Red She-Hulk #66 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Patrick Olliffe, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Betty should really know better than to try to harm Man-Thing. Seriously, the dude pretty much is the protector of various other realities.

The Review: This seems to be some kind of habit at some point. As awesome a writer as he is, capable of bringing enough care and development to characters that would never receive any, it seems he’s always the unlucky one that never has enough readership to maintain a book for a proper period of time.

Case in point, Red She-Hulk, who will see its last issue next month, has to make a point for the long-term storyline that had been running since the title and protagonist switch that happened when Betty Ross took a hold of the book. Despite the care he tried to give to this book, it seems that this book never really took off in a way that made it connect to a larger audience. Is it perhaps the lack of marketing, or maybe the sad fact that most female-lead books aren’t as hot sellers as other books in the superhero industry?

Red She-Hulk #65 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Ray-Anthony Height, Wellington Alves (Artists), Val Staples (Colorist)

The Story: Betty and Aaron have to fight several villains on Mount Rushmore in order to access another part of the great machine.

The Review: I think this title has an unfortunate curse, one that makes it unable to be consistent in terms of quality, despite the best effort of the team working on it. Either they balance their action and development well-enough to give us a rewarding read, or something gets in the way of our enjoyment.

Here, what seems to be causing a bit of disappointment would be the setting of a routine of some sort in the book. Sure, Jeff Parker bring some good and original ideas in the mix, but somehow the plot of most issues so far seems to be ‘’exotic locale, fight bad guys, look at the machine’’, which then continues like this. We are sometime treated to the development of other situations, like the original She-Hulk meeting General Fortean or the Mad Thinker and his schemes.

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!

FF #4 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Barry Kitson (artist), Paul Mounts (colorist), and Clayton Cowles (letterer)

The Story: The Doom conference on Reeds continues as Sue, Alex Power, and Spider-Man raise to stop a civil war erupting in Old Atlantis.

The Review:  A single good concept can go a long way in carry a comic.  In this case, the continuing conference of FF bad guys led by Victor von Doom continues to be a very, very good concept.

There’s something so naturally awesome about the idea of a group of bad guys having a meeting in the Baxter Building about how to beat Reed and Hickman does a fantastic job of portraying the various personalities on display here.  Each villain is a different sort of bad guy and it’s so much fun watching them bounce off one another.  From Doom’s arrogance, to Diablo’s sly villainy, to the Wizard’s evil, this is great stuff.  Hickman also does an uproarious job in writing the Mad Thinker, who is everything his name suggests he is.  Throw in Reed, Val, and Nathaniel and this is merely an opportunity for Hickman to have strong personalities clash.

Furthermore, as grave and serious as the subject matter of this meeting is, there’s a constant undertone of humor, as you may expect given the cast involved.  From Reed’s telling Doom of what the his fellow Reeds do to the Dooms they find, to Reed’s muttering “this is a disaster,” this is just so much fun to read.

Also fun is the art provided by Barry Kitson.  I really like Steve Epting as an artist, but while his darker style suited the tone of the “Three” arc and the death of Johnny, he was quite the right fit for the FF moving forward.  Kitson brings a brighter more upbeat style that serves the series much better.