First off I want to make this clear that I in no way hate the Red Hulk or any of the things Jeph Loeb has been doing with him in the past few years, I personally like the character and what Marvel has been doing with him (up until recently that is).
[NOTE: SPOILERS BELOW For Anyone Who Hasn't Read Avengers #8!!!!!!!]
As most people already know, Red Hulk is to join the Avengers, apparently replacing Captain America (Barnes) who is randomly missing from the book (obviously for his trail, but they never even mention this in the actual book, but I won't rant about that....but it is annoying). Anyways....I want to talk about how Bendis has found a very random and random way to bring the Red Hulk into his Avengers book, and how logically he should even be here if you read this issue and see where things don't really line up, and how it feels like Bendis just wants another overly powered character on his to team even though you've already got Thor who smacked Galactus right up side the head.
But getting to the issue, in Avengers #7, The Hood has started a search into collect the Infinity Gems and gain a whole new set of powers after losing his powers once again during Siege, during this, The Hood randomly appears in the desert and finds none other than...that's right, Red Hulk, and as #8 fills us in, the two have a short battle with Red Hulk being over powered. Now my first point I would like to make is that Red Hulk has been brought into the team because they "the Avengers are going to need all the help they can get" but as we can obviously see, the Red Hulk got his butt handed to him and The Hood only had TWO gems, not even all of them, so my question is, what freakin' help is he going to be to the Avengers?
Secondly, after this, Hulk comes crashing through Avengers Tower, weak and beat up, Bendis did this for dramatic affect which in truth, wasn't really needed and also made very little sense when you think about it, Red Hulk states that he was in Death Valley when he was attacked, and that he came to the Avengers to warn them, my problem with this is that if he was SO hurt, how the heck was he able to get all the way from Death Valley to New York City, not to mention jumping to the top of Avengers Tower. Now of course this can all be talked away by saying that he had no where else to go he was along and thought it was the right thing to do, which in truth it was until we find out that the reason he was in that desert was because he had been living there at a secret gamma base working for Steve Rogers (as seen in the current Hulk series). Now where things don't make sense is that if Hulk had just been beaten to a pulp, and had the energy to make it ALL THE WAY to New York City, why the heck didn't he just go to the base he's been living at in the current Hulk series, contact Steve Rogers, and have HIM alert the Avengers? Answer: Because Bendis was writing it.
The point I'm trying to make is that Bendis brought in Red Hulk for in truth, No Reason. As Bendis has stated in interview about the whole thing, he was at some kind of retreat and was like "Hey, let's put Red Hulk, yeah, y'know, the bad guy who attacked the White House...yeah, that guy, on the AVENGERS, no, not the Secret Avengers, not the Thunderbolts, THE Avengers, who are now known as Bendis' Mightiest Heroes." He stated that the Avengers are known for having villains who want to turn over a new leaf, which in truth is true with bringing up people like Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Wonder Man, but what he fails to mention is that this was BEFORE the Thunderbolts program was created, and makes completely no sense what so every to have Red Hulk on the Avengers because if he's trying to "redeem" himself, then he should be placed on the Thunderbolts and earn his place....y'know like Songbird has been doing since...oh I don't know, FOREVER. Point is, Bendis killed off Sentry, and now has brought in Red Hulk into a team who already have Thor AND Iron Man, not to mention Wolverine , and has given us this random reason to place him on the team which in truth makes absolutely no sense when you put it together and seems to only be because Bendis said, "I want Sentr--I mean, Red Hulk, and I want him NOW!" and guess what? Marvel gave him to him.
So my question for everyone now is: What do you think of Red Hulk joining the Avengers? Do you agree with what I've said or do you disagree? If so, how come? Have I missed something completely and are wrong about this entirely? OR do you have your own opinions that you would like to put out there as to why you do/don't like what Bendis is doing with what is suppose to be Marvel's top superhero team book?
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