I would like to begin by stating that I am not a
Hulk fan. I have never really had an interest in the character. I’ve heard things through the grapevine that I’ve thought to be interesting such as the
Planet Hulk storyline, but besides that my exposure to the
Hulk has been meager at best. I’ve seen the two newest
Hulk film adaptations, which I both enjoyed and disliked for very different reasons, and
Lou Ferrigno’s Hulk is as legendary as
Adam West’s Batman. You just don’t mess with the legends.
However, after finishing up
Fear Itself #7, the stellar conclusion to last summer’s
Marvel event, my interest in the green incredible became intrigued. The final issue of
Fear Itself concludes the miniseries and then wrap-ups with a series of epilogues. One of these epilogues is a short piece pertaining to
Bruce Banner and the
Hulk. Within this particular segment
Bruce is internally speaking with the
Hulk. The
Hulk sits cross-legged in the darkness of
Banner’s mind while
Bruce proceeds to pace and rant to the
Hulk. Finally the
Hulk becomes fed up and tells
Bruce to leave. Mighty hard to leave considering they inhabit the same body, but miraculously enough at the end of the epilogue
Bruce Banner and the
Hulk are left separated in the desert;
Bruce sitting stunned on his butt, while the
Hulk stalks off into the distance.
Honestly, I couldn’t recall any of the other epilogues so vividly, but this one stood out, and intrigued me enough to purchase the first issue of Marvel’s new release of the Incredible Hulk.
Usually I save my overall rating for last, but today I am going to switch it up a bit. I give the Incredible Hulk #1 a four-and-half stars out of five. I thought it was a great foray back into the jungles of the Hulk mythos – figuratively and literally, and here’s why:
First off the art is amazing.
Marc Silvestri penciling is very reminiscent of a lot of concept art used for video games and films. It’s very rough and raw, but has a certain beauty unto itself. And, considering that this comic book is about the
Hulk, and not
Bruce Banner and the
Hulk, I think that the “rough and raw” effect of the art is very appropriate considering the character. Also, most of the plot takes places underground and the use of varied hues, including a healthy dose of brown, orange, and red, excellently accents the Earthly setting. The bright green skin of the
Hulk pops against the rocky background, which details the importance of the
Hulk and highlights that fact that this comic is solely about him.
As for the writing, I think that
Jason Aaron is one of the best that
Marvel currently has under its belt. His current work on the latest volume of
Wolverine has been excellent, and by far one of my favorite runs of the past several years. His writing, especially his introductory story arcs seem to delve into the character by stripping away all of the excess fluff layered on over the years and then focusing on the framework. Personally, this skill is necessary to drawn in people who haven’t been fans because it presents the character in its most basic form allowing newcomers to develop new opinions and perhaps hop onto a new series that they normally wouldn’t even have considered before.
Overall, the first issue of the Incredible Hulk was phenomenal. Purchase it, love it, and just allow Aaron to take you on a journey into the heart of the beast.
In "The Incredible Hulk #12," writer Jason Aaron wraps up his five-issue story arc ("Stay Angry") with another moment of the Hulk waking up in a strange situation and piecing together Bruce Banner's evil plot. In this issue the Hulk awakens in a forgotten S.H.I.E.L.D. prison nestled deep within the confines of Antarctica; he realizes that his plan of 'staying angry' has not worked out quite as planned, and is promptly pitted against Wolverine and The Thing in an all-out slugfest.
