Hulk: Return to Planet Hulk

The Totally Awesome Hulk

by Greg Pak (Writer), Greg Land (Artist)

Return to Planet Hulk - this time with Amadeus Cho! When Amadeus picks up a distress signal from a distant planet, he's shocked to find out that it's from Sakaar. As the Totally Awesome
Hulk, Amadeus has been trying to avoid the curse of anger that haunted Bruce Banner. But Sakaar is a place for warriors and gladiators...a place where the Hulk fought brutally in the Imperial Arena. If Amadeus is to survive there, he may have to embrace the savage Hulk within himself - especially when he faces a series of impossible trials known as the Gauntlet! But who sent the mysterious call for help that brought him to this deadly planet? Can
Amadeus conquer Sakaar like Banner before him - or will he himself be conquered? And is that thundering barbarian...the Odinson?

COLLECTING: INCREDIBLE HULK 709-713

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2018

About the author

Greg Pak is an award-winning Korean American comic book writer and filmmaker currently writing "Lawful" for BOOM and "Sam Wilson: Captain America" (with Evan Narcisse) for Marvel. Pak wrote the "Princess Who Saved Herself" children's book and the “Code Monkey Save World” graphic novel based on the songs of Jonathan Coulton and co-wrote (with Fred Van Lente) the acclaimed “Make Comics Like the Pros” how-to book. Pak's other work includes "Planet Hulk," "Darth Vader," "Mech Cadet Yu," "Ronin Island," "Action Comics," and "Magneto Testament."

Reviews

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another cheap Marvel cash in, its literally Thor: Ragnarok and Mad Max: Fury Road mashed together with Amadeus Cho as protagonist, with serviceable art. Steer away from it unless you're a big fan of Cho's Hulk.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wa so not needed but then again I knda enjoyed it lol!

SO Amadeus exiles himself to another planet but its Sakaar and when he reaches there a clan called the Dok'abi asks him to save them from the conqueror Warlord and well he is kinda like the red king and its the same old trials and challenges and the birth of the warbound and even the character Maeera is a shadow priestess and like Caera and yeah the similarities are remarkable but this time Amadeus fights different opponents and surprisingly Odinson which was a fun battle and then the warlord and his missiles and we see the change happening in Amadeus finally and whats it gonna lead to!

So yeah an epic fight and an even epic battle and massive changes to the temperament of Amadeus and this will lead to a great final story arc next and the fight with Odinson was fun, though I would have wanted it to last longer and make it truly epic. The art was great and you could feel the tension, my only problem is its dna is so similar to the original story without changing some more elements but then again it does its job and changes Amadeus and shows him as a liberator too!

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amadeus Cho heads to Sakaar and hangs out with the cast of Mad Max: Fury Road. This thing is completely derivative and not interesting in the least. Greg Land's tracing looks sketchier and less finished than normal. Only for Totally Awesome Hulk completists.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
Greg Pak returns to Planet Hulk, but this time he's taking Amadeus Cho with him. Pak is well known for the Hulk's adventures on Sakaar and the follow-up World War Hulk story; unfortunately this is way more generic.

Trying to capture lightning in a bottle twice doesn't really work here. Amadeus returns to a miraculously-resurrected Sakaar after hearing a distress call from a planet that shouldn't even exist, and is roped into fighting a copy of the Red King from Planet Hulk, as well as a similar Silver Surfer fight featuring Odinson instead. It's all very much Greg Pak doing a Greg Pak impersonation instead of telling a story that Amadeus would really benefit from. He goes through the motions here, but the emotions fall flat, especially with the repetitive inner monologue between Amadeus and his inner Hulk as they bicker over who gets to drive and whether Ammy will kill anyone or not.

Speaking of flat, Greg Land's on art. Do I need to say much else? His Hulk is fine, if a little lifeless, and there aren't many sexy ladies for him to pornify, but it's still very much Greg Land.

Not a patch on the first Planet Hulk; mindless fun, like classic Hulk, but not a lot below the surface.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resting in a satellite in space, Amadeus Cho tries to keep Earth safe from the rage of the Hulk, having psychologically repressed him into a car trunk (see previous Volumes for the explanation). When he receives a distress signal from a distant planet, he goes to investigate.... but it's Sakaar. Under the rule of a new Warlord, the people are starving and have called out for the Worldbreaker (meaning Bruce Banner's Hulk, from the original Planet Hulk storyline). When Cho arrives, he defends the clans and goes through their Gauntlet, defeating monsters, for 5 days straight... day 4 beating Odinson and day 5 taking out the Warlord himself, saving and liberating Sakaar.
Though this book is filled with fighting and the typical Hulk violence, the real violence occurs in Cho's mind. The moral implications of letting Hulk out and take control frighten him. At the end, as he is heading back to Earth with Odinson, we find out that Hulk has locked Cho "in the trunk" and has assumed control. The ominous words "Next: World War Hulk II" are the end....
...or are they? We catch a brief glimpse into the new crossover Infinity Countdown, seeing Super Skrull get a hold of the Time Stone. Can't wait to see what happens there...

