The Incredible Hulk #12 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Carlos Pacheco (pencils), Roger Bonet (inks), Frank Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: Hulk finds himself trapped in a forgotten Antarctic prison, caught in a brawl with Wolverine and the Thing.

The Review:  This issue of Incredible Hulk ends up posing a question that is no doubt familiar to comics fans:  how far can great art and pure action scenes alone carry a comic?

For what it’s worth, Carlos Pacheco is at his very best this month.  It’s been some time since I’ve seen work from him look this stunning, dynamic, and detailed.  There’s a lot more ambition to his work here than the often merely passable work he’s done on Uncanny X-Men.  The action scenes are great, the environments look great, and the character’s look great.  A lot of credit, however, has to go to Roger Bonet and Frank Martin, who have really taken Pacheco’s artwork to a whole new level, giving it a lush, almost painted feel with absolutely incredible shading.  Bonet and Martin take great artwork and take it into artbook/showcase territory.  Overall, I’ve not been thrilled by Stay Angry (well, outside of the ridiculous first issue), but Frank Martin has really reached amazing heights on this story and I look forward to what he does next.

Incredible Hulk #8 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Steve Dillon (art), Frank Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story:  In order to contain his violent alter-ego, Hulk has to STAY ANGRY.

The Review:  This is an incredibly difficult issue to grade.

On the one hand, there are some huge, huge problems with this book.  First and foremost is Steve Dillon’s art.  The unfortunate thing is that this is actually really, really solid work by Dillon.  The colors by Frank Martin are  fantastic.  I’m used to seeing Dillon’s work colored in a flat, basic colours, but Martin does some really brilliant shading.  Furthermore, Dillon’s work in other places really shines.  His Punisher is as excellent as usual and his take on Jason Aaron’s demented villains is a laugh out loud sight gag.

The problem is his illustration of the Hulk.  Dillon’s style is simply too grounded to deal with drawing the big guy.  Instead of being, well, the Hulk, poor Hulk looks like a bald, shirtless NBA player who painted himself green.  He’s not stocky or thick enough, he’s too human, and he looks almost comedically mundane and not at all intimidating, let alone monstrous.