Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War

Hulk (2021)

by Donny Cates, Nadia Shammas, Gary Frank (Cover Art)

UN CROSSOVER CATACLISMICO DESTINATO A SPACCARE! Le vite di Hulk e Thor hanno subito cambiamenti drastici, ma una cosa rimane la loro rivalità! I due Avengers entrano in conflitto in circostanze misteriose, ma la potenza del dio del Tuono sarà abbastanza per affrontare Bruce Banner, che ora controlla la rabbia del suo alter ego mostruoso? E Iron Man si pentirà di essersi intromesso, anche se dotato di una armatura Hulkbuster celestiale? Donny Cates scatena le due icone Marvel nella battaglia più epica di tutti i tempi, in una saga disegnata da Martin Coccolo che rivelerà oscuri segreti e segnerà il futuro dei due personaggi. [CONTIENE HULK VS. BANNER OF WAR ALPHA (2022) 1, THOR (2020) 25-26, HULK (2021) 7-8]

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fantasy, Comic Book, Fiction

111 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 19, 2022

Reviews

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gotta be one of my favorite reads of the year! Its so good omg!

So Thor finds about what Hulk did in El paso and we learn it too and then the Thunder god goes in to stop this menace and what we get is one of the greatest fights in Marvel history and I love the whole fight sequence and story and the crazy transformations and its as epic as it gets! Its a summer extravaganza and it gives some great fights like I said but also seminal moments for characters like Tony and Odin and hints at the larger story thats to come with "Titan" hulk and leads into a great new status quo for both characters!

The art was great and makes for such a great read haha! And also Tony gets such a good moment here its so awesome to read! I will keep gushing about the whole event but suffice to say its a MUST READ!

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the way I like my fights. I know Hulk and Thor have fought a number of times but the formula work. What is better then two of Marvel's hardest hitters hitting each other without having to hold back. Well this book is a different take on it. This is almost Dragonball territory with world exploding punches, but wait the world is still there.

I can see from a story point of view the reason for both characters needing to confront the "voices" in their respective heads, as well as their new abilities, but I just wanted a knockdown drag out fight. Also I am not a big fan of continually adding more Hulks (like the last volume of the Hulk series).

I think for me the hype of the book did not deliver. Lots of big explosions and destruction but a bit too over blone foe me. I think there is a setup to the next Thor story at the end of the book, but I honestly have no idea what is next for the Hulk.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Avengers are looking for the Hulk after he killed 17 people in an El Paso bar. Thor fights him nonstop through these 5 issues the first issue has this killer moment where the Hulk is pinned down by Mjolnir and the Hulk lets Mjolnir tear completely through his body to get free.



That's the highlight of the whole thing. The Hulk has gained some new powers as this new entity keeps taking over his body. By the end the Hulk and Thor both have each other's powers and duke it out as Thor-Hulks. I'm looking forward to the books separating again.

There are also 2 Thor backup stories from the 25th issue. They are both skippable.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The meeting of the Cates minds here and it's epic and fun. Reminded me a bit of World War Hulk. It's titanic galactic warfare between a god and a monster beyond comprehension.

Cates runs on both these books was dope, so this clash is a nice bow on the package. Even though this fight has happened plenty of times in the Marvel universe, this one feels just a little more special. Great read.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donny Cates brings both his current Marvel ongoings together for one big ol' crossover. I guess it saves on coordinating with other writers if you're only crossing over with yourself?

Banner Of War's not bad, but it feels a little safe, and a little like stuff we've seen before. Hulk and Thor fight, Iron Man gets involved for a bit because why not, and someone turns into a Hulk that wasn't a Hulk before. It's what you expect I suppose, but after 50 odd issues of Immortal Hulk doing interesting things, I'm still finding Cates' Hulk run a lot more run of the mill and it's been a hard comedown to go back to this more traditional Smashy Hulk. Maybe I've been spoiled, who knows.

There's some continuity stuff from both series, and the conclusion has a knock-on effect for Thor's book at least if not Hulk's, but I'd hardly call it required reading for either side, which is an odd thing to say considering, again, it's the same writer on both.

Martin Coccolo draws every part of the crossover, if memory serves, which is nice, even if he's not the usual artist on either book. Then again I think if Ryan Ottley and Nic Klein had drawn their respective parts, we would have had a lot of visual dissonance going on, so maybe it's better this way.

