The Colonel has been VERY busy on secret Shield business, but he's back and has a review for us of Incredible Hulk #601, because god knows I can't bring myself to read anything Hulk at the moment, I'm in a state of Hulk-overload. But you know The Colonel, he loves the Hulk of course, because Hulk is a Marvel character after all, so here is his review:What’s scarier than when Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk? When Bruce Banner CAN’T turn into the Hulk, that’s what.
That’s the hook of the new Incredible Hulk series: now that Bruce Banner is no longer the Hulk thanks to the events of incredible Hulk #600, the man who invented the Gamma Bomb, one of the smartest men in the world, actually has time to think because he’s not distracted by turning into the Hulk every five minutes or trying to find a way to end his curse. And now that he does have time to think, the other Marvel heroes are worried about what he may do next.
The issue opens with Bruce retrieving the Hulk’s sword and recruiting his son Skarr, so that Bruce can train the son of Hulk to fight, in case he does become the Hulk again. He’s planning ahead to have a way to take down the Hulk, because he’s been cured before and it never sticks. It’s a nicely paced issue setting up how Bruce relates to the rest of the Marvel Universe, and how they see Bruce. There’s also a few nice surprises for old fans, and some good revelations for those who don’t regularly follow the Hulk. It’s a great jumping on point, and there’s even a recap page for those that do start here. Written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Ariel Olivetti, who’s art is a mix of hyper-realism and caricature.
Also starting this issue is a back-up strip featuring the Savage She-Hulk from an alternate future, who also happens to be a child of Hulk. She came to the Marvel Universe recently in her own Savage She-Hulk four-issue miniseries and this co-feature picks up subplots from that book. Written by Fred Van Lente and illustrated by Michael Ryan, this first issue sets up her status as an agent of ARMOR (formerly SHIELD’s alternate reality division) and quickly starts the action rolling.
To there you go, two ongoing features for $3.99, both of which are taking interesting setups in new directions. Check it out!
-Daron “The Colonel” Jensen
It didn't click with me, personally.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to read about Bruce Banner, who can become the Hulk when he gets angry. I didn't want to read about Bruce Banner, daddy to the behemoth his green skinned alter ego fathered last year or two years ago or whatever.
It's why I picked up the Loeb/McGuiness Hulk book and why my interest in the character is a bit revitalized as a result. Loeb's lost his fucking mind, but at least the book's a fun read and I'm becoming increasingly compelled by the 'who is the red Hulk?' storyline. By the by, I refuse to call him 'Rulk.' That is just a stupid name and a part of me dies every time someone says it. And when it comes to Marvel and Loeb, credit is very hard for me to give *coughcoughULTIMATES3SUCKEDABIGFATONEDESPITETHEGORGEOUSARTcoughcoughULTIMATUMWASNOTMUCHBETTERcoughcough*, so my own lukewarm reception to the new Hulk is not based on any real preference to other recent takes.
I guess I just wanted something that felt more...Hulky. I'll stick with it, as I'm sure red Hulk and Banner aren't done with one another yet. But that's really the only reason I'm gonna stick with it for right now. Who knows, maybe the comic will go in some pretty interesting directions and I'll be happy I didn't jump ship.