Banner

Startling Stories: Banner #1-4

by Brian Azzarello, Richard Corben (Illustrator)

Tormented by his unstoppable alter ego, Bruce Banner has nowhere to hide. Having located the man-like monstrosity that is the Hulk in the New Mexico desert, gamma-irradiated government operative Doc Samson prepares his troops for a cataclysmic confrontation.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Thriller, Fantasy

112 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

Brian Azzarello (born in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American comic book writer. He came to prominence with 100 Bullets, published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. He and Argentine artist Eduardo Risso, with whom Azzarello first worked on Jonny Double, won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story for 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low".

Azzarello has written for Batman ("Broken City", art by Risso; "Batman/Deathblow: After the Fire", art by Lee Bermejo, Tim Bradstreet, & Mick Gray) and Superman ("For Tomorrow", art by Jim Lee).

In 2005, Azzarello began a new creator-owned series, the western Loveless, with artist Marcelo Frusin.

As of 2007, Azzarello is married to fellow comic-book writer and illustrator Jill Thompson.

information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Az...

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly expected more from Brian Azzarello. This was billed as being an all new take on the Hulk, but it was more of less the same thing we've seen before. Richard Corben's art can be really strange but it's not bad with the Hulk.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly average. I love the way Corben draws Hulk though. Azzarello seems like he couldn't decide whether the story should be a serious take on Hulk or a cartoony one. It feels pretty disjointed.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick for a 4 issue series. Corben and Azzarello make for a strange combo.
No breasts or nudity but plenty of weird faces.
This time, I noticed graffiti with the word protestna on a crumbled wall, implying the US government air dropped Hulk into the Balkans?!

[Beelzefuzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for the story only. It is an interesting elseworlds story. I say elseworlds because Doc Sampson doesn't really act like himself so I don't think it is What If. I guess it could be "What If Doc Sampson was kind of a malicious jerk for awhile". An interesting exploration of Hulk/Banner dichotomy. Terrible artwork. Kind of like what if Hulk were a character in R. Crumb's knock off King of the Hill saga. Hey there's another what if title. Anyway, worth it overall but some of the faces Doc Sampson and the Hulk pull will really take you out of the story and maybe take you out of your body in a dissociative state for awhile.

[Taylor Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book in early high school and thought highly of the story (although the art always bothered me.)

I'm currently pruning my bookshelf. I hadn't read it since high school and yet, Banner has managed to survive all previous prunings. I decided to give it another go to see if it's worthy of such status.

It's not. There COULD be a good story in here, but everything feels so rushed and disjointed. This could be an interesting examination of The Hulk as a reluctant military weapon, of Bruce Banner as an emotionally tortured man, or even as an exploration of communities picking up after themselves after the Hulk explodes in their town or city, but there's not enough space for any one idea to take root. It doesn't help that the art bothers me even more than it did when I was 13.

I LOVE the Hulk, but it's hard to find a good Hulk story. Unfortunately, this is not one of them.

SO, that said - anyone in the New Orleans area want a free trade paperback before I give it to the Little Free Library on Oak St?

EDIT: After writing this review, I decided to knock it down another star.

[Judah Radd · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is kind of an interesting, weird little story. I’m not 100% sure what it was trying to be, and to be honest, I’m not convinced Brian Azzarello or Richard Corben did either.

Synopsis: The Hulk is on a rampage. Doc Samson and Thunderbolt Ross have to bring him in. They eventually succeed, and then Samson helps Bruce commit suicide. Sort if. Doesn’t seem to work. The end.

So... like... talk about a typical day in the life. Nothing new really happens, except the art style was bizarre. In a good way?? Ehhhh I’m not sure.

It wasn’t boring. The dialogue was decent (although, Samson sure was willing to let his men die...)

I like Brian Azzarello for thing like Joker and Faithless. This is not that. It’s ok though.

[John Wiswell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Banner was supposed to be a more serious take on the Hulk mythos, with an emphasis on darkness and the gravity of his actions. Except it quickly disregards the casualties, and its damage to property doesn’t appear particularly grave for a comic book – after the first ten pages, and up until the final ten, this could be any other Hulk comic of the last ten years, with a little more grit to it. Worse, its character drama is unoriginal, and the portrayal of Samson the psychiatrist gets more cartoonish than you’d find in most Marvel Comics. The art’s darker, and the tactics against the Hulk are a little shadier, but it’s no more serious, and breaks no new ground.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hulk smashes and Bruce Banner feels guilty about it. How can he control the green rage monster within? A mysterious doctor working for the US military has a potential - and permanent - solution…

Brian Azzarello and Richard Corben collaborated on a great Luke Cage book called Cage Max so I was surprised to find they had also worked on this Hulk miniseries from 2001, Banner. It’s nowhere near as brilliant as their Cage book though.

