Post by Doctor Doom on Jun 14, 2007 8:36:31 GMT -5
Against my initial feelings I ended up buying this and even being suckered into the hype recently. Let's see if it pays off.
Doom's Deconstruction: Open with an absolutely collossal Hulk origin and credits page. I don't know why this was necessary but it sets the tone I guess. Also a note- I got the Finch cover, which was the worse one but the other was four times the price, so sue me. Ahem, on to the Deconstruction....
There is a recap of events on Sakaar telling of Hulk's hatred of the Illuminati, followed by a spectacular spread as Hulk smashes through asteroids on the prow of the stone ship. Down on Earth, some technicians at a monitor think they see something beside the Moon, but aren't sure. On said Moon, Hulk lands and confronts Black Bolt and Medusa before Attilan. After some choice words (From two of them anyway), Hulk tries to attack. Black Bolt whispers and Hulk is nearly blown away. When suddenly... cue AWESOME JR JR spread of Hulk throwing himself through the air as Black Bolt raises an arm to defend himself and-
We cut to Earth. The technicians have detected an explosion on the moon. Suddenly, they lsoe sattelite feed completely. On Capital Hill, people shout at Iron Man but he ignores them, talking to the President and we learn that whatever was near the Moon has now reached New York.
Fantastic shot of Great Stone Ship above New York. It glows. People look up in terror and awe. Then a giant holographuc image of Hulk is projected into Times Square, who greets them with the words: "Puny Humans. I've come to Smash." He then shows them the video of the Illuminati sending him away and explains that he has come here to destroy them and New York too. Then he says "If they aren't here in twenty-four hours...." And pulls out and displays the broken, battered and nearly dead body of Black Bolt and says "I'll do THIS... to your whole stinking planet!"
Iron Man flies into space to try and recontrol their sattelites with Extremis but he is repulsed by the Warbound robot. He then sees the Astral Form of Doctor Strange, who refuses to send Hulk away and says they should each prepare as best they can. He offers the services of his team to evacuate Manhattan and fight Hulk and Iron Man goes one better and offers total amnesty if they turn themselves in afterwards. Reed and Tony then visit the Sentry and slowly convince him to help them stop the Hulk. Though reluctant, he agrees in the end and asks for a "word with Tony"- we do not see what happens next.
Evacuation takes place in Manhattan- this is largely done via heroes. They are being taken to Jersey and we see superhumans carrying transports etc. A drone reports that they must all leave and all they need to do is think for help and a telepath will locate them and help them escape. As the evacuation draws to it's close, we see the NEw Avengers and Mighty Avengers gathered in Times Square with Doc Samson and She-Hulk. A fire chief asks who Black Bolt even was, and Spidey responds that he used to think he was the second most powerful guy in the galaxy and is now the third- but numero uno is on his way. He then gestures to greet the arrival of the Godlen Guardian of Good,the Blonde Bomnshelll the, and it is...
Iron Man in Hulkbuster armour.
"Aw nuts." says Spidey.
"That's not exactly the response I was hoping for." comes the response. Iron Man then tells them he's going to take on Hulk 1 on 1 and no-one should interfere until he's done with Hulk or Hulk is done with him. He charges upwards. Hulk leaps from his ship.
They meet and a giant explosion makes New York tremble.
As the fight goes on, a recording from Iron Man is played so that all can hear it. In it, he takes full responsibility for sending Hulk away and says that what he did, what he does now and what he will always do, he does to protect the people. He quotes 'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility...' and says that he will do his job no matter what it takes. He smashes Hulk through a few buildings and across the country, people cheer- we see Rick Jones looking glum, foreboding otherwise. Iron Man has injected Hulk with nanobots and thrown him into Central Park. Now war-planes come in and fire tonnes of explosives at Hulk.
As the air roars red around him, Hulk is reminded of his last moments with his wife, of the explosion that took her away. He becomes angrier than ever and roars "YOU KILLED HER!" Then he leaps upwards and SLAMS into Iron Man. He hurls him backwards so that they crash into the Sentry's Watchtower atop Stark Tower and the Tower crumbles to ruin in a giant collapse. The heroes run up to it, stunned. And then amidst the rubble....
Hulk emerges, enraged, the broken form of Iron Man's armour behind him.
"TO Be Continued"
The View of Doom: Wow. Just... wow. Okay, the bad first. We don't get much inside Hulk';s head this issue and I really hope people bought the prologues because otherwise it starts a bit too quickly. I mean he's confronting Bolt on page six! It has an easier job than CW in that it had a much longer lead-up.
Next bad thing- Black Bolt. Beaten off-panel. Yeahbuhwhaaa? This was very disappointing. This is BLACK FREAKING BOLT. And no, the site of his near-dead corpse is NOT enough. What happened to Attilan, was it damaged/ Did the other Inhumans try to help? Where is MEdusa? Did Black Bolt scream? How did Hulk beat him? There is waaaay too little detail here and that's very disappointing.
