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World War Hulk #Prologue, 1-5
World War Hulk
Following on from events in 'Planet Hulk', the Green Goliath returns to Earth seeking revenge against the heroes who exiled him to space. No one will be able to withstand his rage, as the Hulk takes on nearly the entire Marvel Universe in his quest for justice!
276 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2008
2 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Peter David
3,566 books1,362 followersaka David Peters
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 9, 2013
Hulk was sent away from Earth in a spaceship by Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Dr Strange, and Black Bolt, because he's too dangerous/unstable. He winds up on an alien planet where he goes from being a gladiator to their king, falling in love and becoming a father (all of these events take place in "Planet Hulk"). That is until the spaceship he arrived in blows up killing a million of his alien chums along with his pregnant wife. Oh Hulk is maaaaaaaaaaaaad. So here he goes, on a new spaceship headed straight for Earth to begin... World War Hulk!
Whenever I meet people who snort and turn their noses up when I mention that I'm a grown man who enjoys reading comics, I make the argument that comics are more than simply men in tights flying around the place doing impossible things (though a Superman book here and there is great fun); comics are a more sophisticated, complex, and infinitely artistic medium than to be dismissed outright as serious literature. Superhero comics too have come a long way since the Golden Age and are more than just toy figures fighting one another - just look at the work of Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, and so on.
But books like "World War Hulk" undermine my argument because in this book Hulk batters one hero after another until it becomes representative of the worst excesses the medium offers. It is the stereotype that people who don't read comics think of when you mention comics. Hulks fights Black Bolt and wins; he fights Iron Man and wins; he fights the Fantastic Four and wins; it's just so tedious to read. Hulk smash, blah blah blah, who thought this was a good idea? Is the Hulk literally invulnerable? It seems so. Well that makes for an interesting read, having a main character who can easily defeat any obstacle in his way.
Black Bolt is described as being the second most powerful superhero in the world (despite living on the moon) yet Hulk defeats him. How? There's no mention in the book how, it just happens. Thor is noticeably absent in the book - if ever there was a significant threat to Hulk, it's Thor (despite the scene from the Avengers movie showing him as somewhat less tough than Hulk - you know the one I mean).
Despite Greg Pak's efforts to make Hulk seem more than the indestructible tough greenie who cuts through Earth's mightiest heroes with incredible ease, Hulk is revealed at the end to be the dummy he's always been portrayed as. He is easily manipulated into going into a rage by someone smarter than he is - I mean, why would Reed Richards et al. try to kill Hulk after the extensive efforts made to put him on a deserted planet where he could finally find peace? Why not destroy Banner when he was out cold when they put him on the spaceship headed to space? But if such glaringly obvious plot holes were pointed out there wouldn't be this book.
And having Sentry show up in the final third - why wasn't he the first one to fight Hulk? Because he's agoraphobic. So what set him off to finally get involved? Again, if it was just Sentry fighting Hulk in the first place there wouldn't be a book. It's just so contrived.
"World War Hulk" is a dumb comic book that would only appeal to kids who want to see these colourful characters doing nothing more cerebral than punching one another. It's like Royal Rumble with Hulk in the ring and every hero charging at him only to be, drearily, inevitably, rebuffed. The only interesting part was how such an unstoppable force of nature was finally stopped, which I'll admit was at least interesting and probably the only part of the book I thought was clever. But the rest? If all you want from comics is fighting, you'll love this - for everyone else, don't bother.
Whenever I meet people who snort and turn their noses up when I mention that I'm a grown man who enjoys reading comics, I make the argument that comics are more than simply men in tights flying around the place doing impossible things (though a Superman book here and there is great fun); comics are a more sophisticated, complex, and infinitely artistic medium than to be dismissed outright as serious literature. Superhero comics too have come a long way since the Golden Age and are more than just toy figures fighting one another - just look at the work of Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, and so on.