Most of the book is the same tired Hulk story we’ve seen a hundred times before where Banner’s miserable about the damage Hulk causes, tries to keep calm so as not to let him out, General Ross is on his tail, etc.

The book is notable though for a couple scenes that are referenced in relatively recent Hulk movie scenes: one where Mark Ruffalo’s Banner said something about putting a gun in his mouth and squeezing the trigger - and the other guy spitting out the bullet. We see that scene here. We also see Banner being dropped from a plane like a bomb - and Hulk emerging from the crater, which also happened on the big screen. Unless both of those things happened before in other books, the legacy of this comic influenced the MCU Hulk in a small way.

The one element that intrigued me was Dr Samson, a brawny scientist who’s after Hulk for some reason, and can also somehow hurt him physically - I didn’t know what to make of him and so the story was unpredictable for having that character.

And I’ll give Azzarello a couple things: I’ve been reading some Marvel comics recently by Paul Jenkins and Chris Claremont and, while they all tell underwhelming stories, at least Azzarello has the good graces to get the fuck on with things; Jenkins and Claremont smear their pages with dull drivel that goes nowhere while Azzarello keeps his words to a minimum so you’re not wasting as much time reading his comic.

The other thing is the ending of this book which is surprisingly dark and final. It was never going to stick because of the popularity of the character but it’s not something you expect to see in a mainstream superhero comic.

Richard Corben is an acquired taste, to put it mildly. He had a very recognisable style and that style could sometimes make his characters look absurdly goofy, which happens here with Hulk and Samson. He’s definitely produced better work elsewhere but I didn’t mind the art on this one.

I can see why Banner isn’t a well-known Hulk book. The story and art is no great shakes and the gloomy tone feels contrived. As a fan of both creators, I’m glad to have checked it out, but they’ve definitely produced better comics at Marvel, like the aforementioned Luke Cage miniseries - if you’re interested in this creative team, that book is the one to check out rather than this (out of print and only available digitally) book.

[Lovro Herbai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Konstantno sam viđao naslovnice ovog mini-serijala u starim izdanjima LMI Comicsa od Ultimate Spider-Mana do X-Mena, ali - baš kao i sa serijalom Hulk/Wolverine: Six Days - nikad nisam uspio doći do njih jer su odavno nestali s kioska, a moja je znatiželja za njihov sadržaj bila nevjerojatno visoka. Fast-forward 15 godina i napokon imam oba sveska Bannera nakon istraživanja striparnica zadnjih nekoliko godina. Je li se isplatilo? Ehhhhhhhhh... Definitivno zanimljiva kratka priča koja naglašava Bannerovu depresiju i suicidalne tendencije izazvane njegovom drugom polovicom, Hulkom, ali doima se nedovršenom i nedovoljno razrađenom. Crteži i boje su super u prikazivanju mračnijeg sadržaja priče, i dizajn likova je definitivno nesvakidašnji, ali manjak dijaloga i akcije nije veliki plus. Određeni likovi imaju mutne motivacije, i zapravo mi još uvijek nije jasno tko je točno jedan od likova, tako da je možda potrebno i detaljnije poznavanje svijeta Hulka prije čitanja, ali nekako sam mišljenja da kad su u pitanju ovakvi izdvojeni mini-serijali - možda to ne bi trebao biti zahtjev. Svakako mi je drago što sam konačno pročitao ovo čudo, ali ne mogu reći da imam namjera vraćati mu se tako skoro, ako ikada.

[Ronan Barradas · Rating 4 out of 5]

O Doutor Robert Bruce Banner cansou de tentar controlar a fera que desperta com sua raiva. Ciente das consequências negativas do Hulk para o povo que o cerca, Banner pretende tirar a própria vida como última tentativa de se livrar de seu alter ego. Acontece que o Hulk não aceitou muito bem essa ideia. Paralelamente a isso, o Drº Leonard Samson também está na cidade para parar o Gigante Esmeralda.

"Banner" é um dos poucos trabalhos do consagrado Brian Azzarello para a Marvel. Aqui ele se une ao competente desenhista Richard Corben e consegue passar muito bem ao leitor o dilema de Bruce Banner entre ter a consciência de ser uma arma de destruição em massa e ainda assim proteger a própria existência.

Em meio a isso, Leonard Samson se une ao General Ross e ao exército num elaborado plano para conter a fúria de Bruce Banner, o que não permite que o ritmo da HQ caia em nenhum momento. O único porém é que a relação entre Banner e Samson poderia ser melhor explorada mas é compreensível que não seja devido a falta de espaço.

