Review: Marvel Adventures Hulk 12
Even wonder why the Ultimate line sells so well while some of the 616-Universe titles stagnate on shelves? I think it has to do with continuity.
It’s not a bad word. Heck, comic fans often demand more continuity. Why wouldn’t Thor remember a meeting with Wolverine? Doesn’t it all happen in the same universe?
But the Ultimate line gets to play around with continuity. It gets to wink at long-time fans with a “remember this?” while introducing new fans to long-lost characters. More to the point, because they’re not bound by previous continuity, the writers can “fix” whatever problems they had with the 616 version of events.
That same phenomenon is taking place in the Marvel Adventures line, just with less slavish devotion to 6- and 8-issue story arcs.
Marvel Adventures Hulk 12 brings back one of my favorite charachters, The Champion, and sets up a gauntlet of Marvel heavies to fight. Even better, the Hulk in this tale isn’t so morose or frozen with doubt. Bruce Banner isn’t looking for a fight, but he knows when to take the initiative and it’s a smart combination of his brains and Hulk’s brawn that bring this done-in-one issue to a close.
I won’t let writer Paul Benjamin completely off the hook for some pretty sloppy storytelling, though. While I enjoy the lighter tone, I thought the fight with the factory boss that began the issue was more than a little forced. I’m sure it’s hard to have that kind of battle grow organically in just a few pages, but I can think of a few tried-and-true examples that would have read less clumsy.
Still, for fans of the Hulk, I say there’s no better place than the Marvel Adventures line. Much as I loved (really, really loved) the Planet Hulk storyline in the 616 (which gets a minor reference in this issue), I’m not sold on the direction the character is going now. Meanwhile, in Marvel Adventures, we’ve got a dumb-but-friendly Hulk smashing and playing the straight man for some jokes. I’ll stick with this version anytime.
– Greg Elwell
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Writer Paul Benjamin is a Putnam City North graduate, and he’ll be signing at Barnes & Noble, 6100 North May Ave., on Saturday, June 14, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Matt