 | Quick reviews: Hulk, Daredevil, X-Men |
Hulk #39
By Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman
The last few issues of the Red Hulk series have seen a further development of Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross, the birth of a new rogue's gallery of monsters and the building threat of Omegex. This issue finally sees all of those aspects come to a head and it is marvelous if feeling cut off too soon.
I have been a Hulk fan since childhood when my brother would mutter 'Jamie Smash!' whenever I threw a tantrum. The 70's Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno TV series and the 80's cartoon continued to hold my interest but aside from a few scattered issues I have not been what I would call an avid follower of the comic book until Greg Pak shot the green goliath into space. Since then I have become connected to fans of the character who have closely followed the character's adventures and delved more deeply into the past with the Essential Hulk books. After World War Hulk, Banner was de-powered and a new Red Hulk introduced to steal the show. I struggled month to month to decipher if Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness' series was the best or worst book I have ever read and to tell the truth it's both. It's a silly slugfest with over the top action and smack talk. When Jeff Parker took over, he smoothed over the wrinkles in the title resulting in a fantastic series that soon became what one would expect from a traditional monthly Hulk comic book.
Hounded by the military, the Red Hulk is pursued by General Fortean. Fortean has installed nano bots that will explode the moment Ross calms down and reverts to his human identity. With only a small group of Life Model Decoys as support, Ross tries to stay one step ahead of Fortean who is developing more devastating weaponry to destroy the Hulk. The irony of the situation, a direct role reversal that Ross had with Banner/Hulk, is not lost on the Red Hulk. To add to his problems, former Dr. Kurinji, now the super villainness Zero/One, has assembled a hit squad to eliminate the Hulk forever. Oh, and a galactic destroyer named Omegex is en route to clean the Red Hulk's clock.
The new issue starts with an unusual amount of backstory on Ross as he revisits his family homestead and opens up to the Life Model Decoy named Annie about a father who was never there for him and a wife that seems to be connected to a life lost long ago. It's touching but I found myself wanting to check the number of remaining pages when Ross walked into a dilapidated barn housing an old airplane from his youth only to find Omegex waiting in the wings. The fight stretched several state lines and has no sign of stopping.
For Hulk fans, this kind of brawl is a long time coming and just when it appears that things are getting heated up, Zero/One's secret weapon the Black Fog arrives and enters the fray. This was a very well structured issue, as usual featuring some of the finest artwork in a monthly superhero book by the great Gabriel Hardman and plenty of action. I look forward to seeing where this will go next month. At first I felt sort of cheated by only receiving half of a fight, but given the level of development it made me really invested in the character of Ross. General Ross is a creation that is as old as the Hulk but this issue gave a few new facets in a most dexterous manner. Well played, Mr. Parker.
Daredevil #2
By Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera
Continuing the rebirth of the Man Without Fear, Mark Waid's Daredevil series dances the line between continuity and a fresh start. Previous to the current run, Daredevil was... not the best of superheroes. Outed in the tabloid press, he denied his double life as a crime fighting vigilante and lawyer. Beating up the competition he declared himself the Kingpin of Hell's Kitchen and told the superhero community to stay out of his way. Finally he became the vessel for a demon, constructed a pagoda in the middle of Hell's Kitchen and led a league of assassins known as the Hand into the systematic assault on crime in the city that led to his eventual madness and downfall at the hands of his closest friends. After that he traveled the country and attempted to find himself, clear his head, then head back to NYC and start fresh.
Some people aren't okay with that and one of them is Steve Rogers, the once and current Captain America. The battle between the two heroes is startling and beautifully crafted by Rivera as the two combatants swap their trademark weaponry of baton and shield, fighting across rooftops and in a deserted warehouse with all the grace and skill of a pair of dancers. Daredevil attempts to clear the air by bringing up the trial of Cap's dear friend Bucky (bad move given that Buck just died), claiming that like Bucky he was under another power's influence and not in control of his actions and earns a reprieve. Daredevil's puckish attitude, dating back to his early days, continues to be troubling as it points to an approaching collapse but it is still so satisfying to see a new/old take on the character.