But books like "World War Hulk" undermine my argument because in this book Hulk batters one hero after another until it becomes representative of the worst excesses the medium offers. It is the stereotype that people who don't read comics think of when you mention comics. Hulks fights Black Bolt and wins; he fights Iron Man and wins; he fights the Fantastic Four and wins; it's just so tedious to read. Hulk smash, blah blah blah, who thought this was a good idea? Is the Hulk literally invulnerable? It seems so. Well that makes for an interesting read, having a main character who can easily defeat any obstacle in his way.
Black Bolt is described as being the second most powerful superhero in the world (despite living on the moon) yet Hulk defeats him. How? There's no mention in the book how, it just happens. Thor is noticeably absent in the book - if ever there was a significant threat to Hulk, it's Thor (despite the scene from the Avengers movie showing him as somewhat less tough than Hulk - you know the one I mean).
Despite Greg Pak's efforts to make Hulk seem more than the indestructible tough greenie who cuts through Earth's mightiest heroes with incredible ease, Hulk is revealed at the end to be the dummy he's always been portrayed as. He is easily manipulated into going into a rage by someone smarter than he is - I mean, why would Reed Richards et al. try to kill Hulk after the extensive efforts made to put him on a deserted planet where he could finally find peace? Why not destroy Banner when he was out cold when they put him on the spaceship headed to space? But if such glaringly obvious plot holes were pointed out there wouldn't be this book.
And having Sentry show up in the final third - why wasn't he the first one to fight Hulk? Because he's agoraphobic. So what set him off to finally get involved? Again, if it was just Sentry fighting Hulk in the first place there wouldn't be a book. It's just so contrived.
"World War Hulk" is a dumb comic book that would only appeal to kids who want to see these colourful characters doing nothing more cerebral than punching one another. It's like Royal Rumble with Hulk in the ring and every hero charging at him only to be, drearily, inevitably, rebuffed. The only interesting part was how such an unstoppable force of nature was finally stopped, which I'll admit was at least interesting and probably the only part of the book I thought was clever. But the rest? If all you want from comics is fighting, you'll love this - for everyone else, don't bother.
October 8, 2008
So, a quartet of heroes banished the Hulk to a planet where he started out as a slave and worked his way up to ruler. Eventually, he found love and got married only to have the space ship blow up, wiping out his new-found people and his wife. Needless to say, the Hulk's pretty annoyed about all of this and returns to Earth to kick some super-hero posterior and take some names.
And that's where World War Hulk begins. And then you spend the next hundred or so pages with the Hulk battling various Marvel superheroes and other foes as he gets madder and madder, which only makes him stronger. It's kind of fun, but not being a huge Hulk fan, a lot of the broader implications of things and developments were lost on me. But having heard some good buzz on this one and seeing it marketed as an "event" in the Marvel Universe, I was curious enough to pick up the trade paperback collection of the mini-series and give it a try.
And that's where World War Hulk begins. And then you spend the next hundred or so pages with the Hulk battling various Marvel superheroes and other foes as he gets madder and madder, which only makes him stronger. It's kind of fun, but not being a huge Hulk fan, a lot of the broader implications of things and developments were lost on me. But having heard some good buzz on this one and seeing it marketed as an "event" in the Marvel Universe, I was curious enough to pick up the trade paperback collection of the mini-series and give it a try.
May 30, 2019
Decent Hulk story that follows on where the Planet Hulk storyline finished. With Hulks planet and family destroyed he is out for blood and revenge against the people that sent him to Sakaar.
This book is all out action for the majority of it which plays out mostly as Hulk and friends vs Avengers. The action is fun, this is basically your popcorn action flick as a graphic novel.
It is good to see appearances from different Avengers and see how the fights play out, one of my favourites was the fight with Doctor Strange.
The storyline in this book does suffer slightly, especially in comparison to Planet Hulk which saw lots of character growth and depth for the Hulk and not all out action.
However it does offer a satisfying end to the storyline that started in Planet Hulk. I would highly recommend reading that book first before this. There are some additional What If stories to finish the book which are a nice bonus to see how things could have turned out, but not essential to the overall story.
This book is all out action for the majority of it which plays out mostly as Hulk and friends vs Avengers. The action is fun, this is basically your popcorn action flick as a graphic novel.
