epiphany
Well now that we've come to a close end to the indestructible series, I suppose it's only natural for me to review the whole series along with the final issue as well. But before I go into to detail I would like to mention that I don't believe that this run was either lackluster or dull, not even a little, in some aspects it really succeeded and I got a kick out of reading it, though it still failed in other categories, but I'll get to that later on.
Now initially, Mark waid, being the interesting thinker that he is managed to really come up and approach the Hulk title with a very interesting perspective. From the very first issue he established the Banner builds...Hulk destroys motto which i really thought was interesting and also the necessary step towards banners evolution, because while he still saved the world on his own he thought that he could contribute to the world in a more technological fashion. He's a builder, so naturally he'd want to really help everyone out. Though throughout the series we discover that Banner's motives are not exactly pure of heart, he's still a hero of course, but due to the years of living in Tony's, Pym's, Reeds', and most importantly Hulks shadow, it's understandable why waid would think that Banner might get a little envious, I mean, He's only human right? It's not honestly the direction I would have gone in but to be completely honest due to the logic surrounding the course of action I can fully understand why this decision was made. So that said, I was completely on board with this decision and I honestly enjoyed seeing Banner's evolution and character development throughout the series. There were few crucial moments of him being very selfish, especially when he wad finally free of the Hulk, but again with a little knock on the head he still came to realize that he had responsibilities he had to live up to, which is pretty great. So it's moments like this that really made the final realization worthwhile, and I like that It happened just when Banners anger had been diminished. Maria put it in the best way, Hulk wasn't becoming the problem, Banner was. And this here is basically Mark Waid's strongest quality as a hulk writer, his Banner. He writers Bruce in such a charismatic and hilarious manner that it really gives a sense of fun and adventure.
Speaking of which, Mark Waid really utilized the whole status quo well for about 14 issues. He really took Banner and Hulk on a couple of expeditions and journeys which really provided some great moments for both sides of the coin. Though the problem really starts from here, because while waid did allow Banner to travel to some seriously awesome places, which in turn developed into an awesome arc, God and Monsters, Waid never really fully used the potential he had. Part of why most people didn't care for the last story was because the side characters, such as randall. He, though cool, wasn't all that well developed, and as good as waid is no one can truly evolve or groom side characters in 4 issues. Main ones? Sure, but supporting cast usually need different kinds of attention. So essentially it led to something which most people didn't really pay much attention to. These expeditions could have been used for exactly these teams building arcs, but Banner was truly with them one ONE mission, and while it was fun it essentially fell flat in the long run. Don't get me wrong, I loved the first half of the series, and a big part of it was the team up story-lines mark waid provided, but indestructible Hulk in general had much more it could have become, but it eventually failed and left a lot of loose ends, such as Banners past alteration, his secrets on Shield, and etc. While all of these questions might be answered later in the HULK series, some fans might still be in the dark about it.
Furthermore, writing Banner is fine, but you can't make a hulk title without the Hulk. Now If you know me, you know I'm fine with any hulk version, sure I have my preferences, but at the end of the day each writer uses the one he wants to use, which is all well and good, but I want an explanation as to why hulk started acting dumb again. It wasn't until Jeff Parker provided some sort of explanation until I actually got a good glimpse at why Hulks personality had been reduced so much. It just conveniently happened, which really irks me. I think it would have been much more interesting to see where hulks thoughts resided on the whole matter of Banner working with shield, or what lengths banner went through to actually make the Hulk behave. Or maybe we could have gone back to the Hulk/Bruce team due where they worked reluctantly together for the greater good, which could have led to some great moments with hulk telling Banner on how his envy is getting in his head, would have been an ironic moment considering that some incarnations of the Hulk have looked for attention. Either ways, I'm getting off track.
That wasn't really the only problem I have. Hulk is the type of character who really needs action you know? Not every single issue, but a character who's an engine of destruction should really have a lot of it, and while the first couple of issues really provided me with cool fights and dymanics, I feel that that same appeal was really lost eventually. The last two arcs did have some action but HULK didn't really fight anyone, well , not that you can call it a fight. He basically throws a few guys a round, but what's disappointing is that i've seen Daredevils fight with Ikari, written by waid, and I can safely say that it was one of, if not the best current battles I've seen. It was absolutely amazing, thrilling, scary, engaging and very personal. I get that DD and Hulk are different weight class heroes but still I don't see why waid couldn't have created another cool goliath for hulk to fight. His Uber hulk seemed like a good candidate, but hulk never really engaged him, in fact Hulk Squared was basically lost in time. And no Randall didn't meet the standards as well, neither really throws a punch in that battle. Which brings me to my next point, the villains. Now the first few stories didn't give use foes very unique to the MU, but they were definitely engaging and fun. The frost Giants seemed like cool villains for hulk to go up against and attuma was a entertaining ride as well. But as time passed the villains in my opinion got a bit duller and duller. honestly, I couldn't have cared less for Ted Goodrich, he came out of no where and seemed like you typical arrogant businessman-type-smart-ass villain, and what upsets me is that I KNOW for a fact that waid can do better, hell he has made dull characters interesting before. The Chronarchists were a lot potential too, because when you have a group of them, you really need to distinguish them with their personalities, or at least make the powerful enough to overpower Banner, which one of the failed to do. Don't get me wrong, the time hopping was awesome but the potential it had was ridiculous.
Most of the artists on this run was actually superb but honestly, that wasn't really the problem. What really disheartened me was the fact that the visuals were changing just to damn much, so the feel of constancy and collaboration was weak. I would have preferred if one artist stuck around and learned along side waid.
Still I feel that I'm being to critical considering that Waid basically came out and said that he's changing things up, and according to his interview he's changing everything as an answer to the Hulk fans, so I hope we'll be able to get better results, still don't giving up hope.
In conclusion, the first half of indestructible Hulk was pretty fun and great, but then it started to drop in quality for some reason and i hope that with a fresh start when can fix all that because again, waid has a lot of potential to do so.