World War Hulk: Prologue
World War Hulk Prologue
Writer: Peter David, Chris Giarrusso & Greg Pak
Artists: Al Rio, Lee Weeks, Sean Phillips, Scott Hanna, Tom Palmer, Chris Giarrusso & Takeshi Miyazawa
Incredible Hulk #106
Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Gary Frank & Jon Sibal
Company: Marvel
World War Hulk kicks off in two-tiered fashion, with the Prologue tackling Hulk’s preparations in space and reflections on how he’s gotten to this point and Incredible Hulk looking in on the rumblings on Earth. It’s a pretty effective launch, actually, good at setting up anticipation for an event that won’t fully launch until the books start hitting in about a month. The writers do an admirable job setting up the backstory without overwhelming potential new readers who haven’t read Planet Hulk or Civil War, and the artwork throughout is pretty impressive. There’s just one small problem with it… but I’ll get to that later, and I suspect it won’t be a problem for most. Suffice to say, if you liked Civil War, it seems more than likely you’re going to like World War Hulk.
So… Peter David, one of the agreed-upon definitive writers of the Hulk, returns to the character to set up his role in the World War Hulk crossover. Chris Giarrusso spoofs Planet Hulk and the Illuminati. Greg Pak, author of Planet Hulk, introduces his new character Mastermind Excello to She-Hulk and Doc Samson and sets up some of Hulk’s Earth-bound allies. Certainly the two prologue issues of World War Hulk contain plenty of story, and the creative teams are familiar enough with the main character to make him ring true.
There are some fascinating and new ideas at work in World War Hulk, but it’s hard not to notice the similarities between this story and Marvel’s smash crossover Civil War. The notion of some of Earth’s heroes trying to end the threat the Hulk presents, only to have it backfire and turn him into more of a threat, is an interesting metaphor that could, with only minimal strain, be seen as another parallel to what’s been going on in Iraq. The more complex morality of hero vs. hero instead of hero vs. villain is at the heart of this one as well, allowing for another choosing of sides and fractious battles between those who were once allies. There’s plenty of manipulation, secret agendas and dirty fighting tactics going on. And that’s just in the stories themselves, not mentioning the same structure of main miniseries, Front Line miniseries, X-Men miniseries, etc.
Still, one can’t really blame Marvel for aping success, and in any case, there are some fun moments in both of these issues. Mastermind Excello, super-smart kid who has decided to gather allies for the Hulk because he thinks the heroes done him wrong, is a fun character. It doesn’t hurt that he was designed and originally illustrated by Takeshi Miyazawa, who gives him youth, a sense of fun and makes use of manga elements to illuminate how he uses his mind in a physical fight. Gary Frank carries this over when he introduces Excello to She-Hulk, and I find myself liking this character quite a bit. Also, if you can buy into the notion that the characters (like Reed Richards and Doc Samson) deserve some comeuppance and not just see the writers bending the characters out of shape to make them act in such ways, there’s something satisfying about seeing She-Hulk give Samson a little payback. Just as there’s something kind of inspiring in a “Marvel Team-Up” kind of way about the allies that Excello picks up at the end of Incredible Hulk.
That’s one of the main points of divergence between Civil War and World War Hulk so far: a sense of fun. Not just in Chris Giarrusso’s very funny, surprisingly sharp (for being published by the very company it’s parodying) goof on the Illuminati, but in the energy and optimism that Mastermind Excello brings to his quest to help the Hulk. While Hulk is a vengeful powerhouse, Excello provides the brains and the heart, and I’m curious to see if his more noble ideals will survive a conflict with what is sure to be a pretty brutal and un-heroic set of actions by the Hulk, no matter what the provocation.
And then there’s the artwork. Al Rio does some pretty nice framing sequence work, some of the best work I’ve seen from him, in World War Hulk. Sean Phillips is an excellent choice for the more emotional and human confrontation between Jennifer Walters and Doc Samson. And Lee Weeks, who always impresses, just blows the doors off with some nice flashback sequences to the Hulk’s famous fights. In particular, his pages of Hulk battling the gold and red Iron Man are spectacular. Then there’s Gary Frank, who returns to Incredible Hulk with a great mix of superhero physiques and action and lovingly rendered real clothes, faces and hair.
