"The Ultimates: Super-Human"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “The Ultimates: Super-Human” as presented in Marvel Ultimate Epic Collection format.

            In 1945, the Nazis had created a super-weapon that was aimed at Washington, D.C. that would potentially bring an end to World War II. The United States Army sent in a platoon to try to disable the weapon, led by a super-soldier named Steve Rogers, codenamed Captain America. Along with his teenage friend James “Bucky” Barnes, and the rest of the platoon, they charged on Germany. Not all of the platoon survived the assault, and they were unable to stop the weapon from being launched. Captain America jumped on the missile and detonated a grenade that knocked the missile off course and prevented it from hitting its target, and Captain America disappeared into the waters of the North Atlantic, leaving behind his fiancé Gail Richards.

            In 2002, newly posted Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. General Nicholas Fury reignited the Super-Soldier Program with the hopes of preventing super-powered threats from becoming a problem for the United States of America. He met with Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, who had attempted to recreate the serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America and had instead turned Bruce into a creature called the Hulk. Bruce had been leading the Super-Soldier Research Facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but when hired by S.H.I.E.L.D., the condition behind his substantial paycheck was he was demoted to number two, behind his prior assistant Henry “Hank” Pym. Hank was married to Janet “Jan” Pym, a mutant with the ability to shrink in size and gifted with wings, who also had some unfortunate bug-like qualities. Jan called herself the Wasp. Hank, using Jan’s DNA, had created a serum that allowed him to grow in size to almost sixty feet in height, the maximum height the human body can support. Hank took on the codename Giant Man. S.H.I.E.L.D. also hired tech genius businessman billionaire Anthony “Tony” Stark, who had an advanced technological suit of armor and assumed the identity Iron Man. Bruce’s ex Betty Ross was hired as the Director of Communications for the Super-Soldier Program. As they were preparing to move forward with the project, Captain America’s body was found frozen in the Arctic Ocean. Miraculously, Steve Rogers had survived frozen in ice for fifty-seven years and was able to be revived. At first, Steve was unaccepting of his new surroundings, and it took some convincing to acclimate him to now living in the 21^st Century. Nick Fury brought Steve to the house of Bucky Barnes, now an old man and now married to Steve’s ex-fiancé, Gail. While Steve and Bucky had a tearful reunion, Gail refused to come see Steve. Steve also found out most of his family had passed away in the fifty-seven years he had been in suspended animation. The Ultimates were announced at the Triskelion in the Upper Bay of Manhattan, their new headquarters. While Giant Man, Wasp, Iron Man and Captain America were introduced as the faces of the Ultimates, Fury was also attempting to recruit a man claiming to be Thor, Norse God of thunder, a protestor and former mental patient who was gaining notoriety in Norway and gaining a group of followers. Thor, however, refused to join Fury’s little gang. Held back from the launch were Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, who were awaiting rewritten histories to cover up past indiscretions, and in the background were Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, children of the mutant terrorist Magneto and former members of his Brotherhood of Mutants, who were unable to be shown as public faces due to their genetic statuses. Time went by after the launch of the Ultimates, but the team had no threats to face. While Betty began to move on from Bruce with Freddie Prinze, Jr., Bruce made the drastic decision to inject himself with Captain America’s blood and the Hulk serum. This created an even more powerful version of the Hulk, who went on a destructive rampage through Manhattan, fixated on finding Betty and winning her back for Bruce and removing Freddie Prinze, Jr. from the picture. Captain America, Iron Man, Giant Man, and the Wasp were dispatched to stop the Hulk, and Thor joined in to aid in the fight. The team was able to calm the Hulk and revert him back to Bruce Banner, and Bruce was put in a holding unit, while his identity as the Hulk was withheld from the public and the Ultimates were hailed as the heroes who saved Manhattan. As the Ultimates were invited to Tony’s penthouse for a black-tie dinner, Hank and Jan got into an argument that turned horribly violent. While Thor refused to accept a S.H.I.E.L.D. paycheck as a member of the Ultimates, he agreed to come to the aid if ever the need arose. Jan was taken to the hospital, and Hank was wanted for spousal abuse charges. Jan was quickly transferred back to the Triskelion, but her assault went public. Steve went out on a hunt for Hank. Clint, Natasha, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were introduced to Tony and Thor, who were all briefed on the presence on Earth of an alien race called the Chitauri since 1777, who were able to assume human form and had been in part responsible for the rise of the Nazis during World War II. S.H.I.E.L.D. had believed them to have been completely annihilated after World War II, but several Chitauri had then been discovered to be hiding on Earth. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Psi-Division recovered the location of a Chitauri base near Micronesia. Before Fury could order against it, Steve found Hank in a bar in Chicago and had a S.H.I.E.L.D. team bring him to Hank’s location. Steve put the beat down on Hank, and Hank was apprehended. While in his holding unit, Bruce and Betty began to reconnect. Steve visited Jan in the Triskelion infirmary, but Steve’s actions against Hank and butting into Hank and Jan’s personal business only served to upset Jan. While Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow and Fury flew with a S.H.I.E.L.D. Unit to Micronesia to assault the Chitauri base, Jan discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. had already been infiltrated by the Chitauri, and their leader Kleiser was already on the Triskelion. Jan was caught by Kleiser and brought to the Chitauri base in the Arizona desert, while the Chitauri base in Micronesia was just a decoy base and was detonated, killing most of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Unit, but Thor had managed to teleport several of the Unit to safety, including Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow and Nick Fury, and they arrived at the Arizona base. The Chitauri began their full-scale assault of Earth, with the intention of destroying the Earth. Captain America fought Kleiser, Iron Man and Thor flew in to stop the weapon, Black Widow came to rescue Jan, and Hulk was unleashed to destroy the invading ships and the Ultimates battled to save the Earth from the threat of Chitauri destruction.

            Okay, so now we have the synopsis out of the way, let’s get on to my own personal take on this graphic novel. Essentially the Ultimates are the Marvel Ultimate Universe version of the Avengers, but I will say that this is a vastly different take on their story, and I will also say that I found that to be a good thing. When Stan Lee created the Avengers back in 1963, they assembled by happenstance, all joining in to fight against a common threat and then realizing that working together as a team was beneficial. In Mark Millar’s Ultimates, the team is assembled by S.H.I.E.L.D. as a combat unit to fight threats ordinary units couldn’t. This is a completely different origin story. And I feel that it actually worked. I liked the idea of the Ultimates being a military unit. I thought the Hulk story was great, I loved Millar’s choice of hooking up Betty with Freddie Prinze, Jr., I thought that joke was pretty funny. I liked how Bruce and Betty’s relationship played out after that while Bruce was in a holding unit, it was actually quite humorous. I liked how Millar made Wasp secretly a mutant, but I wish he would have taken a little more of an opportunity to play up on that more than he actually did, it was just mentioned once and it was never brought up again throughout the rest of the graphic novel. I liked the concept of having a black ops unit within the Ultimates, keeping Black Widow, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in the shadows because of their statuses keeping them from being public faces. I especially liked Quicksilver’s comments of how he and Scarlet Witch had actually been helping if you looked at the tapes and slowed them down, those gave me a good chuckle. I liked the Chitauri as the enemy that was the true test of the Ultimates as a team. I liked that Thor wouldn’t join S.H.I.E.L.D. on principal but would aid anyway because it was the right thing to do, and his characterization as a former mental patient now messiah activist was, in my opinion, rather brilliant, rather than just outright saying that this was truly the God of thunder. What I didn’t like was the spousal abuse story. I felt like Millar went a little too far with that one and that it was rather unnecessary with how graphically it was illustrated. I felt that it negatively portrayed mental illness, and I honestly did not approve of that storyline. I did enjoy Brian Hitch’s work as the artist, I thought he did an amazing job illustrating this graphic novel, I really like his artistic style. I loved how I read that Millar had told Hitch to make Nick Fury look like Samuel L. Jackson and that when Disney finally made the movies, they actually did contract Jackson to play Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I actually totally geeked out the first time I saw the post-credits scene in “Iron Man” when they introduced Jackson as Fury, having read this comic series after it was originally published back in 2002-2004 prior to the release of the “Iron Man” film and there was actually a scene in this graphic novel where the group discuss who would play them in films and Jackson was named as Fury. In general, I rather enjoyed this graphic novel.

