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Looking Back: Incredible Hulk #105 (Planet Hulk) Review

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 252011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulk

Issue #105

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Carlo Pagulayan

Published: June 2007

This is the story of the Green Scar. The Eye of Anger. The World Breaker Harkanon. Haarg. Holku. Hulk. And how he finally came home.

These words serve as bookends to the Planet Hulk saga, of which The Incredible Hulk #105 represents the final chapter. When we last left the Hulk, the ship that had exiled him from Earth had just suffered a warp core breach, exploding in the middle of King Hulk’s capital city and threatening the entire planet. We knew from the beginning that this story was going to end sadly, but we didn’t know exactly how much knife-twisting there would be until this issue.

The Hulk’s Warbound are scattered across Sakaar on their various diplomatic missions at the start of the issue. The Hulk and Caiera aren’t nearly so lucky, being trapped right at ground zero of the blast. The Hulk shields Caiera with his body while yelling her name, to which Caiera tells him that she will never leave him. Ominous words indeed.

Across Sakaar, the effects of the warp core breach shake the planet. The fragile tectonic plates start to crack under the force, causing Hiroim to sink down into the lava, convinced that the planet has finally met its doom. Hiroim is saved by Korg, who tells his friend to either pick himself up and get going or that the stone man will jump down in the lava and die with his friend. Loyalty has been a big theme in Planet Hulk, and here we see friends once again willing to die for friends. Luckily, Korg won’t be dying right yet, as his words get Hiroim going again.

The art, as always, is spectacular here, but there is one minor complaint to be lodged about the coloring. Given the massive amount of destruction and loss of life, the Warbound are naturally shaken to tears by the event – even the Brood. The problem comes when the colorist didn’t properly color in the Brood’s tears, making them almost unnoticeable as they were the same color as the creature’s hide. Why is this so important? Because among fans at the time that this issue came out, there was a lot of speculation that the Brood, a member of the species that had long antagonized the X-Men, was one of the saboteurs who had helped destroy Sakaar. Had we readers properly seen her weeping, it would have greatly changed the conspiracy theories about her involvement – perhaps not absolving her of suspicion, but leaving a lot more doubt as to her actual role in the destruction of Sakaar.

Despite that hiccup, this issue provides us with more of the sweeping, grand art that we’ve seen – but emphasizing tragedy rather than light-hearted action this time. This is most apparent at the climax of the issue, where Caiera, killed despite the Hulk’s attempt to save her, disintegrates into dust while still in the Hulk’s arms – a sad parallel to the little girl who died in Caiera’s arms just before she joined the Warbound against the Red King.

And here I have to lodge my other complaint about this issue: the death of Caiera. I don’t believe that it’s badly done, but I do think that it is an instance where writer Greg Pak erred in that he threw away a character with a lot of potential. Caiera was unique among the Hulk’s many love interests over the years. She had the power to fight alongside our jade giant. She loved both the Hulk and Banner, recognizing them as equals. All that said, she fell for the Hulk first, as opposed to most other love interests whose primary concern was the man inside the monster. She had chemistry and character, and even the best writers can only strike lightning like that a few times in her career. But now she’s literally dust in the wind, leaving this character gone before her potential was fully realized.

That said, the purpose of Planet Hulk was to leave the Hulk madder than he had ever been before so Marvel could present their next big event, World War Hulk. And the death of a great character like Caiera, not to mention the Hulk’s unborn child, is enough to accomplish that. Moreover, it’s enough to make the readers angry as well. We just spent 14 issues watching the Hulk rise from slave to king and becoming a hero to this planet. Now thanks to the carelessness of the Illuminati, everything has been undone. Granted, we don’t know for sure that there wasn’t something else going on with the warp core breach, but had the supposed heroes that make up the Illuminati considered giving the Hulk his right of due process or even just checking to make sure the ship landed where they expected it to, then millions of people on Sakaar would still be alive. The heroes were more like villains, and people have died because of them. So now the audience is at least partially on the Hulk’s side, waiting for him to mete out green-fisted justice.

And that’s what we’re promised to close out Planet Hulk. The Hulk goes into a rage, smashing mountains while screaming, “Bring them back!” which is a nice display of how even this more intelligent version of the Hulk is very childlike in some ways and capable of throwing one monster of a tantrum. The Hulk’s rage ends with a quieter, “Bring her back,” which is one more tear-jerker in case you have a heart of stone and don’t feel sad at what the character has lost yet. Then the rest of the Warbound arrive and give the chance for the Hulk to seek vengeance. They climb into their great stone ship and head for Earth. The Hulk forges a sword as we get the captions that opened the saga once again. This time, the caption, “And how he came home” is on the final splash page – an amazing picture of the Hulk on top of the stone ship, his sword out and ready for battle, speeding through space with his mouth open in a scream of rage.

Ladies and gentlemen, the heroes of Marvel Earth are officially screwed.

And that’s the end of Planet Hulk. How does it measure up when all is said and done? Quite frankly, it’s one of the best Hulk stories ever told, and that is not hyperbole. The Hulk has gone to alien planets before, but never have they been as fully realized as Sakaar. Never have we had 14 full issues, including a giant-sized issue #100 and a pair of bonus stories in Giant-Size Hulk #1, to fully explore the ramifications of the Hulk getting exiled. The writing starts out as fun, then becomes more serious, and finally ends with a well-executed tragedy. The art is consistently wonderful throughout. And in an age of decompressed storytelling, this saga never felt padded out for a trade paperback. Every single issue contributes to the ultimate resolution, and every single one has a lot to offer readers.

Planet Hulk is truly a Marvel masterpiece. If you haven’t read it yet, go and check out the trade paperback. Issue for issue, you will not find a better collection of stories from the last ten years.

Incredible Hulk #104 (Planet Hulk) Review

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 242011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulk

Issue #104

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Carlo Pagulayan

Published: May 2007

At the end of Planet Hulk: Allegiance, things were looking pretty good for our jade giant. The Red King of Sakaar had been overthrown, the Hulk had been installed as the new ruler, he had stopped a schism among his Warbound, and he had gained a wife. Unfortunately, comic book law means that the status quo will always return eventually – and for the Hulk, that usually means the destruction of everything and everyone he holds dead. With that in mind, we now turn to The Incredible Hulk #104, which gives us part one of the aptly-named two-part Planet Hulk: Armageddon story. It is with a slight hesitation that I begin to review the first and last days of the Green Scar’s rule as king.

The issue opens with our hero enjoying his short-lived happy ending, cuddling up with his new wife Caiera in bed. He is disturbed by Miek, who summons him to the ruined space shuttle that the Illuminati had sent over. Watching Reed Richards’ message to Bruce Banner, the Hulk gets angry and smashes the screen, then leaves with these cryptic words: “They tried to kill me.”

As with the Hulk’s earlier recount of his origin story where he suggested that Banner tried to kill him in the gamma bomb blast that created him, these words are just begging for fans to run with their own interpretation. It’s a charming quality of Greg Pak’s writing, honestly – rather than tell us what is on the character’s mind, he is giving us hints and letting us draw our own conclusions. It works particularly well with a character with is nearly 50 years old and who has had hundreds of stories told about him. My personal interpretation is that, had Banner wound up being exiled to the happy, uninhabited planet that the Illuminati originally had planned, he would have lived a peaceful life. A peaceful life means no more Hulk, who thrives on conflict and battle. As such, the Hulk would see such an existence as death. But again, that is just one fan’s interpretation – the actual quote is open-ended enough that you can interpret it in any way you like.