It is good to see appearances from different Avengers and see how the fights play out, one of my favourites was the fight with Doctor Strange.
The storyline in this book does suffer slightly, especially in comparison to Planet Hulk which saw lots of character growth and depth for the Hulk and not all out action.
However it does offer a satisfying end to the storyline that started in Planet Hulk. I would highly recommend reading that book first before this. There are some additional What If stories to finish the book which are a nice bonus to see how things could have turned out, but not essential to the overall story.
November 11, 2023
A classic fun story. It had been a long time since I first read it and it's still as fun as back then.
March 1, 2017
I read this at work when I was supposed to be grading papers. It's good, my girlfriend bought it for me. She is also good.
June 18, 2011
Okay, so five or six years ago Marvel were hip-deep in making most of their core characters morally ambiguous and upping the stakes on angst and stuff like that. The heart of this was a series called Civil War in which the US government decided that all superheroes and mutants and whatnot had to get government licenses. The superheroes broke down into two factions: autocratic control-freaks in the government's pocket, and dangerously irresponsible anarchists intent on keeping things fast and loose. And they had lots of big fights, and somebody cloned a God, and there was something like Guantanamo Bay but in another dimension, and a lot of people at the time said nice things about how thoughtful and politically relevent this was. Hmm.
Anyway the Hulk was shunted off-screen for all of this stuff, in a series collected under the title Planet Hulk. It's pretty good stuff with the Hulk's so-called buddies blasting him off into space 'for his own good'. He ends up becoming a space gladiator, conquering his own planet, getting a wife and making a pretty good job of being king. For about three days, and then the spaceship he arrived on blows up and kills nearly everyone except for him and his gladiator buddies.
This sounds stupid but it's actually quite a touching and thoughtful story and I got really angry on the Hulk's behalf that the device used to drag him back into the mainstream Marvel continuity was so crushingly unsubtle, almost like a kind of woman-in-fridge plot device if you know what that means (I don't think the index case of the woman-in-fridge thing, which I believe happened around Green Lantern series 3 issue #54, is a very good example of the trope, but it's the one everyone refers to, unfortunately).
Well, anyway, this is the story of how the Hulk heads home to wreak a terrible revenge on those he blames for shooting him off in the first place: Iron Man, Mr Fantastic, Dr Strange, and Black Bolt.
Now how much you like World War Hulk depends on what you want from a superhero story. I liked Planet Hulk a lot because mixed in with the big-screen superhero action there was a lot of character development and, you know, thoughtfulness. World War Hulk is very nearly just wall-to-wall superhero fights (or it would be if all the walls didn't get knocked down in chapter 1).
After a pretty good prologue exploring the Hulk's history with his intended targets and the roots of their conflict, things crack on as they mean to continue with the Hulk beating Black Bolt to a pulp (this happens off screen, presumably because Black Bolt's a less popular character, which seems a bit of a cop-out given everyone says what a badass and how invincible he is) and then taking on Iron Man, who's wearing a special anti-Hulk suit of armour that makes him look like he's stuck in a big red and gold washing machine.
KRAKKABATHROOM! says the sound effect (printed on more than one line in the book so you don't actually notice it finishes with BATHROOM, which is just silly), the first sign that World War Hulk has... well, you know when someone's singing and starts off pitching their voice too high so they've got nowhere to go later on? World War Hulk's like that. The Hulk/Iron Man/washing machine fight is so ludicrously huge that the rest of the book struggles to top it.
We're quickly in a realm of increasingly grandiose sound effects and diminishing returns as various characters form a queue to get beat on by the Hulk and his gladiator buds. WHAAKOOOM! There go the Avengers (though not an A-list line-up from the look of things - on the other hand Spider-Man's in there and he gets beat up off-panel by one of the weedier gladiators). THRAKKADOOM! Down go the Fantastic Four, which serves them right for cheating by having about six members at this point. SKRAKOOOM! The US army has a go, led by the Hulk's oldest nemesis Thunderbolt Ross. Dr Strange also has a go, to no avail (CRAAACK! as the Hulk turns his hands into paste and stops him casting spells). But the Doc is keen to get into the spirit of the story and proves his badass credentials by letting himself be possessed by a demon to go another round with the Hulk. Not that it does him much good. KTHRAMM! SKRAKK! HROKK! CHTKRAMM!