            Next up on our agenda of things to discuss, we’re going to talk about accessibility. For those of you who know what I mean, please bear with me while I explain this to my new readers who have never read one of my reviews before and don’t know what I mean by using the word “accessibility.” So, what I mean by that is, if you know nothing about the Ultimates or Marvel Comics at all, can you pick up this book, read it, and understand what you’re reading? This is the first volume of the series from a universe that was relatively new at the time and had very little background history. It has no direct ties to any other series published by Marvel. There are no crossovers or events occurring during this graphic novel. It has a self-contained origin story. So, yes, this book is extremely accessible. If you’re new to Marvel and are looking for a good place to start, this is an exceptionally enjoyable book to pick up and begin your Marvel journey.

            Okay, now we’re going to get to the point that you’ve all been waiting for: my numeric score. So, my scoring system is extremely basic. I score on a scale of one to ten. One is the lowest score and means this book is complete trash and is not even worth reading. Ten is the highest score and means this book is perfection. On principal, I generally don’t give out tens very often because perfection is extremely hard to publish, but there have been occasions where I felt that this score is appropriate. As far as this book goes, I do not feel like a ten is an appropriate score for this book. I found some faults with the story, especially the spousal abuse storyline that highly detracted from my enjoyment of the story. And while I generally enjoyed Hitch’s art, there were moments where I felt like his artwork had a few mishaps. Unfortunately, there was also some content that doesn’t hold up over twenty years later, especially the inclusion of President Bush. But overall, I found this book to be high-quality and extremely enjoyable, so when I give it a score, I am compelled to score it at… an eight. It was entertaining to read, and the art was, for the most part, nice to look at. I feel like it deserves a particularly good score, but it’s not quite near perfection, so a minor deduction is required, but it shouldn’t be impacted harshly for the few problems I had with this book.

            Next up, we’re going to discuss if I give this book my personal Tim Cubbin recommendation, and then, regardless of that fact or not, whom do I think should be reading this book. If you’re guessing that I give this book my own personal recommendation, you would be absolutely correct. This book does, in fact, get my seal of approval. Moving on to whom do I recommend this book to, the answer is to anyone who likes the Avengers and wants to see a different take on what the team could be like. So, if you’ve never read a Marvel Comic book before and have an interest in the Avengers, I highly recommend you read this book, this is a totally interesting twist on their origin and worth the read. If you’re already a Marvel Comics fan and have never read this, I recommend this book to you, this is a whole new reimagining of what the Avengers could be, and I think you will enjoy this. If you’re just reading this review and have gained any vested interest in reading this graphic novel based solely on what you’re consuming right now, I’d recommend you get out there and pick up this book, if you enjoyed my review, you will definitely enjoy actually reading the entire story as there is obviously so much more than what I can describe on this blog and I think you should make the effort to get the complete story and enjoy this work for yourself.

            Well, I think we’ve gotten to the point where I’ve said pretty much all there is to say at the moment. There is a little more to add in conclusion, however, so don’t quite give up on me yet. First off, if you liked this post, there are over four dozen other reviews like this one to read, so keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for more of my work. I am a huge collector of Marvel Epic Collections, I buy every Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after they are released and if possible, I try to put up a review right after I finish reading them. So, obviously, I am going to be working with a lot of potential content. I currently have a Modern Era Epic Collection in my possession I am preparing to read, so you can expect to see a review of that one coming up some time in the next couple of weeks after this post, I have to finish reading it first, then find a day where I can actually sit down and write a review of it, but I will promise you it is coming soon. I have 160 other posts on this blog and there is no end in sight, so keep checking it out for more content if you’re interested. If you go really far back on my blog, I’ve actually written short stories, poetry, articles, essays, and editorials, but right now my main focus is on writing reviews. If you think these seem highly professional, it’s because I have a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in journalism, so writing this kind of thing is what I should professionally be doing, but due to circumstances, it’s not something I’ve actually been able to secure, so I currently work in a grocery store and work for free on a blog in my spare time. But it’s in my nature and I don’t mind doing it, it is the job I honestly should be doing but just can’t actually manage to get hired for due to the situation in my life that I don’t want to talk about and you honestly don’t care about. But enough about that. Keep checking back regularly for more, as there will definitely be plenty of upcoming content on the way, I’ll be doing this blog until I am physically unable to do it anymore, so that’s probably going to be a long time. I’ve already been doing this for five years at this point. And at this point, I’m just rambling on unnecessarily and boring you with useless details about my personal life that you really don’t want to know, so I’m going to let you go now and move on with your life while I move on with mine. But I will be back soon, and I hope you come back with me. And so, until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Hulk: Who is the Red Hulk?"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Hulk: Who is the Red Hulk?” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

            Robert Bruce Banner was a brilliant nuclear scientist. He created a device called a Gamma Bomb. During the test, a young man named Rick Jones entered the testing zone. Bruce rushed in to save Rick and was caught in the blast. He survived, but now, during times when he becomes angry or scared, he turns into a giant, green, out of control, rage monster called the Hulk, a force of destruction. The madder the Hulk gets, the stronger he gets.

            One of the Hulk’s old foes, Emil Blonsky, AKA the Abomination, was found murdered in Russia. S.H.I.E.L.D., General Thadeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, and civilians Jennifer Walters, AKA the She-Hulk and cousin of Bruce Banner, and gamma powered psychologist Leonard Samson are called in to investigate. Signs start to point to the Hulk, but some things don’t add up. Abomination was murdered with a gun, something the Hulk has never been known to use before. The only gun able to fit in the hands of the Hulk is also of S.H.I.E.L.D. design. Also, the Hulk’s footprints had crystallized in the sand. To top all that off, Bruce Banner is currently in government custody in Gamma Base in Death Valley, Nevada.

            Aboard the new S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Director Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, Maria Hill, and She-Hulk are examining the line of weaponry the Hulk could have used when they are attacked by the Hulk. Only this time, he’s… red? A fight ensues aboard the Helicarrier between Iron Man and the Red Hulk, ending with the Red Hulk escaping and the Helicarrier crashing in New Jersey. After that, the Red Hulk came across Rick Jones outside of Gamma Base in Nevada, who now gamma mutates into a blue abomination calling himself A-Bomb. While Red Hulk and A-Bomb battle, Tony Stark attempts to analyze a video recording of a conversation between Banner and Ross where Banner makes an inaudible comment that even their technology cannot hear. Red Hulk and A-Bomb’s battle cause a fissure powerful enough to rattle Banner’s cell, and this releases the original green Hulk, who joins the fight. S.H.I.E.L.D. is also left with the task of trying to find out the identity of the new Red Hulk. The Hulks red and green take their battle to San Franscisco. The Red Hulk is victorious, but the battle is then joined by Thor, who also loses to the Red Hulk. A-Bomb rescues the green Hulk, who once again battles the Red Hulk, but this time, the outcome is different. With the aid of A-Bomb and Thor, Hulk is able to defeat the Red Hulk.

            Now free, Bruce Banner travels to Las Vegas, to a casino overrun by cursed creatures called Wendigos. Banner turns into his Joe Fixit gray Hulk persona to battle the monsters, but the arrival of Moon Knight, Sentry, and Ms. Marvel end up turning him green again. During the fight with the heroes and the Wendigos, Hulk is bitten by the Wendigos and transforms into the Wendihulk. Brother Voodoo is able to arrive to cure all the Wendigos and the Wendihulk, and Banner once again escapes.