On to the good: Everything Else. No, seriously. I know what you're thinking "Here goes Doom, marvel praising again." But the truth is... I didn't WANT to like this crossover. At one stage, I didn't even want to BUY it. I hate the character of the Hulk, and I was certain this would transform into "BEAT ON TONY AND REED AND THE OTHERS WERE GOOD AND HULK IS RIGHT AND THEY ARE ALL WRONG!" But it has not.
This is NOT the story of the Hulk seeking his righteous justice.
This is the story of heroes who have erred trying to make up for past mistakes. This is the story of these HEROES and their struggle to stop a Hulk more angry, more powerful than he has ever been. THis is THEIR story, but it's also HIS... it's just that he's much more antagonist that protagonist.
Hulk's broadcast to the world was chilling, thanks in no small part to JR Jr's astonishing (as usual) art. There were some lowlights here- much of it was blatant exposition such as naming the Warbound one by one- but these were counteracted by the disturbing end of Hulk's broadcast. I actually winced when I saw Black Bolt and his state, and it hammers home the Hulk's power and rage. And also how screwed Earth is and how far he has fallen. In this issue at least, Hulk is almost unquestionably the villain.
The evacuation scenes were well handled but the highlight of the issue was of course Iron Man versus Hulk. But strangely, and awesomely... the fight scenes were the BACKGROUND. Though spectacularly well drawn, with every punch being felt... they were windoe dressing. MY attention anyway was focused on Iron Man's speech. I felt proud to be pro-reg, because this speech did more to summarise the pro-reg cause than almost anything in civil war and humanised Tony to the degree he should be. With this characterization plus the one of Sub-Mariner and Nova this week, the tide is definitely turning and more and more portrayals of Tony are in character again. Maybe I'm exgaeratting it but I was expecting Pak to make Tony a 2D villain, not an extremely deep hero who would sacrifice himself to save others- and thinks he's doing just that.
The ending I called MONTHS ago, but I didn't expect it to be so brutally.. violent. There goes the Sentry's Watchtower in another display of Hulk's insane power. Wonder if the Baxter Building will go that way next issue. Brutal and chilling, with the obligatory "Cup o' Joe" at the back of course.
The smaller scenes in this issue were great too. Strange seems sad and pessimistic as though this was all inevitable and he is prepared for it. The Sentry scene was interesting and I foresee him being possibly the decisive force if Thor does not come back. Too little Reed though.
So from an issue I had relatively low expectations from, I was bowled away. The sheer crapocity of the plot twist in NA 31 blew me away but this has restored my fatih. So the ones I expeted to be good and poor have been reversed in actuality! This is the best comic I've read in a while. (Excepting Captain America which is so consistently excellent.) It's fun, but it has heart and it has brains too.
Doom Decrees That This Issue Shalt Be Given... Nine Gold Dooms Out Of Ten.
Doom's Deconstruction: Open with an absolutely collossal Hulk origin and credits page. I don't know why this was necessary but it sets the tone I guess. Also a note- I got the Finch cover, which was the worse one but the other was four times the price, so sue me. Ahem, on to the Deconstruction....
There is a recap of events on Sakaar telling of Hulk's hatred of the Illuminati, followed by a spectacular spread as Hulk smashes through asteroids on the prow of the stone ship. Down on Earth, some technicians at a monitor think they see something beside the Moon, but aren't sure. On said Moon, Hulk lands and confronts Black Bolt and Medusa before Attilan. After some choice words (From two of them anyway), Hulk tries to attack. Black Bolt whispers and Hulk is nearly blown away. When suddenly... cue AWESOME JR JR spread of Hulk throwing himself through the air as Black Bolt raises an arm to defend himself and-
We cut to Earth. The technicians have detected an explosion on the moon. Suddenly, they lsoe sattelite feed completely. On Capital Hill, people shout at Iron Man but he ignores them, talking to the President and we learn that whatever was near the Moon has now reached New York.
Fantastic shot of Great Stone Ship above New York. It glows. People look up in terror and awe. Then a giant holographuc image of Hulk is projected into Times Square, who greets them with the words: "Puny Humans. I've come to Smash." He then shows them the video of the Illuminati sending him away and explains that he has come here to destroy them and New York too. Then he says "If they aren't here in twenty-four hours...." And pulls out and displays the broken, battered and nearly dead body of Black Bolt and says "I'll do THIS... to your whole stinking planet!"
Iron Man flies into space to try and recontrol their sattelites with Extremis but he is repulsed by the Warbound robot. He then sees the Astral Form of Doctor Strange, who refuses to send Hulk away and says they should each prepare as best they can. He offers the services of his team to evacuate Manhattan and fight Hulk and Iron Man goes one better and offers total amnesty if they turn themselves in afterwards. Reed and Tony then visit the Sentry and slowly convince him to help them stop the Hulk. Though reluctant, he agrees in the end and asks for a "word with Tony"- we do not see what happens next.
Evacuation takes place in Manhattan- this is largely done via heroes. They are being taken to Jersey and we see superhumans carrying transports etc. A drone reports that they must all leave and all they need to do is think for help and a telepath will locate them and help them escape. As the evacuation draws to it's close, we see the NEw Avengers and Mighty Avengers gathered in Times Square with Doc Samson and She-Hulk. A fire chief asks who Black Bolt even was, and Spidey responds that he used to think he was the second most powerful guy in the galaxy and is now the third- but numero uno is on his way. He then gestures to greet the arrival of the Godlen Guardian of Good,the Blonde Bomnshelll the, and it is...
