I'm not sure if Incredible Hulk Volume 1 is the best hardcover Marvel has put out, but it's certainly the one I've been most awaiting, and the results are well worth the wait. Bruce Jones has redefined the Hulk with his conspiracy/road trip/personal control vision of the character, and that vision has been matched with some absolutely spectacular artwork by John Romita Jr., Lee Weeks and the various inkers and colorists who make it look so great. The inclusion of Azzarello and Corben's alternate world take Banner is a bit of a curiosity, but it's also a good story and Corben's artwork is certainly worthy of the oversized format as well.
I've reviewed most of the stories in this collection before, but the context of a collected work seems to require another look. While I found some of Jones's stories to be a little lacking in answers at the first, the benefit of hindsight and a lot more issues have revealed that he's simply working at a slow, methodical pace, concerned as much with building mood as telling the stories. There's a little bit of frustration in even this collected volume, as ten issues of story don't really resolve themselves, leaving plenty of subplots and characters behind, but in this sizable chunk of story Jones does develop a trust with the reader that all will be answered if we're just patient enough.
Though the answers may not all be there, the questions raised are fascinating. Who is the mysterious Mr. Blue aiding Banner in his flight from the authorities? Who are these latest hunters, and what do they want with the Hulk's blood? How do they seem to survive even certain death, to return again and again to trouble Banner? The issue due out next week has the answer to the last question, which gives me hope that the answers to the rest are coming, and that small assurance is enough to make me enjoy Jones's methodical pacing all the more.
There have been complaints that Jones's Hulk doesn't contain enough, well, Hulk. And it's true, the green goliath makes scant appearances in these pages. But it's that lack of appearance that makes him terrifying, that grants him his power. When he does appear, he towers over those in the book, a physical representation of fury and power, especially when John Romita Jr. is doing the art chores. He's the monster lurking behind the door in the horror movie, the thing that pops out to scare the bejeezus out of you when the music swells and you least expect it. He's the target of the bad guys, the central difficulty of the good guy and a force of nature as much as a character himself.
It is this characterization that Jones shares with Azzarello's take on the monster in Banner, and thus the inclusion of that mini-series makes a fair bit of sense. In Banner, however, the focus is not on what happens when Banner keeps the beast in check, but the flipside, what happens when he doesn't. The Hulk rampages, he kills and maims and destroys, he hasn't got any of the tiny bit of restraint that Banner gives him in most Hulk stories. It's an unusually dark take on the character, not one for everybody, but I found the examination of the Hulk as villainous force of destruction rather than misguided child to be quite interesting. As I did the use of Samson not as a wily ally but as a dangerous and mildly sinister foe.
The other thing that Banner has in common with the other stories in this book is the artwork. It is, without exception, drop dead gorgeous. Whether it's Richard Corben's delightfully ugly and detailed rendition of the Hulk, Samson and the collateral damage of their conflict, John Romita Jr.'s detailed and gritty examination of urban life or Lee Weeks's stunningly realized vision of Denver, both the city and the outlying foothills, the settings are gorgeously rendered. The characters are likewise distinctive and strong, whether it's the new look Banner, the sultry Verdugo, the powerful but sensitive Samson or the sinister Agent Pratt. This is the kind of artwork that begs to be shown off in Marvel's oversized format, and the exquisitely subtle coloring work of Studio F holds up just as well at this enhanced size. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Kaare Andrews's covers, all blown up to a larger size with initial sketches besides. I'm not exaggerating when I say that these covers are probably the best the industry has to offer right now, as far as I'm concerned. Basically, this is fourteen issues of the best Hulk stories told in years, all collected in a gorgeous and lasting format.