            She-Hulk decides she wants to bring in the Red Hulk but knows she can’t do it on her own. She calls in fellow super heroines Valkyrie and Thundra (who were not at the top of her list) and gear up with the help of S.H.I.E.L.D. Deputy Director Maria Hill to take down the red menace. They unfortunately prove not to be enough, but the arrival of Spider-Woman. Tigra, Invisible Woman, Storm, Black Widow, and Hellcat are enough to turn the tables in the favor of the ladies, but still the Red Hulk is able to escape.

            Two Elders of the Universe, the Grandmaster and the Collector decide to have a competition of champions. Grandmaster promises Hulk if he wins, his lost love Jarella will be returned to him. Hulk is allowed to pick his team. Hulk chooses the Silver Surfer, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Doctor Stephen Strange, his teammates as the Defenders, but picked from times before they all met. Meanwhile, the Collector allies with the Red Hulk, who chooses Baron Mordo, Terrax and Tiger Shark as his Offenders. The two teams are then instructed to battle… to the death.

            She-Hulk, determined to uncover the Red Hulk’s identity, calls in Front Line Newspaper reporter Ben Urich, who along with Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man and Leonard Samson, go to investigate Gamma Base, which has been overtaken by MODOK and A.I.M.

            Okay, so that’s it for the synopsis, now let’s get into my personal opinions. First off, I will say I was a bit disappointed with this book. Now, I’ve been reading Marvel Comics on and off for over twenty-two years now, and I already know who the Red Hulk is. Now, the issues in this book were originally published between 2008-2009, which was a point where I was not regularly reading, and I don’t know the origin of the Red Hulk, I don’t know how the person who is Red Hulk became the Red Hulk. I first learned there WAS a Red Hulk in 2012. When I first heard about this book several months ago, I was excited because I figured I’d finally get my answer as to how the Red Hulk came to be. Well, sadly to say, I did not. I’m upset they even called this book “Who is the Red Hulk?” They never actually answer that question in this book, even by the end. So, if you don’t know who the Red Hulk is, reading this book won’t tell you. As far as the stories themselves go, I just didn’t quite like them. They just didn’t thrill me. I read the book quickly, mostly because I was hoping for my answer, that’s what kept me reading. That might have created bias on my part; having a preconceived notion of what I was getting and by not getting what I was expecting might have ruined my enjoyment. I thought the stories were okay, for what they were, but they weren’t what I was hoping for. I can say, however, that I loved the artwork. I thought the art in this book was excellent. The details such as the veins were a brilliant touch. I thought the style was great, and the colors were extremely vibrant. At least SOMETHING met my expectations.

            Let’s talk about accessibility. Now, for those of you who have never read a Tim Cubbin review before, by accessibility, I mean how easy it is to pick up this book if you have limited or no prior knowledge of the Hulk or Marvel Comics. To me, I don’t feel like this is an entry level graphic novel. I feel like you should have a decent amount of knowledge of Marvel Comics to fully comprehend this graphic novel. This knowledge can extend to prior or post 2008-2009 (the original release dates of these comics), I really don’t think it matters. But I feel if you only know Marvel from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s not what you need to read this book. Or if you’re reading this review and think it sounds interesting but know nothing about Marvel Comics, this really would not be easy to pick up. I feel like it requires a comprehension of Marvel Comics to read this book. I could be wrong, don’t go just by what I say, I’m not perfect, I can’t make your decision for you, I’m just telling you about MY opinions on MY website, take them or leave them.

            Now, I think it’s time to move on to the main event: the score! Now, you can obviously tell at this point that the score won’t be good. I’m not an easy scorer, I don’t go around randomly throwing out tens, but looking back, I’d say I’m generous. So, this book may be getting my generosity. So, let’s review my criticisms. Didn’t answer the titular question. Didn’t meet my expectations. The stories were subpar. Art was fantastic. Let’s balance all that out. I’m thinking here, I’m thinking here, what is an appropriate score for this book? Honestly here, I think the best score I can give this book is a four. I’m sorry, but if you’re going to give a book a title with a question in it, YOU HAVE TO ANSWER IT IN THE BOOK! Like I said, I know who the Red Hulk is, but if you don’t, reading this book won’t tell you and it will be like a total waste of your interest. I gave my list of reasonings, so I don’t feel like I must go on any longer on the subject, but this book was a disappointment story-wise, but it was a visual treat.

            Now I’ll tell you if I recommend this book. Obviously, I don’t. HOWEVER! If you’re a fan of the Hulk, I CAN’T tell you NOT to read it. Like I said, this is all MY own opinion on this blog. Honestly, if you’ve read this book and have a different opinion on this book, I would LOVE to hear from you. Feel free to respond to me in whatever format you can. No one has ever commented yet, and I would love to hear from someone, you can be the first, that would be THE BEST! That’s the beauty of being human. We all have different opinions. I have mine, you have yours, please feel free to share. If you really love the Hulk, though, I wouldn’t turn you away from this book, especially because it has such great art, but in general, it’s not a book I’d go out and just tell anyone to read.

            Okay, I think I’ve said about enough for now. I will say that this website has over one-hundred posts on it, most of them reviews of Marvel Epic Collections, so if you liked this and you like Marvel, there’re dozens more for you to read here. You can expect another review coming sometime in the next three weeks. I’ve also written short stories, I’m in the stages of planning one for release soon, so you can keep an eye out for that one. I’ve written some free verse poetry; I dabble in that a wee bit. I’ve written some articles, essays, and editorials, and have a bachelor’s degree in journalism. If you’re bored and want to read sheer stupidity, you can check out my B’ings. There’s just so much more to see on this website, so keep looking, keep coming back, please comment, and until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"The Incredible Hulk: Crossroads" by Bill Mantlo

            The following is a review/critique of the graphic novel “The Incredible Hulk: Crossroads” by Bill Mantlo as presented in Marvel Epic Collection format.

            Doctor Brian Banner worked as an atomic researcher. His wife Rebecca Banner and Brian conceived a child together. Brian figured that this baby would take the focus of their marriage, being rather narcissistic, turning Rebecca’s attention to the baby and no longer to Brian. This created Brian to have great resentment towards the baby. Rebecca had a difficult pregnancy, and had to have a C-section to birth the baby, a situation where Brian would rather have his wife survive than the baby. Fortunately, Rebecca survived, and named the baby Robert Bruce Banner. Brian, having been exposed to radiation, believed this baby to be a monster and gave Bruce absolutely nothing but contempt. Brian hired Nurse Meachum to babysit Bruce, but Meachum was too strict. Bruce perceived Nurse Meachum to be a goblin. Bruce had a stuffed toy that was Bruce’s only friend, a guardian. He also had a star mobile, which emitted a glow, Bruce’s only light as a child. Brian grew to resent not just Bruce, but also Rebecca, who, as Brian predicted, turned her attention more to Bruce than Brian. A family tragedy turned custody from Bruce to Rebecca’s sister. As Bruce grew up he developed an aptitude to science, but at school paid little attention to his classmates, absorbed in his schoolwork. When he was an adult, he was hired to Desert Base to build the gamma bomb for the United States military, answering to General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. Bruce met Ross’ daughter Betty and immediately fell in love with her. The General, however, thought little of Bruce as a human, but as his ticket to give the United States military an advantage in world power and respect. Bruce gained the assistance of Igor Sklar, who disliked Bruce and became rather ambitious to gain Ross’ approval. When Bruce completed the gamma bomb, Ross wanted to see a test in its application. During the countdown, teenager Rick Jones decided to impress his friends but sneaking into the military compound and unknowingly entered the test area. Bruce saw Rick and rushed to his rescue, instructing Igor to hold the countdown. Igor saw his opportunity and did not follow Bruce’s orders. Bruce was able to push Rick into a trench, but took the full brunt of the gamma explosion. Because Bruce had a genetic mutation, he was able to survive the gamma radiation, a fact that none but Brian Banner knew. However, the gamma radiation saturated Bruce, and triggered a transformation, becoming the monster Brian predicted. Bruce’s transformation was somewhat temporary. Bruce would be a dominant personality, but in times of stress, fear, or anger, this transformation turned Bruce into a creature who would come to be called “Hulk.”

