Issue #1 – Totally Awesome Hulk
Title: Totally Awesome Hulk #1
Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: Frank Cho
The Buzz: A teenage Korean-American Hulk written and drawn by a Korean-American creative team! Amadeus Cho is a fun younger character who actually enjoys a) being a superhero and b) being a Hulk, which is already a fresh take on the old franchise. Check out this interview with Pak and Cho.
All You Need To Know: Amadeus Cho is a teen supergenius who started out as a sidekick to the Incredible Hercules and ended up tangled in all kinds of pantheon shenanigans, eventually replacing Hercules as the head of the Olympus Group, a corporation run by the Greek Gods. Yes, really. I don’t know how he became a Hulk. Shit happens, I guess.
Story: This is a fun ‘Hulk family’ book with appearances from She-Hulk and classic Bruce Banner, though the focus is very much on Amadeus and his sister Maddy who does field support for him via radio and is concerned that he’s not taking his hero business seriously enough. Plenty of banter and humour, this has to be one of the most likeable (non-She) Hulk titles I’ve come across before. As a comics reader who started with DC in the 90’s, I’m a big fan of second generation/legacy characters and this is a great example of that.
Art: Colourful, cheerful, with popping colours – plenty of sunshine to balance out the green, and really good character faces. I do love the current trend for comics books that aren’t ashamed of being comic books.
But What Did I Miss?: If you missed it, I probably did too – the Hulk is one of those areas of comics I’m very under-read on, mostly because I have little interest beyond a) She-Hulk and b) Mark Ruffalo. In any case, this is a solid Issue 1 that doesn’t assume you know much about who everyone is, and puts in the groundwork to establish the characters from scratch.
Would Read Issue 2?: It’s not shooting to the top of my list because there are so many great titles and lead characters to choose from right now (and I tend to gravitate towards the female protagonists first) but I’ll be saving this one for when my 6 year old (who adores the animated series Hulk and the Agents of SMASH) is at this reading level.
Read it if you Like: Hulk and the Agents of SMASH, She-Hulk, The Ray (particularly the Palmiotti/Gray mini-series from a few years back, but also the 90’s version), Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes), The Flash (Wally West).
Previously reviewed this year:
Thor #1 (2014)
Spider-Woman #1 (2014)
All-New Captain America #1 (2014)
Captain America & the Mighty Avengers #1 (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (2014)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (2015)
Bitch Planet #1 (2014)
Secret Six #1 (2014)
Operation: S.I.N. #1
Spider-Gwen #1
Curb Stomp #1
Jem & the Holograms #1
Silk #1
Issue #1 – Convergence Special – Oracle, JLI, Batgirl
Issue #1 – Battleworld Special: Lady Kate, Ms America & Inferno
X-Men ’92 #1
Giant-Sized Little Marvels: AvX #1 (2015)
Runaways #1 (2015)
Loki, Agent of Asgard #1 (2014)
Fresh Romance #1
All-New Hawkeye #1
Black Canary #1
The Wicked and the Divine #1 (2014)
Bombshells #1
Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Mockingbird #1
50 Years of SHIELD: (Don’t Call Her…) The Cavalry #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Quake #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Fury #1
50 Years of SHIELD: Agent Carter #1
New Avengers #1 (2015)
