THE INCREDIBLE HULK #1

It has always been a tumultuous trip for Bruce Banner and his alter ego the Incredible Hulk. In the last few years, he has been shot into space by the Illuminati, lands on the planet Sakaar and becomes emperor. The ship he landed with eventually explodes, killing millions, including the Hulk's pregnant queen, Caiera. He comes back to Earth and trashes most of  Manhattan before being defeated and taken into custody. A Red Hulk emerged, revealed to be General Thuderbolt Ross. Rick Jones became the Gamma irradiated A-Bomb. Betty Ross became the Red She Hulk. Skaar, the son of Hulk, made his appearance on Earth and Bruce Banner, unable to change into the Hulk, after Red Hulk absorbed Hulk's radiation, was exposed again to Gamma radiation by Norman Osborn and turned into Hulk once more.

Then they all tried to live as one big happy family, complete with Bruce trying to fix his now non-existent marriage to Betty. In the final issue of THE INCREDIBLE HULKS #635,  Bruce and Betty resume their romantic relationship. The last scene of the issue is of them in Hulk forms leaping off into the air.

In October 2011, a new INCREDIBLE HULK SERIES was born. Written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Marc Silvestri (issue #4 is illustrated by Whilce Portacio), it begins with a bearded loin skinned Hulk ruling an underground world filled with Moloids. In the midst of his peaceful rule, he gets visited by robots bearing sonic disrupters and a woman by the name of Amanda Von Doom(no relation…seriously: that’s her line, not mine). And she’s actually here to enlist the green guy to battle Banner.

Yeah…the two of them are separated and he’s on an island playing the role of the mad scientist to the hilt. In fact, he’s trying to recreate the Hulk by experimenting on the creatures on the island, who all refer to Banner as father. It seems he and Betty ended up on this tropical island after the separation(which we still have yet to learn about) and he basically blows her off in lieu of his concerns with betting the monster back. She splits and leaves him to his experiments. Well, all he has to show for it are a bunch of failures and a “brain tumor the size of a grapefruit”(guess that’s what’s happens when you stick your head in a gamma powered microwave oven.). So, after years of trying to rid himself of the monster, all he wants is the power back.

Von Doom gets the Hulk from his underground territory and introduces him to her team. Hulk has no interest at all, despite the fact that the ship gets attacked by some of Banner’s creation. Of course, that is before he realizes that some of Banner’s minions, collectively known as the Boar Brothers,  are in his kingdom and looking to kill everything. When the Hulk returns and finds that the brothers have taken the young Moloids, he proceeds to seek and destroy, leaving them alive enough to return to Banner and suffer their days. The Moloids move further underground,  Hulk seals them there, joins Von Doom’s crew and prepares to attack. But Banner has a trick or two up his sleeve.

This is a very strange book and I’m not quite certain how I feel about this book. Jason Aaron writes a really good story, as evident by his work on WOLVERINE, SCALPED and PUNISHERMAX. And the concept of these two being split is interesting. But to see Banner go from the milquetoast we all knew and loved to becoming this insane Dr. Moreau styled scientist doesn’t work for me. So unless there is some explanation that he lost his mind as part of the process that split them, I can’t go there. As far as Marc Silvestri’s art: okay-it’s Silvestri. People were jumping up and down like this was the Second Coming. Big deal. He’s good and always has been. I won’t say it’s his best work, but it’s not his worst.

I figure I’ll give it through the end of issue #5 anyway, as they promise to reveal the secret of the separation. Beyond that: no promises.