Pick of the Week

April 3, 2013 – Indestructible Hulk #6

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

705
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.1
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 4.7%
 
Users who pulled this comic:
Story by Mark Waid
Art by Walter Simonson
Colors by Andres Mossa
Letters by Chris Eliopoulos
Cover by Walter Simonson, Dale Keown, Mark Morales, & Edgar Delgado

Size: 0 pages
Price: 3.99

As he did with Daredevil, to a different effect, Mark Waid took a unique approach to working on The Hulk. For one thing, he’s telling a Bruce Banner story. More than that, he’s telling a story about a Bruce Banner who is fed up and isn’t going to take it anymore. He’s a smart, smart man, and it’s time to take advantage of that, which is what we’ve seen in this series so far. The Hulk is there, but unlike previous incarnations, he’s a targeted weapon these days. No, you can’t use the Hulk like this forever, but for the time being, it’s yet another fun way to look at things. Hulk doesn’t talk. Hulk just is, and when he is, bad guys scurry.

This issue, we’re treated to Waid’s expansive mind once more, as he extrapolates a story out of existing pieces of the Marvel Universe. No matter how many times I’ve seen Waid take what’s already there, and turn it into something fresh, I’m always impressed. Banner gets himself a bit of Uru, the substance that forms Thor’s hammer, Mjolnïr. He spins it up real fast, and makes a pathway to Jotunheim, where the Frost Giants live (Loki’s home town). They’re going to get some samples of mystical Norse god elements. For science. When they get there, they meet Thor. But it’s not now Thor. It’s then Thor. Then Thor doesn’t know Banner and he doesn’t know Hulk.

But wait, there’s more!

Surprisingly, delightfully, sublimely, and magically, this issue is drawn by Walt Simonson himself, who, after Jack Kirby, is the Thor artist to end all Thor artists. Plus, he’s drawing then Thor, in a story that takes place in Jotunheim. I don’t know if you can tell by my typing, but this is some “atwitter” typing. It looks so very good. Simonson hasn’t lost a single step. When I saw those giant classic Thor knee pads things, and the hammer in perspective, leaving the panel, coming straight at the reader, it was over. The moment I saw my first Simonson Thor cover as a wee lad, I was smitten. Today, I was re-smitten. I am in a state of smit. There is so much energy and life in these pages. They’re packed with movement, and have such a loose, kinetic energy that I scanned them again and again. Many of the classic Simonson storytelling tactics were on display, from breaking out of the grid (as did Kirby before him, praise be), to Thor’s spinning hammer, to those great little panel insets. There’s a wonderful panel where a Frost Giant “thwams” Thor right though the panel and off the page. Then when Hulk finally shows up in the last chunk of pages, he brings the pacing way down, and builds and builds to an energetic crescendo that makes me check the end of the book to make absolutely certain that I haven’t accidentally missed the continuation of events. But no, I’ve got to wait, and I don’t want to wait, because when something looks this good, who has the patience?

You can’t go home again, and yet here we are. Walt Simonson is looking truly at home. Let’s take it one step further, and look at where Mark Waid is. After a couple of years in the woods, making his own path, he’s come back to Marvel, reinvigorated, making mainstream superhero comics the way they should be made. They came back home alright, and they brought something back with them. In Indestructible Hulk #6, we’re seeing two proven and undisputed masters of this very specific craft show exactly why they’re held is such regard. They’re not just going through the motions though. They’re still attacking it with a hunger you don’t see in veterans. More than that, they look like they’re having fun. And when they have fun, we have fun.

Josh Flanagan
Even after all that, I do think the armor is kind of dumb.
josh@ifanboy.com


Comments

  1. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    Well yeah.

  2. Great pick Josh!

  3. See I was thinking of starting to pick this up, and this pretty much cements it. Great review.

  4. I’ll get the trade.

  5. Always a favorite of mine, Mark Waid has been flooring me with every issue of Daredevil, and now Indestructible Hulk. I can’t wait to get my hands on this issue.

    Josh,
    Do you think this issue will read as well on the iPad as it does in print? I don’t want to wait until next week when my books arrive from Midtown Comics. Only draw back to life in Nowhere, NC…biweekly mail order comic books…

  6. HULK IS WORTHY!!

  7. Even the lettering is rendered to mimic John Workman’s style from back in the day! Great stuff.

  8. I’m looking forward to this. I didn’t read the first arc, but I’m drawn to the Simonson art. I’m also pretty impressed that it *seems* (still haven’t read it) like a stand-alone arc. If that is the case, then I hope Waid continues to write them this way. Maybe it’s because of what Fraction has been doing on Hawkeye and FF, but I’m finding myself more and more drawn to shorter story arcs, one-shots, and things not so bogged down by continuity and the million other “events” happening in the universe.

  9. The one thing that bugged me about this issue was how Simonson drew Banner. He looked more like Norman Osborn than Banner in a lot of those panels. Apart from that though this was a great issue and I also made it my Pick. Simonson is one of those few artists that can really work well in any era. Some of those layouts and backgrounds were just amazing.

    Also, shout out to Chris Eliopoulos to mimic Simonson’s style when it came to the sound effects.

  10. Made it my pick as well for the same reasons mentioned. Great story, anytime Simonson draws Thor is a must have for me and the lettering by Eliopoulos was so incredibly Workman-esque, an all around great issue.

  11. Wow, I don’t remember the Hulk book ever being worthy of an iFanboy POTW. The last Hulk related book I remember was one of the Red Hulk books that Gabriel Hardman drew. Yeah, Walt Simonson’s art in this issue was just kinetic. I loved the panels where Hulk finally shows up, slowly crawling out of the ground. It’s a great time to be a Hulk fan. I hope Mark Waid stays on this book for a really long time.

  12. Like Michael earlier in the comment thread, I’ll have to wait for this one in my monthly subscription box from Forbidden Planet (and you thought bi-weekly was a long wait, Michael!), so I should be able to read it next week. Just based on the creative team, the cover and this review, though, I’m pretty much sure it will be my Pick of the Week too. Just the thought of seeing Simonson draw Thor again makes me feel like a kid again! 🙂

  13. I’ve never been much of a Hulk fan, but the combination of Waid/Thor/Simonson has me curious. May pick it up when I go back to the store next week . . .

  14. This has been an underrated series coming out of Marvel Now

  15. Okay, might need to pick this up.

    Thor-Hulk IS strongest one there is!

  16. when will the BOTM come out/get written?

  17. I’ve been enjoying the series so far. Waid is a good writer, and I think he’s somewhat under appreciated, until you think about some of the books he’s been on, however, I think that ends with his run on Daredevil and now the Hulk. Of course his current web comics are doing that as well: Thrillbent.com and the others. I need to reread some of those Simonson drawn comics. I think I gave his art short shrift at the time, shame on me (I know).

  18. Ugh. The coloring was wrong for Simonson’s style. I hope marvel releases a B&W version of it.

  19. I read the first two issues after reading this Pick of the Week review, but I don’t know if I can go any further. Nothing — other than Yu’s art — really grabs me.

    • You should just read this issue. I jumped on here and had no problems understanding what was going on.

    • I really enjoyed this issue a ton. As someone who just read Simonson’s run thanks to the omnibus, I was so happy to see his return to that character as well as his take on the current characters. His pages are fantastic, and feel as modern and fresh as anyone else. Really looking forward to this story arch.

  20. I dropped this title after the first five issues did less than impress.

    I picked this up after it was made pick of the week and I loved it. I was in awe of the art and it brought me right back to the days of Simonson’s Thor which were about as defining as Peter David’s Hulk and Moore’s Swamp Thing.

    I loved this issue.