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The Incredible Hulk is published by Marvel Comics
 
Hulk, vol. 2  2003 (HC)

Reprinting: Hulk #44-54

Additional notes: intro by Jones; afterward by Andrews about the creation of the cover for #50; sketches, page breakdowns; and promo art.

Since this collects the stories reprinted in the separate TPBs Transfer of Power and Abominable, I've reviewed them under those titles.

Hulk: Abominable 2003 (SC TPB) 136 pages

Written by Bruce Jones. Illustrated by Mike Deodato, Jr.
Colours: Studio F. Letters: various. Editor: Alex Alonso.

Reprinting: The Incredible Hulk (3rd series) #50-54

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Bruce Banner stumbles upon a little diner in the middle of nowhere, and begins an affair with the comely owner of the place. Meanwhile, the sinister conspiracy from which Banner has been on the run for the past few story arcs breaks into a secret government facility where the Hulk's long time foe, the similarly powered Abomination, is kept prisoner. They still want a sample of the Hulk's blood, and they figure the Abomination is just the man-monster to get it for them. And this ties into the mysterious woman at the diner...

This is the second story arc (after Transfer of Power) I've read from Bruce Jones' apparently critically regarded tenure on the Hulk comic. And like the first, I have mixed feelings about it, as it is a mixture of strong and weak points.

The idea of hooking a story arc on a romance is a welcome idea. Although throwing in a romance is not uncommon in movies, novels and TV, in comics, heroes generally either have a steady love interest, or they don't have any love interest at all. By introducing a romance for this story arc, it allows for some emotional twists and turns. Jones writes decent enough dialogue, and the overall sense is that he thinks he's writing a grown up thriller more than a four-colour smash-'em-up.

Of course, whether he succeeds is another matter.

Jones reflects the problems that are common with a lot of modern comics writers. In love with the style of cinema, he eschews thought balloons, or text captions, preferring to tell the story almost entirely through dialogue and visuals. The result is something that, though moody and not uninteresting, can be a bit wanting when it comes to the emotional heart of things. Bruce Banner is the hero -- but we rarely get any profound sense of what he's thinking or feeling.

As well, Jones (again like a lot of modern writers) obviously takes great pride in the fact that he's writing a story arc, and that each issue is really just a chapter of the larger "graphic novel". Unfortunately, instead of crafting a complex, twisty story to justify his five issues, he merely stretches out a fairly straightforward one. Basically we spend five issues cutting between Banner and the woman at the diner; the conspirators and the Abomination at the prison; and a sub-plot (carried over from Transfer of Power) involving goings on in another small town. You can't really say, "issue #52 is where this happens" because the issues just kind of blend into each other, perhaps explaining why cover artist Kaare Andrews tends to do generic illustrations rather than covers that highlight a key element of that particular issue.

The story isn't boring, per se, but as noted, not a lot happens. That's because it's all about the build up...the slow, ominous building to the inevitable Hulk-Abomination show down. The only problem is...haven't there already been dozens of Hulk-Abomination show downs over the years? I mean, he is a recurring foe, right? Jones isn't really promising anything new in the confrontation.

At least there's more of this story that feels self-contained. A problem with Transfer of Power was that too much of it was tied into previous events. Here, the Abomination story arc begins and ends in these pages (granted, the Abomination is a recurring foe, but at least it's not to the point where you really need to know much about him). Conversely, as noted above, the actual plotting is more straight forward than in Transfer of Power.

This is also another story (after Transfer of Power) where the Hulk barely appears in the story. And since Banner seems to have super strength, and can also maintain his intelligence as the Hulk, I'm not really sure what the point of it all is. Banner still frets about controlling the beast within, but all we see is basically just a super powered guy with little downside. Of course, there was a long run of Hulk comics in the 1980s when the Hulk had Bruce Banner's mind, so who am I to judge? But, to me, the essence of the character is these two tragic beings -- the weak intellectual and the strong imbecile -- sharing a single existence.

As with Transfer of Power, another qualm I have with Jones' run is his reliance on the conspiracy story, which began many issues before, and seems in no danger of coming to a head anytime soon. After a while, it seems less like an epic story arc...and more like he's stuck in a rut. It takes on a bit of a "Gilligan's Island" flavour as every story arc seems to involve the group trying some new harebrained scheme to get a sample of the Hulk's blood, and failing. More to the point, Jones makes very little effort to explain things for the uninitiated, to the point where you aren't sure when you're confused because you're supposed to be confused, and when you're confused simply because you missed the previous issue where such-and-such a plot point was explained. For instance, the rather oblique sub-plot involving a small town porn shop (really!) involves people trying to ferret out the identity of "Mr. Blue", a mole within the conspiracy who has been helping Banner (at least, in the previous story arc -- in this story arc, you'd have no idea who Blue was or why it was important!) But the thing is, I thought Blue was a character named Sandra Verdugo who had been in previous issues -- clearly I was wrong, but it goes to show how murky is Jones' handling of plot points.