Despite the Hulk’s outburst, he seems to have put smashing the Illuminati pretty low on his to-do list. In fact, he seems actively afraid of losing what he has earned on Sakaar, as evidenced by the next scene where he takes Caiera out to the wild steppes where Caeira had given him a chance to escape to at the beginning of this saga. This time the Hulk really does want to leave, but with Caiera at his side. But the new bride of the Hulk is not about to let her husband and king be left alone – not when the blood he bled brought vegetation back to the land, and especially not after she drops the bombshell that she is pregnant with the Hulk’s son.

That last bit is a great surprise for the Hulk, but it’s basically a punch to the gut for the readers. It basically paints a bull’s-eye of Caiera’s back telling us that something really bad is about to happen to either her or her son. For some reason, comic books really seem to hate happy families, as evidenced by Peter Parker selling his marriage to the Devil, Clark Kent and Lois Lane getting unmarried via retcon, or the Hulk’s own Betty Banner having a miscarriage in the late 1980s due to the unfortunate editorial reasoning that readers wouldn’t sympathize with Betty if she was a mother. It’s a sad world that comic book families live in, and the conception of the Hulk’s son just adds to the tension as we approach the bad thing that we know is about to happen.

Unfortunate implications aside, though, this is the essence of suspense – the readers know something horrible is going to happen, while the characters remain blissfully ignorant. And with every passing happy moment, we as readers start to squirm even more because we know it’s almost all over.

The issue has some very good character moments to it. The Hulk has his people rebuild from the destruction caused by the Red king, leading Elloe to compare the toils to slavery. Miek responds that sometimes something needs to be torn down to build again, which is some more ominous foreshadowing on Pak’s part. The Hulk shows off his might even when calm by helping to get the spikes off planet and back to the cosmos where they will no longer need to feed on the living, immediately followed by hi jumping from orbit all the way to Sakaar’s surface. He naturally is greeted on the ground by Caiera, and the two share an embrace. For a moment, everything looks happy.

But then that bad thing we’ve all known was coming happens. While the crowd cheers their new king – at the high point of the Hulk’s life – the shuttle that brought the Hulk to Sakaar begins beeping. The video from Reed Richards starts playing. And a warning that the warp core has been breached goes off. The issue ends with the Hulk screaming, “Stupid. Puny. Humans!” and trying to shield Caeira from the resulting explosion. And we’re all left on the edge of our seats for another month.

This story almost hurts to read, but it hurts in a good way. We want the Hulk to finally have his happy moment, but we know it’s all about to end. And Pak, assisted again by the excellent pencils and layouts of Carlo Pagulayan, twists the knife every chance he gets. The final page isn’t a surprise, but it still leaves the reader with a tragic feeling. Now the only question is: what will be left after the smoke clears?

Incredible Hulk #103 Review (Planet Hulk)

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 232011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulk

Issue #103

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Aaron Lopresti

Published: April 2007

This is it, ladies and gentlemen. The Incredible Hulk, volume 3, #103 marks my single favorite Hulk comic of all time. This issue, marking the end of the Planet Hulk: Allegiance arc, contains all the action, romance, tragedy, and internal conflict that mark the Hulk as a character. It also has one of the more touching moments in the Hulk’s long history as we bear witness to the wedding of the Incredible Hulk.

The wedding of the Hulk, you ask? How does an event come about? Let’s dive right in and see the development as the Planet Hulk arc comes one step closer to its conclusion.

The issue begins with the return of Bruce Banner…well, sort of. As of the end of the last issue, the Hulk was letting the spike elders feed on him, draining him of energy and satiating the otherwise deadly spikes as a result. At the opening of this issue, it has been seven hours of straight feeding, and even the Hulk is left a little drained. Covered by a blanket to hide the effects of the draining, he temporarily reverts to Bruce Banner and tells Caiera that as long as the spikes feed on “him…I mean me,” nobody else dies. The moment lasts but a few panels before the Hulk is back to his old self, and Caiera doesn’t realize that anything has happened due to Banner/the Hulk being covered the whole time. What we do learn from the event is that, unlike when Banner last showed up in “Banner Wars,” he no longer seems intent on leaving Sakaar. In fact, he seems to be generally supportive of the way the Hulk is doing things.

From there, we see how King Hulk manages his new realm. He fights off supporters of the Red King, then has to deal with dissent in the Warbound, as Elloe and Miek begin fighting with one another over the rights of Elloe’s pink-skinned race and Miek’s endangered bug-like humanoids that suffered so long at the hands of the “puny pinkies.”

The Hulk’s solution is to bring the fight into the Great Arena, which is unfortunate timing, as the battle begins just as the shadow elders of Sakaar arrive to discuss a new alliance. The shadow elders conclude that the Hulk’s rule will be more of the violence and rage that they saw under the Red King. The Hulk, though, has his own way of doing things. Just as the battle is about to break out, the Hulk crashes into the arena himself and attacks both the pinkies and the bugs. Forced to fight side by side or get smashed by the Hulk, the two races are made Warbound, ending their feud. The shadow elders, all set to condemn the Hulk, are suitably impressed by the way he turned enemies into allies, even if they were only united by the threat of the Hulk himself.

This scene is one of the core elements of the Hulk: he knows how to rage with the best of them, but he usually uses his anger productively, fighting evil rather than just blindly smashing. It’s not a perfect way of doing things, but it is what makes the Hulk a tragic hero rather than just a tragedy.

The Hulk then meets with the shadow elders, who offer up Caiera to serve as the Hulk’s bodyguard. The Hulk responds no – he doesn’t want a bodyguard. “I want a queen.”

And now we see the culmination of the Hulk’s flirtations with Caiera that we have witnessed since the very first issue of this tale. Meeting alone in Caiera’s chamber, the Hulk and Caiera undergo a wedding ceremony. They sit together, they hold their hands over flame, burning together, and then Caiera asks the Hulk to reveal all his secrets to her. Hesitant at first, the Hulk finally does so, transforming back into Bruce Banner. Bruce tells Caiera, “You asked, so the Hulk let you out. He wanted you to see him. All of him. All of us. All of me.”

While Banner hasn’t been around much during Planet Hulk, what we have seen of him is powerful, with this instance possibly being the most emotionally powerful of all. In honoring Caiera’s request, the Hulk is accepting that he is in fact Banner at his core.

In Banner’s explanation, he first refers to the Hulk as “him,” then as “us,” then finally as “me.” The instances of the Hulk and Banner accepting each other as the same rather than as different entities are fleeting and rarely last for long, but here we see them truly united.

Even more rare than the Hulk and Banner accepting one another is somebody else accepting both of them rather than seeing one side as a hero and the other as a curse. But that’s just what happens when Caiera kisses Banner, accepting the secret of who he truly is. In mid-kiss, Banner transforms back into the Hulk, and the two are happily married. If you don’t feel a tug at your heart strings when reading this scene, you might need to call a doctor and make sure your heart is still there.

