World War Hulk
Written by Greg Pak
Art by John Romita Jr
Inks by Klaus Janson
Colors by Christina Strain

I was looking through my collection for Hulk books I could write about, in anticipation of the release of The Incredible Hulk, when I realized that I don’t have much. The Hulk falls into a weird set of characters for me that I’ve just never had much interest in, so I just never bought their book. That was until last year, when Marvel foisted upon us one of their big events, this one staring the Hulk as he ripped his way through the Marvel heroes in a fit of revenge-fueled anger. I speak of course, of World War Hulk.

Of course, if you’re into comics, you’ve probably heard the pitch for this series, which continues to Planet Hulk storyline: Hulk gets shot into space by Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, and Black Bolt only to escape his exile, and come back to Earth looking for revenge. He goes on to smash his way though his enemies and tear up most of New York before having an epic throw down with someone almost as powerful as he is.

Yes, it’s a simple concept, which was a relief after Marvel’s previous event book, the overly complicated Civil War. This one came back to one of the things I like in the big event books, which is random heroes team up to fight a more powerful enemy. I only wish Marvel had stuck more to that rather than have one on ones with the Hulk beating whoever he comes up against. There was never any dramatic tension to the fights, and in the end, the Hulk isn’t really defeated, he just kind of gives up, which makes for a bit of a let down in the end.

So, after digging through my long boxes, I went back and reread all the issues, and found myself much more critical of it the second time around. I could only imagine that reading it as it came out, I was forgetting or glossing over some of its poorer points, and focusing on its strong points, namely the art. There are some weird pacing issues in the middle of the series, and even at only five issues, the story seems about one issue too long. The story rushes at the start, then spends way too much time repeating things in the middle, before finally rushing to a conclusion. The plot’s reliance on the Sentry also causes problems, because the Sentry is pretty boring. He should be a much more interesting character, but nobody can seem to find much to do with him. He sits around for most of the series and then decides to move for not much reason.

Pacing and Sentry issues aside, there is some fun to be had with the series, and series writer Greg Pak has a good handle on the Hulk and his teammates and most importantly for the story, makes you feel that the Hulk’s actions may be extreme, but are also justified, at least in his mind. Pak at least has the knowledge to get out of the way and let series artist John Romita Jr. draw as many two-page spreads and big mostly silent fight scenes as he wants to. Say what you will about the half-baked story, but you have to agree that JRJr’s pencils look great, and his art packs the impact needed for this story. He adds a level of class to the book that really elevates it from mediocre to if not greatness, than at least really goodness. I’d imagine that if it was anyone else drawing the book, my opinion would be much lower, but there’s something about his work that just makes me kind of enjoy this, despite all its flaws. One thing I can say is that going back and rereading the story got me even more excited to see the movie than I had been, so maybe that in itself makes it worthwhile. Hey, I just love seeing the Hulk beat the crap out of stuff. Simple pleasures for a simple man.