WORLD WAR HULK #4Written by Greg Pak
Art by John Romita Jr
Back in last week's Post-Crisis Preview, I predicted WWH would most likely be the Book of the Week based on the last three issues of the smash-hit series. Sadly, this issue came up well short and was extremely disappointing. The art was very sloppy and looked rushed to me. I'm not a fan of JRJr's work post-Clone Saga. I feel it has evolved into a blocky, over inked mess. However, his work has been quite good for the last few issues of this series. That changed with this one and I feel it really distracted me from enjoying the book. The story itself was not overly great this issue either. While the Hulk and his Warbound have had plot armour preventing them from losing any fights and most of the issues center around Hulk laying the beat down on all commers, the issues were still enjoyable and delivered what everyone was hoping for. This issue just felt like Pak was trying to finish off Dr Strange and get the gladiator fights out of the way so he could have a Sentry vs Hulk showdown next issue to end the series. Everything felt rushed after the drawn out smash-fests that the previous issues were. For a series that is built solely on the fights and hero battles, not delivering on that premise or failing to deliver plausible solutions to the situations is a major no-no.
Speaking of fights, the fight with the Zom-possessed Dr Strange fell completely flat and was ended in a very contrived manner. Zom is a being of such great power it took the Living Tribunal, one of the most powerful cosmic entities in the Marvel Universe, to dispatch Zom the last time Strange encountered him. Thus, Zom-Strange easily dispatches and damages Hiriom, the mystic Warbound member of Hulk's group early on in this issue. Pak had promised this issue would have a huge Hiriom moment, yet nothing seen this issue reflected that. Maybe it was cut at the last minute for some reason.
After taking care of Hiriom, Strange quickly tears through the Hulk as well, even impaling him with his spiked-balled fists. During the fight, Strange sends Hulk flying into a building, which starts to come down and would crush the nearby civilians. Strange, caught up in Zom's overpowering essence, can only watch in horror as he sees everyone crushed by the building. Upon seeing this, he seems to power down and sift through the rubble only to find Hulk has saved all the people, despite the injuries sustained fighting Strange. For some reason, Strange no longer has any power and the Hulk promptly punches him into submission. No reason given, just punch, punch, punch, and it's over. No explanation what happened to Zom's power. No reason as to why Zom did not take over Strange's unconcious body or why Strange became so weak. One panel he's god, the next he's out cold.
Once Strange is conveniently out of the picture, we can get to the gladiator fights. I'm not sure what I was expecting here, but what I got wasn't it. A couple pages of people reading reasons why they think the heroes, who have saved their planet dozens of times, should die and Hulk posturing and monologuing, asking the heroes how it feels to be treated the way he was. Hulk then makes them fight a giant monster without their powers. The beast must not have got the huge power up the Warbound and Hulk got after coming to Earth as the heroes make short work of it. After this, Hulk forces them to fight each other. Mostly they just stand there and take one or two swings at each other. The issue ends with Hulk in an emperor pose with one hand extended asking the crowd for a thumbs up or thumbs down in relation to whether they live or die. Finally, the Sentry decides to do something when he sees this on the television and promptly flies off from his home to stop the Hulk.
The Sentry thing was another poorly conceived piece. As far as I know, he never had agorophobia, the fear of experiencing difficult or embarrassing situations the person cannot escape from, before WWH. He primarily refrained from action simply because he did not want to risk the Void being unleashed or losing control of his powers. I suppose that could be related to agorophobia, but it is not really the same thing. He has always, up til now, been able to leave his home or Avengers Tower or where ever he may be to go help out. It was more of a using the power once he got there that he had difficulty doing. I have no problem with them making Sentry sit out for a final showdown with Hulk to end this event, but at least try to keep the reasons for doing so within the established pyschosis of the character.
As I said when I started this rather lengthy review, this issue just did not live up to the hype. Maybe I am just tired of Hulk smashing people every issue and was looking for more substance. Maybe Green Lantern's Sinestro Corps War has spoiled me with its high octane action AND excellent story and character developments while World War Hulk did not deliver on the one thing it promised. Either way, the issue was okay, just not nearly as much fun as earlier parts.
Verdict - Check It
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