Review: Hulk #1

 

Hulk #1

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Mark Bagley

Mark Waid continues his run of the Hulk with a different title and one of my favorite artist of all time Mark Bagley! So the Indestructible Hulk series ends on a very poetic note in Bruce Banner being shot in the back of the Hulk while being completely complacent. Meaning he did not Hulk out as he usually does. The issue begins with a surgeon getting ready to perform brain surgery on the injured Bruce Banner. The surgeon a man who knew Bruce Banner in college. The surgeon a man who was not good and friendly to Bruce Banner. We see his life unfold around the events of Bruce becoming the Hulk as the Hulk first hits the scene. As the surgery get’s underway a lot things start to not feel right. S.H.I.E.L.D. nowhere to be seen. Things take a very quick turn!

The Good

I’m sorry but I will always gush about how wonderful Mark Bagley’s art. I’m an orginal New Warriors fan so I’ve always dug his art. Mark Waid’s Indestructible Hulk was a ton of fun for being a Hulk story where Banner was on top for once, this story looks to be quite the opposite and I really like that Waid went in that direction immediately with this issue. The tension was really built with the surgeon being a Joe Schmo who didn’t really have much to do with Banner just that he was a jerk to him in college. I like the way it makes you think does everyone who was unfortunate to Banner when he was younger blame themselves for what he’s become? I just think that was a great plot device. The end, made my jaw drop. I won’t spoil it because you should read this issue.

The Bad

As a long time Hulk reader I felt a little short changed by a brief history of the Hulk in this issue. I mean who doesn’t know the basics about Bruce Banner and the Hulk? I understand this was probably a device to attract new readers to a jumping on point in the title. However, I’m not a new reader and didn’t need it intermingled into my next chapter of Mark Waid’s run. This may all sound like nit picks, and honestly they are. This is a solid start to what looks like to be a very different Hulk title, which is exactly what I said long ago when Indestructible Hulk started probably on a very old low-fi Weekly Recs video.

The Verdict

I think this is gonna be a brilliant title. With a pairing like Waid and Bagley I expect good things out of this title. Mark Bagley’s art was beautiful  in this issue as it usually is. I’m a big fan of Mark Waid, his work on the previous Hulk title and with Daredevil have been nothing short of brilliant. This is a great jumping on point for anyone interested into picking up a Hulk title. Its def one of those anyone who is simply a fan and is looking to starrt collecting a title, this is the Hulk you can grab.

This one get’s 3 bullets in Banner’s head out of 5

Review: Indestructible Hulk Issue #15

Indestructible Hulk #15
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Aaron Kim Jacinto
Release Date: November 20, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99
Rated T

Time-travel is tricky. Time paradoxes and linear continuity are delicate matters requiring a steady hand and steadfast mind. So it makes perfect sense to send The Hulk on a mission to repair the timestream before all of reality is rendered an incoherent cluster of madness, right? I never thought Maria Hill was too bright either. While they tried to cover that whole mess of an idea up by sending a remote Bruce Banner along for the ride, the concluding story found in issue #15 of Indestructible Hulk just fell completely flat, culminating in a lackluster story and a mediocre comic.

The Good

As time-travel stories go this issue had everything you’d expect, and was full of great moments that hearkened back to the Hulk’s origin story, including some great dialogue from Banner to General Ross. The ish also did a good job of adding a new layer to that long-standing origin, but even that felt a bit forced. The art was consistent throughout, while not really adding anything spectacular to the story.

The Bad

First off, that cover! Seriously? No one wears a watch that way, and why would Hulk give a damn what time it is? The villains used to tell this time-travel story never came off as appealing and they continue their unimportance to the end of this issue. Sure they may come off as dangerous bad-guys in the larger scope, but I need to be shown more and told less. I was told that Chronarchists are badasses, but I never really felt like they were competent in any way. The end of the ish was a big head-scratcher, and meant nothing outside of the feeble attempt to make me care that occurred only three pages prior.

The Verdict

There’s been a lot of time-travel buzz at Marvel for quite some time; like Age of Ultron, All-New X-Men, Battle of the Atom, etc; and the entire Agent of T.I.M.E. story arc seemed like a forced attempt to take advantage of that buzz. A great idea, in theory, unless the story itself is crap and this story was bad! Indestructible Hulk began as a solid start to a new take on the entire Hulk experience, but this arc, besides, perhaps, the last page of issue 15, took the title in directions that are clearly not the same as when this title began. I’m a huge Hulk fan, and was a big fan of Mark Waid’s initial start on this title, but the entire Agent of T.I.M.E. story; stamped with the Age of Ultron: Aftermath moniker; was an unconvincing detour that did nothing but make readers appreciate what came before it that much more. With the future of this title being more event speed bumps as issue 16 ties-in to Marvel’s next event Inhumanity, it may be months before we get any real interactions with Banner’s assembled team of scientists or the alluded to ulterior motives Banner has for joining S.H.I.E.L.D., leading me to really weigh just how important this title is to my pull-list.

Skip issue 15, and the entire Agent of T.I.M.E. story-arc. There’s just not enough there to make for a good story, and, unfortunately, it has left a bad mark on the entire Indestructible Hulk comic book. I have no doubt that Mark Waid will make the book good again, but this does nothing to account for editorial pushing these events on the writer. I just know Waid has a great story to tell here, I’m just not sure Marvel will ever actually let him tell that story without first alienating Hulk fans with events they couldn’t care less about.