Well it keeps on like this and culminates in the Hulk fighting a flying guy with a cape and an S on his costume (what's that you say? I'm implying some ripping-off has gone on? Well, you might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment) and the sound effect VJJJWOMMMVVVVVVB which I've no idea how they thought up. Maybe the cat walked across the keyboard of the letterer or something. The Hulk is kind of redeemed for all the smashing and stuff he's done and likewise Iron Man and his buddies get let off the hook for spoiling the end of Planet Hulk.
I've probably sounded rather critical of World War Hulk for being nothing but a linear series of repetitive fight scenes. This is true, but the art is good and there's some interesting stuff sprinkled in there too. The Hulk's old sidekick Rick Jones gets some good dialogue and a key role, for one thing, and as you may have gathered they find a way to make Dr Strange interesting and vulnerable. Normally Dr Strange is so nebulously omnipotent that he's more of a plot device than a character, but they find a way round that rather neatly here.
The Hulk is kind of an asshole for most of the book but then so are all the other major Marvel characters involved. It's all shades of grey and moral ambiguity by the end which fits well with the tone of Marvel books at the time but isn't necessarily what you'd expect from a superhero collection.
The slightly annoying thing is that it's pretty clear that some of the other comics associated with World War Hulk were telling some interesting stories, but they're only touched on briefly here - the Hulk's fight with Hercules and the Renegades happens off-page, and I think there was an issue of Ghost Rider where he turned up to fight the Hulk, but that isn't even alluded to in the main title. The nature of the modern comic-book crossover event, I suppose.
World War Hulk scores highly for coolness and extravagant property damage the first time you read it, but doesn't have a great deal to draw you back to re-read it. It doesn't have a lot of nuance to it, nor many levels, but on the other hand it does fix the end of Planet Hulk, a bit. It's a fun read, but doesn't have much more going for it.
Anyway the Hulk was shunted off-screen for all of this stuff, in a series collected under the title Planet Hulk. It's pretty good stuff with the Hulk's so-called buddies blasting him off into space 'for his own good'. He ends up becoming a space gladiator, conquering his own planet, getting a wife and making a pretty good job of being king. For about three days, and then the spaceship he arrived on blows up and kills nearly everyone except for him and his gladiator buddies.
This sounds stupid but it's actually quite a touching and thoughtful story and I got really angry on the Hulk's behalf that the device used to drag him back into the mainstream Marvel continuity was so crushingly unsubtle, almost like a kind of woman-in-fridge plot device if you know what that means (I don't think the index case of the woman-in-fridge thing, which I believe happened around Green Lantern series 3 issue #54, is a very good example of the trope, but it's the one everyone refers to, unfortunately).
Well, anyway, this is the story of how the Hulk heads home to wreak a terrible revenge on those he blames for shooting him off in the first place: Iron Man, Mr Fantastic, Dr Strange, and Black Bolt.
Now how much you like World War Hulk depends on what you want from a superhero story. I liked Planet Hulk a lot because mixed in with the big-screen superhero action there was a lot of character development and, you know, thoughtfulness. World War Hulk is very nearly just wall-to-wall superhero fights (or it would be if all the walls didn't get knocked down in chapter 1).
After a pretty good prologue exploring the Hulk's history with his intended targets and the roots of their conflict, things crack on as they mean to continue with the Hulk beating Black Bolt to a pulp (this happens off screen, presumably because Black Bolt's a less popular character, which seems a bit of a cop-out given everyone says what a badass and how invincible he is) and then taking on Iron Man, who's wearing a special anti-Hulk suit of armour that makes him look like he's stuck in a big red and gold washing machine.
