Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Incredible Hulk #608

I have to admit that it's a bit of a challenge to follow the story here since I'm not buying the rest of the Fall of the Hulks storyline.

Part of the reason it's a challenge is because there are so many characters to keep track of. There's an army of bad guys working with the Leader. There's an army of good guys working with Bruce Banner. There are additional characters who seem to be on no side at all (or they keep switching sides), like the Red Hulk, the She-Hulks and Doc Sampson. There are supporting characters, including an apparently-resurrected Betty Ross and Glenn Talbot.

As I understand it, the Leader is trying to capture the world's greatest minds, including Reed Richards and Dr. Doom - and he hopes to add Banner to the list. At the same time, the Leader is about to unleash a menace that will threaten the entire world.

So Banner decides to fight back, using his technological mastery and some powerful allies to bring the battle to the Leader. But the plot has many twists and turns, and the ending seems to show up out of nowhere.

Still, it's a fun issue, with loads of hoo-hah action sequences, some fun dialogue and lots of great art by Paul Pelletier. There's a lot going on here in Greg Pak's story, as he deals with all the assorted plot points that are flying around. But as always, he provides a script that is equal parts action and humor, and somehow makes sense of the hash that is this story.

This is definitely not a great place to jump on board - a new reader would be lost - but for longtime fans, there's a lot here to enjoy.

Grade: B+

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