Friday, October 26, 2007

Weekly Comic Reviews for October 24th, 2007 -- SPOILERS

Only two books this week so let's get right to them. We have the "What if? Planet Hulk" special and She-Hulk #22 (Peter David's first issue).

What if? Featuring Planet Hulk #1 (of 1) -- There are 3 stories in this book though the third doesn't really warrant being called a "story", it's just a comedy bit tacked on at the end. First up, we have "What if the Hulk had died instead of Caiera?" and this is the main course of this book. As the planet is exploding the Hulk tosses Caiera into the atmosphere and dies himself. She crashes back down and then the fun begins. I'll avoid giving away the details of the book though it's pretty quick to summarize. And that's probably the biggest downfall of the story. It's just too short for what it contains. There's no battles or fighting, it's just slaughter until she decides to stop. And it ends with what's supposed to be a sad moment that just comes on too quickly. The story would have been much better served by having been expanded but I know there probably isn't the demand for a 2 issue what if book. The art succeeds despite the rushed nature of the story. But I guess the heroes should be happy that it was the Hulk that came back. The second story is "What if the Hulk's shuttle didn't go through the wormhole?" and it's a very different story to the first. Here, there is ample space to dedicate to the story. After sabotaging each other's plans they are forced to come to an agreement. And in the end, you get the fast forward to show how it all works out. It was a well done story and even left the door open for most stories to be told. Though it may be a disappointment for some hoping to see how this plan might fail, it actually is an interesting story of how it might work out. And the art is good on it too. The last story is just a one page cartoon depicting what would happen had Bruce Banner landed on Sakaar instead of the Hulk. It's predictable and only got a slight chuckle from me. So overall, it wasn't a bad issue and if you're a Hulk fan then it's worth picking up. If you're only a World War Hulk fan then not so much. But overall, it makes my recommended reading list.

She-Hulk #22 -- Peter David takes over the writing chores with a new artist as well. And if you've read my previous reviews of the series, you'll know I was pretty happy about this. I didn't like the art recently and thought Slott had jumped the shark in his last few issues. Unfortunately, I found this issue a little tough to get into at the start. Looking back it had an interesting start to it but throwing She-Hulk into the bounty hunter business seemed kinda weird and out of nowhere. Though there are a few months unaccounted for which I hope (and suspect) Mr David will go back over at some point. The art was a huge step up for me. It wasn't exceptional and had its flaws here and there but it wasn't distracting and did a good job of telling the story. Though the book had plenty of twists and turns, Peter David definitely isn't trying to be Dan Slott who sometimes seemed to have something extraordinary on every page. As he has said in interviews, he's trying to cater to those who did enjoy Slott's work while trying to make the book his own. While this first issue didn't blow me away it's kept me wanting to read this series which is all I was really hoping for. She-Hulk is back on my recommended reading list. I just hope Peter David can keep it there.

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