If we wanted a happy ending to Planet Hulk, we’d stop there. Unfortunately, we all know that happy endings rarely last in the Hulk’s life. And as our issue closes, we find that two of the Hulk’s companions, Miek and the Brood, and getting together themselves. While they are trying to find a secluded place away from prying eyes, they come across the shuttle that brought the Hulk to Sakaar and accidentally turn on the well-meant but ultimately stupid explanation video from Reed Richards and company that caused the Hulk to smash up the shuttle and go off course in the first place. Miek, worried that the Hulk is missing his calling by embracing peace and love, seems intent on showing the Hulk that video and stirring up his rage once again.

As I said before, this issue offers up a little bit of everything that makes the Hulk who he is. We have the complex relationship between the Hulk and Banner. We have the Hulk using his rage to do something productive. We have a love interest who has earned her place among the Hulk’s supporting cast. Finally, at the end, we have the dark reminder that, as a creature of rage, the happy times in the Hulk’s life will always be tragic. The Incredible Hulk #103 stands as my favorite issue of the Hulk, and I would go so far as to suggest that it’s one of the best single comics Marvel has put out in its long and storied existence.

Incredible Hulk #102 (Planet Hulk) Review

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  No Responses »
Nov 162011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulk

Issue #102

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Aaron Lopresti

Published: March 2007

Here it is – the moment we’ve been waiting for since the start of Planet Hulk. While The Incredible Hulk #10 doesn’t bring us quite to the end of the saga, it does give us the big showdown we’ve been waiting for from the beginning: the Hulk versus the Red King. As a climax to this arc, Planet Hulk: Allegiance delivers in spades.

The issue opens with the audience getting filled in on the off-panel events of last issue, where the Hulk allies with the monstrous spikes. It turns out that these parasitic, zombie-like creatures are actually intelligent. They were space-faring beings that became stranded on Sakaar’s moon and then wound up cannibalizing each other until they went mad as a species and were turned into weapons by the Red King. The Hulk knows a thing or two about being a misunderstood monster and allies with them, gaining a powerful ally against the Red King.

That leads us to the big fight, and it’s a lot of fun. The Red King is a totally unrepentant monster – even when shown the evils he committed from the viewpoint of the victims (thanks to the “chemming” trick that Miek showed off earlier in the saga), he shows no remorse, instead stating, “What do you want from me? Tears? For these slaves? For these monsters? Yes. I killed them. As is my right. As is my duty. As is my pleasure.”

So now we have it – there is no redemption for the Red King, who has been a total monster from day one. In an actual fight, we as readers know the king has no chance against a fully enraged Hulk. Sure, he gave the Hulk a good fight many issues ago, but that was when our hero was still weakened from his passage to Sakaar. He’s regained his strength now, and he’s mad. So the challenge here comes not from the Red King as a stand-up fight, but rather with the tricks he has up his sleeve. In this case, the Red King’s ace in the hole is a suicide contingency – he cracks the tectonic plates of Sakaar, causing the planet itself to start falling apart.

The Hulk has been called the Worldbreaker in this saga. He is a creature of rage and destruction. What can he do to save life instead of destroy it? Well, as the stone man Korg points out, “He’s the Hulk.” And they key part of being the Hulk is being incredible. The Hulk saves Sakaar with his bare hands, diving into the lava-filled depths of the planet’s core and pulling the plates back together with his bare hands. Ridiculous? You bet it is. Awesome? You’re darned right. This is an epic saga, and it’s time to show how epic the Hulk can get. He’s trying to save this planet, and he’s taking every single problem, big or small, on his mighty shoulders. His strength can’t stop tragedy, but today it can hold the world together for a little while longer.

Once the Hulk has literally pulled a planet back together, killing the Red King is easy. The Hulk punches him halfway across Sakaar, and the king is eventually slain by a sneak attack from the wildebots of Sakaar.

That brings us to the conclusion of our issue, where we again see the Hulk taking the problems of Sakaar on his shoulders. The spikes, starving and still half-insane, gain some measure of sanity by feeding off the Hulk himself. Caiera, still new to the “incredible” part of the Hulk, expresses her concerns: “But he can’t…he can’t bear every burden of this world.”

The Hulk’s response: “Says who?”

The good news is that the Hulk isn’t alone. He’s got his Warbound. He’s got Caiera, who takes him by the hand as he endures the pain caused by the spikes’ feeding. And, as Korg reveals at the issue’s close, he has subjects now – he has been named King Hulk, ruler of Sakaar.

This issue delivers the best action we’ve seen so far, which is saying a lot in an action-packed saga like Planet Hulk. It also brings us more development in the budding romance between the Hulk and Caiera. Best of all, it presents some very interesting new twists to the Hulk as a character. The guy who has always said he wants to be let alone now has allies and an entire planet to care for. (Sure, we’ve seen the Hulk as king of a planet way back when he was with Jarella back on the planet Kai, but that Hulk had Banner’s brain.) How will the Hulk deal with the fact that just being left alone is no longer an option? More importantly, how long can he continue using his strength and will to solve all of Sakaar’s problems himself? There are still multiple issues left, and we’ll see things come to a boil as Planet Hulk continues.

Incredible Hulk #101 (Planet Hulk) Review

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  1 Response »
Nov 142011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Incredible Hulk

Issue #101

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Carlo Pagulayan

Published: February 2007

The Incredible Hulk has never been a traditional superhero. While others found out that with great power comes great responsibility or decided to fight for truth, justice, and the American way, the Hulk was picking fights with the Avengers almost as often as he was saving the world from the machinations of the Leader. So what happens when a being as powerful as the Hulk comes to Sakaar, a planet desperately searching for a traditional hero?

The results are explored in The Incredible Hulk #101, which presents part two of Planet Hulk: Allegiance. In our last episode, the Hulk’s companion Hiroim the Shamed brought the jade giant to the shadow elders, individuals with a mystical connection to the planet Sakaar and who have long awaited the arrival of the Sakaarson, who will bring peace to the embattled world. The question facing the shadow elders is an obvious one: is the Hulk the Sakaarson, or is he the World Breaker, whose rage will ravage the planet?

Taking a break from the relentless action we’ve seen so far in Planet Hulk, the start of this comic gives us a look at the Hulk’s inner psyche, as he is tormented by visions of the Marvel heroes who exiled him from Earth. Can the Hulk control his rage? Of course not. He smashes the mocking heroes on his mindscape, and in doing so he convinces the shadow elders that he does not have the discipline needed to be the Sakaarson.

This is at least the second time in the Planet Hulk saga that we’ve been reminded that the Hulk does not fit nicely into the category of hero. Way back at the beginning of the story, when rebels gave him a chance to join a revolution against the Red King, the Hulk chose to continue living as a gladiator instead. Ironically, he still wound up taking on the Red King, but that’s sort of the catch with the Hulk – he does heroic things, but he does them in his own way. Here, after being rejected by the shadow elders, the Hulk seems completely nonplussed. Instead of arguing with them, he merely takes what he really wanted – an ancient stone ship that he and his companions can use to fly right into the Red King’s capital city.

After this bit of insight to the Hulk’s mindset, we go back to the breakneck pace that we’ve come to expect from Planet Hulk, as the Hulk leads an attack on the Red King’s home turf, knocking out his defenses with an EMP blast. He gets some more flirting in with Caiera, who has joined him on the outside of the ship, punching away incoming missiles. Caiera rightly points out that the display is unnecessary when they could be safe behind the ship’s stone shields, but the Hulk merely tells her that it’s more fun this way.

