YES! A HULK BOOK THATS GOOD!
I had my doubts about this, mainly because i've never read anything by Fred Van Lente before, and i've been generally disappointed with marvel, some of the current stuff isn't worth even mentioning, especially Jason Aarons hulk. But i gotta say, when i picked this up, i did not expect this at all.
The story is what a Hulk book should be like. Fred introduces hulks old cast and adds a lot of new elements to the book, and they still feel old and in character, and this is very hard thing to do mind you, thats why the season one's are usually so hard to pull off, and it's also why the other season one's weren't as impressive as they could have been.
As any hulk fan would know, Both hulk and banner are equally important to one another, their dynamic relationship is one of the most interesting things to be seen in comics. so this is why, this book is so awesome, it provides a unique clash between the two titans. Both hulk and Banner have their own agendas and plans. While banner is trying to hide his alter ego, and maintain his normal life, hulk consults AIM to finely get rid of banner. Now this is a very interesting twist, most of the time you'd expect banner to try to get rid of the hulk, but fred twists things a bit, and it feels organic and interesting.
Moreover, Banners past and history is still very Visible in this little story, we see some of the old face's like Gremlin , who in fact plays somewhat a significant role, as well as sudden hints about bruce banners father. not only that, but in this book, we get to see how things even evolve, we see how hulk went from smart to dumb as well as witnessing the shift from the sunrise change form " don't make me angry".
Fred also introduces a new villain to hulks rouges gallery, called Biocide, which in his own way is pretty interesting and cool. i really want to see him used in the future as well!
And as for the art, Tom flower really nailed it, i loved his work on venom and each page here was immensely enjoyable. The thing i loved most was the way he drew the movement and fighting scenes, it was fluent and smooth.
The ending was just extraordinary as, Because we go to see the confident Banner( which by the way is the best kind) and he went out with a blast, since the book ends with this quote.
" i could look at this like a curse. Instead, i'm going to take it as a gift. something i can try to do good with. The Hulk. That's who i am. That's who i was and always will be. And there never going to catch me"
-Bruce Banner/Hulk