I don’t think there has ever been another comic that takes a turn for the worst faster than this relaunch has. The first issue was somewhat intriguing – and the following issue takes a dump on the fans. Amazingly, in EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of comics in general! Let’s break it down:
Art: The cover is misleading as it says Silvestri when in fact pencils and inks were done on this book by – ready for this – 10 different artists. 10! Double digits! That’s a belly-aching amount of doughnuts (I know from experience) let alone artists on a single book! So, let me get this straight, Silvestri, who isn’t even staying on for 3 whole issues, can’t complete these issues on his own. He has to call in a whole team to do his job. What does that add up to? Only a terrible looking, mish-mosh of pages cobbled together.
Story: Yeah, the story WAS interesting but also walked a very fine line of either glory… or falling into an abyss that shows off the writers inability to tackle such a complex character like the Hulk. Aaron, has fallen – and fallen hard. I could buy Banner as a bad guy – especially if written the way Pak did, where Banner was doing what he did for what he thought was the greater good – much like how the best villains are written. But Aaron makes Banner into a raving loony. Plain and simple – and that’s just boring as hell to read.
Price: Do I really need to say anything here? $3.99 for a less than mediocre 20-page comic? We’re getting ripped off – by at least $4
Variants: I know I have pretty harsh thus far – so let me just say the one nice thing I can about this issue – it has, hands down, one of the coolest variant covers EVER. Deodato makes you wish for his days back on the book in one simple homage to Iron Man #128. Now that that has been said – the rest is all downhill… again. See, there are 2 variants for this issue. The 1:50 Deodato – and the colorless 1:200 cover. Are you freaking kidding me??!?!? I felt ripped off when issue #1’s “rare” variant was the colorless cover (I know that Marvel calls them sketch covers – but let’s be honest here – they are regular covers without color. That’s it.) but now I was not only insulted – but actually angered enough to ask my LCS to no longer pull any “sketch” covers for me. Not only are the covers unimpressive – but the colorless covers make the image that much more boring.
Overall Grade: F. Is F the lowest I can give this issue? Is F- a real thing? I don’t think so – but I am giving it a F- anyways.
Ratchet's Hulk Collection 
I really liked this issue for some reason. Banner was pretty over the top in a comical fashion. I thought the coloring was really good and blended all the different artists together. The scene with the (Jaws sized) sharks was kind’ve ridiculous. The fact that i like this is conditional on a major belief i have, that Aaron will explain what has happened to Banner. Perhaps this split was unlike any other split and has effected him mentally. If he doesn’t explain it, then of course i’ll have some major issues with it.
So far i’m enjoying this far more then 75% of Pak’s run and even if this is unexplained, I’ll still be less pissed off than the end of #635. Where Banner states “I’ve always had control”, that sent me through the roof with Hulk-like rage.
I’m done with the “sketch” covers aswell, infact i’m going to sell any others i own so it will never creep into my mind to get them in the future.
I think you are being a little rough on this issue. Is it amazing? No…but it’s not nearly as bad as the worst Bruce Jones or Loeb stuff. Heck I am even liking this better than the last year or so of Pak’s hulk.
Got to say, I do like the story line. I do. Hey, maybe th emarketing at Marvel was to have Loeb screw it up so badly that any new storyline would be fantastic by comparison. Food for thought.
On a side note, although I didn’t like the Red Hulk in the beginning, the story line is actually better than the Incredible Hulk for the past 6 months or so. I actually want to buy the book.
Altough the art was insulting, the writing was pretty awesome !!! Dont worry, Aaron will explain soon enough why Banner is nutso.
I’m really Liking this serie thus far.
I’m liking this series A LOT.
I am glad to see that so many of my fellow Gammabros on this site are enjoying the series. Although I stand by my review – heck, they are only my opinions anyways – the book seems too thrown together right now.
Ratch, id give you $60 for that Hulk 2 sketch cover if you wanna sell it.Let me Know.
Shai
Sorry Shai – that would mean I’d take a pretty big loss on it.
I got a good deal on all the #1s. Would love to find a deal on the #2 sketch variant. Any ideas?
I just saw that a #1 sketch sold for a mere $30 on ebay. The #2 is a 1:200 so it will be harder to come by a deal – but I think if you’re patient enough someone will be selling it for a really decent price. Good Luck.
It hurts to leave a variant like that out of my collection on the week of release. I was able to get the 1:200 variants for Hulk #14 and 16 on the days they came out. This one? Not even sure any local shops ordered enough copies. I get the feeling Diamond will seed these onto their accounts over the next few months, which is what they often do when they have more incentives printed than ordered.
Meantime, though, ratchet, I’m guessing I know how much that one cost you, and I’d match it.;-)
~G.
I got one! I don’t know how much of a deal I got but it was much cheaper than what I’ve seen recently (as was the 50th Anniversary Variant). I hate being a completist sometimes, but damn I’m liking this run.
Having found Red Hulk unreadable and ridiculous, this one I thought was better, though only if you accept that Banner isn’t who he normally is… It’s a bit predictable though – Hulk’s refused to fight Banner, but now Banner’s monsters are going to kill Hulk’s little subjects and in a rage he’ll decide to go after banner after all… it would have been better to just have a Moreau-style bad guy experimenting with gamma rays and keep Banner out of it. I agree about the sketch covers – a gimmick that a lot of kids will make Marvel suffer for in the future. See record companies in the 80s for details.
Terrible issue.
Hmmm….dont hate it, dont love it, dont really feel anything about it. Gonna have to see how the story unfolds before I form an opinion either way. I like that Aaron is trying something different, but the Silvestri fiasco doesnt bode well and i have the uneasy feeling that its all going to go downill very quickly…hope Im wrong
by something different Im mean seemingly reversing the Hulk/ Banner good guy/bad guy roles. Dont think that that’s been done before…but Im sure someone will correct me!
Ten Artist………..Freaking Crazy!!!