"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! 

"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!