Daredevil continues to work on the Jobrani case only to discover that other lawyers were threatened to leave it alone via a prank phone call. The strange thing in each situation was that the call seemed to be coming from a dead line, making the lawyer's fear for their own sanity. Matt Murdock's partner Foggy Nelson gets some inside info (and apparently much more!) from the sassy DA and passes it on to Matt leading him to Jobrani's old business, a deserted electronics shop. In the basement, there are strange goings on as several ghost-like partial sound shapes are seen constructing a device. An eagle-eyed reader may recognize the villain as Klaw, the master of sound, but to DD the beings are just static. The battle is brief and nit in our hero's favor, leading to his capture and inclusion in the bizarre experiment.
The new Daredevil series continues to be a slick and fun superhero book, something that fans have been asking for for ages. Unfettered by back-story, the plot moves along at a quick pace and the artwork is just beautiful. I am very grateful that Waid, Rivera and Martin have united to bring DD back to the heavy hitters of the Marvel Universe by returning him to his roots. I'm also looking forward to seeing the man without fear in the pages of the Avengers next month, something that has been a long time coming!
X-Men: Schism #3 (of five)
By Jason Aaron and Daniel Acuna
The very expensive five part story that promises to revitalize the X-Men books and give them a new direction continues. Jason Aaron has a firm grasp of the enormous cast of characters in the X-verse, something that is no easy task. In just a few issues he has given some characters attention that have languished in off-panel obscurity for too long, such as Iceman. It's not much, but I appreciate it. The main story persists in an attempt to get off the ground but like an old Dodge Charger on a cold morning, it's cranking over several times and failing to start.
There are three main plot threads in Schism; Cyclops and Wolverine are developing into different characters who do not share the same point of view, the mutant population is again under threat by a world that hates and fears them and a new Hellfire Club consisting of creepy children are determined to kill the X-Men with strange alien technology. Quentin Quire, a left over from the Grant Morrison days, was seen early on as a major threat by instilling a riot during an international arms conference but has since disappeared. These plots have been twirling around for three months now in more or less the same stages. Cyclops and Wolverine are starting to get more ill at ease with each other but have yet to have a full-out argument, the anti-mutant sentiment is palpable but hasn't really resulted in anything and the Kid Hellfire Club continues to feel like a bad idea. I'm not saying that the series should have shot out the gate guns blazing with Cyclops and Wolverine at each other's throats, but looking back over two thirds of the story I can see very little actual movement.
At the opening of a Mutant History Museum exhibit, Emma Frost leads a contingent of X-Men in a show of force and defiance to the anti-mutant aggression. Meanwhile, X-Men teams are fighting Sentinels run amok across the globe while Wolverine sulks in a bar and drinks beer. When the museum comes under attack, Cyclops and Wolverine rush to the scene, each shouting contradictory commands at the team on site. By the time they get there, the carnage is massive and the powerful mutants are beaten savagely by a bunch of kids. Only the young mutant Idie is still able to get the innocent bystanders clear of the bomb blast, but the abandoned Hellfire Club soldiers are left to die in the explosion. For some reason, this upsets Wolverine yet Cyclops seems to be coldly aware that they are at war and war has casualties. When the bomb is revealed to be some kind of device that creates a Sentinel from the floating debris, the X-Men realize that they are up against a foe that could be is outside of their abilities.
I like how the recent X-Men run has built up the teamwork aspect of the X-Men and the brilliant tactical mind of Cyclops. In comics, there is often a case of 'who'd win in a fight of ___ against ___' and to be honest the X-Men never fare all that well. The Fantastic Four (or FF as they are now known) have immense power levels, the Avengers (pick your team) is a collection of heavy weights, but the X-Men isn't really known for having a roster of powerful characters. Their real strength is in systematic teamwork, each member using his/her skills and abilities to assist the other. The dissolution of that team (or family) is what this book is all about and so far things are not looking good.
The Kid Hellfire Club is dangerously close to a very bad idea. Presented as the young heirs to various financial empires, each member is roughly the same age and all are bloodthirsty killers. I find it a little hard to believe that all of them are so similar and it makes them seem more like a joke than a real threat. It is also worrisome that Namor and Magneto, two of the biggest bruisers in the Marvel Universe, are taken out by these brats so easily and quickly. It's still unclear to me what their goal is, if they had wanted to kill the X-Men they could have easily done so, but so far I am worried if this is the main threat of the mini-series.
I have high hopes for the outcome of this series, two distinct flagship books with different directions and different leaders, but this mini-series is spinning wheels so far. I hope that next month when the action really gets started this old car gets its engine going and hits the road roaring. With Alan Davis on hand for art chores, it should at least be pretty to look at!
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