Banner Of War is okay, but it definitely feels like a missed opportunity on both sides.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man was that dumb lol

Big meaty guys just swinging at one another. I get the appeal and charm a crossover like this brings. I appreciate seeing these heavyweights slug it out, but I want a little more meat on my fights than this. Tony's interference is really unnecessary and brings things down. The Hulked out Thor further damaging things beyond repair is asinine. Odin, surprisingly, is the best part of this crossover, but there's very little I took away from this beyond it's one long fight that is just kinda pointless.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

What do you get when you a take a good run on Thor and mix it with a horrible run on Hulk? This.
Hulk fighting Thor is nothing new to comics. It happens often. But All-Father Thor (with Odin-possessed Mjolnir) versus "spaceship" Hulk with the gamma rage monster at the helm and Banner completely removed from control? Chaotic and outstanding, but not in the best ways.
Aftermath? These two duking it out has destroyed a fighting arena planet, a Celestial powered Iron Man armor, the entire Bifrost, and almost Yggdrasil itself..... and (possibly) Banner himself.

This wasn't the worst story... but can we get these two characters back to something that feels normal?

Recommend, but with reservations.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love mostly mindless fights that you've most likely seen before, this book is for you. Donny Cates has been knocking out of the park in his Thor series but the opposite seems true with his Hulk book. I just can't get into this iteration of Banner. Banner and Thor clash, obviously, and it goes as well as expected. Iron Man gets involved because that's who Tony is. I wanted this to matter more. I liked Cates' version of Tony but not his new armor. I really enjoy Odin haunting Thor. Coccolo's art was good and he really got to less loose on some really big panels. Overall, the book just didn't seem to be important and that's a shame.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

COLLECTING: Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War (2022) 1, Thor (2020) 25-26, Hulk (2021) 7-8

I've recently been reading through the full Donny Cates run of "Thor," and while this mini-event feels more like a "Thor" story than a "Hulk" story to me, there is still just the right amount here of what Cates has been doing with Hulk in his run on that title.

I liked this, but it feels like an awkward pause from both of the great stories that Cates is telling in the characters' respective books.

Final rating = 3.5 stars

[Joshua]

SMASH!

[Travis Duke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun but short battle between Thor and Hulk. They have fought many times but this has some modern additions to each character. Thor has been through a lot and so has the hulk in the past few series so a rematch was due I suppose. It has some good moments with a Gamma showdown, The bifrost, and the world tree. But it also felt a bit predictable. The art was fine nothing amazing or bad. It is a fun read.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Big, massive, hulking, kraka-dooming, fun! Hulk vs. Thor. Banner vs. Odin. And a sprinkle of Iron Man. Enjoyed this read.

[Adam Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice easy read. The battle between Thor and Hulk was great and disastrous as predicted.

These type of comics are usually part way through their respective comic runs, so just reading it outright, you miss the background. But it isn't really needed, just nice to read and enjoy.

[Rick Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's dumb fun, but it might be more of one than the other.

This is the pinnacle of making a comic centered around smashing two toys together. The premise behind the face off between Banner and the Odinson is flimsier than the recent paper quality of Marvel comics. I did like when the two of them swap powers though - that was fun.

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing more than an excuse for mindless explosions. Luckily, Hulk is one of the comics that I fully want to see mindless explosions in.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The events of El Paso are finally explained, as Thor comes to 'put down' Starship Hulk.

Thor thinks that Banner lost control in El Paso and killed seventeen people in El Paso, but he's not even trying to get any answers to it all. Aided by the 'fixed' Mjolnir (holding Odin's spirit within), Thor strikes hard and fast to end the suffering.

As this is happening, Tony Stark decides that he too has had enough of this homicidal Hulk and he launches the 'ultimate' HulkBuster armor. If there's a way to put the Hulk down, Iron Man should have a logical or scientific answer. What if science can't help you?

They haven't met ...Titan (the answer to 'What if the Hulk had a Hulk?'). This new entity is rage fueld....and contagious? His Gamma rage looks like it can infect others and leave Banner as a helpless copilot. Somehow there's still magic involved (and possibly Banner's father/The One Below All).

With Thor and Hulk unlocking their full anger and rage, there really is no safe place in all of the universe for them to battle.

