By Don M. Ventura
Hulk #30
Marvel Comics
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Red and Green Hulk face off against Xemnu the Living Titan and his cadre of monsters while the Impossible Man records the proceedings for galactic gamblers. Does that sound dumb? Too simple for you?
You are sorely mistaken because this is a hell of a book. Jeff Parker has written a one-shot old school Hulk story with the green and red Hulks facing down against monsters—the most special of all being a old-English speaking white Hulk called Kluh. Are you still with me? Trust me, the whole thing works.
Original Hulk artist Ed McGuiness has returned for to put his distinctive spin on the book, and it is a welcome return. While I am an enormous fan of current series artist Gabriel Hardman, I can’t imagine many artists other than McGuiness who could have so perfectly captured the tone of this issue.
Based on Hulk and his work on Thunderbolts, Parker is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers. He seems to have an affinity for pitting his heroes against monsters, which I do not mind if it works. And boy does it work.
Wolverine #6
Marvel Comics
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After a slight diversion into the Point One Initiative, Wolverine returns from his banishment to hell to face off against his teammates. His X-Men teammates.
Wolverine is in a disturbing place as his soul tries to fit back into the body that is was yanked from when the story first began. Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor and Magneto have come to stop Wolverine after his attack on Colossus in issue #5.
We open with a spectacular scene featuring a Danger Room scenario which Cyclops has designed to take down their feral friend. It ends with Magneto extracting the adamantium from Wolverine whose head is then yanked off by Namor. This acts as foreshadowing for the final panel when Magneto captures Wolverine who remains totally out of control.
Jason Aaron flat out tells the best Wolverine stories I have ever read. I mentioned on the podcast last week that he connects with the human side of the character, rather than the badass that most writers tend to gravitate towards. Daniel Acuna has also illustrated the book nicely—I’d like to see his work on an ongoing rather than what feels like fill-in work on many titles (Captain America, New Avengers, etc.).
The Amazing Spider-Man #654.1
Marvel Comics
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I was pleased with the short Venom follow-up in last week’s Amazing Spider-Man #654. We get a full issue of Flash Thompson as the new Black Ops take on the overused Spider-Man baddie.
This is an example of fresh reinvention that appeals to Venom and non-Venom enthusiasts. The story is that the military has found a way to use the Venom symbiote on to empower a soldier for a limited time. Flash Thompson is the soldier who is willing to use the alien’s power to go on special covert missions.
This issue has Venom on a mission to rescue a banker whose death could cause havoc to the world economy. Before you know it, Flash loses his temper and becomes the violent (semi) cannibalistic character with whom readers are more familiar.
Humberto Ramos returns for this issue with another book full of gorgeous and dynamic pages. Dan Slott has been knocking Amazing Spider-Man out of the park since taking over the title and this issue is no exception.
Justice League of America #54
DC Comics
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This is my first return to the Justice League of America since the book seemed to take some creative missteps towards the end of Dwayne McDuffie’s run on the title.
Being my first issue of James Robinson’s take on DC’s premier team, this is a difficult one to judge story-wise because it’s really a set up story. Eclipso has taken control of his original host, Bruce Gordon, and he is putting together a team of Shade-related villains (Shade, Nightshade, Acrata, the Shadow Thief, among others).
New series artist Brett Booth has drawn a nice looking first issue. His character’s faces are pretty similar but they are expressive enough to not be too distracting. I loved the two-panel opening page that featured the “Big Seven” original team and another picture with some of the more famous team members.
My beef with the book is the team. I won’t let that effect my rating of the story—that would be terribly petty. I would at some point like to see some more classic members on the team. That said, I am interested in reading how Robinson handles these characters.
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