We also see another resolution forming on a dangling plot thread in this issue, as the Hulk, Caiera, Korg, and Miek encounter more spikes. This time, rather than simply lighting the zombie-like monstrosities on fire, the Hulk seems willing to negotiate with them – very odd, considering that they’ve been pretty mindless so far. But regardless of how odd it is, the Hulk arrives at the end of the issue with the spikes on his side, ready to finally lay a beatdown on the Red King. This is a splash page ending, but it doesn’t really have the cliffhanger feel other endings have had. Instead, it’s sort of a promise to the reader that the Red King is finally about to get his butt kicked after issues upon issues of buildup. Once again, Greg Pak and company realize that a huge part of the Hulk is wish fulfillment, and he’s giving us what we want.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Planet Hulk: Exile, part two is another extremely good issue and yet another notch in the belts of writer Greg Pak and artist Carlo Pagulayan. The action is big, fun, and exciting to watch. The character development is coming in small doses, but is mixed into the story extremely well, showing off what makes the Hulk a great character (even if he’s not a traditional comic book hero) while never letting things slow down too much to bore us.

The Incredible Hulk #100 (Planet Hulk) Review

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  2 Responses »
Nov 082011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

The Incredible Hulk

Issue #100

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Carlo Pagulayan & Gary Frank

Published: January 2007

Believe it or not, in over 40 years of continuously-published Hulk stories, there is only one Incredible Hulk #100. As of this writing, there are four #1s, a #400, #500, and #600, but only a single #100. This is due to the fact that the original volume of The Incredible Hulk ended after only six issues, and the second volume started at issue #102, picking up from the Tales to Astonish title that the Hulk was appearing in during the early 1960s. And given Marvel’s propensity for renumbering titles these days, this might be the only issue of The Incredible Hulk #10 there will ever be. So hopefully, they got it right.

As with Giant-Size Hulk #1, this issue is a mega-size comic with more than one story inside. Unlike Giant-Size Hulk, we don’t take a short break from the ongoing Planet Hulk saga, instead jumping right into the next arc of the tale while also providing us with foreshadowing for Marvel’s next big event, World War Hulk.

First up we have Planet Hulk: Allegiance, part one. With the Hulk now joined by the Red King’s lieutenant, Caiera the Oldstrong, we get the heroes going head-on with both the king’s army and the zombie-like spikes that the Red King unleashed. This is time for the Hulk to shine, as he smashes up the ground and creates a river of lava, burning away most of the spikes. At the same time, he gets plenty of very noticeable flirting in with Caiera, who remain a budding action couple.

We also see Miek continue his character development in becoming a less focused version of the Hulk. His queen – the last queen of his people – becomes infected by the spikes, forcing him to kill her with fire. Miek’s remaining people hail him as the legendary Sakaarson, the mythical savior of Sakaar, who most of the rest of the supporting cast believe the Hulk is. Miek’s response is, “Miek not the Sakaarson. Not the Worldbreaker. Just Miek.”

So far, Miek has gone from being a puny little bug to a big hulking creature. He has let his rage guide his actions, and now he is coming very close to riffing on the Hulk’s classic, “Hulk is Hulk” statement. This continues to be a very good theme developed by writer Greg Pak, who explores what happens when the Hulk guides what is essentially a little version of himself.

Speaking of the Sakaarson, the issue ends with Hiroim the Shamed, a shadow priest and Warbound to the Hulk, leading him into the desert to the shadow elders to see if our hero really is the mythical savior people have been waiting for. Thus ends the first part of Planet Hulk: Allegiance, which continues the solid storytelling readers have come to expect from this saga.

Next up is “Planet Cho,” a side story dealing with one of the Hulk’s friends on Earth, the kid genius Amadeus Cho. And I’ll be honest here – I’m not a big fan of this character. Created by Greg Pak as the “eighth smartest person in the world” and capable of seeing the physics of every action he takes, the kid comes off as kind of an arrogant Mary Sue type. Sure, he got better as he got character development in The Incredible Hercules, but right now he’s just a giant nerd fantasy, using brains to smash everything in his way. That’s not bad, but it gets boring quickly unless there is something else to the character. In “Planet Cho,” Amadeus uses his big brain to crash a SHIELD helicarrier, find one of Bruce Banner’s old labs, and hack into the files of Mr. Fantastic. The good news is that this sparks a conversation between Reed Richards and Amadeus Cho that explores the question of whether the Hulk is a hero or a monster. Richards gives examples of the Hulk’s rampages, and Cho counters them by pointing out that the Hulk wasn’t in his right mind (either driven berserk by something or under mind control) when people actually died. He then adds in examples of the Hulk’s heroism, ranging from holding up a mountain range to save the heroes in Secret Wars to destroying the Brother Eye satellite and saving the world immediately before he was exiled into space. Moreover, Cho discovers that the ship sent by Richards and his pals went off course, alerting Reed of the potential that the Hulk will return to Earth and do some serious smashing.

“Planet Cho” is probably the first part of Planet Hulk that I would call average rather than excellent. There isn’t a story so much as the piece is the type of argument you might see on a comic book messageboard, with one fan arguing that the Hulk is a menace and another arguing that he’s a hero. Fortunately, Greg Pak falls under the latter belief, and at least some solace can be taken that the writer cares enough about the character he’s working on to go in-depth and examine the many facets of our hero.

The remainder of The Incredible Hulk #100 deals with three reprints. We get a segment from the original Incredible Hulk #3, retelling the origin of the Hulk. It probably would have been nice to see the whole story here, since this was the first time the Hulk was exiled into space, even though his ship came crashing down in a matter of moments. And let’s face it, if you’re buying this issue, you probably already know something about the Hulk’s origin.

The other two reprints are from The Incredible Hulk #152 and #153, which tells the story of the time the Hulk was captured and put on trial. In addition to having a whole legion of guest-stars, this story gives some interesting context for the more recent choice by Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and the rest of Marvel’s Illuminati to exile the Hulk without a trial. In this story, Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers defend the Hulk, insisting that the mind of Bruce Banner is worth saving if at all possible. Reed Richards is integral to the Hulk escaping, as seeing the way the Hulk is being steamrolled in court (bound in titanium gagged, and refused the basic rights most defendants receive), he deliberately gives the Hulk the boost in strength he needs to break free and escape.

These two issues are interesting in their inclusion in that they highlight how the characters have changed over the years. Some might suggest that the Illuminati’s more recent decision is bad characterization, but I would argue that it’s more an example of people changing their minds. Iron Man has apparently decided in the light of losses like Captain America and Thor that the Hulk’s menace is now too much of a threat to hope for a cure that will bring Banner back to the field of scientific discovery. Reed Richards has apparently decided that he made a mistake all those years ago by setting the Hulk free and is now trying to rectify it. This is an example of continuity being used well, highlighting changes in the characters we’re reading about rather than retconning them away to make room for the next story.

With a strong lead story and two relevant and entertaining reprints, The Incredible Hulk #100 definitely makes for a memorable milestone issue for the series. Some of the backup tales do have their weak points, but overall this is yet another entertaining step in the Planet Hulk saga.

The Incredible Hulk #99 (Planet Hulk) Review

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Nov 072011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

The Incredible Hulk (Planet Hulk)

Issue #99

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Aaron Lopresti

Published: December 2006

Anarchy (anərkē): noun A state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority.

