Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Tales from The $3.99 (I think) Bin! - Indestructible Hulk #1

Current-day Hulk is weird. I mean, there’s a Red Hulk, Hulk’s got a son, and I think Banner and Hulk got split again with Banner going mad. I actually don’t know what was going on with that since I never read it. Anyway, I decided to jump into current Hulk with the launched title, Indestructible Hulk. It was part of the Marvel NOW re-launch that happened after the Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover. I found the first three issues somewhere but I don’t know where I got them. It might have been part of some deal, but I’m not sure. I know it wasn’t when they came out. Today, I’ll be looking at the first issue.

I was mostly interested in seeing how this was going to be because Mark Waid is writing the book. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to read some of his older books and more recent ones. I’ve began to like his writing. The penciler and inker on the book is Leinil Francis Yu. The two created had collaborated before on the awesome mini-series, Superman: Birthright. Sunny Gho handled the colors and Chris Eliopoulos handled the letters. The book is edited by Mark Paniccia.

Indestructible Hulk #1
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Leinel Francis Yu
Colors: Sunny Gho
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Mark Paniccia

“Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
We start out in Manchester, Alabama. SHIELD is on the search for the Hulk again and doing other things.  Maria Hill, the current director of SHIELD, decides to take a break in one of the diners there. While she’s ordering, Bruce Banner shows up all of the sudden. While Hill is a bit flabbergasted that Banner would come to SHIELD, he tells what he’s been up to. After the big fight in Avengers Vs. X-Men, Banner went into seclusion to see if he could finally rid himself of the Hulk. He eventually realized that it was impossible to do so with the way current technology is.

Instead of finding ways to get rid of the Hulk, Bruce realized the Hulk can be useful to someone like SHIELD. He also wants to use his smarts in order to help the world. He wants to be remembered for his science, not the Hulk. For example, he shows Hill a water purification unit he just created. Hill, of course, is pretty hesitant to the idea, so Bruce tries to blackmail her with classified SHIELD info. He also tells here that he knows why she is really there. It turns out that the Mad Thinker is creating some horrible weapon in the area and SHIELD is out to get him. When he tells her that the threat is worse than SHIELD knows, she lets him come along as a test.
You probably should have "thought" about this, Thinker!

In a warehouse, the Mad Thinker… thinks as he perfects his powerful weapon.  Suddenly, Hulk and SHIELD operatives bust in like the Kool-Aid Man to stop the Thinker. The Thinker uses his weapon which is some sort of mech suit. Hulk takes on the Thinker one-on-one battle while Hill and SHIELD retreat.  Thinker thinks he has the upper hand but this the Hulk were talking about here. The building collapses from the damage. Hill and the operatives survey the damage and find a tired Bruce under some rubble. The issue ends with Hill telling Bruce that he’s in.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

This issue was a pretty good intro into Banner’s new situation. In fact, I like this new status quo. Instead of constantly trying to rid himself of the Hulk, he’s just accepted that it might not happen anytime soon. So, he’s going to use his knowledge to help the world and have SHIELD use the Hulk to their advantage. It really does sound like a nice deal. I do wonder if Marvel was influenced on how Banner is in the Avengers movies because it does seem a little similar. The story and dialogue is pretty good. It’s witty and pretty funny.

The artwork is kind of mixed for me. I do like it but I’m not a big fan of Yu’s work in general. I will say that this artwork is better than his work on Secret Invasion. The scenes in the diner are pretty good. It all feels lively especially when Bruce gets “tested” by Hill. I do wonder what was up with that. Were they expecting him to Hulk out in that diner with all of those folk? Oh well, it was still funny. The action scene at the end was also pretty good and Yu’s Hulk did look awesome.

 Overall, this was a nice intro to a new status quo. I’m going to try to catch up with this series eventually since I also enjoyed the next two issues. Next time, I’ll be going back to the 1980’s to look at a single issue from Peter David’s long run on The Incredible Hulk. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and don’t pester known loose cannons in diners. It might go bad for you and your swell morning.

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