Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1 – Review

Roger Stern (Writer), Zach Howard & Cory Hamscher (Artists), John Byrne (Pencils), Bob Layton (Inks)

This Giant-Size Hulk is a bit of a mixed bag. We’ve got a pair of stories by Roger Stern, one new and one a reprint from 1978’s Incredible Hulk Annual #7, which, although Marvel claims it’s hard to find, seems fairly plentiful if you cared to look for it. The new tale follows a one-time Hulk sidekick, Fred Sloan, as he interviews people who have seen or encountered the Hulk in an attempt to write a biography that is fair to the misunderstood green giant. It’s a decent one-off story that reads like a throw back to an earlier era of the Hulk (in fact it reminds me of something you’d have read in the Rampaging Hulk, if you remember that magazine). This book feels completely divorced from current continuity, so if that sort of thing bugs you then this may not be the book for you.

I’ll wager a guess that Sloan and his subjects are all characters from Stern’s run on the Hulk in the late 70’s. I don’t have those books to check, but it sure feels like he’s revisiting his time on the book. The art for the story is serviceable – nothing to write home about. At times it slips into too cartoonish a style for my tastes and suffers by comparison with Byrne’s work in the reprint.

The reprint story is first rate. I don’t recall ever having read it, so it was a fresh read. It co-stars the Angel and the Ice-Man from their Champions days. They enlist the Hulk’s aid against a Sentinel, go into space, and generally sit back while the Hulk gets in his licks. This is a fun read if you like action packed, self-contained stories. It’s also a chance to enjoy John Byrne on a character with whom he’s not ordinarily associated. (Grade: B)

-Arthur Cooke

Iron Man: Demon In A Bottle (Hardcover) – Review

By David Michelinie (writer), Bob Layton (co-writer, inks), and John Romita Jr. and Carmine Infantino (pencils)

Touted as the story that defined Tony Stark, Iron Man: Demon In A Bottle beautifully reprints Iron Man #120-#128. First printed in the late 1970s, this story of drug abuse isn’t pioneering by any means, nor does it try to preach to its readers. Instead, it starts off as something casual before almost morphing into a running gag. But before you know it, the joke becomes something more serious and when tragedy hits Tony he hits the bottle… and hard.

Most of the issues collected within this hardcover have nothing to do with Tony’s alcoholism. Iron Man fights an evil oil corporation (which showed up in many other Marvel books of the time period), gets his origin story re-told, and deals with Justin Hammer – a man who’s found a way to control the circuitry in Tony’s armor. As we go through these stories, there’s a panel here and there strewn about showing Tony casually drinking. Eventually, the drinking affects him during a fight and this is where things become a tad more noticeable.

Now, if you think about it, this whole drinking problem slowly built up over nine issues. Imagine reading this month to month back in the late 1970s. How long would it have taken before the drinking became noticeable? I say this because when reading it in collected form you know what to look for, but back then, it must have hit readers maybe five or six issues in that there was a problem brewing. A lot of this credit has to go to David Michelinie, who cleverly crafted this story. John Romita Jr. also deserves a ton of credit for making the scenes work. But Bob Layton is ultimately the one who has his fingerprints all over this. His finished art over Romita’s pencils is highly distinguishable and his contributions to the story, undeniable.

The actual “Demon in a Bottle” story is saved for last, and when you finally get to it, the whole world seems to collapse around Stark. It’s incredibly easy to see why this issue is lauded. It’s not just the overpowering effects of alcoholism that propel this story, but it’s also Tony’s fallibility that makes this issue so engaging. And yes, it’s a bit silly to see him recover from it all over the course of one issue, but there’s no mistaking the losses and struggles he deals with. Iron Man was never known for having engaging stories, but in this one rare case it happened and that is why we treasure it. (Grade: B)

– J. Montes

Hulk Vs. Hercules: When Titans Clash #1 – Review

By Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), Khoi Pham, Paul Neary, Dennis Calero, Eric Nguyen, Reilly Brown, Carlos Guevas, Terry Pallot, Chris Sotomayor, Bob Layton, and Guru EFX (artists)

I’m always wary of annuals, “Giant-Size” issues, and “One-Shots”. Usually if a story ends up in an annual it’s because it has no clear place in continuity, and can usually be safely ignored. (The exception is weddings. For some reason superheroes love to get married in annuals.) Plus the publishers usually pad the book out with reprints so they can charge a higher cover price. So I always think twice before I pick one up.

The Hulk Vs. Hercules one-shot seems to exist to serve as a sort of a bridge of the “Incredible” book from Hulk to Hercules. It starts with Amadeus Cho, Hercules, and Athena in a diner somewhere in the mid-west. When Hercules leaves the table to buy some beer, Athena asks Cho why he stopped helping the Hulk and now follows Hercules. Cho replies, “Because regular Hulk readers would buy the book by default, thereby increasing sales.” Just kidding! Cho’s answer is that during World War Hulk he recognized the Hulk’s true savagery and decided to switch his allegiance to someone more deserving of his friendship. This launches Athena into a rambling tale designed to show that Hercules is not the teddy bear he sometimes seems to be. Her story begins at the dawn of time, with the war between the Titans and the Olympians, moves to the recent past, with the Hulk fighting the Avengers, then on to a wresting match between Hercules and the Thing (nicely illustrated by Bob Layton), and culminates in a chaotic battle involving Hercules, the Hulk, the Olympians, the Titans, and a primal uber-god known as Demogorge, the God-Eater. Things get nasty, and Hercules gets a chance to demonstrate his inner barbarian. He may be better than the Hulk, Athena says, but Hercules can still be a monster.

All in all, it’s a decent story, but certainly not a turning point in the lives of any of the characters involved. So should you buy it (along with the Tales to Astonish reprint that fills the remaining pages)? Offhand, I’d say no, but a “special preview” insert seems to indicate that Demigorge (whom old-timers may remember from Thor Annual #10) will be coming back soon, so the story might be an important part of continuity after all. (Grade: C+)

– Andrew C. Murphy

Iron Man #25 – Review

By Daniel & Charles Knauf (writers), Rob De La Torre (art), Dean White (color art)

At $3.99 this one’s meaty! I don’t just mean the page count, but the story as well. After dragging its feet in the mud for the past three to four months, issue #25 delivers some payoffs. The whole creative team is in top form this month – needless to say, I’m impressed.

I love the new direction they’ve taken with Mandarin. Much like what Ed Brubaker has done with the Red Skull, Daniel and Charles Knauf have made Mandarin more of a calculating villain with the foresight to challenge anyone in his path. Instead of being just plain evil, he’s more of an insane person who sees the world from a warped perspective. Like I said, this issue’s meaty. That means you’ll be doing a lot of reading. It’s not all meaningless dialogue either, everything finally comes together this story as Tony Stark connects the dots. Personally, I would have loved to have seen this story wrapped up this issue, but I can hang for one more.

The bonus stuff we get at the end of the issue is a nice touch, but not necessarily needed. We get a fun trip down memory lane as Bob Layton discusses the past revisions of Iron Man’s suits. Then there’s an excellent reprinting of Iron Man’s first appearace from Tales of Suspense #39 – always a gem. Lastly, we’re treated to a preview of Iron Man: Viva Las Begas #1 by Jon Favreau and Adi Granov! Sure, this issue’s a bit more expensive, but I think the bonuses justify the extra dollar. Plus it’s issue #25. Did you expect anything less from a milestone issue? (Grade: B)

– J. Montes