            Over the years, the Hulk caused a lot of destruction, both in property and living creatures. Ross would go on to issue a manhunt against the Hulk. Banner grew to fear the Hulk, seeing him as a curse. Bruce always wished to be free of the Hulk, but never succeeded. Then, the demon called Nightmare struck. Hulk went up against Nightmare, who offered separation. Bruce took the demon up on the deal, but instead, Nightmare purged the Bruce Banner persona entirely, eliminating Bruce and turning the Hulk savage. Savage Hulk became a true menace, and a danger to the world. Feeling that there was no other choice, Doctor Stephen Strange used a spell to banish Hulk from the mainstream reality into an interdimensional place called the Crossroads. This gave Hulk access to many other worlds, except for the one he was born in, giving him free range to travel to a place where the Hulk could not harm other people and could not be harmed by other people. Doctor Strange enacted the fail-safe spell. If Hulk came to a world that scared or dissatisfied Hulk, he would be returned to the Crossroads to try again to find a new world to visit. In the Crossroads, Hulk encountered the Puffball Collective, a being exiled to the Crossroads, but unlike Bruce, the Puffball Collective was unable to leave the Crossroads. The Puffball Collective did all it could to befriend the Hulk, but Hulk was unable to return the desire for friendship being totally savage and uncomprehensive. The Puffball Collective tried to restore a sense of self into the Hulk, trying to bring back memories and changing form to try to please the Hulk and create a friendship, with the ulterior motive of finding some way to escape the Crossroads, but each attempt ended in failure.

            Hulk traveled to many worlds, never finding satisfaction. He found himself embroiled in all kinds of situations, siding with and against other beings. The super villain team the U-Foes, comprised of Ironclad, Vector, X-Ray and Vapor, were unexpectedly sent to the Crossroads. Hulk had had several battles with the U-Foes in his original reality, and attempted revenge against the Hulk.

Hulk, meanwhile was learning to comprehend basic instincts, particularly friendship, but his friendships always failed to last.

Hulk teamed up with a space pirate team against the energy devouring Klaatu and joined the crew aboard the Andromeda.

Hulk was soon joined by the Triad, the creatures Goblin, Guardian and Glow, the beings from Bruce’s childhood personified. From then on, they attempt to restore the Bruce Banner persona and to get Bruce back to his home world.

 

I have to say, I found read this book to be a relatively enjoyable experience. I found the story to be mostly interesting. It has coherent and cohesive and consistent. I feel this is mostly due to the fact that this book only had one author, which doesn’t happen very often in Marvel Epic Collections. I have read other works by Bill Mantlo before, and his work usually satisfied me. I will say, however, that this book felt a little too drawn out. I felt like some stories were longer than needed, and some stories should have been given more time to develop. Savage Hulk at times felt dissatisfying, as there was little character development, and as the character was unintelligent, to me it rubbed off a little bit much in the story. The complexity of the Jekyll and Hyde theme and the Bruce Banner and Hulk dual personas not coexisting made Hulk feel two-dimensional to me. There have been times where Hulk and Bruce had been merged, and to me that held up pretty well, but Savage Hulk didn’t feel complex enough to me. Also, the lack of superhero/super villain conflict, replaced by minor opposition felt a little flat to me. All that said, I was still able to enjoy reading it. Also, lest we forget, this was a graphic novel, and the artwork is just as important as the story. An amazing story in a graphic novel can be ruined by shoddy artwork, but stellar artwork doesn’t hold up as well if the story is just not compelling. We have to remember that comic book art has changed style over the decades. Each time period seems to have relative standards. I must acknowledge that the issues contained in this collection ranged from the years of 1984-1985. I have to say that while I felt this was top quality artwork at the time, I don’t feel it holds top quality anymore. I particularly disliked Hulk’s facial expressions. I know he was supposed to be unintelligent, but to me it just seemed to be taken too far. I’m not saying I thought the artwork was bad, it just didn’t consistently appeal to me. Also, consider that the issues contained in this collection were released before I was born and I didn’t become a regular comic book reader until 2001, so my likings of art styles are somewhat tainted. That’s not to say I don’t like retro comic book art, but this book didn’t stand out to me.

But all said and done, I was still able to read and enjoy it, despite all of my perceived flaws. I know I’m expected to give this book a numeric score, so I’ll do that. When I score a prose novel, graphic novel, or comic book event, I work on a scale of one-to-ten. One means I felt like this book was terrible, ten means that I felt like this book was outstandingly incredible, I score it at a seven. I think if he story and art could have been tinkered with a little by today’s standards, I could possibly have given this a nine. As it was, I felt like this was a good effort at an incredible Hulk story, but it just wasn’t incredible enough for a higher score.

Now, some of you might be intrigued by this book just by reading this review. But, it should be taken into consideration that I’ve been reading Marvel comics for twenty-one years, so my knowledge might not align with yours. But, I think if you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but have never read a Marvel comic book before and are looking for a place to start, and you really like the Hulk, I feel like this might be a good jump on point for you. To me, it seemed very self-contained and the narrative was consistent and linear, all just one continuous story progressing with each issue. Like I said, the issues in this book were released before I was born, and my Hulk knowledge doesn’t go back that far, so this was new territory for me. I also liked the issue where Bruce Banner’s origin was discussed as it was a story I didn’t know of prior to reading this book, so that was worth it right there. If you’re a long-term Marvel comics reader and haven’t read this book but like the Hulk, I’d say this might be worth a read for you. (It should be noted that everything in this post is my own personal opinion and I will not outright expect you to agree with me, and even welcome disagreement, and if you want to discuss this with me, I invite you to contact me by commenting on this blog page or on Twitter. I’m not giving you my personal e-mail however, so reach out to me on social media.)

So now I’m going to wrap this post up. I usually post on a frequent basis, I’ve had to take some time off because of an injury, but keep checking back, see what else I post. While one of the primary focuses on this blog are book reviews, I also write short stories (I’m going to write one in a few days and will post it when I’m satisfied with how it turns out), I write editorials such as my continuing complain series B’ings (which I’m in the process of writing one now), I write poetry, and I write essays, and other kinds of content, so if you read this post and like it, I’ve done over one-hundred posts, so I think you might find something else you might like, so feel free to keep browsing this page and come back for more. And so, until next time, Tim Cubbin… out! 

Painful Super Powers

Hey, guys, you’ve now entered From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! I don’t know if you’ve ever been here before, but I know some of you reading this post are familiar with my work, or me, or both, and for that I thank you for sticking with me. If you’re new, you’ll get used to me in this post and will hopefully check out some of my other (currently) seventy posts after you’ve read this post. So I also know the title of this post or the tags I attached to it have totally interested you, as if someone else wrote this I totally would myself, but some of you know and like me and totally want to read more of my nonsense, but however you entered, you are THE BEST! You’re here, you’re reading this, I mean, this couldn’t be any more awesome to me!

            Anyhow, I’ve actually posted an essay where I talked about what super power I would like to have. Some of you have read this post, and if you haven’t, feel free to finish this post and then check it out. Whatever you want to do, you’re THE BEST! But this particular post is about painful super powers. Some of you may know I’m a HUGE Marvel comics fan (as a lot of the content on this blog involves Marvel graphic and prose novels). BUT! I don’t read any other comic book publishers, so all of my comic posts are Marvel, and if you don’t like Marvel, you’re probably not reading this. So, here’s what we’re going to do. I’ve picked five Marvel super heroes. Some of them may SEEM to have awesome powers, but if you really thing about it, maybe you might decide you won’t want those powers now.

