Jimmy Olsen’s Blues

I’ve gotta tell you, I absolutely was not looking forward to World War Hulk. I’ve been less than ecstatic about the state of the post-Civil War Marvel Universe in general, and the prospect of yet another Epic Crossover, one which had been hyped and teased since last summer, didn’t exactly fill me with glee. I’m not a tremendous Hulk fan to begin with, and the whole “Planet Hulk” storyline didn’t look all that interesting to me. So all the ingredients were there for me to bake up a big ol’ Hulk-sized batch of apathy cookies for this series.

But I grabbed it on the spur of the moment based on the couple of positive previews I’d read. And I’m really glad I did.

I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong about something, and yes, I was wrong about World War Hulk. Very wrong. This book kicked my ass almost as thoroughly as the Hulk kicked Black Bolt’s. (Well, OK, maybe not that thoroughly.) WWH #1 had exactly what I want out of a Big Event Superhero comic: big fights, posturing, lots of property damage (always bonus points for property damage to recognizable locations, fictional or otherwise), and, in this case, some characters getting some long-awaited schadenfreude.

This book had several quality “oh, shiiii–*” moments in it, moments where you just knew something big or something awful (or something hugely awful) was about to happen. Greg Pak wrote both the big violent moments and the smaller, personal moments in this story well, almost like a “widescreen” story written by a Mark Millar who actually gave a damn about characterization. Pak has a great match here in John Romita, Jr., an artist long known for his ability to both the big and the small, and Pak’s script gives JRJR plenty of opportunities to show off (I love the design of the “Hulkbuster” Iron Man armor).

Also, it was nice to see Iron Man acting heroically, which it seems we haven’t seen much of lately during his guest appearances in every single comic Marvel publishes. (I think he was even in the latest issue of Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter.) I’m not going to say that his actions in this issue redeem the dickishness he’s displayed over the last year or so, but they certainly help.

Even though I’ll definitely be picking up the rest of this series, I’m not planning on buying any of the ancillary World War Hulk titles with the possible exception of The Incredible Hulk, since that seems like the most logical place to assume other Big Stuff might happen. That book also has the advantage of also being penned by Pak, and after WWH #1, that means I’ll give it a shot.

It’s possible for a grizzled capes-vet like me to accept and enjoy a new status quo or a “perfect jumping-on point”, even if on occasion these result from varying levels of contrivance. I get that the Big 2 want to actually publish comics for money and promote series like Civil War or Infinite Crisis/One Year Later/52/Countdown as Giant Events Laden With Ramification and Consequence. But, after what seems like endless universe-shuffling, I’ve gotta ask:

When are we going to get there? When are we going to get somewhere?

Marvel may be answering me with World War Hulk. Finally, a Marvel comic that breaks free of the Civil War Fallout Inertia that most of their other books are still locked into. I haven’t cracked open many Marvels lately without having whole sections grind to a halt so that two super-powered beings can debate Registration and whether Tony Stark is evil or not.

When is someone gonna try and take over the world again? When are we going to see someone throw a building on someone else again? And most imporantly here… when am I going to discuss the comic in the title?

Okay, fine…

If #1 is any indication, then World War Hulk might just be the blockbuster epic Marvel’s been promising all this time that satisfies us without requiring 12 titles a month to follow or explain.

Blissfully absent from Civil War, a supremely pissed Big Green has finally returned to Earth, apprarently traveling through space on grudge alone. Greg Pak appears to be a very smart cookie, playing to artist John Romita Jr’s strengths and cramming this first issue with action, and even the opening recap pages have movement in every panel. Yeah, there’s some stray Civil War-speak, but only to illustrate that there’s something way more dangerous out there than unlicensed superheroes.

Hulk’s agenda is far simpler: smash the Illuminati members who shot him into space and into horrible tragedy that cost him nearly everything. He intends to point out that it’s not the smartest move to anger anyone whose strength feeds on that rage (as Black Bolt finds out very quickly this issue). The smashing is all there is to see (and all you need to look forward to) in World War Hulk.