After 474 issues of being incredible, the Hulk has been relaunched into an adjectiveless, eponymous ongoing series. Bruce Banner has once again lost control over the savage side of his personality-- to the point where he blacks out when the Hulk feels it time to come out and play-- and now, with his wife dead and his friends all distant, he's trying to start over-- but that uncontrollable Hulk just won't let it happen easily.
OK, I don't like John Byrne's work. This is a prejudice I'm willing to admit right up front, since it can't help but color this review-- but I'll also say that this is the most satisfying Byrne script of recent years. Unlike the nightmares-in-melodrama of SPIDER-MAN CHAPTER ONE, the characters are talking like humans all throughout, and even the omniscient narrator isn't hammy. The new status quo Byrne has established, while not a direction I'd personally like to see the book go in, is nonetheless intriguing. Banner's blackouts are a new and uncharted transformational side-effect, and the plots are dynamic-- the way the issue is set up, the midnight rampage of the Hulk is mysterious enough to get the reader thinking if the real culprit is the Hulk at all. But while an interesting point to play off of, that same ambiguity also detracts from the story, leading the reader down a plot path that doesn't pan out.
This is Ron Garney's best work yet, and I've said that before. Garney certainly does improve every time he takes on a new book-- just flip back through your back issues of CAPTAIN AMERICA, SILVER SURFER, and SENTINEL OF LIBERTY. Very crisp, unbelievably dynamic (Check out the mid-issue Hulk rampage-- daaaaaaamn!), and technically sound, Garney has outdone himself (and the last batch of HULK artists).
But even if this issue is relatively low on flaws, I find myself wondering why it happened. The easy answer is, of course, sales. Byrne is Marvel's current relaunch-meister, and controversy or no his presence raises sales, even if it's just for a quick surge. And this is, of course, one more example of Marvel's quick-surge mentality. HULK was relaunched, and Byrne and Garney came on board, because Marvel wanted one big heroin-like shot of dollars. In the long run, the HULK book will undoubtedly be posting the same sales figures as INCREDIBLE was, with or without Peter David. Is the product produced of high quality? I wouldn't necessarily say that, though it is a damn sight better than a lot of what Marvel is producing. However, the quality wouldn't matter. This series could be about a Hulk who grows tremendous emerald breasts with his every transformation, and have miserable art and story, as long as it has a #1 on the cover-- because that's all Marvel seemed to be striving for. Let's hope Byrne and Garney surprise us with a consistently decent book, or HULK can be filed permanently in the ranks of Stupid Gimmick Book. 6.9 out of 10. R.I.Y.L.: John Byrne, Spider-Man, Pitt, Captain America, Avengers, Iron Man, Thunderbolts. SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: For more on Chris' conceptions of Marvel's quick-fix mentality, read Why What Marvel Is Doing Sucks For The Industry, in Issue #18's Columns and Essays Section. Back To ReviewsVol. 2, Issue #18
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