I'm not gonna lie to you folks, this creative team has a lot of money in the bank with me. Peter David, in addition to being on a major roll right now with Fallen Angel and Madrox, wrote the definitive Hulk for years and years, and seeing him return to the book suddenly makes me interested in the character again. Lee Weeks and Tom Palmer did some beautiful artwork on the second arc of the Bruce Jones run, and they do some equally beautiful artwork here. So I'm definitely looking at this one with rose-colored glasses, to some extent. But hopefully that doesn't detract much from my opinion when I say that this is a really good first issue, with some very powerful visuals, an intriguing mystery and a slightly tweaked take on the Hulk and Banner that also seems potentially interesting. It starts out a little slower than I expected, but there's definitely a good foundation being built here.
David and Weeks open the issue with a terrific visual indicator of the Hulk's power, and they do it without the cliche "Hulk rips up a town" that most would have used as a shortcut. Mind you, I don't think that Hulk ripping up a town is a bad way to do things, it's tradition after all, but the setting that David has come up with, and Lee has captured so perfectly, is a really neat way of indicating not only the Hulk's strength but his durability and unstoppability. His choice of opponent also says a lot, as it is indicated that even the most feared predator is little obstacle to the Hulk. And full credit to Studio F, who use a palette of greens that reinforces one of the Hulk's primary colors and is also perfect for the setting.
Beyond a really strong establishing sequence, though, what does this book have to offer? Well, there's David's trademark exploration of the Hulk as part of Banner's psyche, on a more complex level than just "he's Banner's anger." This includes a well-written moment where the reader witnesses the transition between Hulk and Banner, getting a glimpse into their thoughts changing as they go, and even seeing how everything Hulk thinks comes out as speech bubbles but Banner actually thinks, leaving his inner thoughts as caption boxes. It's very clever writing, and tells a lot about the two characters in a small space. It also includes the Hulk fighting a couple of giant monsters, which hearkens back to the character's roots, springing from the Lee/Kirby monster tradition.
If you've got giant monsters, you need an artist who can keep up, and Weeks, Palmer and Studio F definitely keep up. Whether it's the normal predator in the opening pages, the enlarged behemoth of the middle sequence or the mutated pure fantasy creature of the last sequence, these artists nail the awe-inspiring size of the creatures, and make them look like formidable foes for the Hulk. They also do a wonderful job on both of the exotic environments that David puts his protagonist into. The Hulk has rarely lacked for impressive artists, even when the writing was subpar, and it's nice that when the writing is stronger, the art remains strong as well.
David has mentioned in passing that this is a story patterned on The Tempest, but aside from broad strokes, those parallels aren't obvious just yet. However, there is a nifty little cliffhanger, and fans of Shakespeare will be surprised to see who is playing what appears to be the role of Caliban (or perhaps Ariel?) in the story. As with David's previous Shakespeare-inspired effort "Hurlyburly" in Fallen Angel, however, while a knowledge of the play might make the story enjoyable on another level, a complete lack of knowledge won't affect your enjoyment of the story at all. It's a shame that Marvel couldn't give this book a new number one, as it seems to have as much of a legitimate claim to it (if not more, with the book having disappeared for several months prior) than recent relaunches like Captain America and Iron Man. But it essentially is a first issue, and it's a very good one. 9/10
