The Good
Separating Banner from the Hulk might be one of the most frequently used storylines across the the character's illustrious history. This isn’t necessarily a bad or unexpected thing, it’s the core of his entire character: at his heart he’s Jekyll and Hyde and that’s one name too many for one person to share. The arrival of Doc Green is a refreshing take on what could be still another retread of some extremely well-worn territory. Gerry Duggan may be more known for his comedic writing, particularly in the pages of DEADPOOL, but there’s very little to laugh about in this comic. Doc Green needs to get an extremis brain tumor taken out and he goes to the only person he knows that can realistically accomplish the feat and also wouldn’t be terribly invested in asking too many questions. And Reed Richards was busy. We get an effective comedy section involving Kitty Pryde and Magik reacting both to Green’s odd request and the fallout that occurs in its wake while also getting a good look both at how Green is going to keep Banner in line and what takes up space in the big smart guy’s subconscious. To the surprise of no one: both are bad news for all involved except, possibly, the extremely self-involved doctor himself. After the X-Interlude, this becomes a very small comic, really only having two cast members and both of them are the same person. We get a lot more character development for Doc Green and it’s hard to like what we’re shown, both in and out of his head. The implications and developments paint a grim picture of exactly where his motives lie and where they’ll go from here.
Mark Bagley continues to pencil the book and provide some of the best facial expressions in the business. From Magik and Kitty’s reaction to Green’s brain hemorrhage, to Banner’s enormous frustration all the way to the friendly, almost placid grin that Green presents to the outside world, Bagley does effective, short-handed facial features that communicate so much with a single panel. Drew Hennessy is on inks and his work goes miles to making the book have definition and impact along with a sense of gravitas. The inks on this book are thick and defined, smoothing out the characters and bringing a sense of realness to the backgrounds while Jason Keith’s colors breathe life into the world. The color palette isn’t a complicated one, but for the over-the-top nature of the situations and characters in them it makes perfect sense that the colors would be bombastic and bold.
The Bad
I am beginning to lose interest in Doc Green as a character. If he’s not a full-blown sociopath, he’s very close to one and he doesn’t seem to care about anyone or anything which makes me question why exactly he’s so set on getting anything beneficial done. His motivations have always been nebulous, but this issue, while doing a great job opening up some questions, also throws all that into a degree of further disarray. There are many, many ways to write compelling villains, but I can’t even tell of Green IS a villain at this point. Maybe that’s intentional, but it comes off as less mysterious and more confusing.
While the art is generally great, there are a few panels, mostly involving Banner, that just stuck out to me as looking weird. Part of that is that Bagley draws most of his characters, particularly his male characters, as rather buff and even ripped and that includes “puny” Banner.
The Verdict
I like this title and I want to know more about it, particularly it’s strange lead. While Hulk, sorry Doc Green, may be going in a direction that’s difficult to track, it hasn’t become truly problematic yet and won’t for a few more issues of unanswered questions and questionable characterizations. This issue also features a great comedic run with Kitty and Magik to lighten the mood considerably and Bagley’s art does a great job of communicating the hyper-emotional tone that permeates most Hulk books, and this one especially. This issue seems to be signalling the start of something great.