The latter part of that definition has defined Planet Hulk: Anarchy. Since the Hulk and the Silver Surfer freed the slaves of the alien planet of Sakaar, they have fought against the corrupt Red King, refusing to recognize his authority over a land that he stole through deceit and slaughter. But the Hulk and his Warbound are outsiders – slaves sentenced to death that overcame the odds and are now lashing back at the establishment. In this penultimate issue of Planet Hulk: Anarchy, we see the nonrecognition of the Red King’s authority carried to new heights through the defection of his Lieutenant, Caiera Oldstrong.

It has been no secret that Caiera was destined to be a major part of the Planet Hulk saga. Although she has served the Red King, she has shown all the honor and restraint that her master lacks. Last issue, we got a chance to see her backstory as she faced off against the Hulk, only for the battle to be interrupted by the arrival of parasitic creatures called the spikes, which can turn any living being into a zombie-like monstrosity in a matter of seconds. Part four of Planet Hulk: Anarchy is another step along her character arc, turning this story almost as much into her tale as it is the Hulk’s.

The story leads off with the Hulk and Caiera facing down an army of spikes. Or rather, the Hulk faces down the army. Caiera is willing to battle alongside the Hulk against this greater enemy, but the Hulk gets her out of the area by grabbing her and throwing her leagues away, leaving him to smash without having to worry about innocent around. This almost proves disastrous for the Hulk, as the spikes infect him right away. For one panel, things look really bad. But then we remember that the Hulk is, if nothing else, incredible. Thanks to his durability and healing power, the Hulk is able to hold off being transformed into a spike himself. Reunited with his Warbound in short order, the lot of them make their way to a nearby village, with an army of spikes on their heels.

Amidst all the action, this story has a lot of other stuff going on, as three plots that have been developing converge here. First, we have the Hulk’s ongoing war against the Red King – that’s not close to being finished yet, but we’ll be kicking things into high gear by the end of this issue. Second, we have Miek’s attempt to save his dying people, which is given new life as he finds a bug queen enslaved in the village. Again, we see Miek’s inability to focus his rage into something productive as he almost forgets the battle against the spikes due to the way his people have been oppressed.

The third plotline is the only one that reaches a degree of conclusion here, and that involves Caiera. Last issue we learned that Caiera was enslaved by the Red King when she showed her power in battle against the spikes. This time around, we see her finally turn her back on defending her increasingly mad lord as he fills her in on the truth. In the Red King’s obsession with destroying the Hulk, he unleashed the spikes – just as he did years ago when he sought a bodyguard with the Old Power. Caiera receives an order to ignore the spikes and focus on killing the Hulk. Naturally, this causes Caiera to finally turn her back on the Red King and join the Hulk’s side, grabbing a flamethrower and dealing out fiery death to the invading horde.

Again, the themes of anger in all its facets and uses rears its head in this tale. The Hulk is at home in battle, letting out his rage against creatures that seemingly can’t think or feel. Miek almost costs lives due to the fact that his rage is a distraction. The Red King’s anger causes him to ignore the safety of his subjects and the well-founded objections of his lieutenant as he unleashes what might as well be a zombie apocalypse upon his people. When Caiera refuses to use the distraction to her advantage and kill the Hulk, the Red King goes one step further, dropping a bomb on the village.

The ensuing scene is heart-wrenching and very well done. Caiera, capable of bonding with the rocks of Sakaar, tries to shield a little girl from the blast, only to have that child disintegrate in her arms. It’s a hard enough scene to read once – sadly, we’ll see this imagery revisited soon. With the child dead, Caiera stumbles along until somebody offers her a hand. That somebody is, naturally, the Hulk.

And thus Planet Hulk: Anarchy ends with one more use for anger: the righteous vengeance that Caiera seeks to visit upon a king whose ego means more to him than innocent lives. And thus we see anarchy really take hold in the realm of the Red King, where it is no longer a group of slaves that oppose him but rather what was once his most loyal subject.

Despite a lot going on in this story, the finale of Planet Hulk: Anarchy delivers once again with a compelling story, great art, and a combination of action and thought-provoking storytelling that make this not only a great comic to read once, but something that is worth coming back to and re-reading later on.

Incredible Hulk #98 (Planet Hulk)

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Nov 022011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

The Incredible Hulk

Issue #98

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Aaron Lopresti

Published: November 2006

Here it is, folks. The Incredible Hulk #98 brings us to part three of Planet Hulk: Anarchy, and finally delivers the fight we were waiting for.

No, it’s not Hulk versus Miek, which was teased at the end of the last issue. Yes, that fight does take place early on, with the Hulk trying to leave his companions behind and Miek trying to stop him, but that one ends pretty quickly. Four pages in, once the Hulk has gone ballistic on Miek, the stone man Korg leaps into the fray and actually takes a hit from our jade giant. The shock of cracking the stone hide of his friend stops the Hulk and ends the fight. Miek tells the Hulk that he was made to fight, and the Hulk suddenly does a 180 and goes back to battle the Red King’s forces.

There’s no explanation of why Miek’s words changed the Hulk’s mind, which is arguably a weakness of this issue. On the other hand, one of the finer points of the Hulk as a character is that he doesn’t do the typical superhero thing of monologuing about his motivations. He does what he does, which often leaves the reader wondering about his deeper motivations just like his friends in the story do. The Hulk is a deep well, and the fact that he rarely explains himself is usually a good thing for the character. After all, it’s puny Banner who deals in words and explanations.

Besides, we’ll forgive the abrupt change in direction because it gets us to the fight we’ve been waiting for: the Hulk versus the Red King’s lieutenant. They obviously have a mutual respect and attraction for each other, as we’ve seen foreshadowed some issues ago when the lieutenant tried to stab the Hulk only for them to engage in some close-up flirting. The fact that they are going to wind up as a couple is pretty well telegraphed, and their love-hate relationship firmly falls into the “gives the readers what they want” category. Heck, even the cover of this issue teases this battle and the development of their relationship, showing the lieutenant and the Hulk almost lip-to-lip while at the same time holding weapons. We’re given more of a hint at the growing importance of the lieutenant on the recap page, where the cast of characters now lists her as Caeira and not just “Lieutenant.”

Yes, here we have the Hulk’s newest nemesis/romance interest, Caiera the Oldstrong. As the Hulk leads his army to face hers, we see one of the reasons why the Hulk seems to have a thing for her despite the whole “I want to kill you and bring your head back to my king” thing – she’s powerful, and the Hulk respects power above all. The Hulk’s troops fire arrows at Caiera, only for them to bounce off her stone-gray hide as she knocks them aside effortlessly.

Another reason for the growing attraction with Caiera has already been hinted at earlier in the story: she’s not really a bad person. We saw that she doesn’t casually murder innocents like the Red King does, and now we see why she serves the Red King at all. Explaining to the Hulk what he’s up against, she tells of how the Red King found her when she was just a girl showing a portion of her true power and how he implanted her with a slave disk, forcing her to serve as his lieutenant. Caiera even shows off the scar from the slave disk, although the disk itself seems to be gone, suggesting that she serves him only because of the oaths she has taken. Curiouser and curiouser, and another example of Greg Pak hinting at how deeply he has developed these characters.