            We’re going to start with Robert Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk. Bruce was caught in the blast of a gamma bomb, and now when he gets angry, stressed, scared, or too excited or stimulated, he transforms into a big green monster with super strength and near invulnerability, and the angrier the Hulk gets, the stronger he gets. (Okay, some of you might be a reader of “The Immortal Hulk” and now the new rules may be more wonky, but I’m going to traditional Hulk right now). So we’re going to break this down a bit. First: the gamma bomb. HE SURVIVED A GAMMA BOMB! Can you imagine how painful that would be? HE WAS BLOWN UP AND PUT BACK TOGETHER! OUCH! And when he then transforms into the Hulk, his muscles grow and he gets bigger, bulked up, his whole body expands! I mean, that HAS to hurt! It CAN’T be comfortable! And then, when the Hulk calms down, he shrinks back to puny Banner. The muscles shrinking back down to average human size? I mean, he rapidly transforms from a weak man, to a giant green monster, then back down to a wimpy average human? I would NOT like to undergo that transformation.

            Next we’re going to talk about Raven Darkholme/Mystique. She is a mutant shapeshifter. Now, I know so many people would like that power. You can be anyone you want! Come on, how much fun is that? BUT! Think about this: your molecules are changing, shrinking, growing, transforming, converting, rearranging, separated, morphing, metamorphosing, more words I can’t come up with at the moment. That would presumably feel odd, uncomfortable, or (as the title says) painful. And certain body parts changing must feel awkward, but we won’t go there. And to make EXACT, TOTAL changes? Eyes, hair, what else seems like mild changes like fingerprints, nails, things we really don’t even think about. People don’t really think about the precision Mystique must use, to be exact, full body transformations, how uncomfortable it would honestly be. Sure it’s a cool power, I totally say that, and would have wanted to have it until suspension of disbelief was broken. Again, it’s honestly something that just about no one else would think about, but I did, I put it out there, I invite you to feel either way about it. As I always say, this blog is all MY opinions, and you don’t have to agree with me. It’s just something to think about.

            Our next character is Robert “Bobby” Drake/Iceman. He’s able to generate ice, lower temperature enough to freeze things, turn his body to ice with minimal shape-changing abilities (such as bodily enhancements and reconstitution if he is damaged in ice form). Once again, shape-changing. He can change his ENTIRE body into ice. That includes skin, bones, muscles, hair, organs, everything. Total transmogrification. TOTAL! I couldn’t imagine that possibly being comfortable. This brings us back to consider Bruce. I honestly don’t know if his Hulk form has expanded bones and organs. I don’t know if Marvel has ever discussed this, but I haven’t read it, but then again, Hulk was created in 1962, and yeah, I may be old, but I’m not THAT old. Iceman was created in 1963, by the way and I also don’t know if any Marvel writer stopped to consider the feeling of Bobby’s transmutations. I know, I’m thinking WAY too much about this.

            Next we’ll consider Jean Grey-Summers/Marvel Girl. She’s telepathic and telekinetic. I know, finally someone who’s not a shape-changer! She can read and influence minds and communicate mentally, as well as able to move objects with her mind. (Also, with Jean, I’m referring to her as Marvel Girl and NOT Phoenix/Dark Phoenix). Yeah, I know you may be thinking “but Tim Cubbin, how can you say these powers are painful? They’re, like, the coolest powers ever!” Yes, these are awesome powers, but we’re going to explore some of the ramifications. Some people may not know this if they never read the comics, but when Jean was a little girl, she had a best friend named Annie. One day, while playing, Annie was in the road and was hit by a car and killed. Jean was there and felt Annie die with an early manifestation of her telepathic powers. If that’s not painful, I don’t know what is. Also, in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, when Jean first manifested her telepathic powers, she could not keep the thoughts of ANYONE around her out of her head. It bothered her so much she chewed her knuckles to the bone and was placed in a mental hospital out of belief of the Homo sapiens schizophrenia mental disease. I know, these are a little gruesome, but I feel they’re necessary tidbits to, in my opinion, enforce my point. So yes, telepathy seems like a really cool power, and it is, IF you can control it. There’s that caveat. Also, not painful, but another tidbit to enhance is if you can’t control your telepathy, you might subconsciously influence the thoughts of other people around you, like make people you want to be friends with like you, and make people you don’t want to like you dislike you, even if they might not necessarily want to if they weren’t telepathically influenced. And you might hear thoughts you really wouldn’t want to hear, other peoples’ private business that you really don’t want to know about, secrets you’d rather not know. Yes this could help, like being in school and taking a test, you can read the mind of the smartest student in class and use it to get a perfect score, but that’s cheating to the maximum level and invasive and unethical and so many words that means it is unfair to others to violate their mental sanctity. It’s just wrong and I really would feel terrible about myself if I did this as this would basically make me an evil mutant. I know, that sounds crazy, but that’s how I’d feel and this is my blog, my opinion, my mind, and I can’t expect you to agree with me. In fact I’d be rather surprised if you did agree with me on this because telepathically is totally awesome and you’d want it. But I’m an ethical guy and I’d feel totally wrong to use my powers all the described ways I just wrote, so there you have it.

            As my final character to analyze, I’m going to use a relatively obscure character, but if you have heard of him, or read comics with him in it, you’d likely totally see my point in choosing him. This character is Jonothon Starsmore/Chamber. Jono communicates telepathically (he can’t actually READ minds, though) and can release biokinetic blasts. I don’t think biokinesis is a common power and I don’t think I’ve ever read another character with this power. The problem is, when his powers manifested, be blasted out his lower face and frontal torso, and the biokinetic blasts roil in these locations. So now he has no vocal chords and no internal organs in these locations such as lungs or a heart. Yeah, you can imagine that hurts, but that probably died down after manifestation and he most likely doesn’t feel it anymore, but still, I don’t want to blow myself up.

            And that’s where we’re going to wrap this up… FOR NOW! Expect more installments on this topic as there are so many more characters I can analyze, so if you liked this post, keep checking my Twitter page or this blog page so you can see when I post these, and totally check out more of my work as I have SO many more ideas and content. I’m a journalist, so I write editorials and other essays like this one, as well as short stories and poetry and Marvel reviews (which I mentioned at the start of this essay), so there’s more stuff to read and like, so keep checking this page out. Follow me on Twitter, retweet, like, comment, share, whatever you can do on Twitter, or keep looking for more on my blog page, if you’re a Facebook friend, share this on your page, tell your friends about this and I’ll take my fingers off my page by saying three more words: Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Planet Hulk" Graphic Novel/Prose Novel Comparison

            This is a comparison piece of the graphic novel and prose novel of the Marvel comics storyline “Planet Hulk.” If you’re reading this, note I have also given separate reviews of both the graphic novel and prose novel, so you can either pop over to them now, or finish reading this then pop over. If you read my separate reviews first, you are THE BEST! (Expect to see that again). My point of this is to give you an idea about “Planet Hulk” and if I feel none, either, or both of these presentations are worth the read.

            Now, here’s the clincher. Parts of the graphic novel AND all of the prose novel have been written by Greg Pak. I feel that that might make you interested in either or both as there is the same writer. BUT! And here’s the major BUT! There are several differences, and I will talk about a few and try not to give spoilers.

The main point of the story is as follows. Robert Bruce Banner had created a gamma bomb. During a test of the gamma bomb, Bruce ran into the test site to save a boy named Rick Jones, but Bruce was caught in the explosion. He survived, but now when angry, scared, or stressed, he turns into a green monster called the Hulk, which Bruce then has no control over and stays in Hulk form until the Hulk is calmed down and reassured. But the Illuminati, (Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Black Bolt) felt the Hulk had done too much damage. Hulk was tricked to go to a satellite in space. The Illuminati THOUGHT they were sending Hulk to an uninhabited planet. But the ship was sent off course and he landed on the planet Sakaar. The Red King lords over Sakaar with a despotic grip. Hulk is weakened by the long trip and by the obedience disk and is sold into slavery at the arena. He forms a Warbound who fight for freedom so they can escape the arena and take the battle to the Red King.

           

            First off, there is a character in the prose novel, the Fifth Prefect, who either did not or only minimally appear in the graphic novel. Just so you know, my separate reviews of the prose and graphic novel have been read and completed at several times, so my memory might be a little wonky, but I’ll hopefully steer you in the right direction. But in the graphic novel, the words “Fifth Prefect” to my knowledge did not appear, while this character in the prose novel had a recurring story.