The art by Mike Deodato, Jr. is attractive and moody, but like Stuart Immonen in the previous TPB, tries a little too hard to capture the dark, conspiracy feel, to the point of characters being perpetually swathed in shadow...even in the middle of the day in the desert! The dark, sombre colours also add to the overall gloom.

Jones, and Deodato, also seem to be pushing this Hulk towards "mature readers" areas, with lots of racy innuendo, and scenes of the diner owner, Nadia, offering herself to Banner dressed in nothing but shadow. Oh, sure, I won't say it ain't sexy at times, but is it really appropriate? If Jones and company want to do a "mature readers" Hulk, maybe they should (and dispense with the shadow), but if not, Jones is just a little too quick to let his libido run away with him.

Cover price: $__ CDN./ $11.95 USA.

Written by Jim Starlin, Illustrated and painted by Berni Wrightson.
Letters: Jim Novak. Editor: Allen Milgrom.

Additional notes: published in over-sized, tabloid dimensions.

Rating: * * * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

You can read one book that's critically acclaimed and you've been looking forward to for ages, and find it disappoints. And then you can read something else with nary an expectation, and find it a genuine surprise. Of course, maybe it's because you had no expectations to be disabused of that you enjoyed it. Who knows?

Anyway, such is the case with The Big Change, a frivolous, extraneous, completely insignificant tome that your collection will never miss if you don't have it...and yet, is a lot of fun. I hadn't even bought this for itself. I think I got it as part of a lot of four graphic novels. And since there's no description on the back cover, I had no idea what to expect inside, except that it starred the Incredible Hulk and one quarter of the Fantastic Four, The Thing.

But very early you get a sense of where this is headed, when we begin with a confrontation between the Thing and his perennial nemeses, the dreaded Yancy Street gang; while the Hulk has a misadventure with a sculptor in the desert, before both heroes are whisked away to an alien planet. Then the Watcher, Marvel Comics' occasional narrator, explains that he collects grand stories, and small stories...and occasionally silly, trivial stories. And you realize gritty angst is not on the menu. Writer Jim Starlin and artist Berni Wrightson are just having a little fun.

Fun probably isn't what you'd first expect from Mr. Cosmic himself, Jim Starlin, nor from Wrightson, best known as a horror artist (though he did do a joke space opera at one point, I think) -- the team who did Batman: The Cult. But they pull it off well.

The Thing and the Hulk (in his dim-witted, monosyllabic mode) are recruited by a low level bureaucrat on the planet Maltriculon who wants them to rescue an inventor who's been kidnapped by a local gangster.

What ensues is not particularly complex or sophisticated, as The Thing and the Hulk trudge across the planet, frightening the locals (a bizarre collection of intergalactic aliens as only Wrightson could probably envision) forcing them to don impromptu disguises (including the Hulk wearing an unconscious squid-like local as a hat), battling a robot sent to kill them, etc. As I said, pretty slight stuff. But it's fun and amusing. The Thing is, by default, forced to be the brains of the operation, and the interplay between the two heroes, as The Thing tries to coax the Hulk along, is amusing.

Wrightson does a nice job with his depiction of the weird alien races and the extra-planetary landscape. The painted colour nicely brings the characters out and creates real atmosphere in the nocturnal sky, adding a definite brooding mood to counterpoint the silliness. Wrightson's Thing is O.K., but his Hulk is really quite good -- making you think he should've been recruited for a more straight-faced Hulk adventure as well.

And, yeah, this could've been a left over story idea from The Thing's old team up comic, Marvel Two-in-One. I've quibbled before about "graphic novels" that are really no more than a regular comic, but here I didn't mind as much. The art and colour really do seem more vibrant than in a regular comic, giving the story a grandness.

Although this is basically a comedy, Starlin doesn't stray so far from the characters' roots that it loses the essence of the regular Marvel Universe. It's funny...but it's not entirely ridiculous (of course, it helps that the Thing, even in the FF, is often comic relief, and the Hulk has been used for lighter bits before, too).

Ultimately, this is just awfully good natured (if a little crude at times, as might befit someone of Wrightson's history, with scenes of the Thing throwing up, or the two heroes wading through a sewer, and the aliens themselves are sometimes quite gruesome...in an amusing way, and in a way that's muted by the fact that, looks aside, the aliens are very, very human). I honestly had no real expectation of enjoying this...and found it just so darn, well, fun.

Inconsequential? Undoubtedly. But amusing and atmospheric, it's worth a read when you're feeling blue.

Original cover price: $6.95 CDN./ $5.95 USA

Written by Bruce Jones. Pencils by Stuart Immonen. Inks by Scott Koblish.
Colours: Studio F. Letters: various. Editor: Alex Alonso.

Reprinting: The Incredible Hulk (3rd series) #44-49 (2002)

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Transfer of Power is, in many ways, well drawn and interestingly written.

But I'm still not able to give it a particularly enthusiastic review.

