After some slight embarrassment about his part in the Phoenix saga, Bruce Banner is here to tell Maria Hill what’s what. He wants rights and he wants them now! Also, he Hulks out and beats some people up.
INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #1
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Sunny Gho
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publisher: Marvel Comics, Inc.
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Indestructible Hulk: … nothing! New Hulk series!
NOW WITH 75% MORE BANNER!
Bruce Banner returns. Bringing up the great point that he’s one of the smartest men on the planet but is only getting credit for being a giant green monster, Banner propositions Maria Hill for a position with S.H.I.E.L.D. as both the Hulk and a scientist. Willing to undergo a trial period, more or less, Banner hulks out and comes head-to-head with the Mad Thinker.
Mark Waid is one of the best comic writers out there and this is a book to add to his stellar repertoire. Waid isn’t afraid to take heroes to a slightly more realistic and human level. He doesn’t dwell on the imperfections of each character but he acknowledges them. He treats them as real people. He’s done that here with Bruce Banner, who gets considerably more face time than his green counterpart. Instead of treating Banner as a sad and lonely figure with a curse, he treats him as someone who may have a manageable disease, as someone who’s learned how to live with that disease and who’s not letting it get him down.
This is incredibly refreshing for any series involving the Hulk. It’s too easy to fall back on making a book all Hulk and no Banner or a sad Banner whose cursed with an angry green alter ego.
MARIA AND HER TWO-BY-FOUR
The action shots in this book are absolutely beautiful. Leinil Yu is a very talented artist able to capture panels that display motion as easily as panels that display a lunch date between Hill and Banner. Sunny Gho’s coloring matches up with the art itself, knowing when exactly to have bright vivid colors and when to subdue it. This is something not tried often enough by colorists or isn’t quite executed as nicely. That’s definitely not the case here.
There’s a spread of the Hulk, as the Hulk, that really introduces his character back into the Marvel universe. It’s the first time he’s shown in this book not via television or computer screen. It’s a beautiful spread showing the Hulk in all his green glory being backed up by a squadron of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The artist and the artist team did a great job on a spread that could easily be framed on its own.
Then, there’s Maria Hill and her two-by-four, the second best panel in this issue. If you read this, you’ll know exactly which panel it is and why it’s hilarious looking.
BOTTOM LINE: Pick it up!
Mark Waid is one of my favorite writers and Leinil Yu’s art fits like a glove for this story. It’s not the most amazing book out there, but the story has small noticeable changes to Bruce Banner’s character. He’s calling the shots with his life now and it promises to be a great comic to start following. Pick it up!
DID YOU READ THIS ISSUE? RATE IT!
Reader Rating
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5 Comments
It was a pretty solid issue in my opinion, but nothing groundbreaking. I do trust in Waid to deliver a satisfying arc.
I love Waid’s work. Just about everything of his that I’ve read I really liked. He’s really set some good groundwork.
And he does a lot of subtle things with this issue that I really liked. His usage of time (the ticking of the clock) and the tension he manages to create during the first half of the book (like all the potential triggers in the diner to make Banner Hulk-out) are all very subtly done, but very well done, imo.
Yeah, while the issue wasn’t groundbreaking, per se, it’s all the little touches that Waid put in that made this book a good one.
I have long been a hater of Yu, and have put down all books he took over or did.
Put this cover, and the fact that Waid i writing might make me pick this up in the trade, when that time comes.
I didn’t mind the art in this one, but I generally don’t feel one way or the other about Yu. He actually did a pretty decent spread of the Hulk in this issue. There were also several action sequences that he did very well too. And I adore anything by Mark Waid, so he more than makes up for any shortcomings by the artist.
A writer will make me pick up a book. An artist will make me drop it.