The trailer for the latest MCU Disney+ show was just released, and it's for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Unsurprisingly, Hulk himself will be making an appearance, and I got just the read to celebrate the occasion. BACKGROUND:
I have a pretty good idea of what happened in this story arc since I've read bits of it before, but this is the first time I'm reading the entire thing from cover to cover. THE WRITING: The Illuminati, a secretive superhero council (with members Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, Professor X, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Black Bolt, and Doctor Strange), trick the Hulk into helping with a problem in space. Upon doing so, they launch Hulk far, far away from the solar system, saying it's for the "greater good." Hulk is obviously livid, as it further reinforces the notion that no matter how hard he tries to be a hero, humanity will always see him as a monster. This, by the way, explains Hulk's absence in Civil War, and further establishes the Illuminati as shitheads who wrongly believe they know what's best for everybody and think they can decide things without consulting others. The shuttle Hulk is on goes completely off course when it enters a massive portal, and he crashes into the planet Sakaar. Weakened by the portal, he's immediately captured by the Red King's forces, and is forced to participate in gladitorial combat. Along the way, he becomes acquainted with other slaves who were forced along with him: Korg (a Kronan rock monster), Miek (one of Sakaar's bug-like natives), two Sakaar Imperials (the main race on the planet) who were branded traitors by the Red King, Hiroim (a disgraced Shadow Person, a mostly neutral race in Sakaar), and a member of the Brood (alien insects who are a recurring threat throughout Marvel Comics). Hulk is ever the lone wolf, but after going through hell together, he and the others come together in a Warbound pact, essentially becoming brothers and sisters in blood fighting for one another. As the story goes along, we learn more about the world of Sakaar and the other members of the Warbound. We learn about the cruel governance of the Red King (who not only indulges in slavery, but neglects his own citizens in favor of fighting a pointless war), the ancient history of Hiroim's Shadow People (including their pact with the Imperials, and their belief of a certain prophecy), the origins of the Brood and Korg (the former was tragic, while the latter was super cool because it ties in with an old comic featuring Thor), Miek's whole backstory (which revolves around the harrowing tale of his people being persecuted by the Imperials), and the existence of the Spikes (which just seem like parasites that turn people into freaky alien zombies, but turn out to be a bit more interesting than that). There's a lot going on, and I'm glad this story arc takes its time to build up Sakaar and make it feel lived-in as a world. Hulk is very much the main focus of the story, with almost no appearance from Banner and little of the usual conflict between the two sides of the coin. We see his cynicism towards humanity carry over to the people of Sakaar (after the Illuminati's betrayal of him, it's understandable) slowly change as his exploits earn him the praise and reverence of the oppressed (who believe him to be the Sakaarson, a savior prophesized to save the planet), and he becomes the hero who stands against the cruel regime of the Red King. Though he still struggles with his supposed need to just be left alone, he and the rest of the Warbound end up being the best of comrades, with Hulk finding solace in being with fellow "monsters." I always enjoy when stories explore Hulk's side (since Banner's feelings on the whole situation is often the focus), and I love how being in Sakaar (a completely new place with no puny humans) provides a completely fresh setting for Hulk to find himself. The Red King himself is a pretty standard villain (asshole monarch isn't really breaking new ground), though I liked how he slowly became obsessed with revenge after Hulk was the only one in history that has ever wounded him in combat. The more interesting villain to me was his lieutenant Caiera, a Shadow Person who serves the monarchy due to the aforementioned pact between her people and the Imperials. She and Hulk form quite the rivalry, and without giving away too much, their dynamic changes quite drastically as the Warbound continue their quest to liberate Sakaar. Out of all the other members of the Warbound, Miek is the one who gets the most time to grow as a character. The tragedy of his race eventually makes him cruel towards the Imperials who massacred and enslaved his people, which put him at odds with the others. Outside of that, he's actually a pretty charming character who really looks up to the Hulk (almost to a fault). Everyone else has their moments, but it's Miek who stands out to me as the breakout star. Apart from references to the Avengers and Illuminati, the presence of the Brood, and the nod to Korg's early encounter with Thor, you won't see much else of big crossover characters or connections to the wider Marvel Universe. That is, except one surprise character appearance that I was quite thrilled to see. Overall, I liked how this story arc was mostly new (at the time) characters and locales with just a tiny bit of connecting threads to the bigger universe. Without spoiling exactly what happens, the story arc ends in a rather tragic note, as even when it seemed like Hulk would finally find a world where he can live in peace as himself, it's snatched away abruptly. The harrowing event causes Hulk to recall the humans who shunned him, and how the Illuminati deceived him and sent him away. Enraged, he calls on the Warbound and travels back to Earth to exact his revenge, leading into the next storyline: World War Hulk. In addition to the main story arc, a few other comics are included in this collection. One is a sort of interlude that sees Banner's consciousness chastise Hulk for his escapades in Sakaar, while another is a full-on guidebook on Sakaar that provides some text-heavy world-building for the planet and the beings that inhabit it. Most interesting to me is the inclusion of a story that stars Amadeus Cho (one of the smartest teenagers in the Marvel Universe) outsmarting Reed Richards (who is also pretty fucking smart). Cho had become friends with the Hulk, and upon finding out what the Illuminati have done, he criticizes Mr. Fantastic and the rest for treating Hulk so harshly. It's a good tease for the World War Hulk storyline, and I liked how it also referenced the blunder of how people on Iron Man's side handled Civil War (Richards was on his side, and was involved with one of the major shitty things that happened in that event). THE ART: I found the overall style to have a "rough" feel to it thanks to its frequent use of hatching and scattered patches of black to create a sort of "dirty" texture to various elements, and I thought it was fitting for the unforgiving setting of Sakaar. Other than that, there's a decent amount of detail in character faces and backgrounds, surprising variety in terms of color despite the story taking place in a mostly desolate wasteland, and there are plenty of neat designs introduced here (like Hulk's gladiator armor, [spoiler]'s outfit, some of the robot/mech designs). A good number of artists were involved in the comics collected in this book, so there are departures from the most common art style I observed. I liked the throwbacks to old school comic art for some of the flashback scenes, the highly detailed style in Giant-Size Hulk #1, and the anime aesthetic they used for Amadeus Cho's story. VERDICT: Planet Hulk is easily one of the most memorable Hulk stories I've ever read. Sakaar was an interesting new place thanks to all the world-building, Hulk's journey of becoming the planet's savior was exciting (and a huge contrast to how he was treated on Earth), many of the characters who debuted had interesting backstories (and some even get meaningful arcs), and it was cool to explore Hulk's classic dilemma of being an outcast (and somehow moving past that) within a fresh setting. I enjoyed the hell out of this book, and I'm hoping to read World War Hulk in the future, because the setup for it here was hype. This story arc was one of the main influences for Thor: Ragnarok, and if you liked what they did in that movie for Hulk's character, you should definitely read this book ASAP. It has all the Hulk you could possibly want, and this arc is perfectly standalone since a) it takes place in Sakaar (which, at the time this was published, was completely brand new and not tied to any past comics), and b) you don't need to know the finer details of how Hulk ends up in Sakaar to begin with. Have fun comparing and contrasting stuff between the comic and the movie, because some of the elements that ended up making the big screen are just as interesting as the stuff they altered to fit the MCU. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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