There’s just the one problem. And for some, it won’t be a problem at all. For others, it’s going to be insurmountable. For me, it’s sort of in the middle, in that I can somewhat enjoy the story as long as I pretend it’s an extended “What If?” with little relation to the actual Marvel Universe. Because in order to buy into this story, you have to accept that Doc Samson, Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Iron Man and several other noble heroes are acting like villainous douchebags. That may sound harsh, but when you see Reed Richards gleefully spying on and planning to take down a teenaged kid, or see Doc Samson, who has always represented a thinking and talking type guy as opposed to a brawler, start off a battle with a cheap shot aimed at non-powered adversaries, it’s hard to think of anything but “Jeez, what a giant tool! I can’t wait for the Hulk to kick their asses!”
Which, of course, is exactly what Marvel wants you to think. But while I am thinking that, I’m also thinking “Jeez, they’ve really screwed up these characters, I hope someday all of this gets quietly ignored.” Which probably isn’t the end goal. In the end, World War Hulk has some very solid craft behind it, but anyone with a fondness for the Marvel Universe in general is probably going to have a hard time getting past some of the mis-characterization to enjoy it.
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I enjoyed both of these issues. While I do hate that Marvel has decided that the ‘Illuminati’ and their allies are suddenly assholes, it wasn’t something that just appeared with World War Hulk. It’s been around for months now, and I’ve had time for it to at least settle in. Mis-characterization is the name of the game at Marvel right now- in a bit of hilarity they released the first volume of Walter Simonson’s Fantastic Four Visionaries this week, which features issues from 1989 where Reed and Sue Richards testify before a Congressional comittee to stop a proposed Superhero Registration Act- but at least in World War Hulk the protagonists act in character.
That said, Dave brought up an interesting point several months ago when he pointed out that Marvel purposefully made major heroes into dicks in Illuminati and Civil War specifically so that readers could root for the Hulk when this crossover came around. Fun bit of manipulation on their part.
03 May 2007 at 9:21 pm
QuoteI can’t buy into the notion that Mastermind Excello thinks granting the Hulk his revenge is a good idea. In terms of collatertal damage they’ll wind up with just as much blood on their hands as Tony Stark.
I still think all this “everyone acts like douchebags” is a misguided attempt to “validate” the fact that they’re grown men writing superheroes for a living, that copy of Come in Alone staring at them from their shelf like the sword of Damocles.
03 May 2007 at 9:46 pm
QuoteI could be wrong, but I think that’s intentional. Excello is a kid, and while he’s a genius, there’s a very naive, less than worldly vibe about him. I suspect the lesson you mention above is one that will be imparted during World War Hulk. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Excello is one of the ones who winds up taking Hulk down.
There’s definitely a “we want our superheroes more real” vibe going on. I don’t know that it’s an embarrassment about writing superheroes (Bendis, Brubaker and the rest could easily go make a lot more money writing for Hollywood, so I think there’s a genuine love of the characters/genre there), moreso a misguided attempt to get the characters to grow up with them and the current audience.
Or maybe not so misguided… it does seem that the 20- and 30-something crowd is the audience we have now, and the kids’ audience has been marginalized to a niche within a niche. These more realistic and morally complex (if inconsistent with past portrayals) versions of the characters may in fact be what the majority of the audience wants. Certainly sales would seem to bear that out.
The question is, can you blame them for giving the audience what it wants? And moreso, is this a case where in the long-term, this will result in a dwindling and jaded audience? I used to think so, but it’s been many years of these kinds of stories, and the audience, if anything, is growing.
03 May 2007 at 11:01 pm
QuoteThe thing that struck me most about World War Hulk: Prologue was how much it reminded me of the Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War one-shot. It sets up the sides of the argument clearly, by referencing lots of old continuity to give the whole thing context. I bet you they decided to have this prologue written right after they saw how successful Casualties of War was. The fans liked it a lot, but strongly criticized Marvel for releasing it only in the middle, when it would have done more good toward the beginning. So this time, they told Peter David to do the same thing, but write it before the whole war begins. It’s a very good move.
My favorite part in the Mini-Marvels story was when Giarrusso made fun of Alex Maleev for his portrayal of Black Bolt. I was laughing out loud at that scene! I think this story is also a case of learning from Civil War- there was a great Mini-Marvels Civil War parody, but not enough people read it because it was used as a back-up in Spider-Man and Power Pack. Now that they see how good Giarrusso is at this, it’s occurred to them to push him into the spotlight more.
