Friday, March 13, 2015

Savage Hulk v1: The Man Within TPB

Let’s get this out of the way. I’m a huge Alan Davis fan, so this was not going to be a tough sell for me. If Davis is drawing, I’m there. I have usually enjoyed his writing too, so this was like shooting fish in a barrel for Marvel.

This takes place years ago, after a brief interaction between the X-Men and the Hulk. (This era of the X-Men includes Havok and Polaris, to help date it for you oldsters.)

With Hulk wandering the American Southwest in a funk, Professor X decides that he’s going to help Bruce finally get free of his green demon within. This, of course, leads to some spectacular battles as the X-Men take on the Hulk and his foes the Abomination and the Leader. The artwork is the selling point here, because the story isn’t that complex. If you want to see Hulked out Jean Grey and all the X-Men looking simply fantastic, this book is for you. The Hulk, of course, looks great too, but I found myself falling in love with those 60’s era X-Men costumes on almost every page.

There is a speed bump, as one whole issue takes place in the mind of Professor X as he battles in a mental world. This gets confusing very quickly, and I’m afraid I was disengaged for much of the issue. Fortunately, Davis turns things around and gives me some nice physical fisticuffs at the conclusion to draw me back in.


This is a GOOD comic or better, for those who love Davis’ artwork as I do. It isn’t revolutionary, but as an artistic showcase, it is fantastic. 

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