The secret organization hell-bent on capturing the Incredible Hulk has hired the services of one of his deadliest and oldest foes, the Abomination Two of the Marvel Universe's most powerful adversaries go head-to-head and toe-to-toe- in a gamma-powered slugfest.
"Would you have any more pants in this [extremely extra-large] size? I don't suppose you'd have these in purple?" -- Dr. Bruce Banner to a nonplussed shopkeeper, in a rare moment of meta humor
My swan song for this particular series - and possibly not a moment too soon, with a certain tone of weariness setting in - this Hulk volume sort of overbakes the on-going shadowy conspiracy angle part of the storyline. What DID work was Dr. Bruce Banner - still on the run, for a murder he didn't commit, from a particularly aggressive government task force - laying low in a southwestern desert village and finding a new romantic fling with the above-mentioned alluring shopkeeper. Of course, all is not as it seems - it's revealed early on that the new squeeze is the estranged wife of supervillain Abomination, who is eternally angling for a rematch with our emerald-hued superhero - and the volume concludes with an expected (but no less satisfying) dust-up between the monstrous parties.
Не знаю, як це в Брюса Джонса виходить, але четверта арка «Неймовірний Галк: Огида» #50-54 виявилася ще на маленький щабель кращою для мене за попередні три.
Таємна організація, яка одержима захопленням Неймовірного Галка, найняла для послуг одного з його найсмертоносніших і найстаріших ворогів — Огиду. Якщо хто мо не знає, то це Еміль Блонскі, офіцер королівської морської піхоти Великобританії кацапського походження. Йому пообіцяли свободу за шкуру Галка.
За збігом обставин, вони також завербували Надію Блонську, колишню дружину Огиди, якій пообіцяли можливість помститися за роки насильства з боку колишнього чоловіка.
Історія у арці має кілька сюжетних ліній, які гарно переплітаються між собою. Також сильну й темну атмосферу зумів створити новий художник на рані Майк Деодато мл. Тут з боку малюнку працює все суперово. Тому це сильна арка, яку цікаво було читати.
Mike Deodato Jr. gets on the Incredible Hulk bandwagon with this fourth collection of Bruce Jones' 43-issue run on the title, and supplies the art for the even-numbered trade paperbacks until Jones' run's end (that's volumes 4 [duh!], 6, and 8). Deodato's art is really nice in these books, and his Hulk in particular is simply awesome.
Bruce Jones' chase/conspiracy story gets a couple more layers/threads to it, and it will be interesting to see if can deal with the spinning plates, or if he'll drop one or two along the way.
It would seem there's nothing "the Organisation" can't/won't do to get to Banner, or who they will enlist to help them (with lies & empty promises). To wit: they've somehow managed to find the Abomination's whereabouts and propose to free him, provided he does one teeny tiny thing for them: give them the Hulk.
Coincidentally, they've also recruited Nadia Blonsky, the Abomination's ex-wife, who's been promised the opportunity to avenge herself of years of abuse at the hands of her ex-husband - that's just a fancy way of saying she'll get the chance to kill him.
We learn a bit more (but not too much) about Mr.Blue, Banner's secret informant - so secret, in fact, that Banner doesn't know that person's identity. This teasing better have a decent pay-off!
The book ends with a battle between the two green giants (which, of course Hulk wins - no spoiler there) but the ultimate fate of the Abomination is not resolved. He's served his purpose and what happens to him next clearly has no bearing on the rest of the over-arching storyline, because there's no further mention of him. But what happens to him after he wakes up from the beating Hulk gave him? The fact that nobody even shows up to take the Abomination back into custody is something that Bruce Jones should have adressed (and corrected!)
Nota 6. Sinceramente até me surpreendi. O começo é uma red flag tremenda. A personagem feminina sendo mal escrita e com uma nudez desnecessária. Outra forçada de barra na volta do Abominável. Mas vai progredindo com uma investigação Noir até que competente. A narrativa é simples e eficaz. A arte do Deodato é ótima. E gostei da briga no final tbm. Enfim, tem a porção boa e ruim da fase do Bruce Jones aqui.
Artwork:FantasticStory: Above Average. The story deals with the re-emergence of the Abomination. It touches on the abuse of the Abominations wife and her revenge for the heart-ship she endured. The Mike Deodato artwork was beautiful and carried the story along and of course: Spies..
Okay, now the story has gotten a little too convoluted . I enjoyed the wandering, paranoid and grieving Banner but this is getting too much into spy thriller/espionage and less about the hulk or Bruce. The abomination is pretty solid and I like the art but the story is floundering.
Garbage. Overly long, horrifically drawn out for no reason I can understand, too many subplots with no real cohesion, and another “ending” where hey, guess what, not all is as it appears. Oh, and the Abomination is specifically called out as having difficulty speaking, right up until he doesn’t: at which point he’s soliloquizing right along with every other villain in this godforsaken run.
If it weren’t for the stunningly gorgeous Mike Deodaro art, this would be a complete waste.
The shadow org against Bruce Banner makes its most desperate play yet - releasing the Abomination! What's worse...Banner has been sleeping with Blonsky's wife!
The longer Bruce Jones' run goes on, the less controlled and more messy it becomes. Abomimation post-Paul Jenkins feels simultaneously frightening but also very weird and off-putting in a narratively bad way. It seems the more comic-booky Jones gets the more he faulters.
deodato is back elevating this run. I really liked this story. a secret agent talking and negotiating with abomination. Bruce is staying with Nadia. I wonder whose wife that could be?
pretty sad stuff seeing the domestic violence - stop doing that shit people. it's gross.
People got very excited to see a real supervillain and the Hulk in this issues, since the Hulk had been noticeably absent during this run. These are solid issues, but not much more than that.
I do like a good Hulk read and this one is pretty decent. I'm not really sold on the whole conspiracy story as it seems tacked on to the Hulk because Jones was writing this instead of what he'd rather write. But the non-conspiracy parts are good. The Blonksy/Banner drama is engaging and I loved when the Abomination finally got out and made his way to Hulk. The battle was great and the winning moment was well done. Watching the Hulk's reaction to Blonky's taunt was as powerful as the final blow. This volume was much more enjoyable than the previous. Hopefully the series stays like this until the end of Jones' run.
The Hulk is a character I never quite connected with, but always wanted to. I appreciate the Jekyll/Hyde aspect of the character, as well as the 'man on the run' trope, but no matter what incarnation I've read I always seem to be looking for something else. Good thing there's fifty years worth of material out there to explore.
And all of the sudden, things pick up in this Bruce Jones run of the Hulk. Great deal of betrayal, love and big green things pounding each other. And I have pretty much always liked Mike Deodato's art. Good times.