Saturday, January 15, 2022

JERKULES & ZIMA

HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS
1995-1999 Syndicated

Apparently the owners don't even approve of their opening being used. They're somehow more special than every other TV show in existence, so you'll have to settle for this fan-made one.
XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS
1995-2001 Syndicated

JERKULES & ZIMA
MAD #349, September 1996
w: Dick DeBartolo
a: Angelo Torres

There were two different series with the same creators in the same "universe", The two characters often crossed over and did several TV movies together and teamed up in other media. The main characters were Hercules (Kevin Sorbo), Iolaus (Michael Hurst), Xena (Lucy Lawless), and Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor).

Zima was a carbonated alcoholic beverage that existed in the 90s, sort of a cross between wine coolers and 7-Up. In the foreground of this splash panel are Hagar the Horrible and Lucky Eddie.
The other characters appear to be made up for this. Though Xena did have gratuitous T&A it came to be iconic in the LGBTQ community.
The cow in the upper right panel is a cow often used in The Far Side and the sound effects are an homage to Don Martin.
In the middle right panel are associate editor Nick Meglin and art director Leonard Brenner, and the god is the ghost of William M. Gaines. "It's crackers..." was an attempted catchphrase when they were first starting as a magazine.
They end up in the world of Baywatch, another syndicated skin show.
UPDATE:

JERKULES: THE LEISURELY JOURNEYS
Cracked Monster Party #23, Summer 1996
w: Greg Grabianski
a: Walter Brogan

1 comment:

  1. In the Cracked parody, Hercules is accompanied not by his sidekick Iolaus, but by wheeler-dealer Salmoneus (Robert Trebor).

    His step-mother was the goddess Hera, here called Hernia.

    The cyclops is from an episode of the show, and was played by Richard Moll.

    Among the warriors waiting to fight Hercules on page 5 are Mike Tyson and Groo the Wanderer.

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