As the battle gets going, Caiera unleashes the full force of her “Old Power,” hitting the Hulk with enough force to cause tremors miles away. The blow knocks the Hulk down but not out and leaves Caiera almost crippled. Unfortunately, the battle gets cut short as a bomb arrives, releasing monsters Caiera mentioned in her backstory: the spikes, little spores that infect living creatures and turn them into zombie-like monsters. They are what killed Caiera’s village, and if left unstopped, Caiera fears they will destroy the world. Naturally, the Hulk has a thing or two to say about that, quipping, “Hmpf. Didn’t ya hear? That’s my job,” as our issue closes with the Hulk and Caiera finally standing together against the spike hordes.

This issue is basically just a chance for the Hulk to continue his love-hate relationship with Caiera. It’s also immensely entertaining. Despite a weak reason to get the Hulk into battle with the lieutenant, the actual fight is very well-done, allowing both for action and dialogue without losing anything in the pacing department. More importantly, Caiera now has a name and a backstory that turns her from a mere foe into a tragic figure who we want to see more of. She had already been one of the more interesting figures in the story, and her green eyes have hinted that she was destined to have more of a connection to the Hulk, but now we are starting to see the story deliver on her promise as a character. As with the issues preceding it, Planet Hulk: Exile, part three is well-paced, interesting, and gorgeously drawn. The story has also moved past its Gladiator-homage roots into something interesting, thought- provoking, and entertaining. The conclusion to this arc is coming up, and it promises to be an interesting one.

Incredible Hulk #97 (Planet Hulk) Review

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Oct 312011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

The Incredible Hulk

Issue #97

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Aaron Lopresti

Published: October 2006

Anybody who has seen the Planet Hulk animated feature knows well the wish-fulfillment part of the comic arc it was based upon – the Hulk, exiled from his home world, makes a new home for himself on the planet Sakaar. His strength and savagery win him the day against all foes, and he finally finds a world that accepts him not as a monster but as a hero. I imagine that more people have seen that animated feature than read the comics it was based on, and if such a person were to go from watching Planet Hulk to reading the original tale, the opening would look very familiar. Through the first act of the story, we see the Hulk as a wish fulfillment device, smashing everything that gets in his way and seeming to make no moral missteps. But, as we delve deeper into Planet Hulk: Anarchy, we see that things are getting a little less black and white than the animated film made them seem.

This is not a knock on the animated feature, which is an excellent film. However, that movie made some necessary simplifications to the story that the comics as an ongoing medium didn’t need to. In part one of Anarchy, we saw a darkening of the story as the Hulk and his friends rescued more slaves but also destroyed an entire village in retaliation. In The Incredible Hulk #97, which marks part two of this segment of Planet Hulk, we continue to see more moral complexity come into play as anger gives way to vengeance, which may eventually lead to self-destruction. No, we’re not talking about the Hulk here, but rather his first friend on Sakaar, Miek the Unhived.

For the Hulk’s part, he continues to be a wish fulfillment in action. Despite the fact that he has the Red King’s trusted Lieutenant following on his heels, the Hulk’s might and tenacity allow him to bypass every obstacle. He rampages through Sakaar freeing slaves by the dozens. He returns to the Maw, the gladiatorial pit where he was sent to die, and manhandles those who imprisoned him. Even when a monster capable of swallowing the Hulk in one bite attacks, the Hulk merely breaks the creature’s slave disk and domesticates it on the spot. He’s big, he’s strong, and he’s mad. He’s capable of anything, and that’s really one of the core appeals of the character. But how good can the story be if the main character makes winning look this easy?

The answer is explored in the Hulk’s effects on his companions. Miek, who already faced his share of demons last issue, continues to grow darker as a character as he struggles to protect his newly found brothers and sisters – the last remnants of a dying hive. Miek seems to have taken the Hulk’s advice of, “Never stop making them pay” to heart, and has gone from being the plucky comic relief to an increasingly aggressive and violent character.

Way back at the beginning of the Hulk’s existence, he was less a hero and more a menace. In his first appearance, he seems to want to kill his sidekick Rick Jones. At least twice in the character’s original six-issue run, he stated that he wanted to take over the world. Miek is that kind of character now – not plotting world conquest, but with that same type of unfocused anger. But while the Hulk had benevolent influences to help temper his rage such as Rick Jones and Betty Ross, Miek only has the Hulk himself to look up to. And while the Hulk might be more of a good guy these days, he still speaks in a language of rage and violence. What will that effect be on Miek, who is himself consumed with rage at the oppression and soon-to-be extinction of his race?

The Hulk himself knows what he is. Leading his army of freed slaves to the steppes of Sakaar, the issue ends with him deciding to disappear and be alone forever. After all, the Hulk has always wanted to be left alone, hasn’t he? When his companions try to get him to stay and fight against the Red King, the Hulk responds with this: “I know exactly what I am. And if you have any brains at all, you’ll shut the hell up and let me walk away… before I kill your whole stupid planet.”

And there’s the difference between the Hulk of now and the Hulk of then. The modern Hulk has been through many, many losses. He knows the pain that rage can bring, even though rage is essentially what he is. But one person won’t let him walk away: Miek himself, who has now morphed into a larger and stronger creature, referred to by his bug companions as “Hero King Miek.” Miek refuses to let the Hulk go into the steppes quietly, setting up our cliffhanger as it looks like the Hulk and his newly powered-up friend are about to face off against each other in battle.

While last issue had a darkening of themes, this issue really weaves the wish fulfillment aspect of the Hulk together well with the more serious consequences of our hero’s actions. For half of the issue, we see the Hulk rampaging along, smashing those who have done him wrong, and turning his rage into something good and productive. But in between those over-the-top action sequences, something darker is beginning to surface. It’s here in Planet Hulk: Anarchy that the saga takes on a whole new dimension, and we’ll see how those themes continue to grow when the Hulk goes to war not only with Miek but with another major player in this saga next issue.

Incredible Hulk #96 (Planet Hulk)

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  1 Response »
Oct 282011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

The Incredible Hulk

Issue #96

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Aaron Lopresti

Published: Aug.u 2006

“They followed the Green Scar and his monsters out of slavery…and into the Twisted Wood. And now,
in the cold and the dark, they wonder…how wise was that?”

So begins The Incredible Hulk #96, which continues our journey through the Planet Hulk saga. The story so far: after being exiled from Earth, the Hulk found himself playing out Russel Crowe’s part in Gladiator, serving as a slave on an alien world and then fighting his way to freedom, ultimately escaping with a large number of fellow slaves.

Through Planet Hulk: Exile and its companion, Giant Size Hulk #1, we’ve been dealing with simple pleasures – namely, the Hulk smashing big alien monsters while fantasizing about doing the same to the heroes back on Earth who exiled him. With this first issue of Planet Hulk: Anarchy, things start to get a bit more serious. That’s a big strength of comics – very few other media can get away with a plot involving a giant green irradiated man being exiled into space and fighting alien monsters alongside bug-people, a stone man from Saturn, and a magic-wielding priest. No other medium to my knowledge can take that opening and then turn it into a deep exploration of anger, revenge, and the effects of both.

This issue opens with the Hulk showing off his brains in addition to his brawn. While the slaves he’s freed debate as to whether he is a hero or monster, one slave runs off and sends a message to the Red King, who promptly orders the area bombed in hopes of killing the Hulk (known to Sakaarians as the Green Scar for the scar on his face he gained in battle with the Red King). However, the Hulk has outmaneuvered his hunters, and the only people who get bombed are the Hulk, his stone ally Korg, and the Red King’s loyalist – and only the latter happens to be bomb-resistant.