Bonus: When both your heroes are seen talking to themselves in public, who is really safe (or sane?)
Bonus Bonus: The screaming goats send Tony Stark on his way(thanks Thor: Love & Thunder)

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is what you think it is, but luckily that is tons of fun.

We covered this in our end of year episode of Comic Book Coffee Break: https://previously-on-x-men.libsyn.co...

[Akshay · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of some of the most iconic clashes and rivalries in the history of not just Marvel Comics but in comics in general.
Two of the most popular Marvel characters out there.
One of the most hotly debated questions in geekdom: Who would win?
Written by one of the hottest writers in comics who has had massive success writing some epic comics at Marvel and is now helming the solo series of both these iconic heroes, bringing them together in a mini-crossover to face off and maybe finally answer the question.

To me, this was the stuff of fan-dreams. The kind that would make you drool a bit.
But to explain the low rating you see at the top of this review, I need to explain (in short) that part of the problem stems from the aforementioned solo series that writer Donny Cates has been helming: fresh from his character redefining run on Venom, he got to take on both these books and it was daunting to be fair, given that he was taking over from Al Ewing's mind-blowing Immortal Hulk series and the long-running Thor saga by Jason Aaron. Thor hit the ground running with the Herald-Thor storyline and was mostly alright but I found it meandered into directions less interesting after that and the Hulk book has been an intriguing premise that within the first few issues started to lose me pretty quick.
Both of these books slam together to tell us this story of a driven and emotional Thor who is King of Asgard but has lost his father and is struggling to deal with the responsibilities and challenges before him (including a renewed Mjolnir that holds the spirit of Odin which only Thor can hear), who must face off against the "Dimension-Ship" Hulk that the Bruce Banner personality is piloting in an effort to escape his world and find something even he doesn't really know what. The scale is epic and the sites of their clashes across this story (and yes, the location changes a few times across the universe!) are truly remarkable. In terms of pure imaginative power to try and do justice to this clash of Titans, Cates does a good job and it honestly revived my interest in both the series for the brief bit that they are over-lapping here + the art team of Coccolo, Wilson and Warren Johnson are more than up to the challenge of keeping up with Cates' imagination as they render the action extremely well. You can feel all the impacts and power of this fight and I did enjoy the new cosmic death-match arena created in these series, known by several names, including the Black Hand of God and The Pit - essentially a giant floating severed hand in space (like the head known as Knowhere, but way more gruesome somehow!) with the most brutal cosmic arena in space right in the palm.
And yet somehow it was all more than a tad... underwhelming... As I said, it was good fun and it was definitely a bit of a shot in the arm to two ongoing series that I was very surprised to be getting bored off, but the storyline itself felt like it was just there kind of for the sake of making these two fellows fight again and only really peripherally (more with Thor than Hulk to be honest) about the battle and the aftermath being about the personal challenges/journeys they are respectively on in their ongoing main storylines. The only thing I can compare it to is honestly a bit like a Fast And Furious movie where you kind of power through the story that feels only mildly interesting and you sort of push through it to get to the over-the-top madness that you know will come and you enjoy it with a bucket of popcorn and when its done, you are fine to never really bother seeing that again.

If you're a big fan of Hulk and/or Thor, if you've been enjoying either series - for sure, worth a one-time read just for the kicks and entertainment. Will this go down as something worth remembering in the lives of either character? No, not really; I can think of dozens of stories with these two including other punch-ups that Hulk has had with Thor and The Thing that were perhaps smaller in scale but I left far happier than I did with this one, that I remember and would even perhaps read again.
If on the other hand these two are not amongst your all-time favourites and purely punch-em-up comics are not your thing, feel free to skip without a second thought.

...Oh and there's also (just because) Tony Stark in yet another attempt at a giant Hulkbuster Iron Man suit that gets totally wrecked and wastes our time and adds nothing of value except more smashing in this already short story... in case you're interested...

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted on Earth for supposedly murdering a bar full of patrons in El Paso, Bruce Banner’s turned Hulk into a starship and piloted it into deep space, never to return - though the Avengers are still after him. So when the grieving, newly-crowned King of Asgard, whose dead dad now inhabits Mjolnir, hears the Starship Hulk is nearby, Thor realises he can do some Avenger-ing and work out his grief at the same time. Is time for Hulk vs Thor - ding ding!

