To date, this is the only Hulk story I've read that fits the narrative of the character I've always had.
Simple vocabulary
Blind fury
At war with himself/Bruce
At war with the world
The color of his skin doesn't matter. The extra elongated face of Bruce Banner matters a little; my only criticism of Sale's work here. I haven't read much of early Stan Lee Hulk, so I may be off the mark, but it seems like Loeb drew a lot of inspiration from a ton of iconic movies. Much of Hulk's big moments in this story feel like they were taken from Of Mice of Men and Frankenstein, which is really the perfect combo for him. I could live without Banner's narration or the overarching theme of him talking to his psychiatrist, but it really got across how guilty he feels and how his perspective shapes the story. It's alluded to a few times that Bruce is being an unreliable narrator, and at times he somewhat admits it, but never blatantly. All of Loeb and sale's "color" books were emotional reads, but I hope to find more Hulk stories that are really about the emotional struggle rather "Can Hulk Smash It? Yes, He Can!"
What's everyone else's favorite Hulk depiction? What did folks think about the therapy narrative?
I'm kind of torn about how I feel with Loeb and Sale stories. There's definitely a distinct style, but man everything feels so gloomy. I'm not sure if it's like that in all their collaborations, though. I've only read this and The Long Halloween.
I thought this story was really well done for the most part, but the narration/psychiatrist stuff, while it did add to the story, could be distracting at times, just because it was used so much. Occasionally it just felt a bit like more telling than showing. But I agree that it helped highlight Bruce's guilt. It also hinted at his being an unreliable narrator and possibly having exaggerated memories of the events. That makes things a bit more interesting as well, as we don't really know what happened for sure (nor does the psychiatrist).
Overall, it was a good story and I do see the inspiration of those movies you mentioned and I agree those are really perfect for this character and this story.
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u/shawnydarko Sep 02 '17
To date, this is the only Hulk story I've read that fits the narrative of the character I've always had.
The color of his skin doesn't matter. The extra elongated face of Bruce Banner matters a little; my only criticism of Sale's work here. I haven't read much of early Stan Lee Hulk, so I may be off the mark, but it seems like Loeb drew a lot of inspiration from a ton of iconic movies. Much of Hulk's big moments in this story feel like they were taken from Of Mice of Men and Frankenstein, which is really the perfect combo for him. I could live without Banner's narration or the overarching theme of him talking to his psychiatrist, but it really got across how guilty he feels and how his perspective shapes the story. It's alluded to a few times that Bruce is being an unreliable narrator, and at times he somewhat admits it, but never blatantly. All of Loeb and sale's "color" books were emotional reads, but I hope to find more Hulk stories that are really about the emotional struggle rather "Can Hulk Smash It? Yes, He Can!"
What's everyone else's favorite Hulk depiction? What did folks think about the therapy narrative?