The Revolution has been let down by the new Hulk series. The art by Ed McGuinness has been a good fit for the series. Unfortunately, Jeph Loeb has not delivered on the story side of things. Since we have not reviewed this book since issue 3, I thought it was time to see if Loeb has managed to craft a story to go along with McGuinness’ art. Loeb has written some great stories in the past, so maybe he just needed some time to settle in.
Creative Team
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Ed McGuinness
Inks: Dexter Vines
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: On the Golden Gate Bridge…Iron Man and friends(the Human Torch, Ares, She-Hulk, Namor, and the Thing) are talking to the green Hulk. Iron Man wants to help the Hulk. Hulk says that A-Bomb(Rick Jones-the new Abomination) is his only friend. Green Hulk’s fight with the red Hulk has triggered the San Andreas Fault. San Francisco is falling into the bay.
Hulk explains that he “not hurt city. Red Hulk did.” Ares tells him that he does not care what he calls himself, Hulk should be happy that they are offering to help instead of whipping him. Namor interrupts Ares but it does not stop him. Hulk tells “broom head” to shut up. Ares says that no one calls him broom head and lives. So Hulk yells broom head at him. Torch says here we go…
Hulk says that Iron Man lied. They are here to fight Hulk. Namor and Iron Man take hold of Ares and tell him to back off. Iron Man says they are after the red Hulk. Hulk will listen since they hate the red Hulk. A-Bomb lands in front of the Thing. The Thing tells A-Bomb that he is an ugly cuss.
She-Hulk tries to tell Hulk that they think the red Hulk is Leonard Samson. Hulk doesn’t care who the red Hulk is. He is going to smash the red Hulk. He leaps away. A-Bomb says to wait for him. Ben Grimm comments that A-Bomb is a corny name, but then he calls himself the Thing.
Iron Man orders the group to stabilize the region. Namor uses his horn to summond giant sea creatures to hold up a damaged bridge.
A hole is the ground in Monument Valley. Red Hulk is climbing out. He is surprised that he survived jumping from the moon to the earth. The green Hulk is waiting for him. Red Hulk wants to know if the green Hulk is back for more. Green Hulk takes him by the throat and says he is here to finish the red Hulk.
The 2 Hulks start beating on each other. Red Hulk is ready to punch the green Hulk when Thor’s hammer flies in and hits red Hulk in the face. Thor begins to beat up the red Hulk.
A-Bomb arrives. Green Hulk wants to know how A-Bomb found him. He says he can find Hulk like Hulk finds red Hulk. Green Hulk says that Thor cannot beat the red Hulk. He is only one who can beat him. The madder he gets the stronger he gets. This is not true for the red Hulk. The madder he gets, the hotter he gets.
Thor zaps red Hulk with lightning bolts. Green Hulk jumps the red Hulk. A-Bomb asks Thor to let the green Hulk fight. He has to win this fight. Thor will let green Hulk fight, but if he dies the red Hulk’s blood will be spilled by Thor’s hands.
Red Hulk trash talks the green Hulk as he thumps him. Red Hulk asks if the green Hulk wants to die as a coward. His eyes are glowing. The red Hulk gets hotter and starts to swing wildly. In his weakened state, the red Hulk is flattened by 1 blow from the green Hulk. Green Hulk says there is only 1 Hulk and he is green.
Thor says he has been away for a dark time. But he wants to be friends with the Hulk. Hulk smiles and the 2 shake hands. Thor flies away. As Hulk leaves he tells A-Bomb that Rick will always be Hulk’s friend. A-Bomb wants to know why Hulk calls him Rick. A-Bomb turns back into Rick. He says that Bruce needs to know the truth. The red Hulk is … and he is blasted from behind by Leonard Samson. He says that Rick can’t be telling secrets like that. He drags Rick away.
Comments
The Good: Some great action shots of Hulk versus Hulk and Thor versus Hulk. McGuinness draws a classic version of the Hulk in action. His art is a good fit for this comic.