Hulk vs Thor: Banner of War has no right to be as good as it is. It embodies the quintessential superhero cliches of a forced crossover where one infallible character fights another infallible character for no real reason (talking beforehand? Pfft!), with no real stakes or consequences, with no real result - in theory? I should hate this. And yet it’s brilliant.

Like most sequels, Donny Cates does what he did in the first book again: having Hulk battle in ever-more-intense encounters as the story progresses, escalating the tension until it reaches a fever pitch. Why it’s so impressive, and stands out from so many other superhero battles (not least previous Thor/Hulk matchups - a fact that’s referenced too), is the level of intensity it begins at: it starts with Hulk lifting himself through Mjolnir leaving a gaping hole in his chest!

From there, it’s the nuttiest fight ever. Iron Man adapts a Celestial into the most insane Hulk Buster armor and it gets more bonkers in each succeeding chapter. You think Hulk’s reached his zenith of fury but nope - here’s another level of madness! Cates takes full advantage of the fact that he’s writing two of the most powerful Marvel superheroes by crafting the most extreme scenes of devastation. It’s genuinely exciting stuff to read and I loved it.

There’s a flashback that explains what went down in El Paso (so it turns out that you don’t need to have read Al Ewing’s preceding Hulk run after all) which only makes the mystery behind the carnage all the more puzzling and interesting.

The only weak spot in the book is the final chapter. Even without knowing Cates bowed out for that one and Daniel Warren Johnson stepped in, I could tell it was a lesser writer taking over. Suddenly the pacing slowed at a time when it should’ve crescendoed and clunky exposition and overwriting takes over. The ending itself is way too neat as well. The story was over and the characters needed to be reset and it’s executed in the most artless way to do that.

Martin Coccolo’s art was really good. The splash pages stand out beautifully, like Hulk and Thor initially squaring off in a Street Fighter 2-type screen, or the aforementioned extreme scenes of devastation being rendered perfectly. The design for Tony’s Celestial armor was amazing and Odin’s never looked better. Gary Frank’s covers are fantastic too.

The book follows the well-worn path of most superhero vs stories and yet Cates found a way of making the template so much fun to read. Imaginative, exciting, cleverly-structured, and (mostly) superbly written, Hulk vs Thor: Banner of War was shockingly good, considering what it is. If you enjoyed Smashtronaut!, you’ll get the same kick out of this follow-up - what a Hulk series this is turning out to be!

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thor and Hulk are two of my least favorite Marvel superheroes, so I didn't exacly have high hopes for this collection. I had forgotten that this story was supposed to be canon, so I imagined it was just this tonally off little side story about who would win in a fight between Hulk and Thor.

But it's not. It's canon. It's from issues of Thor and Hulk that were running in 2022.

I've been slightly, but only slightly out of the loop in 2022 and 2023, so maybe Marvel has recently embraced a naratively embarrasing, poorly conceived humoresque tone, but I can't imagine this is the case.

If this is merely a side-adventure for Cates where he wrote an outline with four plot points and a bunch of question amrks inbetween them, and had someone draw a book around that outline? Ok. Not bad. It's silly, it makes absolutely no sense, none of the characters behave in consistent or familiar fashions. It's on par with Genndy Tartakovsky's Cage!, where you can tell the creator had much more fun writing the book than a person will have reading it.

But if this was a thoroughly thought out book meant to bring readers into the current Hulk and/or Thor runs, then Donny Cates needs a vacation because this was some D- fanfic from someone who thought New Avengers/Transformers was the height of comicdom.

If you're looking for a quick, easy read that's not going to have to engage any part of your brain, this is a perfectly fine book. The plot is paper thin, there's lots of punching, there's a stupid Tony Stark storyline weaved in the middle because Cates had to know how fucken boring this was. It's fine. And if you LOVE Thor and/or The Hulk, maybe this will work for you, too. But, apart from it letting me know one major plot point apiece for the current Hulk and Thor runs, this didn't do anything for me, and I can't imagine I'm going to pick it up again, unless I'm doing some sort of readthrough project.

This book did not inspire me to do a Thor or Hulk readthrough project, but there's a lot of blame to go around for me not wanting to sit down and spend extended time with either of these characters.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thor, exhausted from God of Hammers many revelations, decides that the best thing to do would be to go punch the Hulk some. Meanwhile, the Hulk is in his latest indecipherable configuration as a living spaceship fueled by rage.

