Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Incredible Hulk: Dark Son TPB


I was pretty excited about the title change to “Incredible Hulks,” mainly because I hoped it would give some panel time to my old fave She-Hulk. Jennifer Walters doesn’t get much to do in this trade. She and most of the other Hulks hang in the background as Hulk and Skaar take on their silly family member, Hiro-Kala.

I don’t know who Hiro-Kala is, but how many secret kids did Hulk sire while he was running around with Caeira Oldstrong? Hiro has vague motivations of destroying the Old Power, the Earth-powers that Skaar and he inherited from their mother. I’m not sure exactly why that is, but it’s a pretty weird motivation. Hiro never feels like a well-thought out villain. He’s an obstacle, but the actual confrontations are actually weak. The interplay between the Hulks was more entertaining than the actual conflict.

It seems Betty Banner really likes being the angry Red She-Hulk. I like her, being hulked gives her a stronger personality and makes her more than a sidekick for Bruce Banner. I’m not sure why she’s taken over for Jennifer Walters in the greater Marvel U, but there’s no denying she’s an entertaining character.

I can’t figure it out. I’ve loved most of the work Greg Pak has done, but this story really left me cold. Could it be that his co-writing with Brian Reed just doesn’t click like his work with Fred Van Lente?

Most of this book is penciled by old faves of mine, Tom Raney and Barry Kitson. Their chapters look fantastic, and I found myself wishing they were drawing a more compelling story.

Average

2 comments:

Tom Badguy said...

Damn, I had high hopes for this one.

Timbotron said...

Me too! I really do think I'm over the "Hulk in Space" concept. I mean, Pak did it so well, all these recent comparisons just don't cut it!