Hulk #5 – Review

By: Gerry Duggan (Writer), Mark Bagley (Penciller), Andy Hennessy (Inker), Jason Keith (Color Artist), VC’s Cory Petit (Letterer), Alex Ross (Cover Artist)

The Story: To paraphrase Dr. Evil: “He didn’t spend five years in Green Medical School to be called MISTER Green!”

The Review: This new direction for the Hulk follows quite shortly after the last new direction, which is a sentence that gets repeated with some frequency, actually. In this case, at least, there’s at least a sense of continuity, building on what’s before in a logical manner while remaining a (somewhat) genuine new take.

This is helped, of course, with the continuation of the art chores by Bagley. Not only does it help perpetuate a through-line as the writers shift, he once again delivers some dynamic presentations of powerful figures in key panels, such as three consecutive splash pages of the Hulk in speed-line-filled, explosive action. That’s a pretty bold move, but establishes a wide-screen feel for this Hulk’s initial appearance.

The one art choice I’m unsure about is the allowing Hulk’s hair to be vaguely mohawk-ish. The exact length seems to vary a bit from panel to panel, and it overall doesn’t really mesh with the face. I suppose it’s meant to convey some kind of “edginess” to the character, but it’s not really that extreme so it’s kinda held back as a design element, in a way.