This is probably the first Loeb written Hulk book I have actually liked. #600 was all right, but I actually got into this one and wanted to turn the page to see what was happening next. Part of that was, of course, the fine artistry of JRJR, who was operating on all cylinders on this one. The two page FF fighting Hulk spread was mighty fine, calling me back to the silver age mash-ups of yore.

I also think the recent iFanboy review of the Red Hulk mystery really helped, pulling together 18 issues of what I felt was disorganized dreck into a single interesting package of insights and speculation. So in this issue, when Loeb dropped more hints and red herrings,  I was immediately engaged and considering the new information against all the bits and pieces dropped before.

This was also a quieter issue than usual, with the only fighting occurring mostly off camera (with the exception of a couple of great flashback panels). It is basically the funeral of Thunderbolt Ross and while there were a few false notes (having Thing compare Ross to Ahab and then immediately attributing that to Reed was all kinds of awkward dialogue), generally it felt like a genuine memorial of a someone almost everyone in attending had to agree had some serious flaws. I don't like Loeb's take on action or his "person to punch" of the week, so this was a welcome change. And no one was screamingly out of character either... although it was highly distracting to have the Avengers running around, making it unnecessarily confusing as to when (pre or post Siege) this story is supposed to take.

This has a bunch of big reveals in it, too. If even one of the shocking characters we see are not Life Model Decoys (and I am sure some are) than this is a big issue for ongoing Hulk mythology.