KRAKKABATHROOM! says the sound effect (printed on more than one line in the book so you don't actually notice it finishes with BATHROOM, which is just silly), the first sign that World War Hulk has... well, you know when someone's singing and starts off pitching their voice too high so they've got nowhere to go later on? World War Hulk's like that. The Hulk/Iron Man/washing machine fight is so ludicrously huge that the rest of the book struggles to top it.
We're quickly in a realm of increasingly grandiose sound effects and diminishing returns as various characters form a queue to get beat on by the Hulk and his gladiator buds. WHAAKOOOM! There go the Avengers (though not an A-list line-up from the look of things - on the other hand Spider-Man's in there and he gets beat up off-panel by one of the weedier gladiators). THRAKKADOOM! Down go the Fantastic Four, which serves them right for cheating by having about six members at this point. SKRAKOOOM! The US army has a go, led by the Hulk's oldest nemesis Thunderbolt Ross. Dr Strange also has a go, to no avail (CRAAACK! as the Hulk turns his hands into paste and stops him casting spells). But the Doc is keen to get into the spirit of the story and proves his badass credentials by letting himself be possessed by a demon to go another round with the Hulk. Not that it does him much good. KTHRAMM! SKRAKK! HROKK! CHTKRAMM!
Well it keeps on like this and culminates in the Hulk fighting a flying guy with a cape and an S on his costume (what's that you say? I'm implying some ripping-off has gone on? Well, you might think that, but I couldn't possibly comment) and the sound effect VJJJWOMMMVVVVVVB which I've no idea how they thought up. Maybe the cat walked across the keyboard of the letterer or something. The Hulk is kind of redeemed for all the smashing and stuff he's done and likewise Iron Man and his buddies get let off the hook for spoiling the end of Planet Hulk.
I've probably sounded rather critical of World War Hulk for being nothing but a linear series of repetitive fight scenes. This is true, but the art is good and there's some interesting stuff sprinkled in there too. The Hulk's old sidekick Rick Jones gets some good dialogue and a key role, for one thing, and as you may have gathered they find a way to make Dr Strange interesting and vulnerable. Normally Dr Strange is so nebulously omnipotent that he's more of a plot device than a character, but they find a way round that rather neatly here.
The Hulk is kind of an asshole for most of the book but then so are all the other major Marvel characters involved. It's all shades of grey and moral ambiguity by the end which fits well with the tone of Marvel books at the time but isn't necessarily what you'd expect from a superhero collection.
The slightly annoying thing is that it's pretty clear that some of the other comics associated with World War Hulk were telling some interesting stories, but they're only touched on briefly here - the Hulk's fight with Hercules and the Renegades happens off-page, and I think there was an issue of Ghost Rider where he turned up to fight the Hulk, but that isn't even alluded to in the main title. The nature of the modern comic-book crossover event, I suppose.
World War Hulk scores highly for coolness and extravagant property damage the first time you read it, but doesn't have a great deal to draw you back to re-read it. It doesn't have a lot of nuance to it, nor many levels, but on the other hand it does fix the end of Planet Hulk, a bit. It's a fun read, but doesn't have much more going for it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2023
This is a great story from the perspective of hulk.
I appreciate the effort of it not just being an action packed raging story, but having depth to the point where we can see things from hulk's eyes and learn how some of the other heroes can be selfish and more villainous than heroic.
I wish this was a version of hulk that we could see in the MCU.
I appreciate the effort of it not just being an action packed raging story, but having depth to the point where we can see things from hulk's eyes and learn how some of the other heroes can be selfish and more villainous than heroic.
I wish this was a version of hulk that we could see in the MCU.
January 27, 2020
Straightforward and predictable, definitely not as good as Planet Hulk. Still, there were some nice action scenes, and I enjoyed it!
August 9, 2022
A decent enough story with Hulk smashing his way through his enemies.
January 17, 2023
Slightly over the top if I’m honest but seeing all those heroes trying to stop an ever angrier Hulk was quite fun. This with Planet Hill certainly makes me want to watch Thor Ragnarok again.
August 9, 2023
A bit too rushed in my opinion and the storytelling seems to be lazy at times stopping the dialogues with action.
February 20, 2024
A pretty brisk and easy read.