The majority of the issue focuses on the race as the Hulk tries to help the slaves escape their pursuers. Leading the hunt for the Hulk is the Red King’s Lieutenant, so far only referred to as “Oldstrong,” who shows herself to be as cunning and deadly as the Hulk. She attempts the same misdirection ploy on the Hulk, trying to lure him into a trap with murdered villagers serving as the bait, and the Hulk nearly falls for it. Thankfully, he has allies of his own, such as the shadow priest Hiroim, who stops the Hulk from rushing in headlong. The game of cat and mouse adds an interesting twist to a typical Hulk story, since our green goliath can’t just smash everything while he has others to protect. It also establishes the Oldstrong as a worthy adversary, but one who might not be as evil as she seems – the dead villagers she used had already been slaughtered by a corrupt governor, meaning that, while she is certainly opportunistic, her kill count as far as innocents go is currently zero.

Moving on with the adventure, the Hulk and his companions once again play the role of heroes, saving a village from a group of wildebots (wild mechanical beasts, serving as another opportunity to show how much work has gone into making Sakaar unique, interesting, and deadly). Hailed as heroes, things nonetheless take a darker turn when we discover that the leader of this village also happens to be the person directly responsible for killing Miek’s tribe, making him an enemy of the Hulk’s bug man friend and by extension the entire Warbound. In trying to give advice about what to do, the Hulk delivers what will soon become arc words: “I’d never stop making them pay.”

These words lead Miek to face his family’s killer in a fight to the death. It’s not quite as straightforward as one would expect, though. Before the head of the village enters the battle, we learn that he has a son of his own, and we see him act as a benevolent father. So maybe he’s not such a bad guy? Well, during the fight, we find out a hard lesson that people – even pink people – have both good and bad in them. On the one hand, the village’s Headman has killed Miek’s family. On the other hand, he is apparently a good father. But, as the fight goes on, we find out that not all of Miek’s family is dead – some have been kept by the Headman and used as slaves.

And once again, we see the rage of the Hulk and his companions on display. They save the slaves, but burn the village to the ground before leaving. On this last point, I do have to give some criticism of the layout, as the aftermath of the village’s destruction is left until the last page and the exact scale of the damage isn’t caught right off the bat. I think this story had a little too much in it and could have benefited from just one more page to really show off the aftermath of the damage done by the Hulk and his Warbound. To be fair, though, we do get one salient point here: buildings have been destroyed, but no deaths are shown. The role of the Hulk as somebody who rarely kills is very important both here and in the upcoming World War Hulk.

Despite the last page quibble, this story is yet another strong offering from Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan. More importantly, we’re starting to see the first hints that Planet Hulk is more than just a romp through alien gladiatorial arenas. Not that the Hulk smashing aliens is a bad thing, but there’s a reason why Planet Hulk is beloved by Hulk fans and not just another quickly forgotten event. How will this meditation on rage end? Is the Hulk a hero, a monster, or somewhere in between? The answers will continue to be explored as we delve further into Planet Hulk.

Giant-Size Hulk #1 (Planet Hulk) Review

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  2 Responses »
Oct 252011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

Giant-Size Hulk

Issue #1

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Aaron Lopresti

Published: June 2006

Throughout most of the early 2000s, the Hulk was an afterthought as a character in the Marvel Universe. His book struggled with mediocre sales and inconsistent storytelling. In guest appearances, writers could rarely agree on what kind of character he was – was he the dumb “Hulk smash!” Hulk, the meaner but more cunning Hulk from the late 1990s, or something else entirely? Did he kill or was he generally a good guy with a bad temper?

For many of these reasons, in 2006 Joe Quesada decided that the Hulk needed some extra love, so he turned the reigns over to Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan, which resulted in the excellent Planet Hulk storyline. In my past four reviews, we’ve gone through the first leg of that story, Planet Hulk: Exile. But Planet Hulk was not just a one story arc tale. At the time, Marvel’s Civil War event was going on, and big players like the Hulk, Thor, and the Sentry were mostly sidelined, since their presence could have easily tipped the scales dramatically. Planet Hulk not only had to keep the Hulk out of Civil War, but it also had to set up what had already been designated as the next big Marvel event, World War Hulk.

Leading up to Civil War, most of Marvel’s superheroes were acting like jerks. Exiling the Hulk into space with complete disregard for his civil rights – not to mention the fact that he saved the planet immediately prior – was the final nail in the coffin for a lot of people. Many Marvel fans were eagerly awaiting the chance to see the Hulk return and give a righteous beating to these so-called heroes. And while that beating was at least another year away, Giant-Size Hulk #1 whetted the fans’ appetite while we waited for Planet Hulk to resume.

Giant-Size Hulk #1 is a collection of three stories, two new and a reprint. Opening up, we have “Green Pieces” by legendary Hulk scribe Peter David. This flashback tale takes us away from the planet Sakaar and back to Earth, where the Hulk faced off against the superhero group known as the Champions. Promising to give us hints as to what was coming when the Hulk returned to Earth, the story is nonetheless largely a fight scene between the Hulk and the Hercules-led Champions. But as a “fight scene” story, it has two strengths. First, Peter David is terrific with snappy dialogue and one-liner jokes. He can sometimes go overboard, but in “Green Pieces” he keeps a good balance. An example would be the Hulk, here in his child-like persona, giving names to those he’s fighting. Angel is “Wing Man.” Iceman is “Ice Man,” which Iceman starts to correct only to note that…yeah, the Hulk actually got that right. Hercules, much to his chagrin, gets the name of “Skirt Man,” a title he feels he will never live down.

The other thing that keeps “Green Pieces” from being more than just sound and fury is the reason that the Champions are fighting the Hulk. The Hulk is rampaging through a city with an unidentified woman in his arms. Assuming the worst, the Champions attack. Eventually, the woman is delivered to the hospital, at which point it is revealed that she is Jennifer Walters in her pre-She Hulk days, and that her appendix was about to rupture. The Hulk, in this case, was a good guy, racing her to the hospital before he was interrupted by heroes looking for a fight. Hercules in particular notes with shame that he attacked the Hulk without giving him a chance to explain…and notes that he hopes to do the Hulk right in the future, providing us with our much-promised hint as to how things might shake out in World War Hulk. Hercules is known as somebody who will throw a punch to aid a friend – will he throw his allegiance in with the Hulk upon the jade giant’s return?

Following “Green Pieces” is “Banner War,” which brings us into the ongoing story of Planet Hulk. This tale takes place immediately after Exile, but is not strictly necessary for the tale. Rather than advance the plot, it brings in a much-missed foe of the Hulk’s – Bruce Banner himself. While he dreams, the Hulk is confronted by Banner, who both taunts him and tries to convince him to fix up the shuttle he was sent to Sakaar in so he can go to the peaceful world the Marvel heroes originally had picked out for him. The resulting conflict delves into both the minds of the Hulk and of Banner. We get to see a lovely piece of cathartic chaos as the Hulk and his Warbound take out the Marvel superheroes violently, along with a bit of humor. For example, Miek, the Hulk’s bug- like companion, stabs the Sentry for “making the Hulk sleep on the kitchen floor” in one of the Sentry’s own miniseries, to which the Sentry can only manage, “But it was a good—” before succumbing to his gut wound. Pak’s humor is not quite as subtle as Peter David’s, although he would refine it to an art by the time he started writing The Incredible Hercules down the road, but it is still enough to make a reader smile. And, since we’re all eagerly awaiting the Hulk’s return to Earth, it’s nice to get a preview as the Warbound just flat-out slaughter the Marvel Universe.