Oh, sure, part of that is because the art and writing have flaws (which I'll get to), but that's not the main reason. You see, for all that Transfer of Power has been packaged as a TPB collection, it's really part of a bigger, on going story arc. To fans of the Hulk, following his current exploits, that's not a big deal. After all, Marvel (and DC) have begun collecting many of their comics in sequential TPBs, forming a kind of "library" -- the entirety of Bruce Jones' tenure on the series is being collected, and Transfer of Power is numbered as vol. 3. Which is fine. Really. But I'm reviewing books, as best I can, from the point of view of someone who, on a whim, picks up a TPB for a weekend's entertainment. I've read Hulk comics, I know the character and the premise, but I'm certainly not up on every little nuance of the character's current life.

And Transfer of Power doesn't seem all that interested in inviting me into the fold.

The Hulk's alter ego of Bruce Banner is on the run from a shadowy organization which wants a sample of the Hulk's blood. O.K., I can get that. But characters crop up who Bruce knows from previous issues, references are made to past events, but without saying when or what issues they transpired in, Doc Samson's hair changes from red to its usual green with no explanation, and Banner has a big showdown with a bad guy -- which provides, at least, a story arc and a resolution. To be fair, as you go along, you can pick up the gist of things. But is "gist" really enough? As a story, as a "graphic novel", Transfer of Power is too much an episode in a bigger, on going saga. And one where, gist or no gist, I still had no real understanding of certain scenes and sequences.

Because there's some good stuff in the writing and art, that's a problematic complaint. After all, sometimes a few dangling plot threads, a few intriguing hints, is precisely what encourages a reader to pick up subsequent issues/volumes. But then again, maybe that's a reflection of short comings in the telling.

Because I just wasn't that intrigued.

Oh, I wasn't not intrigued, nor was I bored, but scripter Jones didn't quite make me care that much about where it was all headed, or where it had come from, or about his heroes. The latter is funny since, of course, the hero -- Bruce Banner -- is a long established protagonist. Jones scripts some good dialogue, some clever exchanges (though he has two different characters refer to the police colloquially as "gendarmes" which doesn't do much to establish different personalities). But Jones, like so many modern comics writers, seems more in love with movies than comics, aping cinematic styles -- it's all dialogue and visuals; no thought balloons, and little in the way of narrative text (rarely even clarifying location or time jumps). Without thought balloons, Jones maybe doesn't do too good a job of letting us into the minds of his characters...which is kind of crucial if we're supposed to care about them. Banner, for instance, is put through a trippy experience where he wakes up accused of murder, and carrying ID naming him as someone who he isn't. But instead of really getting a sense of what he's thinking, and how he's trying to rationalize his predicament, Jones prefers to focus on the sequence of events, rather than his hero's reaction to them.

And, since I wasn't sure what Jones' take was on the series, I kind of thought the solution was going to be weirder than it was, as Banner finds himself taken in by an enigmatic woman while the same tune plays over and over on the radio. I thought maybe it would turn out he had been drawn into a lonely woman's dream reality or something. But no.

Jones also seems to want to turn the Hulk into more of an X-Files wannabe, emphasizing strange goings on and a shadowy conspiracy, rather than action. In fact, in these six issues...the Hulk barely appears at all! And it's not even clear why Banner doesn't, or can't, seem to turn into the Hulk for much of it.

It has been claimed that Jones' Hulk tenure has seen the series' sales climb; but is that because he writes a really great Hulk comic...or is it because he isn't writing a Hulk comic and a lot of non-Hulk fans are starting to read the comic? I mean, as much as I can appreciate some of what Jones is doing...what's a Hulk comic without the Hulk? Where's the pathos of the misunderstood monster who just wants to be left alone? Where's the escapist fun of Big Green leaping through the sky?

Jones also seems to be part of the current trend attempting to, uh, maturify even supposedly mainstream comics. There's a lot of racy innuendo, like a chapter title, "Multiple Organisms", or a scene of a female character being ordered to strip by a bad guy for no reason (she refuses before it gets too explicit) or, in a confusing sub-plot, a guy who regularly visits a porn shop to get info from his mysterious superiors (and really, what's the likelihood that a tiny town of, apparently, no more than a few dozen buildings, is going to even have a sex shop?)

Stuart Immonen's art is striking and effective, but problematic. I've liked Immonen's organic, realist art before -- and discovering he's a fellow Canadian just puts me more in his corner. Here, the art is haunting, moody, and even gorgeous (aesthetically and literally: he draws a pretty gal or two). So what's to complain about? Well, like with Jones, the style and aesthetics can get in the way of just telling the story. To suit the murky, X-Files mood, Immonen swathes everything in shadow. The problem with that is that when you have scenes taking place in the middle of the desert in the middle of the day, and the characters are still shrouded in heavy shadows, it begins to seem a bit much (and the dark, sombre colours just adds to things, making it visually oppressive). It also means the characters themselves become less like people, and more like mood pieces.

The fact of the matter is, I didn't dislike Transfer of Power. It was interesting, and moodily illustrated. But, though it has a story arc that sort of climaxes and resolves in these pages, it just isn't really meant to stand alone, making for an unsatisfying read. And Jones' handling of characters and plot, though interesting, didn't really make me say, oooh, I've gotta see where this is headed.

Cover price: $__ CDN. $12.95 USA
 
 

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