A lot of smashing as is fitting for The Hulk!
3.5 ☆
A lot of smashing as is fitting for The Hulk!
3.5 ☆
May 6, 2009
It seems Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, Iron Man, and Mr. Fantastic decided to shoot their good buddy Hulk into space onto a planet called Sakaar for his, and the planet Earth's, own good. Monsters just about as bad as the Hulk inhabit Sakaar. While there, they force the Hulk into slavery and make him a gladiator. However, one thing leads to another and he becomes the leader of the planet. But, some kind of explosion that kills millions of people on Sakaar including the Hulk's new wife and their unborn child which the Hulk blames the aforementioned foursome. As a result, the Hulk heads for Earth more pissed off than ever.
World War Hulk starts when the Hulk shows up on the moon and kicks Black Bolt's ass. He even survives one of Black Bolt's sound waves, which he shouldn't have but as it gets pointed out repeatedly the Hulk is more pissed than ever. The more pissed the Hulk, the stronger. After this battle, he goes to Manhattan and demands an evacuation in order to make it a battlefield so he can kick Dr. Strange's, Iron Man's, and Mr. Fantastic's asses, of course a bunch of other superheroes come to back them up. However, the Hulk brought his own posse called the Warbound. These guys kick serious ass so the battle gets really rough.
I really don't read superhero comics as much as I used to and the problem I have with this is that you pretty much have to be a twelve year old to really appreciate it. What I mean is that the whole book plays up like some kind of epic end-all-be-all battle where the Hulk is pissed off beyond any time before this. However, he still holds back and pulls punches. Yeah, I understand he's supposed to be a hero and heroes don't kill but don't try to sell me the other way if you can't follow through on your shots.
Some of the Hulk's greatest friends thought he was so dangerous that they shot him into space to a planet where he became enslaved. That's really fucking harsh. On top of that he thinks they killed his wife and unborn child, which seems like a pretty goddamn good reason for being uber pissed. The Hulk should have come back with every reason to just shred those guys to molecules, but no! He dicks around and is torn about shit and contemplates his decisions except when they want to explain how they didn't kill Hulk's wife.
Now I understand that Marvel doesn't want to kill off it's key characters, even at the hands of the Hulk, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been a threat. The writer would have just had to work a little harder at getting around killing them. It was played up as so epic it wouldn't have been too out of place to actually bump one of the characters off. I think Black Bolt wouldn't be too missed his power is pretty fucking dumb like the rest of the Inhumans.
Actually, my favorite part of the book is when General Ross takes on the Hulk. He's truly pissed like the Hulk should have been. His daughter is dead as the result of the Hulk. He's sick of the yo-yo game of good Hulk/bad Hulk. He points out that for every time Hulk does something heroic, he turns around and fucks up even worse than the last time. Now here's a dude who's not only a regular-ass human, but is an old-ass man but is so sick of decades of the green bastard that he jumps on the Hulk from an aloft helicopter and on the way down to for all he knows is his certain death and shoots the Hulk in the eye. Now that is one badass mofo. I must be getting old because I used to thing General Ross was a dick but now he makes more sense than anyone else in the Marvel Universe.
World War Hulk starts when the Hulk shows up on the moon and kicks Black Bolt's ass. He even survives one of Black Bolt's sound waves, which he shouldn't have but as it gets pointed out repeatedly the Hulk is more pissed than ever. The more pissed the Hulk, the stronger. After this battle, he goes to Manhattan and demands an evacuation in order to make it a battlefield so he can kick Dr. Strange's, Iron Man's, and Mr. Fantastic's asses, of course a bunch of other superheroes come to back them up. However, the Hulk brought his own posse called the Warbound. These guys kick serious ass so the battle gets really rough.
I really don't read superhero comics as much as I used to and the problem I have with this is that you pretty much have to be a twelve year old to really appreciate it. What I mean is that the whole book plays up like some kind of epic end-all-be-all battle where the Hulk is pissed off beyond any time before this. However, he still holds back and pulls punches. Yeah, I understand he's supposed to be a hero and heroes don't kill but don't try to sell me the other way if you can't follow through on your shots.