The two meet and punches are thrown. Because this is Donny Cates on writing duties, said punches are very abruptly revealed to be MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU EXPECTED. Like, universe-ending, or whatever. Iron Man also shows up in a cool new suit to play referee.

Suffice it to say, Banner of War makes almost no sense and most likely will not matter in the grand scheme of things. But the battle scenes are pretty terrific. There's some excellent noise and bluster here, as long as you're willing to ignore the story elements.

[David Waweru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thor Smash

The first thing I want to say is I loved seeing a knock down drag on fight between Titans. Nothing can prepare you for Thor Hulk. The very concept is insane. And yet it works on a certain level. For that I'm grateful. However, this concept of the Hulk Spacecraft is ludicrous. I read the first 6 issues of Hulk and I'm not a fan. Banner has had control in the past, but the use of the Hulk's body as spacecraft, flying thru the universe. No Gamma power or not, the un-shield living tissue would die. I know it's a comic book, but given today's understanding of technology. The writer should at least try an maintain some realistic aspects.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much happens, which is basically what I expected. It's mostly just smashing two very powerful characters against each other to see what happens. Weirdly, there's also two developments that may be important in both the Thor and Hulk books going forward: we find out what actually happened in El Paso and the Bifrost is broken. Which... doesn't seem to affect coming and going from Asgard much at all actually? Also, Tony Stark shows up just long enough to show off an overly designed Hulkbuster suit. Yeah, this is about what I expected, but I was kind of hoping for more.

[Joey Amorim · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you can probably gather from the Street Fighter-esque homage in the first issue, this book is really not meant to be taken seriously. I can’t really say I love Donny Cates’s spectacle over substance approach with both of these books, especially considering what runs they follow, but it’s hard to hate a good old-fashioned “smash your action figures together” type of story. It’s not deep at all, definitely the comic equivalent of popcorn cinema, but there’s entertainment to be found if you give it a chance.

[Pyramids Ubiquitous · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection isn't and doesn't try to be anything more than a clash of the titans styled battle between Thor and Hulk. Its strengths are that it is very colorful and explosive and doesn't take itself seriously at all. The weakness, of course, is that it is paper-thin and that we've already been here. I don't think that there was any need to re-visit the Thor vs. Hulk battle again, even from the perspective of fanservice.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 This was a very trippy volume. Starship Hulk takes on Thor once again. The story is very goofy but the fight itself was a lot of fun. We get to see Thor turn Hulk and Hulk wield Mjolnir. And Iron-Man builds some epic looking new Hulk Buster Armor that is celestial powered but nothing can take down our new super saiyen Titan Hulk. This Donny Cates run of Hulk is just bizarre.

Read 2/5/2024

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Más que un crossover como tal, es pura economía narrativa por parte de Donny Cates, para poder establecer mejor los arcos finales de sus etapas con el Dios del Trueno y el Goliath Esmeralda. Ahora ya sabemos que finiquitadas a destiempo por circunstancias de salud del autor.

Algún momento hiper bestial que quizás anime el conjunto pero que dista de un enfrentamiento puramente épico para dos de los seres más poderosos del Universo Marvel.

[Omar Gómez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War (2021).

Por lo menos Hulk tiene el crédito principal en el título del cómic dándole mayor importancia.

Mucho Dragon Ball Z en la historia, se fusionan apariencia, esto fue demasiado para público menor de doce años.

En Immortal Hulk le rompe la mandíbula a Thor muy fácil de un solo golpe.

Siempre Thor es un cobarde que pelea con un martillo mágico y siempre es ayudado por su daddy Odin.

[Sarospice · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was not sure about this book because I didn't really care where the Hulk or Thor were in their continuity. Luckily, this was an explosive knock down drag out fight between the two with some crazy rile reversals. Thor becomes Hulk, Hulk becomes Thor. The World tree gets shaken to its root! It got me curious about both characters again.

[Jeff Silverblum · Rating 3 out of 5]

i wouldve preferred if it fully embraced the dumb fun over the top fighting, but it tried to intersperse more sentimental moments like Thor and Odins difficulties with each other and Bruce and Hulks, i did like Odin, but i wouldnt mind at all if it took itself a little less serious and was just some smashing