The Incredible Hulk #600

I get that the creative team on Hulk has been playing with cartoonishly-big stories and settings, but I think this series has officially "jumped the shark" - or at least has entered the realm of stories that don't make sense and don't interest me.

Just in time for the 600th issue, the title has reverted to its "original" numbering and title - although that's debatable, since the original run of Tales to Astonish is included, and the first 60 issues didn't feature the Hulk. And what does this mean for The Incredible Hercules comic? Oh well, I guess the numbering doesn't have to make any more sense than the comic itself.

This issue picks up... well, I couldn't really say, since I have completely forgotten where this comic left off. The story is set up as a mystery, with investigative journalist Ben Urich trying to find out who the Red Hulk is.

I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that we don't get an answer to that question, and we end up thinking a lot less of Ben by the end of the story.

By the way, I've figured out who the Red Hulk is. He's apparently the Silver Age Superman, because there's nothing he can't do. Heat vision? Energy absorption? Cause other characters to act completely out of character? It's all here. Next thing you know, he'll be walking through walls like a ghost. (Please excuse the obscure reference to the original Superman TV show.)

The rest of this special anniversary edition isn't particularly special, either. There's a short Stan Lee-written story that has a few good gags and not much more than that. There's a feature about the new Savage She-Hulk that features nice art and is otherwise forgettable. There's a reprint of part of a Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale Hulk story that is miles better than anything Loeb's written involving the Red Hulk.

You can also see a series of ads for upcoming stories that show just how out-of-control the Hulk Family has become, with two Hulks, a son of Hulk and a daughter of Hulk - and that doesn't include the cousin of Hulk and Hulk's psychiatrist, Doc Sampson (as Dave Barry says, I am not making this up). Presumably we can look forward to Ace the Hulk Hound and Hulk Girl in the near future.

It's a shame - this has all grown out of the creative and intelligent Planet Hulk series, and it's just become a boring mess.

Grade: C-