Hulk #19 – Review

By: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ed McGuinness (penciller), Mark Farmer (inker), Dave Stewart (colorist)

The Story: The Intelligencia, having split with their ally the Red Hulk, send the Fearsome Four to invade the Baxter Building under the leadership of one of their own, the Wizard. Red Hulk sneaks in too, acting on a larger plan. And in a secret lair, MODOK and Doc Samson trade barbs over what to do next about the Red Hulk.

What’s Good: The Fall of the Hulks one-shots set up this arc, and now Fall of the Hulks is upon us! Loeb opens with a bang, as he launches plotting and counter-plotting forces, each sneaking around the other, feinting and moving for position. It’s a caper plot with more than two sides and it’s a lot of fun to watch! I’m fascinated (and have been for about a year) with the new, plotting, scrawny Banner that has influence over so many people stronger than him. What also intrigued me were the references to the top eight smartest people in the world. Reed Richards was obviously a target and I love that McCoy was mentioned as well. And, if memory serves, that means that Amadeus Cho will also become involved in this, thereby pulling in Hercules? Interesting….

The art was a treat. I’ve always been a fan of Farmer’s inks. He adds a soft humanity to the faces. McGuinness is obviously very talented as well and I loved the level of detail and texture he brought to the Thing, the Wizard and Klaw. Muscles move the way they’re supposed to under McGuinness’s pencil and the dynamism of the action makes me slow down the reading.

Don’t Believe the Hype! – Price Increase In Comics

It was around this time last year that our esteemed founder, Jason Montes, first gave us the heads up on the rising cost of comics.

“Starting in January,” Jason emailed the staff of WCBR, “Marvel’s going to raise the price of the majority of their comics to $3.99. We need to follow this, because this is going to be a huge issue for our readers going forward.” I saved Jason’s email because I agreed with and believed in the value of his request, and wish dearly that he was still with us to read this column because I think he would have really enjoyed it. With the emergence and increase in the number of titles with $3.99 price tags from Marvel and DC, it seems to me that the industry has reached an important crossroads that will need to be addressed immediately if it’s going to keep the audience it has, and grow the audience it wants. A conflict is brewing over your buying dollars and how the comic industry wants you to spend them. On one hand, monthly, serialized comics continue to be the staple crop of Comicdom, although their sales figures have been a pale reflection of what they used to be fifteen to twenty years ago. On the other hand, graphic novel releases of serialized comic storylines are gaining in popularity as well as sales in local comic shops and major book retailers like Borders, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble; such serialized comic storylines are now tailored and written for their release as graphic novels.