Some of the Hulk's greatest friends thought he was so dangerous that they shot him into space to a planet where he became enslaved. That's really fucking harsh. On top of that he thinks they killed his wife and unborn child, which seems like a pretty goddamn good reason for being uber pissed. The Hulk should have come back with every reason to just shred those guys to molecules, but no! He dicks around and is torn about shit and contemplates his decisions except when they want to explain how they didn't kill Hulk's wife.
Now I understand that Marvel doesn't want to kill off it's key characters, even at the hands of the Hulk, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been a threat. The writer would have just had to work a little harder at getting around killing them. It was played up as so epic it wouldn't have been too out of place to actually bump one of the characters off. I think Black Bolt wouldn't be too missed his power is pretty fucking dumb like the rest of the Inhumans.
Actually, my favorite part of the book is when General Ross takes on the Hulk. He's truly pissed like the Hulk should have been. His daughter is dead as the result of the Hulk. He's sick of the yo-yo game of good Hulk/bad Hulk. He points out that for every time Hulk does something heroic, he turns around and fucks up even worse than the last time. Now here's a dude who's not only a regular-ass human, but is an old-ass man but is so sick of decades of the green bastard that he jumps on the Hulk from an aloft helicopter and on the way down to for all he knows is his certain death and shoots the Hulk in the eye. Now that is one badass mofo. I must be getting old because I used to thing General Ross was a dick but now he makes more sense than anyone else in the Marvel Universe.
February 6, 2013
'Event' comics suffer from particular difficulties in being forced to tick particular boxes: the need to shoe-horn in cameos for the high-profile company properties, the need for spectacular multi-page fight scenes in every issue, and usually the need to farm out all your sub-plots to tie-in books. So it is with this volume, which is a shame, because the potential was there for so much more.
In addition to these, though, the book suffers from a lack of space. There simply isn't enough space to get through everything that is set up to get through. In a short space of page-time, the Hulk has to get through various confrontations not only with each of the Illuminati (Iron Man, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Mr Fantastic) but also She-Hulk, Rick Jones, Sentry, Doc Samson, T-Bolt Ross, and his Warbound allies. Each of those confrontations suffers as a result, the potential lost in a headlong rush to get to the next. The biggest losers are probably the Warbound, interesting characters who spend much of the book just standing around in the background, rendering pointless most of the development they got in Planet Hulk. The story set up in that series deserved better, and with a stronger structure and a bit more thought, it could have had it.
The 'what-if' bonus stories included are interesting, but in many ways they accidentally highlight the problems with the actual story.
In summary: too much event, not enough comic.
In addition to these, though, the book suffers from a lack of space. There simply isn't enough space to get through everything that is set up to get through. In a short space of page-time, the Hulk has to get through various confrontations not only with each of the Illuminati (Iron Man, Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Mr Fantastic) but also She-Hulk, Rick Jones, Sentry, Doc Samson, T-Bolt Ross, and his Warbound allies. Each of those confrontations suffers as a result, the potential lost in a headlong rush to get to the next. The biggest losers are probably the Warbound, interesting characters who spend much of the book just standing around in the background, rendering pointless most of the development they got in Planet Hulk. The story set up in that series deserved better, and with a stronger structure and a bit more thought, it could have had it.
The 'what-if' bonus stories included are interesting, but in many ways they accidentally highlight the problems with the actual story.
In summary: too much event, not enough comic.
May 22, 2008
Infinitely superior to Planet Hulk, probably because the Hulk is the main conflict and not the protagonist. My favorite scenes belong to Doctor Strange. "Strange Smash"? AWESOME! The entire book built toward a nice moral: Ignore the labels of others; only you have the power to define yourself. Bonus points for Hulk + Warbound team teaching the Doc Strange/Iron Man/Black Bolt/Mr. Fantastic quartet the lesson that the disconnect between public and private perspective can be a fickle bitch. BUT, given that the story was focused on how such definition can carry heavy consequences for the people around you (like, destroying the planet and all the life one it), I felt that point fell short of the "Actions Speak Louder than Words" endpoint that it was headed towards. (If I were an editor, I would have pulled for Hulk to commit suicide at the story's conclusion.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2018
What can you expect?.... The Hulk smash! Hulk smashed all those who have done him wrong and now we can see clearly why! In connection with the Planet Hulk book I'd give this a 5 star rating if it weren't for Romita's artwork. I mean I've been accustomed to Romita's artwork in Daredevil The Man Without Fear which I find okay. But in this title, I hate what he did. Characters were barely recognizable as actions and movements were incomprehensible. I think Marvel should have concluded this Hulk story arc with a better artist for consistency's sake.
