The Nostalgia is strong with this one
At long last, we've been asking for a second Hulk on going, and it has finally arrived! With the recent disappointing Hulk issues stacking up, it's about time we got something cool, and savage Hulk comes through with a strong opening. Hell at this point I don't even want a award winning mind blowing story, I just want a fun series where we get to see Hulk wreck stuff, and luckily, Savage hulk seems to be aiming at exactly just that.
*Spoilers below*
For thous who don't know, this arc is set in the old days, back when Leader was cool and hulk still fought the army forces every 3 seconds, so don't be surprised to see some of the old concepts brought back as cameos or as reoccurring themes. One such concept would be the fact that Hulk wants to be left alone, and he travels the world enjoying natures tranquility. Speaking of which, the issue provides a very awesome and interesting scene where Hulk gazes up on the sky and revels in it's beauty, which kind of invoked the feeling bill mantlos Hulk run use to give me, where the natural and environmental aspect was always essential in setting the tone and the atmosphere of the whole issue. Moreover, As mentioned before, the Leader makes a swift return and I have to say that seeing so well characterized kinda made me a bit angry that the current writers make no effort in trying to revive this awesome character. Loved his snarky and arrogant comments by the way, it's so humorous and fun, as it was in the old days, plus the issue does a fairly good job of establishing him right away, making it clear that he's the main antagonist. Furthermore, Davis does a good job of tying X-men to the Hulks case almost immediately, and what I really thought was brilliant was how they used Charles Xavier to really remind us how Bruce banner was suffering during this time period, because essentially, he was a different man, so one has to establish the difference when creating a setting in the past.
Moving on, the art I wasn't so keen on, for action sequences, they are absolutely great, considering they look powerful and dynamic, so they are right at home with the Jade Giant on that particular aspect, however, when focusing on the single character designs during static and normals scenes, the facial expressions can be really off. This countenances during action scenes make sense because the characters are in combat and the constant movement gets along with the change of demeanor, but when the characters are just standing it looks weird. Like in one panel hulks lips are almost bigger than his face, and I have to honestly say that I nearly laughed when I saw that.
Overall, this was a solid opening, it sets the tone, establishes who are the main players, and leaves off at a very cool cliffhanger, so essentially, i'd advice you to get it.