            Second, the character of Elloe Kaifi was featured very differently from between the graphic and prose novel. In the graphic novel (which came out several years before the prose novel), Elloe is part of the Warbound, the Hulk’s group of allies. And yet, her participation in the prose novel was rather limited. To me, her role in the graphic novel was enjoyable, yet her shortened role in the prose novel was a bit of a detraction. (Again, these posts have all been written at different times, there are DEFINITELY contradictions that seem vastly different over these three posts, but I felt differently at each point of me writing these posts, so just roll with me here (is that really a phrase? Or did I make it up? Whatever, it’s not all that great a phrase).

            Third, the role of Caiera in the prose novel built up steadily. In the graphic novel, it was spots here and there that featured her. Her characterization as a major character in the prose novel was more compelling, compared to her now and then appearance in the graphic novel.

            Fourth. The character Amadeus Cho in the prose novel was featured slightly more compared to his brief solo story in the graphic novel. I actually enjoyed his phone conversation with Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four), his snarky attitude, overconfidence, and intelligence in the prose novel. He was an afterthought in the graphic novel.

            Fifth, the ending was VERY different between the graphic and prose novel. So automatically, I have to tell you that if you read one of the other, then ending is not the same, pretty much, at all. The climax in the graphic novel was lengthened a lot more, and in the prose novel, there was very little climax, just an ending. This was rather disappointing to read in the prose novel. Note that I read the graphic novel before I read the prose novel, that’s pretty important to know.

            Now I’d like to talk about the religious view featured between the two adaptations. Hiroim in the prose novel told much more of a religious history than in the graphic novel. Hiroim was called Hiroim the Shamed due to his expulsion from the Saka religious coven. There was a prophecy on the planet Sakaar, of the Sakaarson and the Worldbreaker. So this being, Hulk, from another planet, showing up to save Sakaar from its corrupt ruler meant that Hulk is either the Sakaarson or the Worldbreaker, which I can’t tell you if he is neither or one of the beings in the prophecy without spoiling the story. But the prose novel does include several pieces of Saka scripture which the graphic novel did not contain.

            Now, I’ll say a few things I felt while preparing to read the prose novel after I read the graphic novel. I expected the story to be almost EXACTLY the same, what with the story done by the same writer. I expected the prose novel to be an enhancement of the graphic novel, featuring the same story with minor changes and more fleshed out bits. This I DID NOT get. So did I have a problem with that? Yes.

            Moving on, I’m going to discuss whether I feel if the graphic and/or prose novels are worth reading, the accessibility needed to understand the story, and finally which adaptation I preferred.

Let’s start with the graphic novel. If you are a major Hulk fan, I recommend it. It’s a relatively good effort. The story does sometimes feel dragged on though, which is common when a storyline is determined to be a certain amount of issues where either more or less content is needed to fill the demand. Maybe if the story were an issue or two shorter, it could have been better. This would be a good book for those who like Hulk, and for those who like sci-fi comics, and readers who enjoy dystopian-style stories. We’ll get back to that in two paragraphs.

Now we’ll examine the prose novel. I recommend you read my reviews of the graphic and prose novel separate posts for full effect. But is the prose novel worth it? If you’ve read the “Planet Hulk” graphic novel and enjoyed it, I feel you should give it a try. If you like novels based on comic books, science fictions books, and the Hulk, I recommend it.

Now, accessibility. These adaptations are understandable to major Hulk fans, those who have interest in him from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or those who like dystopian-like stories as either comics or prose. It is very much standalone. No prior knowledge is required. I think anyone can pick it up and read either version. But, if you want to read both, I’d say start with the graphic novel before you read the prose novel. Character descriptions in the novel will probably give you different mental images than what you’d see on the page. But, yes, I get that some people read prose novels before perusing into visual, such as movies or television shows. If that’s your prerogative, that’s up to you. I personally read the graphic novel first. Note that the graphic novel was released years before the prose novel was penned, so if you want to go by graphic novel first due to release date, you go right ahead.

Finally, I’ll tell you that despite its flaws, the version I preferred was the prose novel, but the graphic novel had its points where it was better than the prose novel. I always hate comparing prose to other formats when there are massive differences between the two, especially prose to graphic novel adaptations. Many of the events were similar, but the differences were highly contrasting. If you only want to read one version of “Planet Hulk,” I’d say you should tackle the prose novel.

Okay, you still with me? Awesome, you are THE BEST! (I say that A LOT but I always MEAN it). So let’s wrap it up here. Thanks for reading! I have so much other content on this blog, I’ve done over fifty other posts and I’m nowhere near done. I don’t just do reviews, I have all different types of posts, so check it out. So, till next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Planet Hulk" by Greg Pak

            This is a review of the prose novelization of the book “Planet Hulk” by Greg Pak. Note this is not a review of the graphic novel comic book event “Planet Hulk.” The graphic novel has also been reviewed in a separate post, as well as a separate post comparing and contrasting the graphic novel and prose novel.

            Okay, if you know nothing about the Hulk and did not read my review of the graphic novel, let’s go over the Hulk’s origin briefly. Doctor Robert Bruce Banner created a gamma bomb. During a demonstration, young Rick Jones entered the test site. Bruce was able to protect Rick, but was caught in the explosion. Bruce somehow absorbed the gamma rays and survived. But there is a side effect. If Bruce gets too angry, scared, or stressed, he turns into a rampaging, witless being called the Hulk.

            Okay, got that? Good, let’s get on to the ACTUAL book. Hulk lost control and destroyed Las Vegas. Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Stephen Strange (Doctor Strange) and Black Bolt (King of the Inhumans) decided enough was enough. Something had to be done. So this group (called the Illuminati) found a planet ideal for the Hulk. Vegetation, but no life. Nothing for Hulk to smash or get hurt. So the Illuminati lured Hulk into a spaceship under the false pretext of fixing a rogue satellite, and sent him on his way to the planet. What they didn’t account for was a wormhole, which sent Hulk in a completely different location, the planet Sakaar. Sakaar is rule by a young tyrant called the Red King, the Emperor. Upon Hulk’s arrival, he is discovered. He is weak from his transport from space and from remaining in Hulk form for the entire ordeal. He is easily overpowered, and tagged with an obedience disk (which zaps you with electricity if the owner presses the button on the remote) and sent into slavery. Hulk is bought and forced into an arena. He trades blows with the Red King, and is injured. Unnoticed at the time is his blood actually grows vegetation (it takes a while). This earns him the name “Green Scar.” Green Scar forms a bond with other slaves forced into the arena, Korg, Miek, Brood, and Hiroim, becoming the Warbound. The rules of the arena battles is if a fighter wins three rounds in the arena, they are free and are automatically a citizen of Sakaar. So, yeah, the Warbound fight and win in the arena, but still the fight is not over. They plan to fight the Red King and free Sakaar from the despotic rule of the Tyrant. The Warbound is challenged by more enemies, particularly the Spikes, and make new allies, Elloe and Caiera. So the Warbound set off to Crown City to finally defeat the corrupt Red King, once and for all.

            Okay, that’s the main story of the book. Now it comes to the important part: my rating of the book. There are usually three parts to my rating, my thoughts, the accessibility to new or casual readers, and, of course, my numerical rating, and this is done as is usually done. Okay, my thoughts. I think my favorite section of the book was the arena segment at the start of the book. The battle with the Silver Surfer was rather exciting. After they were free, however, my interest went downhill. Had more of the book been about the arena, my score would probably be higher. Also, I must talk about the chapters. I felt more of a division between chapters might have made for a better read. The reader gets a total shift of characters in two or three pages, focusing on all completely different characters. Some of the Marvel prose novels I have reviewed have had short chapters, and that made for a more leisurely pace. I feel if Pak had done more chapter divisions and less mixing of narrative, it might have been a more enjoyable read and not focusing on five or six groups of characters in one chapter. So in general to relation of chapter length, the chapters were sometimes longer than needed because of the cramming of separate events in one chapter, yet in general were not too bad. For me, the pace was okay, no fifty page chapter that takes three hours to read occurred (and who wants to read like that? Okay, I know some of you do, but the lack of this makes it a lot easier for people who don’t usually like to read, but because of my review you want to read it, the number of pages per chapter probably won’t be overwhelming).

