from "Tales of the Crypt" and an off-handed Jim Henson comment. After watching Hercules take down Cerberus, Gordon, Jimmy and Robert were confronted by the armies of the dead defending the underworld. They were pulled back by the spirit of Megara and her children by Hercules coming to meet him and exorcise his guilt for the murder. Stunned by the emotion, Gordon tried to speak to Hercules, who instead destroyed Jimmy's camera to conceal his own feelings on the matter. 

    Gordon and Ty Stone held a wrap party to smooth the emotions of several of the involved parties, especially the Avengers, Ka-Zar, Shanna, Nick Fury, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Mole Man. Captain America led the procession to get their private possessions back.

(Marvel TV: Galactus - The Real Story#1 (fb) - BTS) - Gordon Allsworth became the host of the exposé TV show Monsters, Myths and Marvels.

(Marvel TV: Galactus - The Real Story#1) - In one episode he tried to reveal Galactus as a big hoax. Interviews with Ryker's Island prisoner Bentley Wittman (incorrectly called the Wingless Wizard), former New Warriors member Carlton LaFroyge (Hindsight Lad), Clint Barton aka. Hawkeye (blocked out so nobody could tell it was him....didn't work that well), former Avengers liaison turned mall security Henry Peter Gyrich and Cletus Williams Jr., who claimed to have played the part of Galactus, should prove that Galactus was just a big hoax made up by the Fantastic Four to gain money and to aid the government in creating a threat to distract from real problems and more.....most heroes didn't even want to talk to Allsworth.

(Wolverine: Wendigo!) - Gordon was the director for a reenactment clip near Lac Saint Jean in Canada for a Monsters, Myths and Marvels episode on the Wendigo with Diane acting as the victim and Mike acting as the Wendigo. Diane flipped out when Mike grabbed her boobs and Gordon called for a break.

(Wolverine: Wendigo! (fb) ) - Diane, Mike, Andre Simard and another crew member were killed by a real Wendigo. Gordon and Jimmy escaped when Wolverine came to their aid saving them from the Wendigo.

(Wolverine: Wendigo!) - Gordon and Jimmy watched the tape of Diane and the others' deaths at the local police. The police wanted to know something about the murders and they were interrogated further by Jean Guy. After Jean Guy was approached by secret service guys (possibly Department H) he let Gordon and Jimmy go free. Gordon and Jimmy left the country as fast as possible and incidentally asked Logan for directions.

Comments: Adapted by Frank Tieri and Mark Texiera 

At the onset of this series, Gordon and Ty Stone initially seem to resemble Sam Raimi and Kevin Sorbo of  "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," the 1995-2001 television series. For that matter, Robert resembles Richard Langley (Dean Haglund) of the short-lived "Lone Gunman" series, a spin-off of "The X-Files," and this might be stretching things, but Jimmy the Cameraman sometimes resembles Ted Raimi, the brother of Sam Raimi, known for playing Joxer in the 1996-2002 "Hercules" spin-off. However, these likenesses don't stay constant.

As an odd coincidence (or not), "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" also established that their Hercules was also the real Hercules pretending to be a mortal actor named Kevin Sorbo in the episode, "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules." It is uncertain if this plot point was worked into the Marvel Universe or just independently developed.

It should be noted that in the Marvel Universe the general public doesn't believe Hercules (or Thor for that matter) are the actual gods from mythology, just modern individuals with incredible powers playing homage to the ancient myths. This "reality" is sort of unique to the Marvel Universe, unlike in the DC Universe where everyone just "knows" Superman is an extraterrestrial from a planet called Krypton or that Aquaman is from the lost continent of Atlantis.

In the myth, Hera is blamed for the battle fatigue or delayed war stress syndrome which lead to him slaying Megara and his children. Hera sort of confesses to this in front of Eurystheus and Achelous in Hercules II#5. While Hera alluded that neither Hercules nor Megara have learned this, one wonders if Megara had deduced it.

Profile by: Thor2000

CLARIFICATIONS:
Gordon Allsworth is not to be confused with: