"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! 

"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!