World War Hulk/Planet Hulk (2006/2007 comics) = Finished
Added 2019-01-12 11:25:31 +0000 UTCYou think World War Hulk is going to be about the big guy beating the crap out of Literally Everything, right? So that's what the book gives you. Hulk angry, Hulk stronger than ever before, Hulk--
With friends.
With purpose.
With a wife and child.
In World War Hulk, your desire for endless HULK SMASHES is eventually replaced by a genuine wish to see the best outcome for Hulk, and the world he's come to inhabit. Hulk thinks his story will end in destruction, just like you, and you actually get to have your perspectives evolve together in real time. It's a complex dance.
Sometimes you're perfectly in tune with Hulk, sometimes you see a side of him that defies what you believed before--but you're never bored. You always want to--need to--turn the next page, if only so you can take on the hope it gradually shows as the glorious endpoint.
World War Hulk is all about showing you what you thought you wanted, then giving you what you need. It subverts itself for your benefit.
Then it's all ripped away--and Planet Hulk begins.
I LOVE the role Planet Hulk serves. Hulk comes to Earth to smash, after a bomb indirectly connected to the Illuminati who first shot him into space destroys his newfound life on the planet Sakaar. Unlike World War Hulk, Planet Hulk is exactly as advertised.
Hulk gets EVEN STRONGER.
Hulk beats the crap out of LITERALLY EVERYONE
...and it feels bad.
After you were shown the best, you're given exactly what you thought you wanted, and it's hollow.
The one-two punch of World War Hulk and Planet Hulk turns your original desire for spectacle into deeply felt tragedy. It's brilliant--and I don't think I'll forget it anytime soon.
