Hulk #2 Review

Title:	Hulk
Contributors:	Mark Waid Mark Bagley Andrew Hennessy
Publisher:	Image Comics
Issue #:	2
Year:	2014
Pages:	32 Pages
Age Rating:	13(Violence)
Story Grade:	C
Art Grade:	B

Hulk Issue #2 is definitely taking the Hulk, more like taking Banner, in a completely new direction. I am getting used to the feel of it. I can't say that I like it, but at the same time I can't say that I dislike it. There are definitely aspects that I like and dislike, but who doesn't.

This is what Issue #2 is; S.H.I.E.L.D. is now a full-time nanny to Banner. They have stuck him in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas, surrounded by agents who watch his every move, and monitor his every interaction. This is a very "big brother, meets Mayberry" plotline. It is awkward; like putting the left shoe on the right foot type of feeling. It fits, but it's not quite right.

This book is definitely several steps away from the last book. There was an heir of mystery and suspense in Issue #1. Issue #1 came at us with; Who were the people posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents? Who shot Banner? What was the surgical team going to do? There was personal plot twists with touching interpersonal connections between each of the surgical team personnel and Banner/Hulk. The book had depth, and had breadth. Issue #1 was multi-dimensional.

Issue #2 falls short way short of Issue #1. To be honest, it feels compressed. It feel forced. It feels is shallow. There little-to-no story given about the how Banner got to the Kansas town or how the town was infiltrated by S.H.I.E.L.D., about his caretakers, or little about anything related to the time between when Banner was found in the nursing home at the end of Issue #1 and to when this book begins.

To add to all of that awkward introduction to this new world around Banner, there is an awkward scene where a group of townies decide it would be fun to pick on the Banner, who is obviously mentally incapacitated, for no other reason than because he is a simpleton. To be honest the whole scene feels insincere, contrived for nothing more than to simply forward a plot and fill some pages with some shallow content to sedate the readers with some shallow fodder. If Waid truly wanted to tackle the topic of bullying, he needed to really needed to dig into the issue of bully and dedicate an issue to it and not have it be such a random encounter of just a few pages like it was in this book. It felt like a cheap way to tap into the pulse of America and capitalize on a current hot topic.

What I did like was the return of the Abomination. Abomination is one of my favorite Hulk villains. I do wish that they wouldn't have given away the arrival of the Abomination on the cover, maybe left it as a surprise, that would have been nice. But if you have seen the cover, this is not a spoiler.

With so much lacking in this book, and with what is there in the story feeling compressed and shallow, the artwork remains solid. Nice lines, color, atmosphere and pace in the work. The use of color to separate the characters out is helpful, especially in scenes when they are bunched to together.

All in All I have to grade this book a C+, which I hate to do with any Hulk book, but the story feels so weak and insincere in my opinion. I hope they return to the origin of the character, even if it is the origin of Issue #1, where the Hulk is the Strongest there is. But in this book Hulk is left to being a second class hero and Banner is just a feeble minded child on the brink of a temper tantrum of Guinness Records proportions.

Until next time... Make sure not to anger the man-child.