I only had three books this week and no friends were moving so I was able to get them all read last night. I'll try to get my latest batch of Zuda reviews up later today. Which reminds me, don't forget to take a look at the Zuda 2008 Invitational and vote. As for this week's comic reviews, we have Serenity #3, Marvel Adventures Hulk #11, and Giant Sized Incredible Hulk #1.
Serenity #3 -- This book had a lot of pluses and minuses for me. The first minus is that it had a lot crammed in. After the relatively slow pace of the last issue it felt that too much was shoved in here. I know you want the big climax but it felt choppy as there never seemed to be time taken for scenes to develop and play out. You just had to go from panel to panel and fill in a lot of the in between as you went. The series also played out as an episode with several questions being raised and left unanswered. It also expands the Mal/Inara relationship as well as the Mal/Simon feud. It just makes me want to see more. I can see all that as a good thing but I wasn't expecting it and it kinda made the main story of this series seem so inconsequential. Heck, the resolution of it seemed rather abrupt with everyone just seemingly walking away a little too quickly. I think this series is a must-read for Serenity fans but I think it could have been worked out a little better.
Giant Sized Incredible Hulk #1 -- This was another book that made me go "meh". I like seeing characters from the Hulk's past brought back into the spotlight but this story seemed like it's already been done. The interviewing of other people who have crossed the Hulk's path, for good or for bad, didn't seem all that intriguing to me. The only interview I was interested in was the head of security on the day of the gamma bomb test as he was around during a pivotal time. The others? I don't even remember them as they were pretty much standard Hulk tales only with even less Hulk action. Ok, now that I'm thinking of it there are a few things I remember from them such as the one where he scares off a bear... and that's pretty much it, or the one where he jumps by and a guy gets into an accident while watching the Hulk and the accident eventually ruins his life... That one made me shake my head. All in all, it made for a pretty unimpressive comic. The reprint of the Hulk Annual (#7 I believe) was okay I guess. Marvel touts it as a "hard to find" book so maybe it's good that it's being reprinted but personally, I didn't really see much point to it. I like it when they include a reprint of a book that actually ties in with the current storyline (like when they reprinted an old encounter betwee Reed Richards and the Hulk just prior to World War Hulk) but this one didn't really mean much to me. So yeah, I don't think this one is worth the money. I didn't find it terrible but it's also nothing really new or anything. With the movie coming out they really need to put out some quality Hulk material and this just isn't it.
Marvel Adventures Hulk #11 -- Well at least we get plenty of Hulk action here. Bruce, Rick and monkey visit the FF but unfortunately on Ben is at home. And it just so happens that Doom decides to visit at the same time and invites his Doombots too. It was a pretty fun issue. I don't know how kids will react to it but there seems to be a little bit of everything for everyone. You get a decently long fight involving the Hulk, you get some personal moments (Ben's quest to become normal mirroring Bruce's), and some fun with monkey again. You have to kinda shrug off a few things but it's still a fun read. To be honest, I'm still just glad that Marvel is doing this line of books for young readers... Which makes it kinda sad that I'm reading them. :) My only real gripe is with the cover art again. I just don't find that style matches the book very well.
So that's it for this week. On the TPB front after finishing up American Splendor: Our Movie Year (which I enjoyed up for the most part with the musical discussions being not really up my alley), I polished off the first three volumes of Fables and I enjoyed them quite a bit and am picking up volume 4 but I'm hesitant to go gung ho just yet. I also read Wanted which I didn't really enjoy as much. Oh, and I did see Iron Man and enjoyed it. There's also a funny story behind me seeing it but I'm not sure my blog is the place for it. So I'll let your imaginations take over. :)
Now to get started on my Zuda reviews.
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