THE SHOTGUN BLAST!

(Apologies, McGirk)
Review: Will Dubbeld

So, Marvel relaunches for the umpteenth time, and I buy in for the umpteenth time.
I can’t help it.
I’ve been a dedicated Marvel Zombie since the ‘80s and have largely enjoyed their fare. I’m not viewing the company through rose-colored spectacles, mind you. There’s been PLENTY of foibles and writing gaffes I’ve hated, causing me to skip most of the ‘90s, because I thought the books were trash.
It’s okay. Marvel Zombies are allowed to dislike things.
An objective reader and fan of the Last Great American Art Form can dislike things and not spew vitriol across the Internet, however...
With a few exceptions, of course.

All in all, I’ll take Marvel’s relaunches any day of the week over a hard continuity reboot. I can pick up an issue of Spider-Man and read with confidence; comfortable in the knowledge that the Peter Parker therein is the same Peter Parker from Amazing Fantasy #15.
He’s not from Earth-12, or Post-Crisis-Pre-Flashpoint Peter Parker. He’s the same down-on-his-luck, wheatcake eatin’ Puny Parker, and I’ll take character shakeups over Crisis anytime.

Anyway here’s Wonderwall...

Tony Stark: Iron Man #1

Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Valerio Schiti
Color Artist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

True confession time: I’ve never been a big Iron Man fan. Iron Fan...
I’m not sure why. He’s a dude in a supersuit, and that’s rad, but I never really appreciated his solo series. I was fine with him palling around with the Avengers and whatnot but didn’t religiously follow Tony Stark’s other adventures.
But I like Dan Slott.
I know, I know, “waahh waahh waahh social justice warrior ruined muh Spider-Mans!”
Go screw, manbabies.
His Dr. Who fanfic in a Silver Surfer wrapper didn’t engorge your flaccid fanrage?
(I liked that, too...)

Okay, Tony Stark is back to status quo. Billionaire techbro playboy, etc etc.
That’s good.
Unfortunately, he’s Robert Downey, Jr.
That’s great for the MCU, but in comics I don’t recall Stark ever acting like a hyper-intelligent manchild whose gift for invention was matched only by his mastery of frequent, snappy quips.

That sucks, but that’s how the character has evolved.

The book is ridiculous, like nearly at 11 ridiculous, but goddammit, it’s pretty fun. It in no way reminds me of the familiar Iron Man, but it’s fun.
Tony fights Fin Fang Foom in a giant robot suit kaiju battle royale, for starters.
Nanomachine Iron Men?
That happens.
The return of fan-favorites Jocasta and Bethany Cabe?
Check.
Also, Rhodey is alive again, but whatever.
Comics.

I kinda hate the fact that I like this juvenile book, but here we are. It seems like it’ll probably be Dan Slott’s Spider-Man comic through the lens of Iron Man. Lighthearted, a little too on-the-nose, and sprinkled with some urgency and gravitas here and there.

Score: 7/10

The Immortal Hulk #1

Writer: Al Ewing
Penciler: Joe Bennett
Inker: Ruy José
Color artist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

Holy moley, I ain’t never seen no Hulk shit like this before...
Much like Iron Man, I never really got into Hulk.
Hulk is great; a big, strong Frankenstein-like monster who throws tanks and punches other monsters, but he’s often been a bit one-note. It takes a great writer to really dig into the character and embrace the full potential.
Fixit, Smart Hulk, Dumb Hulk, Worldbreaker; all have some great comics and all have some real mediocrity.

I’m always looking for fresh Hulk-meat, and Al Ewing may just be the butcher for the job.

This book is brutal, from cover to cover. It opens with a gas station robbery gone wrong resulting in a triple-homicide.
Among the victims is Bruce Banner.

The end. Roll credits.

Okay, that’s not true at all. Banner later Hulks out in a morgue and chases down his killer and executes extreme (non-lethal) vengeance.
The premise being Banner is mortal, but the Hulk is another story altogether...

This is one heavy, visceral comic. I was initially turned off by the brutality, but the attached afterward turned on the lights.
Ewing recalls the original, latter-day Hulk stories portraying the Banner/Hulk dynamic as an exercise of personal horror. Man vs. monster.
Jekyll and Hyde.

He’s playing it as a horror comic.
...and in that frame of reference it works beautifully.
I’m not sure how long this angle will work, but Al Ewing has crafted some intriguing comics and hopefully can carry this momentum before we’re relegated to Hulk once again throwing a tank at a helicopter.
Time will tell.

Score: 6/10; creeping up on a 7/10