Excellent story, quick and fast, with good art. High recommend.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Começando as resenhas da fase Marvel Legado. A proposta da Marvel Legado é retomar tanto a numeração antiga da Marvel, como personagens, situações e antigos arcos de histórias. No caso do Hulk - que neste momento era Amadeus Cho - a retomada foi um dos grandes sucessos dos últimos tempos do gigante esmeralda, O Planeta Hulk. Na trama, Cho é enviado em forma de Hulk ao planeta Sakaar, desde antes ele estava lidando com a sua parte Hulk que queria assumir o controle do seu corpo. Claro, o velho plot do Hulk e sua luta contra si mesmo. No planeta Sakaar, o Hulk precisa retomar seu status de Quebra-Mundos e de Cicatriz Verde enfrentando o Mestre da Guerra. Para isso, ele precisa enfrentar diversos desafios como um Thor Odinson trazido pelo mesmo portal que trouxe o Hulk. Falando nele, reparei grandes influências para essa nova saga: o filme Thor: Ragnarok, onde o Hulk e o deus do trovão lutam numa arena como neste volume e o filme Mad Max, que, inclusive teve algumas cenas extremamente chupadas do filme. Enfim, a dupla de Gregs, a gente sabe que quandos e junta, não dá suco. E nem se compara com a saga original que o próprio Pak escreveu. Por fim tenho de dizer: vocês reclamam e reclamam das mulheres da diversidade que não vendem. Mas quem não funcionou nada nessa história de "personagens legado" toda foi o Amadeus Cho transformado em Hulk. Prefiro mil vezes ele como "apenas" um garoto mega inteligente.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. Maybe I am being a smidge too generous with this rating but this kept me entertained and I had fun reading it. Plus, sometimes gratuitous violence is cathartic to read. Sure, this was highly derivative and rife with cliche tropes but it was a quick and enjoyable read so I stand by my rating.

Amadeus Cho has to battle with his inner (Hulk) monsters while also fighting some literal alien monsters when he answers a distress call from Sakaar. The Totally Awesome Hulk must learn that sometimes being hero means making the tough calls and that sometimes, you can't save everyone. This is a fast-paced, apocalyptic battle-royale kinda storyline that makes for a solid palate cleanser for any emotionally heavy books just read.

[Angel (jurassicreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part of the Planet Hulk storyline is, obviously, Sakaar and this story brings us back. This one is quite a bit shorter and revolves around Amadeus Cho. Reading some reviews, I saw quite a bit of dislike for Cho, but I found him much easier to relate to as a 'normal' person. He's constantly fighting his Hulk side and thinking logically about escaping from being a 'monster.' This storyline brings back the fighting, backstabbing, and excitement of its predecessors with the only downside being that it was too short. On the plus side, I will probably go back and read the original!

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate when they replace a character with a similar one, then just retread the same storylines. I like the Amadeus Hulk, but this "let's do all the Banner stories, but with him" does both a disservice. This is also a naked tie-in to Thor: Ragnarok, right down to referencing lines from the trailer. Shameful.

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is maybe one issue's worth of story here, and not only is the story drawn out in a tiring way, but I swear several of the panels in the last issue are copy pasted from previous ones with new dialogue on them. Bad art and bad writing. All around lazy book.

[Scott Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly? Still making up my mind about this one. Marvel and DC both keep rebooting themselves so fast these days that I feel like I'm constantly trying to settle in long enough to figure out which books I really want to follow. Then I figure it out--and they cancel it right out from under me.

That said, Pak does a good job here, and this is the best art work I've seen from Greg Land in ages. I loved the guy when I first saw him working for Crossgen back, oh, fifteen, sixteen years ago. Then when he spent years with Marvel in Uncanny X-Men it seemed he'd lost consistency somehow. I'd love some panels, but others? Meh. This book is beautiful.

