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STARTLING STORIES: BANNER #4
Recommended (8/10)
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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 |
Richard Corben is generally known in comics for work on horror comics, and that's fitting, as Azzarello's Banner is more of a horror comic than a super-hero tale. Certainly there are scenes in this issue that are just unbelievably creepy, and the portrayal of the Hulk is more that of a destructive force of nature than a lovable and simple-minded brute. Banner never really went off in directions that greatly
surprised me, but it was always an enjoyable read, and I quite enjoyed the
somewhat ambiguous conclusion we got in this issue.
Seeing Banner try to interact
with normal humanity makes for some very interesting reading. Azzarello and
Corben have created a version of the character who really doesn't fit in even
when he's a perfectly normal human, because he's been so traumatized by his
internal monster. The narration revealing a reason why he stays in the Southwest
is a clever revelation, and seeing him act as little more than a homeless beggar
while lamenting his former revered genius status is very sad.
The story shifts in tone,
however, when pigeons start falling from the sky. Corben does an absolutely
incredible sequence that features car crashes, unconscious children and
townsfolk and an eerie quiet over the entire town. I confess to being a little
disappointed to learn it was just gas, as I thought the creators had gotten
considerably nastier and the bomb had increased Bruce's ambient radiation
levels. But at any rate, the visual is a chilling reminder of the power that is
hunting Bruce.
The rest of the book, though,
is all psychological, and it's impressive that Azzarello and Corben manage to
make what is a fairly static visual into such compelling reading. Samson has
been a vicious bastard for much of this series, so it was interesting to see him
soften a bit in this final issue. I also enjoyed seeing him and Bruce being able
to talk, rather than sort of confronting each other verbally in their own heads.
These two have been in conflict the entire time, but rarely face-to-face.
What Startling Stories promised was a look at a different
type of Hulk, and the creators delivered. The Hulk as a weapon, Banner as a man
who just desperately wants out and Samson as the driven hunter are all unusual
takes, but not so bizarre that they belong in an Elseworlds or What If...? book.
They're simply logical extensions of their own circumstances.
The book ends on a very quiet
note, one that relies largely on the letterer to do the job. The result is a
creepy ending, a little ambiguous as to what it means but definitely suited to
this Hulk by way of horror movie take.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
