The Incredible Hulk #1 begins a new direction for the Green Goliath. In the aftermath of Fear Itself, Bruce Banner and The Incredible Hulk have managed to separate from each other. You say that’s been done before but not like what you’re going to see here. Even if you’ve only been loosely keeping up with Fear Itself, you don’t have to have read the series. It’s part of the aftermath of Fear Itself yet there’s no real reference to the actual events in the first issue. A smart move on Jason Aaron’s part since this works a lot better without having to know anything on Fear Itself. Marc Silvestri’s artwork on the other hand is going to be a notion that either you’re going to love or you’re going to hate. What follows is a nice second surprise for me from Marvel this week.
From the start of The Incredible Hulk you do notice the vibe is different. Jason Aaron is writing a calmer Hulk than recent events have shown. He’s fighting for a purpose, protecting the Subterraneans from monsters. Best part is in the first pages you get some cool giant monster fights. There’s nothing better than when a comic starts out with The Incredible Hulk hitting a giant monster. Silvestri’s art in this is interesting, I liked the opening splash though. I’m hit or miss on Silvestri but that was a cool splash page. I do like seeing the Hulk at peace with the Subterraneans echoing Greg Pak’s Planet Hulk, which is the vibe that Aaron gives off in the early pages. Silvestri does a nice job of giving a unique feel to their home. Showing you also why he’s so peaceful with soft crystals and just an atmosphere of joy within these caverns.
There’s a sadness to Hulk’s peace though, he knows if he lets himself embrace it, eventually his peace will end. When it does though, oh the scene is a lot of fun to watch. Jason Aaron’s banter in this sequence was hilarious. Marc Silvestri’s art does a nice job of conveying the brutality of what happens when you break the Hulk’s peace. That entire scene is so much fun compared to what you see within the final pages of this comic. You’re introduced to this strange island with these warthog mutates and you see just what happened to Banner, all I will tell you is you’re going to wonder just what the next issues are going to hold.
The Incredible Hulk #1 is off to an amazing start. Bruce Banner and the Hulk are on two tracks you as a reader won’t see coming from a mile away. Just from the ending, I want to see where Jason Aaron is going to take this series. Banner is going in a direction unlike any we’ve seen before. Marc Silvestri’s artwork actually is a nice fit for this series in my opinion. I can safely say that Aaron has started off on the right foot with this series, now we’ll see how future issues hold up. If they’re anything like this one or better, we’ll be in for a smashing good time with The Incredible Hulk.
