Hook Line and Sinker
You know, I'm about quite ready to give Marvel the boot due to the recent reveals and "all-new" titles, because quite frankly I'd just like a normal story for a change. Nothing new, nothing old, just something that goes under the of being normal. But no, unfortunately every story has to be edgy and infuriating so it grabs peoples attention. Luckily, Peter David, despite all the bizarre state of the current Marvel Universe, does his own thing and gives fans exactly what they want. I could go on on why having a new Hulk is a terrible idea and goes against the very principles of the character, but I'd stray to much away from the main topic. I will, however, urge Hulk fans to savior a well written piece by a very talented writer before it's gone.
Now this'll be a fairly short review, because usually when there's a lot of good, there's not much to talk about. First things first, I usually hate rehashes of old stuff, and Future Imperfect is technically exactly just that, but despite it's name and similar setting, there are a lot of things new this time around, which is always a positive aspect when people try to make money by utilizing old concepts. Peter David also makes sure that everyone knows exactly what's happening, which is honestly no surprise given his main strength is dialogue. What I mean is that, aside from the fact that he expertly pains different characters through their speech, he also puts bits of vital information into the conversation without making it feel too ham-fisted. That's not something I usually see in this day and age, especially in comics. Subtly always comes second, and the recent Thor series is a good example of that. Lucky, David doesn't fall victim to this and makes a very simple yet interesting and informative introduction to what looks to be an interesting mini-series.
The best thing about, or better yet, the crown jewel here is of course, Hulks characterization. I usually hate when the Jade Giant is shown as a villain, but Maestro is a very rare exception. Writing the main protagonist, who also happens to be the villain of a story is a very hard job for any given writer because you have to balance out how much the villain steals the show in comparison to the heroes, plus in the end, the villain is supposed to lose, that is the very nature of the medium, but it has to be done in a way that makes sense. So far, we're off to a very good start. It has often been said that Hulks main drawback is his intelligence. Hulk has never been stupid, but his childish, juvenile or sometimes even brutish nature has allowed many to survive against him, and the times he was smarted than most of his enemies, he had been held back by some other interesting factors. As Maestro however, Banner is absolutely insane. He's calculating, extremely powerful, very smart, sadistic and quite frankly very intimidating, more so than his other incarnations. The manner in which David writes him shows exactly what would happen if Hulk every decided to truly go dark, and I absolutely love it.
Furthermore, I thought I'd hate the art, but frankly it's quite good. Land focuses less on model women and shows one seriously menacing Maestro, which is all I ask for.
In conclusion, so far so good. The introduction is strong, the cliffhanger is interesting, Maestro is fantastic, the dialogue is as usual brilliant, and the action is fun as hell. As a hulk fan, I can say that I am very satisfied.