August 24, 2022
This is a sumptuous blockbuster read with dynamic action but much, much less satisfying character than in Planet Hulk, and absolutely the middle chapter of a story which means alone it suffers from being overly dark and with no solid start or end. Stunning and fun, well-worth reading but it could have been on the scale and richness of Injustice, but it is disappointingly straight-forward.
May 31, 2008
As follow up to the events of Planet Hulk, the Hulk and the Warbound arrive on Earth, and Hulk begins enacting his revenge against the Illuminati for sending him to space. The art is good. The story is alright, but as the story progresses it becomes Hulk fight She-Hulk, Huk fights Thing, Hulk fights Sentry, etc. and the last issue could have been spread out into two issues. It would have been nice to have more substance like Planet Hulk.
August 9, 2011
This text was very much fun, with beautiful artwork and powerful panels. However, one needs to have been reading previous events in the Marvel Universe to fully understand where this fits. At times, it felt like the story could have been compressed into a tighter framework, but who I am to argue with Marvel? While I will not be actively following the aftermath of this, it will be interesting to see what happens after this.
November 22, 2018
So much more fun than Planet Hulk crap ever was.
Epic fights that has not been made bad with too much talking about feelings, motives or just talking. Pak lets JRJR be just as good as JRJR is with those big fight scenes and stupid sound effects. And man, does JRJR deliver. He does and he is goooo-ooood.
I have been off Hulk since I heard about Planet Hulk but finally got around to be disappointed with it. This really made me want to read more Hulk.
Epic fights that has not been made bad with too much talking about feelings, motives or just talking. Pak lets JRJR be just as good as JRJR is with those big fight scenes and stupid sound effects. And man, does JRJR deliver. He does and he is goooo-ooood.
I have been off Hulk since I heard about Planet Hulk but finally got around to be disappointed with it. This really made me want to read more Hulk.
February 5, 2024
This felt a bit flat after Planet Hulk. The pace is relentless, but it’s not as captivating as Planet Hulk and it moved towards a conclusion too quickly without it ever really feeling like it showed anything.
A pal highlighted that there’s way more to this when I’m ready to head down the rabbit hole, so perhaps an omnibus is the best way to go.
A pal highlighted that there’s way more to this when I’m ready to head down the rabbit hole, so perhaps an omnibus is the best way to go.
August 16, 2008
good, fun story of the hulk kicking ass after the events from Planet Hulk, which was a much more entertaining story. Hulk here basically opens up a can of whup ass on earth's heroes. Read Planet Hulk first.
September 29, 2018
Even though it had a very unexpected plot-twist, World War Hulk is not at the same level as Planet Hulk. The artwork is subpar, in my modest opinion, and the plot is not as good as its predecessor. Nevertheless, it's a must-read for any Hulk fan.
August 6, 2014
Another episode of Hulk smash! The title "World War" but it is definitely misleading.
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April 11, 2021A lot of bish-bosh-bash. Enjoyed the little alternate stories at the back.
August 30, 2017
loved this adaptation. I read World War Hulk in one sitting I couldn't put it down, it is awesome.
I highly recommend it to all who enjoy the Marvel Universe.
I highly recommend it to all who enjoy the Marvel Universe.
January 1, 2019
A comic for people who enjoy very action heavy comics with a variety of cast members.
January 23, 2019
I liked some of the twists, but there were too many moments that were out-of-character for the heroes. This ruins the flow and drama of what should be a cataclysmic event.
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