Hulk vs. Iron Man
The Good
Mark Waid did it again and touches up more on the relationship that Bruce Banner and The Hulk haave between the two. As the first issue ends, the second one starts with Bruce Banner being accepted into S.H.I.E.L.D. after a trial run given by Maria Hill, director of the agency. Now that The Hulk is apart of the team, we do get to see the intellect of Bruce Banner, as he is given the tools from the agency to invent all-consuming products to save the world and humanity. He also gets to know more of how to control The Hulk and ways not to unleash the monster from within, some of his theories of self-control are inventions of the unthinkable while keeping up on tasks in a weekly basis. Not only do we see the genius mind of Bruce Banner, but also get to see the relationship and chemistry, he has with Tony Stark. Although Tony is hesitant about the recruitment, he does have a good relationship with Banner, but feels uncomfortable on having an unleashed cannon on the team saving the world from evil. We also get to see these two geniuses not only battle against each other's knowledge and intellect they possess, but the issue also touches up on the grudge The Hulk holds on Iron Man (and as the story goes on, we also get to see them in action for a little bit).
I believe Leinil Yu is the most perfectly suited artist to sketch for the title and loves what he brings to the table for Marvel. From the complexity of Iron Man's suit to the raw appearance of The Hulk, I believe he touches up on every little piece of penciling that makes the sketches seem more realistic and "indestructible". With the colorings of Sunny Gho, the art places you in a trance while flipping through the panels, almost making you think your in the issue watching the story unravel in a third-person point of view. It almost seems like your not in the Marvel Universe, as the drawings makes you think your in a world different than the one of The Avengers and the other Marvel titles.
The Bad
However, I do think they should have Hulk do more smashing throughout the issues and I'm hoping they do apply this further down the story. I do believe they are wanting to touch basis on the relationship of Banner and The Hulk have first, as well as the intellectual mind of his when he's not of the green, angry monster inside him. So by knowing this, I do think the story will show more "Hulk Smashing" further down the line. Again, this title is called "The Indestructible Hulk", so in my understandings of the definition, there will be more suspense and smashing along the way, not only having the thought of the title actually being named after The Hulk being indestructible, other words cannot be killed!
The Verdict
Definitely a pick-up. We are seeing a whole new direction, not only with this title, but the rest of the Marvel Universe after the Marvel NOW! relaunch. Having that said, I believe this sets new boundaries for the characters and gives the writers/artists a more open road to weave and set a path for the super heroes. Leinil Yu and the other artists behind the title are doing the most outstanding job with the characters and are setting new standards for sketch artists and colorists throughout the world of comics. We do get some sort of brainteaser at the end of the issue and keeps you on edge for the next issues to be released.