Many of Bruce Banner’s own words ring true in “Banner War.” He rightly points out that the other time the Hulk found himself stranded on an alien world fighting for the freedom of his adopted people and falling in love, it was really the Hulk with Banner’s brain in control. His love interest of the time, the long-dead Jarella, fell in love with Banner first, then accepted the Hulk later. On Sakaar, the roles are reversed – the Hulk is in full control with Banner in the background. How will this tale turn out, then?

Well, maybe the Hulk isn’t in total control. By the end of the tale, Banner temporarily gains control of his body again. Miek wakes up to see Banner in the Hulk’s armor and does an immediate double-take, only to see the Hulk back to normal. As he goes back to sleep, the Hulk states, “There’s nobody here but us monsters.” Reassuring to Miek, apparently, but we know better – and it will be interesting to see if Banner can reassert himself again in the future on the deadly world of Sakaar.

Finishing up Giant Size Hulk #1 is “Hulk: The End,” which is another Peter David story, this time an adaptation of his prose tale “The Last Titan.” Here we find the Hulk as the last living being on Earth after a series of nuclear wars, constantly struggling with Banner. This tale feels quite out of place because it has little to do with Planet Hulk. Going in-depth about “Hulk: The End” should really be done in a separate review of its own, because the story has a lot to offer, from the Hulk’s eternal struggle with Banner to mythological implications of what the Hulk really is. I will say this, though: this is one of the best single Hulk stories out there. With Dale Keown on art and Peter David drawing from his long run on the character, it is dynamite. It is admittedly out of place in a comic that is focusing around the ongoing Planet Hulk arc, and it was probably just put in there because Marvel needed an extra story to fill out the giant-sized issue. However, they couldn’t have chosen a better tale in terms of sheer quality. Whether in Giant Size Hulk #1 or on its own, track down “Hulk: The End” if you get a chance – it will be worth it.

And thus our interlude is over. We will resume with Planet Hulk next time.

The Incredible Hulk #95 (Planet Hulk)

 Posted by  Issue Review, Marvel Reviews  1 Response »
Oct 222011
 

by Charlie Brooks, CMRO Contributing Writer

The Incredible Hulk (Planet Hulk)

Issue #95

Written by Greg Pak, Art by Carlo Pagulayan

Published: May 2006

Anger: it drives us to do things we regret, but it can also force us to take necessary action. For comedians, it can be a tool to fuel their jokes. In politics, it creates effective but polarizing social movements. It can blind us, but it can also force us to do the impossible.

Anger has always been a central theme to the Incredible Hulk, and the epic storyline Planet Hulk explores that theme of anger as both a tool and a danger. Planet Hulk: Exile comes to an end with The Incredible Hulk #95, but in doing so it only opens more doors for the next part of this world-shaking adventure. Here we see a glimpse of the damage the Hulk’s anger can do, but also of the great things it can accomplish.

At the end of the last issue, we found out that in addition to the Hulk, the Silver Surfer has also become a slave on the strange planet of Sakaar. We get a brief background of how this came to be, with the Surfer drawn to the wormhole which weakened the Hulk. Like the Hulk, the Surfer was weakened when he came through the portal, which allowed his silver skin to be pierced and led to him getting outfitted with a slave disk, which forces him to do his masters’ bidding or fry his brains. The Surfer is the last-ditch attempt to stop the Hulk and his Warbound in the Great Arena, where the team has won two fights now and will get their freedom on a third victory.

This issue is essentially one big fight, but we get a couple of important plot tidbits before the carnage begins. First, one of the workers in the arena notices that from a drop of the Hulk’s gamma-irradiated blood, vines have begun to grow. Second, one of the Hulk’s Warbound, Hiroim the Shamed, states that the Surfer has been painted to look like the legendary Sakaarson, the savior of the planet. The legends on Sakaar focus on two major figures: the Sakaarson, who will save the world, and the Worldbreaker, who will destroy it. Keep that in mind for now as we move on with the story.

The fight between the Hulk and the Silver Surfer goes about as well as you would expect it to for the Hulk. Our green-skinned hero is strong, but the Surfer matches up well with him. The mistake that the Surfer makes is starting the fight early. The Hulk recognizes him as a friend due to their time together with the Defenders, and it’s when he’s trying to talk to his old comrade in arms that the Surfer attacks. And that’s when we see the Hulk’s anger take hold. In the midst of the frenzied battle that follows, the Hulk hits and shatters the Surfer’s slave disk, freeing him. The Surfer pauses to thank the Hulk, but the Hulk is in a full rage now, believing himself betrayed by his old friend. He pounds the Surfer to a pulp, to the point where even the crowd stops cheering at the gruesome beating. Possibly the only thing saving the Surfer is one of the Hulk’s other friends, his Warbound companion Korg, stopping the Hulk and telling him that they’ve won. The battle is over, the Surfer is defeated, and the Hulk and his companions have earned their freedom.

Well, not just yet.

First they need to prove their loyalty by killing a threat to the Red King: Elloe, one of the gladiators who fought by the Hulk’s side. The Hulk refuses, and we get a short bit where the Hulk fights against his obedience disk while it comes close to frying his brains. As a Hulk fan, I would have loved to see the Hulk do the impossible and break free from the slave disk through stubbornness alone, but it is not to be. The Surfer recovers from his beating and, now freed of his slavery, uses the power cosmic to free the Hulk and his fellow slaves. The chaos we long for follows, as the Hulk and his Warbound tear down the Great Arena and take the freed slaves with them into the wilderness.

Way, way back in 1967′s Tales to Astonish #92, the Hulk saw the Surfer and tried to steal his surfboard in an attempt to escape a world that hated him and fly into space. Now, almost 40 years later, we get a callback to this as the Surfer prepares to leave Sakaar and offers to take the Hulk home. The Hulk refuses, pointing out that all he’s ever wanted was to be on another world, away from the puny humans who hounded him. The Surfer departs as a friend to the Hulk (hopefully having learned his lesson not to throw a punch at the Hulk again), and the Hulk leaves with the refugees on the run from the Red King, having chosen the path to heroism. Will it work out for him, or will his anger resurface and destroy this new world that he has found? That is the question that we will explore as the story progresses, and one that will remain central through Greg Pak’s five-year run on The Incredible Hulk. Can somebody who is driven purely by rage ever be a real hero?

Through four reviews now, I’m sounding like a bit of a broken record when I speak of each issue in glowing terms. But, as I said before, Planet Hulk is a modern classic and one of the best stories ever told with this character. There’s not a lot of bad to be found here. I will state that the four issues of Planet Hulk: Exile are mostly good in the way a fun action movie is good, with lots of action and only hints of character development or a more subtle plot. But this is all just the warmup. As we leave Planet Hulk: Exile and head toward Planet Hulk: Anarchy, we’re going to see some in-depth exploration about not only what makes the Hulk tick, but also what is going on in the mind of his merry band of monsters, the Warbound.

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