Hulk #23 – Review

by Jeph Loeb (writer), Ed McGuinness, Dale Keown, Sal Buscema, Mike Deodato, Herb Trimpe, Ian Churchill, John Romita Jr., Tim Sale, & Leinil Yu (artists)

SPOILER WARNING! If you’re a trade-waiter and haven’t read the issue before this, then you might not want to read this review.  Just sayin’.

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The Story: The curtain is finally pulled back as we get to see not only how and why General Thunderbolt Ross became the Red Hulk, but why he is the man he is today.  Meanwhile, the Red Hulk fights the Cosmic Hulk Robot.  (You know, that sentence alone would make me buy this issue.  A Red Hulk throwing down with a Cosmic Hulk Robot?!  Hello, awesome!  It’s not what’s awesome about this issue, though.)

What’s Good (and pretty awesome): Jeph Loeb finally slows down a second to tell an actual story and it only took him two years.  I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy the month after month big dumb fight scenes he was throwing my way every issue, but I can only eat so many corn flakes before I start getting a hankering for some eggs and bacon, if you catch my drift.  The scribe tells an engaging tale of Ross’ past, smartly starting nearly at the beginning, when the General was just sixteen years old.  It sets the stage for the rest of the character’s life, as we learn that he’s not only always had an indomitable will but that he also seems to have a knack for escaping the bony claws of the Grim Reaper time and again.  Loeb jumps around in the timeline of Ross’ life, mainly showcasing it in relation to Bruce Banner and the original Hulk.  By doing this, he’s able to explain why such a man who’s shown nothing but hatred for the rampaging monster that is the Hulk would allow himself to be transformed into a nearly identical being.  The desperation, ego, and envy that drive Ross to the depths that he falls to in Loeb’s script are believably conveyed by the writer.  The fact that Ross envies Banner, not only in the raw power that he possesses but in the love he receives from Betty, is a nice revelation that I don’t believe I’ve seen noted elsewhere.

This is a veritable who’s who of Hulk artists and that alone makes this issue a lot of fun to flip through.  In particularly fine form are Trimpe, Keown, Deodato and, of course, McGuinness.  The other artists certainly do a good, if not great, job with the interior art, but these four knock it out of the park.  Trimpe’s a classic artist, and the one page he pencils here (which opens the story) showcasing Ross’ adolescence just pulled me right in.  It’s a shame he could only supply one page of art.  Keown is, basically, MY Hulk artist, by which I mean that he was pencilling the title when I started reading it.  Bias aside, the artist’s double-page spread just screams strength and power as the savage Hulk wails on the U.S. Army.  My only complaint is that, regrettably, he doesn’t pencil the version of the Hulk  that he’s famous for.  That’s left to Churchill, which I though was odd, but oh well.  Deodato’s portion ties together a lot of the events we’ve seen before in the title’s earlier issues and fills in the blanks for us.  With this in mind, the penciller somewhat apes McGuinness’ style but still puts his particular stamp on it.  A risky move, but it completely works.  And then there’s McGuinness.  He’s possibly the only reason I’ve stuck with this title for so long.  He handles the present tale, which include the Red Hulk vs. Cosmic Hulk Robot scenes and they are dynamic as all hell.  He also supplies the visuals for the final showdown between our anti-hero and the Leader, with a down-pouring thunderstorm in the background.  You should buy this for the first page of that alone.  I’m not even kidding.