I loved the inclusion of the giant sea creatures that Namor summonds. I recall them from a old issue of Fantastic Four. Using them to help hold up the bridge was a good move.
I thought this was one of the better scripts Loeb has done on this series. The Thing’s comments about A-Bomb’s name was great.
The Bad: We were led to believe that the red Hulk was Doc Samson. The revelation that he is not Doc Samson was surprising but disappointing. Six issues in and we still don’t know who the red Hulk is.
Did I miss something here or is this the first time the red Hulk got hotter as he got madder? This seemed to come out of left field. I also find it hard to believe that he could beat Thor.
Overall: Not bad but not anywhere near the quality of the Peter David days of the Hulk. Anyone writing the Hulk needs to read David’s books.
5 thoughts on “Comic Book Review: Hulk#6”
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‘The red Hulk is … Betty!!!!’ But on a serious note, I don’t really mind the flux of superhuman characters in the Hulk book. It’s a comic-book universe teeming with all sorts of superhuman life! It’s only natural. I also like the fact that The Hulk can be himself (not the ‘Merged Hulk or The Professor)and still manage to make allies in the superhero community in a post-Civil War atmosphere. The only downside to this is that stories like this, Secret Invasion and the constant Mighty Avengers/New Avengers team-ups dilute the significance and purpose of Civil War and The Initiative. However, I agree that not learning the real identity of The Red Hulk after the whole story arc sucks. The story was poorly written and the mystery behind the Red Hulk was the only reason I was reading the book in the first place. And I no that Marvel was just counting on that. Great review as always!!!
Kozmik….
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Great art which demonstrates the SIZE of the Hulk in relation to other characters, but bad, bad plot. But what can one expect from Loeb, a re-telling of The Tempest?
The disappointment of NOT giving a “reveal” at the end is ridiculous. What you are left with amounts to an art portfolio.
Also, WHY are the Avengers present? DO they ADD to the “story”? Did Thor ADD to the “story”? BTW, what WAS the story? Let me try to create an outline.
1) Red Hulk murders Abomination (on camera, great for the kids!!) with a gun owned by SHEILD.
Winter guard appear only to get their asses kicked (and never appear again in the series).
2-3) These issues I liked alot. Rulk vs Iron Man. Things blow up. Good stuff.
4)WHY does The Watcher get punched out? WHY? Does it coome up at a later time that I missed? Aside from that, entertaining UNTIL we get to the bridge scene. Rulk says, as he points a gun at Hulk “They might even give me a medal for this.” And I thought, that’s cool, Rulk is General Ross, hellava plot twist but then….
5) Pointless Thor appearance. After so many YEARS of no Thor, then THIS is the Hulk/Thor fight we get? Rulk “knows” (I didn’t know this) that NO ONE can LIFT Thor’s hammer but if you “HOLD IT REAL TIGHT” and JUMP…OMFG, you are kidding me, Loeb. THAT is the way to defeat Thor? Jump whilst holding the Uru hammer tight. And then once you’re in zero gravity, well, Thor’s just WEAK. It’s just PAINFUL.
6) And then this issue is a mystery to me. After fighting Iron Man for two issues, and a tease of a possible huge Avengers/Rulk/Hulk free-for-all. NOTHING. Iron Man doesn’t even care enough to be present at the final battle. Oh, A-Bomb is there, Loeb’s weak-ass Thor is there, but Iron Man can’t follow THREE enormous humanoids across a desert.
Summary: Big fights: good. No story (or a “story which is indifferent to the actions of the characters: mucho grande bad.
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Red Hulk is Glen Talbot. That is all.
To happened to Loeb ? He used to make such a good stories, but what he does no is destroying hulk and the ultimate marvel universe
Loeb will have to pull something magical out of a hat to explain why Doc Samson would be involved in this in light of the annoying thing known as ‘character development’ done in Thunderbolts where he went out of his way to rebuilding Robbie Baldwin’s psyche