Iron Man in Hulkbuster armour.
"Aw nuts." says Spidey.
"That's not exactly the response I was hoping for." comes the response. Iron Man then tells them he's going to take on Hulk 1 on 1 and no-one should interfere until he's done with Hulk or Hulk is done with him. He charges upwards. Hulk leaps from his ship.
They meet and a giant explosion makes New York tremble.
As the fight goes on, a recording from Iron Man is played so that all can hear it. In it, he takes full responsibility for sending Hulk away and says that what he did, what he does now and what he will always do, he does to protect the people. He quotes 'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility...' and says that he will do his job no matter what it takes. He smashes Hulk through a few buildings and across the country, people cheer- we see Rick Jones looking glum, foreboding otherwise. Iron Man has injected Hulk with nanobots and thrown him into Central Park. Now war-planes come in and fire tonnes of explosives at Hulk.
As the air roars red around him, Hulk is reminded of his last moments with his wife, of the explosion that took her away. He becomes angrier than ever and roars "YOU KILLED HER!" Then he leaps upwards and SLAMS into Iron Man. He hurls him backwards so that they crash into the Sentry's Watchtower atop Stark Tower and the Tower crumbles to ruin in a giant collapse. The heroes run up to it, stunned. And then amidst the rubble....
Hulk emerges, enraged, the broken form of Iron Man's armour behind him.
"TO Be Continued"
The View of Doom: Wow. Just... wow. Okay, the bad first. We don't get much inside Hulk';s head this issue and I really hope people bought the prologues because otherwise it starts a bit too quickly. I mean he's confronting Bolt on page six! It has an easier job than CW in that it had a much longer lead-up.
Next bad thing- Black Bolt. Beaten off-panel. Yeahbuhwhaaa? This was very disappointing. This is BLACK FREAKING BOLT. And no, the site of his near-dead corpse is NOT enough. What happened to Attilan, was it damaged/ Did the other Inhumans try to help? Where is MEdusa? Did Black Bolt scream? How did Hulk beat him? There is waaaay too little detail here and that's very disappointing.
On to the good: Everything Else. No, seriously. I know what you're thinking "Here goes Doom, marvel praising again." But the truth is... I didn't WANT to like this crossover. At one stage, I didn't even want to BUY it. I hate the character of the Hulk, and I was certain this would transform into "BEAT ON TONY AND REED AND THE OTHERS WERE GOOD AND HULK IS RIGHT AND THEY ARE ALL WRONG!" But it has not.
This is NOT the story of the Hulk seeking his righteous justice.
This is the story of heroes who have erred trying to make up for past mistakes. This is the story of these HEROES and their struggle to stop a Hulk more angry, more powerful than he has ever been. THis is THEIR story, but it's also HIS... it's just that he's much more antagonist that protagonist.
Hulk's broadcast to the world was chilling, thanks in no small part to JR Jr's astonishing (as usual) art. There were some lowlights here- much of it was blatant exposition such as naming the Warbound one by one- but these were counteracted by the disturbing end of Hulk's broadcast. I actually winced when I saw Black Bolt and his state, and it hammers home the Hulk's power and rage. And also how screwed Earth is and how far he has fallen. In this issue at least, Hulk is almost unquestionably the villain.
The evacuation scenes were well handled but the highlight of the issue was of course Iron Man versus Hulk. But strangely, and awesomely... the fight scenes were the BACKGROUND. Though spectacularly well drawn, with every punch being felt... they were windoe dressing. MY attention anyway was focused on Iron Man's speech. I felt proud to be pro-reg, because this speech did more to summarise the pro-reg cause than almost anything in civil war and humanised Tony to the degree he should be. With this characterization plus the one of Sub-Mariner and Nova this week, the tide is definitely turning and more and more portrayals of Tony are in character again. Maybe I'm exgaeratting it but I was expecting Pak to make Tony a 2D villain, not an extremely deep hero who would sacrifice himself to save others- and thinks he's doing just that.
The ending I called MONTHS ago, but I didn't expect it to be so brutally.. violent. There goes the Sentry's Watchtower in another display of Hulk's insane power. Wonder if the Baxter Building will go that way next issue. Brutal and chilling, with the obligatory "Cup o' Joe" at the back of course.
The smaller scenes in this issue were great too. Strange seems sad and pessimistic as though this was all inevitable and he is prepared for it. The Sentry scene was interesting and I foresee him being possibly the decisive force if Thor does not come back. Too little Reed though.
So from an issue I had relatively low expectations from, I was bowled away. The sheer crapocity of the plot twist in NA 31 blew me away but this has restored my fatih. So the ones I expeted to be good and poor have been reversed in actuality! This is the best comic I've read in a while. (Excepting Captain America which is so consistently excellent.) It's fun, but it has heart and it has brains too.
Doom Decrees That This Issue Shalt Be Given... Nine Gold Dooms Out Of Ten.