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STARTLING STORIES: BANNER #2
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Richard Corben
Colors: Studio F
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Axel Alonso
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
After a fairly dark opening issue which explored the psychological ramifications of the Hulk on Bruce Banner, I was a little disappointed in this issue, which focuses mostly on a fight between the Hulk and a squadron of attack helicopters. However, I was only a little disappointed, because Corben's art is absolutely breathtaking, particularly with the color work by Studio F. The thing that drew me to this series despite my ambivalence toward the Hulk was the name of Brian "Hellblazer, 100 Bullets" Azzarello, but the name that's
keeping me here is Richard Corben.
Corben is doing some terrific work here.
The opening shot of the Hulk and how he reacts to Banner's suicide attempt is a
perfect expression of his power and his rage, and the sinister smile on Samson's
face says more about him than even his sadistic control-freak dialogue. And
though I have seen the Hulk beating up on military equipment and personnel
before, it has rarely been depicted as savagely as Corben draws it here. The
two-page splash of Samson and Hulk "meeting" in combat was incredible, and
there's some really nice visceral rage in the way the Hulk fights, as we see
green fluid pour from his mouth after the weapon hits him, or we see a
helicopter blade break against his head.
However, while Azzarello is setting up
something else with Samson's "secret weapon," that setup seemed fairly drawn out
in order to give Corben some room to show the Hulk's fury in use against
military might. And though I was blown away by Corben's artwork, I was a bit
disappointed that we spent the entirety of the issue on a rather familiar fight
between the Hulk and military equipment.
Last issue was a psychological examination of Banner, coupled with some really effective examination of what a rampage by the Hulk really looks like. This issue is just another big fight, and like Ennis's Hulk Smash! mini-series, it really doesn't
matter the talent behind the concept, it's pretty much the image everyone has of
the Hulk, and it's not bringing anything new to the table. I'll admit to
curiosity about what exactly Samson's weapon does, but I also have to say that I
was a little disappointed in the second issue of this mini, and I hope that the
next issue will pick up again.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