            Okay, now the ever important accessibility. Note I do not give a numerical score to accessibility, but I stress the importance of background knowledge I feel is needed to fully grasp the story. If you’ve never read or watched anything with the Hulk in it, I don’t feel prior exposure is essential to understanding the book. BUT! And it is a MAJOR BUT! The descriptions of the characters’ appearances are not well included, so imagining the characters is probably is a little difficult and you probably might not imagine the characters for you like Pak intended. So, FOR BEST RESULTS I feel that you should consider reading the graphic novel of “Planet Hulk” before reading the prose novel. I know, pain in the butt, you have to do extra reading, but I think it will help you a lot. I’m not saying you HAVE to read the graphic novel but I recommend it.

            All right, we’re here, my numerical score. Some of you may have read my review of the graphic novel, which is a separate post, as well as my comparison piece also a separate post. Now, you might see contradictions between the way I feel about the book, but remember I am reading these books at different time so my memory might be a little wonky and the presentations of the events due to the difference of words and pictures are often what this is based on. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so looking at an image and reading a description can make a HUGE difference. So if I contradict myself, you’ll have to forgive me. I feel different on different days and there has been a bit of time since I reviewed the graphic novel. But enough of that. Let’s just get on to the score. This book kept me relatively interested. Again, the chapter structure will have to detract from the score a bit. Oh, and my score is a one to ten, one being trash, ten being gold. On this scale I give it a seven. The effort was there, but the arena part not being long enough for me to enjoy took the score down. Now, you may wonder if I recommend the book. If you are a Hulk fan, this book is probably for you. If you’ve read the graphic novel of “Planet Hulk” and enjoyed it, if you’re reading this review, read my comparison piece to give you an idea of if this book is for you. And I know some people are not reading this post because they think this is the same post, which it is not, but oh well, what can you do? But I do give out a recommendation to it, but again, read my comparison piece first to get a firm grasp on my opinion.

            I must be boring you by now. But, if you have read this far without any skipping, you are THE BEST! (Note I say that a lot, but really, each time I mean it). And now check out my review of the graphic novel and my comparison piece, and you really are THE BEST! So I’ll say goodbye to this post, and leave you with three words (two being a proper name), Tim Cubbin… out! 

"The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect" by Peter David, Jerry Novick, Frank Lovece. and Barry Dutter

            The following is a review of the Epic Collection presentation of “The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect” graphic novel by Peter David, Jerry Novick, Frank Lovece, and Barry Dutter. It contains the two issue titular storyline, as well as several issues that tie in to the titular stories.

            Okay, so some of you may know nothing about the Incredible Hulk and are reading this review anyway, so I feel a brief explanation of Hulk’s origin story is required for your understanding of this review or you may have no idea what you’re reading and give up after a paragraph or two, which I totally do not want, and if you read this review all the way to the bottom, you are THE BEST! (If you’ve never read any of my posts before, note that I say that a lot, but my regulars will know I say this a lot, and if you’ve ever read any of my posts before and are returning to a new post out of like for me, or for obligation, you still are THE BEST!) Okay, let’s start. Doctor Robert Bruce Banner is a nuclear physicist. He created a gamma bomb that would be very useful if it ever were needed as it is VERY destructive. So Banner, of course, had to test it. He had it starting the countdown to detonation when he noticed teenager Rick Jones driving into the testing site. He rushed out to save Rick. He got Rick into a ditch, but could not save himself from the blast. Instead of dying, he absorbed the radiation. Then, in times of anger, stress, or fear, Banner would turn into a muscular and green and uncontrollable and unintelligent creature called the Hulk. Hulk wanted to be left alone, but the United States military decided they wanted to capture him, reproduce the effects of his accident, and destroy him. Hulk, of course, did not want that and had been on the run for quite a while. General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross was the most adamant in the Hulk’s capture because, as Bruce, Bruce was in love with Ross’s daughter Elizabeth “Betty” Ross. Bruce and Betty eventually got married, and Bruce was stuck in Hulk’s body but still maintained Bruce’s personality. He teamed up with a group of demigods called the Pantheon and became a true super hero.

            Okay, maybe that wasn’t a brief history, but I feel it was needed, especially since the last two sentences are not known to casual Hulk readers who did not read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s (including me) are aware of, and if you’ve never read anything of the Hulk before, it is definitely needed. Of course, those of you who have seen the Marvel Studios film “Avengers: Endgame” know what the Banner Hulk is like as this was the persona of Hulk in the film, so this may not be as alien to you as it might have been to those who haven’t seen the film or read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s.

            Now, this graphic novel, being an Epic Collection, had three main storylines in it and the supporting chapters around them. We’ll start with “The Troyjan War.” This was about an alien prince named Trow-Mah (also called “Trauma” as a wordplay) who is in love with Pantheon member Atalanta and is forcing Atalanta to marry Trauma or else Trauma will destroy all the other members of the Pantheon. Hulk and the Pantheon travel into space to confront Trauma and stop the wedding of Trauma and Atalanta, teaming up with the Silver Surfer (the former herald of the planet eating being called Galactus) and the space pirates called the Starjammers along the way. I leave the rest of the story up to you if you wish to read this book following the conclusion of this review.

            The next and titular story is “Future Imperfect.” This takes place ninety years in the future. A nuclear war had occurred, and a lot of the humans on the planet are now dead. One of the surviving areas is called Dystopia, where the humans living there are lorded after a monster called the Maestro who is actually an aged Hulk. Some of the surviving rebels obtain the time platform created by the long-time archenemy of the Fantastic Four named Doctor Victor Von Doom (Doctor Doom for short) and bring the Banner Hulk of the 1990s to their future to confront the Maestro. One of the rebels is the granddaughter of Rick Jones. Rick is miraculously still alive, but none of the heroes of the Marvel Universe have survived to this Future Imperfect and Hulk is their only chance of survival.

            Finally, we’ll touch on the story of the wedding of Rick Jones and his longtime girlfriend Marlo Chandler. I think that’s all I should say, but this wedding has some interesting guests (including photobomber Drax).

            Okay, I know you want to know how I felt about this book in an effort to aid you in deciding if you want to read this book or not, which is vitally important to you. Then I’ll discuss how much knowledge of the “Incredible Hulk” you must know in order to have a total understanding and appreciation of the book. Then, of course, my numeric score of the book. This will all be done as one storyline at a time, then as the book as a whole. Some of you might think I’ve done contradictions when I score, but I assure you, there are none.

            First, let’s start with “The Troyjan War.” As I previously said, I did not read “The Incredible Hulk” in the 1990s (the issues in this book range over the course of 1992-1994, when I was alive but much too young to read this book), so some of the background story was unknown to me, but I pieced it together in the origin story, but if any of that is incorrect I thoroughly apologize to you. Okay, I loved the presentation of Banner Hulk. This was just so fun for me. Sure I know and like Banner/Hulk separate conscious to this day (which was recently “The Immortal Hulk” and I don’t fully understand it), but I think I rather prefer Banner Hulk from the 1990s. Sometimes Hulk being an unintelligent brute isn’t compelling for me (but if he is for you, I respect that. I am, after all, entitled to my own opinions, and I totally wish for you to formulate yours as you and I are not the same person and think differently.) HOWEVER! This story was not to my liking. I didn’t feel satisfied by the events, the creatures at Loch Ness, the Troyjan Trauma, and the Hulk/Pantheon/Silver Surfer/Starjammers team-up.

