« review: "Sports Guy Cartoon" | Main | "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" trailer »
February 14, 2005
review: "The Incredible Hulk #77-78"
We all know that "Hulk smash." What else do we know? We know that Peter David was arguably one of the best writers that Hulk ever had. He was friend to Hulk. Well, the friend is back.
David's return to The Incredible Hulk is going to be immensely popular (it's not a spoiler to point out that the letter column in issue #78 is filled with people paying HOMAGE to PD while at the same time loading heaps of blame on the previous writer for his efforts--a set of issues I'll let someone else cover). Now that David's back he gets to telling a story that starts off simply enough: Hulk is on an island of monsters.
David's writing has two great elements: first it is simple without being simplistic. Hulk is a monster, he has massive strength, and he's more in tune with his fists than any other part of his body. David lets him use them in a story that makes the reader say "huh-wha?!?" without spending lots of time making the characters ponder. They're too busy running for their lives. That keeps the action going and the pages turning.
Second, Hulk's "ignorant self-awareness". What I mean is that Hulk is also an incredibly complex character, and he knows it--he just doesn't know HOW complex. He's like a guy at the bar who's telling strangers "You think you're screwed up!? Listen to what I got at home..." then freaking them out by revealing waaaay too much about himself. He's not concerned about figuring himself out, but it seems to be all he does. He's a walking psycholgists office: both telling and listening to his own set of problems.
Added to this is Lee Weeks's nice artwork. I'm seeing a trend away from the over muscled hyper-strong look and back to simply the "he's-so-big-he's-as-strong-as-he-wants-to-be" Hulk, which I prefer. I don't need to see his inner-anterior-deltoid (a muscle used when making made up muscle-names) to know he can create thunder when he claps his hands. Weeks creates a simple and effective image that conveys the mystery and drama of the exterior and interior fight that Hulk is engaged in.
And all while on a crazy monster island. Good stuff.
(Recommended)
(review by Sean Ferrell)
Posted by sferrell at February 14, 2005 8:49 PM
