Puny humans, he's come to smash!
Written: Jul 24 '08 (Updated Jul 25 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Artwork, dark sense of humor, massive action.
Cons: She Hulk's not sexy in this!!!
The Bottom Line: It's an extremely action packed story with some amazing set pieces, a very sly sense of humor, and some very interesting ideas.
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| carl_lazarevic's Full Review: Greg Pak - Hulk, World War Hulk |
The Hulk has never had a particularly good run of it here on Earth. When he would try to do the right thing people tended to distrust him. Heck, even his rare occurrences as part of a team usually ended with him fighting all of his team mates over some misunderstanding or other. Eventually this mistrust led four of Hulk's so called friends (Ironman, Blackbolt, Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Strange) to Banish the Jade Giant to the far off reaches of space.
This event kicked off Marvel's epic Planet Hulk storyline, which to be fair, seemed like the best thing that could have happened to the luckless fella. Finding himself trapped on a hostile world Hulk found himself enslaved and teamed up with a group of similarly powerful Alien warriors. Eventually escaping the shackles of their bondage Hulk and his new found brothers led a revolt against the world's corrupt rulers, defeated all of their enemies and then crowned The Hulk as their Green King. Finding himself a strong queen The Hulk was able to restore peace to this world's inhabitants, and even experienced the joys of expectant parenthood. Finally after over a year of struggling for his life everything seemed to be going in his favor. Then tragedy struck as the ship that brought Hulk to this world came to life and as the message from his super hero friends played out it detonated. The explosion destroyed everything the Hulk had managed to build up, killed nearly all of his people, and even took the life of his new wife and unborn child. At the end of that story Hulk was rescued by his few remaining brothers in a ship that could take them anywhere in the universe.
In Marvel's latest big event crossover World War Hulk he's finally arrived home, and to be honest, he seems a little ticked off about something!
This trade paperback edition starts off with the WWH Prologue Worldbreaker. This will basically fill everyone in on what's been happening up to this point, and sees 2 separate stories playing out side by side. The first story features Jen Walters (She Hulk) who has had her powers suppressed after the lawyer in her took up a "protest" over her cousin being exiled without due process. She argues this point with her former friend Dr. Samson. The second half of the story takes place in the far reaches of space as Hulk nearly kills one of his allies in a rage fueled battle with some hostile aliens. He has to sit down with one of his allies, a kind of warrior monk, who teaches him how to control his anger into something he can use against his enemies. It's an interesting enough story, but it does manage to bring you up to speed with any important plot details in a very succinct manor.
Finally with that out of the way World War Hulk kicks off, and it starts out exactly as it means to go on. BIG!!! In the first issue Hulk and his warbound brothers arrive on the moon and Hulk once again draws Blackbolt (leader of a race called The Inhumans) into combat. The Inhumans confidently remind Hulk that their leader has already defeated him before, but they fail to realize that Hulk is now madder than he's ever been before, and as everyone knows, the madder he gets the stronger he gets. Blackbolt whispers that this is enough, but this time this strategy does not put The Hulk down, Hulk is here to make the guy scream.
Back on Earth Tony Stark is concerned about reports of strong seismic activity on The Moon (Blackbolt whispered) that seem to coincide with the appearance of a very large rocky object on Satellite. His worst fears are realized when the object turns out to be a massive space ship which beams down a message from The Hulk that "Puny humans. I've come to smash." The Hulk then replays footage of what the heroes have done to him and provides the government with 24 hours to evacuate Manhattan and provide him with Stark, Richard's and Strange. He then holds up the limp body of Blackbolt as an example of what he can do to the world if his demands are not met.
As you can expect what follows is pretty much 5 issues of Hulk beating the snot out of the larger part of Marvel's roster. They do manage to fit in a number of absolutely superb action scenes too. The first fight kicks off with Iron Man in a supped up new armor he started designing the day he realized that The Hulk had landed on the wrong planet. It is an abolutely massive event that could easily have worked as the finale to a lesser book, if not for the fact that this one just keeps getting bigger. Tony Stark quickly puts out an amnesty so that all unregistered super heroes can help to fight The Hulk without fear of being arrested. So before long you've got the likes of Ms. Marvel fighting alongside former criminals like Spiderman because The Earth has found an enemy powerful enough to unite them again.
The good thing about these fight scenes though is that Hulk is not just portrayed as some mindless force of nature. Greg Pak has once again managed to paint The Hulk and his Warbound brothers as a group of very sympathetic villains. A few moments that worked for me would include Hulk and She Hulks very brief encounter where she pleads with him to let the courts handle the situation, and he quietly offers her a chance to walk away before she gets hurt. There was also one moment halfway through the book where Hulk stands silent for a moment after learning of Captain America's death. Moments like these help you to see the character beneath the rage, even when the super heroes tend to miss it. The book even toys with the idea that Hulk is the dominant personality that sometimes hides behind Banner, as opposed to the previously held belief that the opposite was true.
Still, this book is certainly not about quiet contemplation. It's a Marvel event and that's exactly what the you can expect to get. Hulk fighting Ironman, The Fantastic Four, a demonically powered Dr. Strange and much much more. It's action all the way with very little time to stop and think about the consequences.
There is a reason for the book to be that way. As a major event Marvel want as many people to be able to pick up World War Hulk as possible. With this in mind they have made the major event as just that, the big summer blockbuster event that requires no prior knowledge of any other comic book. For those interested in the bigger picture, and how this story effects the Marvel Universe as a whole, you have a number of tie in publications that would add that little bit extra to the story. Depending on who you are will depend on how you feel about this. For most people being able to pick the book up without reading any of these extra issues will be a good thing, and for you, consider this a 5 star review. For those of us who are getting into the Marvel continuity though, the stand alone story can feel a little incomplete as we try to figure out how the story will effect future events. For that, we have to go out and buy even more books, hence the lower score.
Still, for both groups of people I can wholeheartedly recommend World War Hulk. It's an extremely action packed story with some amazing set pieces, a very sly sense of humor, and some very interesting ideas.
The artwork throughout fit this tone perfectly. It was a lot darker than the artwork in Planet Hulk, but that fit in with what was really a far darker story. Still when the action kicks off and people start flinging powers these powers tend to stand out against the otherwise dark designs and look fantastic. My only problem with the artwork was that the faces tended to look a little angular. It's worked for a lot of people, I just found everyone looked a little to chiseled. The biggest crime being, of course, that the angular face makes She Hulk look ugly. Those monsters!!!
As a bonus to this trade paperback you also get 2 what if stories based around Planet Hulk. The first was a very dark episode that asked the question, What if The Hulk had saved the life of his queen at the cost of his own. The second was my favorite though. It's a very light hearted story about what would have happened if Hulk had landed on the right planet to begin with. It features a few hysterical exchanges between Hulk and Banner using the old wake up with a note technique. This story is worth a read even if nothing else about the book interests you.
Part of the Funny pages writeoff: http://www.epinions.com/content_5192654980#ow
Recommended:
Yes
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carl_lazarevic
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Member: Carl Lazarevic
Location: UK-(pure blood Brummie)
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