And I loved the Mastermind Excello story back when I first read it in Amazing Fantasy (so much so that I get really excited each time I see the character show up again), so that’s a good addition too.
Overall, I’m just amazed at this issue. It’s so filled with excellent editorial ideas!
And I think you’re right about making the heroes feel like villains in preparation for this war. Those Marvel editors are pretty sneaky.
04 May 2007 at 1:16 am
QuoteI hope you’re right, because this sounds just weird. That Hercules and Angel would be helping him, even out of a desire to make up for a past mistake, is a bit hard for me to buy too. Yes, what was done to the Hulk was wrong. But he’s a killing machine who’s about to rip NYC to shreds to get at Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic et al.
I never detected a note of embarrassment from Brubaker; if there’s anything he’s too reverent of or “into”, it’s Tom Fontana shows.
Bendis is something different, though. Illuminati reminds me of Identity Crisis in that it’s trying to give its heroes “feet of clay” to make them more “real” or the past stories less goofy, if they were all acting like jerks or failures between the panels. Bendis has little use for continuity, but he keeps playing with it- and I just want to say, dude, DON’T. After that Stan Lee Meets Dr. Strange Impossible Man story, I don’t know why he’s still writing comics period. I mean, sure, he still can do a good story- I reread recently and liked The Mighty Avengers, The Confession, and The Initiative. But New Avengers continues to be awful, his women are all bitches or martyrs, and he’s been dragging out Secret War’s big story for four years and it’s still on the first act.
My issue isn’t so much past portrayals but sloppy writing and lack of editorial oversight. Look at the aforementioned Casualties of War- that was well written and used examples of continuity but it still did a better job than the main series itself of explaining the Pro-reg/Iron Man position than Bendis has or the Knaufs. Iron Man is portrayed as deeply conflicted in one book, indifferent in another, and a full bore super-villain in yet another. There’s creative freedom, there’s not being tied down to continuity, and then there’s feeling such contempt for audience intelligence you can’t be bothered with a consistent portrayal.
But you’re right; it sells.
04 May 2007 at 9:37 am
QuoteThis may be the best summation of Marvel’s prevailing zeitgeist I’ve read.
I do believe there’s an embarassment underlying many of the plays these writers are making, even if it’s subconscious. And it’s inevitable, I suppose. I’d like to think we all know in our heart of hearts that Marvel and DC’s heroes are rooted in childhood fantasy, but where the contingent dubbed “old school” seems ready to accept that, the next gen of readers and writers - many of whom came in at the new median age of late teens/early college - seems desperate to infuse childhood fantasy with adult credibility (credibility, in this case, taking the form of Chuck Palahniuk pop-nihilism). It’s a little stunted, to be honest.
As to the justification that it sells…well, there’s always the question of whether Marvel and DC could be selling much, much more if they had distribution outside of comic shops and book stores, and targetted younger audiences beyond token books like Marvel Adventures. Manga’s proven that the youth audience for comics still exists, but thus far neither Marvel nor DC has been able to capitalize on ‘em. I always keep that in mind, along with the sales numbers comics did in their first half-century or so, when sales that would’ve been laughable 30 years ago might otherwise seem to justify current trends.
04 May 2007 at 10:44 am
QuoteWhat I love about the irony of THIS round of “Not your father’s comics it’s not advanced by Alan More or Miller but Mark millar? He can’t write. I don’t feel a need to mince words. Civil war is the tentpole of marvel and any real editor would have laughed at it
04 May 2007 at 1:33 pm
QuoteI think you hit that on the head. As long as the direct market is the only market, comic sales are never going to get back to anywhere near where they used to be. When I was a kid you could get comics literally anywhere. Gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores etc. Hell, I read comics for 6 years before I ever set foot in a comic shop. And when I finally did, it was like I had found Mecca. It’s nearly impossible for comics to be impulse buys anymore. You either have to go usually way out of your way to find a comic shop (my nearest one is still 25+ miles away) or order them through the mail. Kids have to find comics nowadays instead of comics finding them. Where’s the gateway in that??? People can discuss storylines and such till the cows come home but anyone who doesn’t realize that this is the biggest problem is just fooling themselves.
04 May 2007 at 4:04 pm
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