The story is entertaining. I never read World War Hulk or the original Planet Hulk, so there's no nostalgia factor here for me. However, this felt a lot like Pak decided to do Thor: Ragnarok in reverse. Now, there are differences enough that I still enjoyed it, and I can't say I feel it's a total rip off, but it feels like an Amadeus Cho-centric remix, and it's just not as good as the original. If all the character attitude, etc. of this book were served up this beautifully in a fully original story I think I'd love it.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

The return we have all been waiting for!

... actually, no... I don't think anyone really wanted this. This is kind of a weird volume as it feels so unnecessary. The contrivances that are forced in order for this to work are so out there. I think Greg Pak is a great writer, especially for the Hulk, but this just felt like Marvel editorial forcing him to make this work somehow and Pak doing the best he could. And unfortunately it doesn't really pan out.

First off, it's not even the right Hulk, its Amadeus Hulk. Which, don't get me wrong, he's a cool character, but there's something about Banner's anger and fury that just went well with Sakaar, so when you put this Hulk, who is much more subdued and actively trying to keep his anger in check - it doesn't work as well. The reason of how he gets there is so forced, Thor showing up is beyond forced... I mean the whole thing is kind of a train wreck. Greg Land draws the whole thing and.... yeah it's just a really weak volume.

Im hoping the next Hulk volume can do something a bit more original than this.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I totally understand the allure of the sequel. Loved the first thing, how could you not love the second? Basically, because the story rarely needs to be told or shouldn't be told be because there isn't enough of a story. The latter is the case here. In the original Planet Hulk, Greg Pak was able to create characters on this alien world that were all unique and mattered. In this follow-up, they are all so generic. It was lazy. We get the tedious Amadeus needs to lose control dilemma that has been a theme from day one and its not gone anywhere interesting, most likely including the next collection. Greg Land's art was good here and better than his normal fare. Overall, a fine story if you never read the original.

[The Geeky Viking · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a while since I really enjoyed an Incredible Hulk book, but leave it to series writer Greg Pak to come up with a tale that takes the character back to his enjoyable glory days. Not a big fan of the character of Amadeous Cho, the kid who is currently the Incredible Hulk, but Pak writes him very well here. The artwork by Greg Land is simply beautiful and it's fun to see Hulk return to Planet Sakaar. There's some fan service to Thor:Ragnarok but it's a fun addition and doesn't detract from the overall story. All in all I really enjoyed this one and hope Marvel has the good sense to keep Greg Pak and Greg Land on this title for the a while. Highly recommended!

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent story of Amadeus Cho as the Hulk fighting not only his rage and the Hulk inside, but following a request from Sakraa, Planet Hulk, he finds himself battling the Warlord, the evil that reigns. The planet of death and killing. Amadeus won't kill and makes a small difference in the world. He and Thor battle as well when the Warlord uses the science and magic to pull Thor in as his warrior and he is controlled to kill the Hulk.

Interesting story. I liked a few of the supporting characters, but again this is a battle book and so the times that Hulk shows kindness and caring are my favorite parts of the book.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never had any interest in going back to Planet Hulk... and this book didn't change that! It was an interesting story back in 2006, but Sakaar isn't a setting that can hold my attention long. Again, my biggest problem with Amadeus Cho as Hulk is that Pak has yet to give him his own stories. The main series was just random collections of generic monsters and now he's fighting on Sakaar. Amadeus hasn't been given his own villains, his own goals, or his own purpose, which is just too bad since there was plenty of potential for the character.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

The script feels too-aggressively edited, making it hard to understand the story in places, a situation which isn't helped any with the visual grammar, which frequently makes it hard to understand what's happening from one panel to the next. In short, this is kind of just a mess.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amadeus gets sucked through a portal to planet Sakaar. A new Warlord has arisen and Amadeus must fight in an arena to try to free people. Not as good or as epic as the original Planet Hulk. I would have liked more story. The art by Greg Land is good.

[James Elkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been enjoying Cho's exploration of what it means to BE HULK, and trying to do it better.

Greg Land's illustrations are...great Land.

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Aggressively bad. A boldface grab at the glory of an old story. Even stealing lines from a movie? Just terrible.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had big hopes, but in many ways this is a rerun combined with attempts to mimic a MCU movie...so it's mimicking a mimic.

[Jereme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cool return to Planet Hulk! With some very interesting spoilers at the end...

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure who half the characters are, or what was going on at the time, but it was mildly entertaining.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit silly and very quick but overall a good use of Amadeus Cho.

[Joshua Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The roller coaster of story quality takes a sharp upturn?

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't hold a candle to the original Planet Hulk saga. Not even close. But it is a really great looking ode to the original. This is a very fun little adventure.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat copies Banner Hulk's trip to Sakaar. Learned other interesting tidbits though.