Indestructible Hulk #1 – Review

By: Mark Waid (Writer), Leinil Francis Yu (Artist), Gerry Alanguilan (Inker), Sunny Gho (Colorist), Chris Eliopoulos (Letterer)

The Review: By the fifth page of Indestructible Hulk #1 I was sold; sold on whichever weird locales Mark Waid wants to take me to and whichever artist he wants us to hitch a ride with. It was a subtle build-up to that point – a Banner talking head, probably the smallest panel in the whole issue with the focus falling on its first line of dialogue: “I’m incurable.” A Gamma-mutated monkey was wrenched from the character’s back in that moment my friends. No more Hulk vs. Banner! That concept’s been cut open, peeled apart and roughly stitched back together so many times that we’ve been desensitized to the vivisection. It’s one of many tried and tested themes (that have oftentimes dragged various Hulk titles into predictable patterns) which Waid ably sidesteps in the interests of rebranding the character as a major player in the Marvel universe, recognised as much for his brains as his brawn. And that’s all before the smashing even starts!