            Next is “Future Imperfect.” This fascinated me. I found the setting of ninety years into the future of the world after a nuclear war and the location of Dystopia to be very compelling. I could actually imagine the Future Imperfect world (but not the events with the Maestro) was actually believable to me, especially as I’ve always believed World War III could happen any day. The Maestro as Hulk’s dark reflection was compelling for me. We all have our dark side, but seeing the possible future of the Hulk’s transformation into the Maestro was interesting for me, especially since the Maestro was not a witless brute like the Hulk I’ve always known. He was intelligent, yet corrupt, but surviving a nuclear war would always change a person’s life, so it made sense to me.

            Let’s finish off with the wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler. The bachelor party movie faux pas was unexpected, but I honestly didn’t like the objectivizing of Marlo, I felt it was not needed. The battle at the bachelorette party, however, gave me a laugh as it was almost a total deviation of Rick’s party. And the unexpected, yet invited appearances to the wedding entertained me (particularly Drax’s photobombing).

            Okay, time to move on to accessibility. My regulars know I don’t give a score, but I still give a warning. But, in this case, I honestly don’t have a warning. I found it to be rather self-contained. I didn’t know “Incredible Hulk” stories from the time period, but was easily engaging. If you don’t know anything about “The Incredible Hulk,” I think it might be a good excursion into the world of Bruce Banner/Hulk for you. If you know things about Hulk, but have only seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, or are a classic/recent reader but not a 1990’s “Incredible Hulk” reader, it might possibly your cup of tea.

            Okay, now the scores. I’ve gone on for quite a while, and if you’re still with me, you are (of course) THE BEST! So let’s get right to it. Oh, yeah, my scoring system. I score on a scale of one to ten. One is I thought that this was trash, ten is I thought it was an incredible masterpiece (no pun intended). “The Troyjan War”: six. “Future Imperfect”: I give it, possibly for the first time, as perfect ten! The Wedding of Rick Jones and Marlo Chandler: eight. The book as a whole, a complete Epic Collection: nine! I personally LOVED this book, and if you are a Hulk fan of ANY kind, I feel you should totally read this book! My regular readers know I am VERY hard to please and a very harsh scorer, so if I give anything a perfect ten (I don’t think I’ve ever given this before), it’s worth a looksee. A nine as a whole Epic Collection is pretty epic, even incredible.

            So, I know you must be getting rather tired of me prattling on for so long, so I’ll sign off for now. Expect more content from me soon, check out my past posts, come back again (you are THE BEST!) tell your friends (if you found me on Twitter follow me, and please give some retweets!) and I’ll be back soon! Well, until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Planet Hulk"

 

            The following is a review and analysis of the Marvel Comics graphic novel event “Planet Hulk” as presented on Marvel Unlimited. I will focus on the early stages in the storyline in ways to avoid spoilers as best as I can.

            Okay, first we’ll start with the story. There was a secret cabal of scientific and representative superheroes, including Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Doctor Stephen Strange, and Black Bolt (king of the Inhumans) who call themselves the Illuminati, who meet in secret, so secret that even their teammates are unaware of their group meetings.

Doctor Robert Bruce Banner was a nuclear scientist. He was caught in an explosion of gamma radiation, and in times of great stress, anger, and fear turns into a super strong and uncontrollable creature called the Incredible Hulk. The Hulk causes harm and destruction every time he transforms.

The Illuminati made a decision after Hulk’s latest rampage: he was just too dangerous to stay on earth. A satellite near earth was going out of control, and S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Directorate) called in Banner to fix the problem. The Illuminati take advantage of this and plot Banner’s spacecraft to send Hulk to a planet devoid of intelligent life where Hulk will not be able to hurt anyone, nor can anyone hurt Hulk, and finally be at the peace he has wanted ever since the accident. Unfortunately, a wormhole knocks Hulk’s spacecraft off course and ends up sending Hulk to the planet Sakaar. Hulk has been weakened during the ordeal and when he is found by the people of Sakaar, Hulk is sold off in slavery into the arena where Hulk is forced to do battle while given a control device causing subjugation and preventing resistance. While in the arena, he meets Korg, Brood, Hiroim, Elloe, and Miek. The gladiators form a Warbound (an alliance) to each other no matter what might come. Of course, this being a comic book, the Warbound escape and swear revenge on the man who forced them into the position, the Red King, Emperor of Sakaar. Hulk is also believed to be part of a prophecy, the Sakaarson, savior of Sakaar, or the Worldbreaker, he who will destroy Sakaar, and Hulk and the Warbound are determined to learn which he is and his contribution to the future of Sakaar.

Okay, I’m sure now you know the direction of the story, and this was only the first story arch of the event. There were also three other arches to the event, but going past this would be too much of a spoiler to the event and I don’t want to ruin it for you readers who are considering reading this event.

Now, you’ve probably been waiting for my scoring to help you determine if you might want to be interested in reading this event. Now, I highly stress that this is all MY OWN PERSONAL opinion. I honestly can’t outright say it was good or bad, that’s all for you to decide should you choose to read “Planet Hulk” (and if you do or have read the event I’d love to hear from you to share your opinion as well, that would be THE BEST!). Here’s the rundown of the following three paragraphs. I start, again with MY PERSONAL opinion on what I liked and disliked. Then I tell you the accessibility, how much I feel is important to know prior to reading “Planet Hulk” to fully enjoy the story. Finally, I give my numeric score based on MY enjoyment of the event.

First off, this event made me feel a little wishy-washy. There were parts I loved, and parts that I felt were dragged on too much, parts that bored me, and parts that I honestly didn’t like. And I also found this story to be highly predictable. From the start of him arriving on Sakaar and sold into slavery and into the arena, I knew how this story arch was going to go, and the ending just didn’t “wow” me. I did enjoy the Hulk’s battle with the Silver Surfer in the arena, BUT it seemed rushed and wasted and had almost no impact or payoff at any further points of the story, it was like he was just there to have a familiar face as every other character was created and original to the event. This also made it difficult to for me connect with the characters as they were only ever going to be in the one event. I only knew them from this story and will probably never see these characters again, so I just didn’t feel invested in the characters, their storylines, their history, I just didn’t feel for the characters. There were also parts that seemed a little too rushed, like if they had focused more on those parts and less at some of the other points that seemed slow. I just didn’t feel it was balanced.

Okay, enough on that, let’s move on to accessibility. This, to me, was very self-contained. As I said, the cast of all new characters just there for the event didn’t have history to the comics, so the backgrounds were, to me, self-explanatory. It wasn’t like they had these characters with history dating back to 1962 who appeared dozens of times with intricate storylines with all the characters in the Marvel Universe. Even the Hulk’s prior stories had no impact on “Planet Hulk.” I feel anyone could easily pick it up. So even if you know absolutely NOTHING about the Hulk, if you read this review and feel interested, even after my score, I feel you’d be able to pick up on the story with little to no problems at all. And I know that to some of you, this story might seem familiar, and if so, here’s why: part of the film “Thor: Ragnarok” was inspired by the “Planet Hulk” comic book event. So if you loved the film “Thor: Ragnarok,” I totally recommend this comic book event to you.

Now, here it is, the moment you’ve been reading for, the clinch to determine “Yeah, I‘ve got to read this” or “Hard pass.” My score is given on a one-to-ten scale. One is, like I said “hard pass,” ten is “Yeah, I’ve got to read this” I slam it right at the middle: Five. Did I hate it? No. Did I love it? No. It was okay, but it could have been better for me. There’s a word I want to throw in here: potential. Look at the title: “Planet Hulk.” Do YOU think it has potential? If you can answer yes, I actually recommend it. If your answer is no, however, then the chance of your liking it might not be there, but still, if you want to read it, feel free to read it. I leave it all up to you. You are not me, I am not you, this is my mind, not yours, I can’t make yours for you. This is the whole point of these reviews, or anything I do on this blog for that matter. I have opinions, I share them with you, that is it, that’s all I can do.

So, if you liked this post, I’ve done dozens of posts on this blog, totally keep coming back, I post regularly, I hope there’s other content here you like. I do other things than reviews, like short stories, poetry, essays, editorials, I do quite a bit. So pick my brain, come back, and I’ll just say, Tim Cubbin… out!