Step right up and don’t be shy. The Indestructible Hulk is open and fun for all ages.
Wow, did I just say that? A comic book? A fun comic book? The hell you say! Comic books are supposed to be downtrodden slices of violent melodrama. Characters die, robots lay waste to worlds, there is sadness and the corruption of the human spirit. That’s comic books. No? I am wrong? You say The Indestructible Hulk with art by Walt Simonson returns the fun to comics? I say raise the hammer of Thor and rejoice.
He’s in it, too? Ah, the Gods are good.
While one hero tries to get his body back and a group of heroes try to thwart a pissed off robot, Hulk and Thor are slapping out at Frost Giants in the dark past. Banner, now working for SHIELD, has put together a crack team of brilliant crackpots in hopes of exploiting both their secrets and their genius. The team has traveled through a dimensional portal to the Asgardian realm of Jotunheim in order to bring back precious metals that could help humanity. See that! Even the reason for Banner and his team has to travel is fun!
The team arrives, Frost Giants attack and Hulk ended issue #6 by lifting up Thor’s hammer and proclaiming he’s worthy. Writer Mark Waid pulls an awesome, fun, fast one on all of us expecting Hulk to wield Mjolnir. Don’t fret, we still get to see Hulk and hammer smash through Frost Giants. A battle ensues during which Banner’s team tries to escape with disastrous results. The end sees the Frost Giants pulling a bit of trickery and one of Banner’s team confessing that she’s there to commit suicide by Hulk. Good times people. Good times!!
Regardless of what’s happening, Waid keeps Indestructible Hulk #7 upbeat and fun. Frost Giants fight Thor and Hulk; it doesn’t get any better than that. The secret is that both Waid and Simonson are old school. There’s a synergy between them that comes from being in this business back when comic adventures were more fun than anything else. Indestructible Hulk has its melodrama, but it isn’t weighed down with it. By using a righteous combination of fun and action, Waid and Simonson are compelling you to keep reading.
Simonson. What can you say? Brilliance personified? Genius of mammoth proportions? Yep, all that is true. More than anything though, Simonson’s art is exciting. You can’t contain the level of action. It bursts off the page. His way with faces and forms has nods to Kirby but keeps that Simonson air about it. Page after page, panel after panel, Simonson can’t fail. His work is continuously astounding. Andres Mossa keeps right up with his color work. I especially love the way he handles the Frost Giants. The color work there is top notch.
Simonson and Waid. Waid and Simonson. Together the two are creating a Hulk story that demands you read it.
(4 Story, 5 Art)
