The Secret of the Wednesday’s Haul

Doctor Strange is #*&@!ed.

Planet Hulk succeeded on its ability to show the Hulk in, if not a new, a different light that we have not seen in quite a while. No longer the dumb creature, the childlike destroyer or the mindless savage, Greg Pak created a story that brought out the nobility and leadership quantities in the Incredible Hulk. On a world of monsters, the Hulk wasn’t the most dangerous or destructive being around. Together with his Warbound brethren, the Hulk came the closest he has been to being a true, willing hero on the alien planet of Sakaar. Before the final, destructive moments of Planet Hulk, the Hulk had found peace. With that peace torn away, the Hulk has returned to earth, looking for those who he think destroyed Sakaar, particularly Reed Richard, Stephen Strange, Tony Stark and Black Bolt.

Issue #1 was a slam-bang action story, establishing the sides of the battle and showing a fun battle between a mad Hulk and a tank-like armored Iron Man. No matter how big and large Iron Man’s armor was it wasn’t going to be big enough to defeat the Hulk. With that initial battle out of the way, this issue features a bunch of different fights; the Warbound versus the combined New and Mighty Avengers, the Warbound versus the six members of the Fantastic Four and an odd battle featuring the Hulk against Hercules (which was shown in greater detail in the last issue of The Incredible Hulk and is only here in the slimmest terms.) Last issue paid lip-service to Marvel’s Civil War and, while it gets a mention late in this issue, it’s put aside as both Avengers team battle together without any animosity or hesitation. There’s no threat of Skrulls, arrests or infighting is they battle the Hulk and his new allies.

The battle begins awkwardly as the Warbound have to introduce themselves again, basically in the same manner as they did in issue one; a friend of mine described it as “and now let me introduce the band” as each of them pops up in front of the Avengers and states their name and where they’re from. It’s a forced introduction that doesn’t fit naturally into the flow of the story. The battle is short and over before it really starts, perhaps showing the deficiencies of these “new” Avengers.

With the Avengers quickly brushed aside, New York’s next greatest line of defense is the Fantastic Four. Pak and artist John Romita Jr. hit a sweet spot for me when they show the FF working feverishly on top of the Baxter Building to prep one of Reed Richards’ over-sized devices that should save the day. It doesn’t even bug me that there are six members right now on the Fantastic Four instead of the requisite four. Giant devices like this are only pulled out when threats on the level of Galactus are threatening NYC and the world. That should give you an idea of how serious they’re taking the Hulk’s attack.

The Fantastic Four give the Hulk a better battle than the Avengers did. Each member, except for Black Panther, gets their shot at the Hulk, from Johnny’s supernova blasts to Sue’s forcefields, nothing works. For once, photoshop works well in a comic when the Hulk and the Thing get to their brawl. It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before but Romita Jr., Klaus Janson and Christina Strain create tremendous power in each and every blow. The blurred effects really show how fast these two behemoths are and how much force they pack into their fists.

The first issue succeeded on its shock and awe level with the Hulk taking down both Black Bolt and Iron Man. Issue two stumbles slightly, with no real direction except for fight after fight. There’s little here other than battles. In one of the more subtle moments, Rick Jones tells the Hulk that Captain America is dead but before the Hulk can really process that news, he’s whisked away to another battle. The first issue worked because of the power in the issue balanced by moments where the audience could catch its breath. This issue is a freight train, barreling through from the first page to the last. It’s full of cool scenes and fantastic battles but doesn’t progress the story that much.

World War Hulk #2
Written by: Greg Pak
Penciled by: John Romita Jr.
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Christina Strain
Lettered by: Chris Eliopoulos

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