Hulk wakes up from suspended animation and sees a war destroyed world! He now roams the United States observing the damage and looking for survivors. Check out Hulk’s dark descent in Maestro #2 by Marvel Comics!

MAESTRO #2

Writer: Peter David
Artist: German Peralta
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comic
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 23rd, 2020

Previously in Maestro: The world has destroyed itself! Using nuclear weapons, the world became unlivable to most people. This is the world that Bruce Banner explores and tries to contemplate the death of his friends. This is his dark descent from the angry Hulk to the tyrant Maestro!

THE EARTH DID THIS TO THEMSELVES

Hulk begins to see the destruction of places like Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, and even Washington D.C. but his attention is caught when a young child is seen running away. He follows the kid to a secret hideout run by Machine Man and what is left of the people here. Machine Man points him into the direction of New York, where a man named Maestro runs a community called Dystopia. However, as Hulk travels there the radiation even becomes too much for him and he falls unconscious. Luckily, he is rescued by some people trying to treat the ground for crops. Eventually, he does make his way to Dystopia and Maestro is apparently the Incredible Hercules!

HULK AND THE APOCALYPSE

This issue explores Hulk’s inner monologue as he explores the world. I enjoyed him talking about religion and his interpretation of the three groups of survivors that he encounters. In fact, the best part wasn’t Hulk’s interaction with people but rather his introspection of everything that is happening. There is an interesting discussion between Maestro/Hercules who calls himself a God and Hulk blaming God for not saving humankind. I think we are going to see the theme of man taking power away from the Gods throughout this miniseries and that could be a very interesting discussion through the lens of Hulk.

I also enjoyed the fact that Hulk isn’t a monster in this. The world is so destroyed that no one really fears him as they should. You can see it in the way certain facial expressions are drawn. These people are tired and treat him like a curiosity rather than a threat and that is quite a nice change of pace. Perhaps his role as a tyrant is going to be a smoother translation then I thought.

BOTTOM LINE: EXTREMELY ENGAGING

Every time I see a strong man comic, I just assume it is going to be action packed with lots of flashy explosions. This comic is not that but rather a deep reflection about humankind killing themselves and what that means. It is intelligently written and an amazing interpretation of Hulk in a dystopian future. 4.5 out of 5 stars for Maestro #2 from me. A near perfect book in my opinion.

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