[Bogdan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realistically speaking the story is thin as you expected to be in a story arc about a superhero life. At least from my point of view as an adult and versatile reader.

But, on the other hand, Richard Corben is a giant in the world of graphic novels illustrations and if you`ll see any of his comics you`ll understand why.

He has an original style of drawing, big & unusual, with raw sizes & a lot of creativity, but so powerfull & full of emotions, scary in some moments, with a unique taste in ordering it`s panels, and it`s worth mentioning that some of the lines and shadows are very personally alike to most of his work, so you could spot his hand in a instant.

So this graphic novel it`s more a feast for the eyes than the mind, and after watching on youtube from Cartoonist Kayfabe disecting this graphic novel and spotlighting a lot of interesting details, I`ll go with that and give the Caesar what it deserves.

Fun fact: it looks like tobacco was banned from American graphic novels in the early 2000`s.

[Saladinho · Rating 1 out of 5]

Azzarello's take on Doc Samson makes him one of the most insufferable characters I've ever read. Smug, cartoonishly evil and just an overall clown.

There's a moment in the book where there's supposed to be this serious scene between Samson and someone else, and Samson's literally pressing his face against the glass enclosure, smashing his nose as he is speaking. Pure idiocy.

There's a moment in issue 3, where Banner goes to a gas station late at night, looking for water, which has a real interesting premise, but instead of following that situation, Azzarello instead just creates an extremely random series of slapstick beats that takes things in a completely nonsensical direction.

I know Corben is supposed to be a legend, but the art is terrible. Besides a few moments, it looks goofy and satirical in an annoying way, like the book should have been called Strange Tales: The Bumbling Banner.

Hulk looks like Corben was trying to draw a green Mike Tyson.

I'm sick of cynical people working on superhero comics.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from Corben's artwork, there isn't much to this book. It's a tried and true Hulk story where he's being hunted by the military while Banner feels down on himself. But getting to see Corben draw the Hulk was treat enough for me, and the scene where Banner puts a gun to his mouth only to have Hulk spit the bullet out is pretty iconic. Shame we couldn't get more of Corben on the Hulk, but I'll take what we got.

[Eligos Vespillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A darker, alternate version of the titular Bruce Banner and his raging alter-ego. The Hulk is not an enemy of the U.S. military, but a part of its arsenal - a living bomb less than human that exists only to destroy and kill at the whim of the government. Published soon after the Sept. 11th attacks, the shockwaves are felt heavily in this cynical, nightmarish reimagining of the man or monster.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olisi tämä voinut parempikin olla, koska Azzarello. Ilmeisesti supersankarit eivät kuitenkaan ole ihan miehen ominta alaa. Ja Corbenkin vähän sinne päin homman pankkiin hoiti. Muutamat oikein hyvät hahmot oli saanut mukaan, mutta muuten kyllä.... meh.

[Desmond Killian · Rating 5 out of 5]

"So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive!"

Best ad: Being one of those very early Marvel trade paperbacks means that it's got ads! Kinetica on the PS2!

[Brian Spath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A swift and simple read that has a bleak outlook on Banner’s fate as the unenviable cage of the Hulk. Corben’s art lends a macabre feel to the Jekyll & Hyde nature of the Hulk mythos.

[Jeik Dion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Azzarello and Corben are such a good team. This is a stand-alone story. It's simple. It's dramatic. It's great.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is really weak and couldn't be saved by Corben's art, which I felt wasn't a great fit for the Hulk.

[Jamil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great art, mediocre writing

[Pedro Espada · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pues a mí el dibujo de Corven no me entra naaada nada, no he podido seguir leyendo. No dudo que siendo Azzarello sea buena historia, pero no.

[Shawn Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bad dicpication of doc Samson. Only 3 because of artwork.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reprints Startling Stories: Banner #1-4 (July 2001-October 2001). Bruce Banner is through with the Hulk. He realizes he can never control the monster inside of him and that the Hulk is out of control. When he attempts to stop the Hulk once and for all, the Hulk reveals he won’t allow Banner to do it. Bruce Banner is a man at the end of his rope, and Doc Samson has been hired to hopefully bring him back.

Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Richard Corben, Banner is a collection of the Startling Stories limited series put out by Marvel in the early 2000s. Other Startling Stories included The Thing and Fantastic Four.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of Brian Azzarello. I think that he is a decent plotter, but I think his dialogue is generally quite weak. This is combined with Richard Corben’s oddly cartoonish art and this makes Banner a rather unpleasant read.

The series primarily deals with Banner’s desire to die and the Hulk keeping it from it. The subplot (with most of the dialogue) is Doc Samson’s attempts to bring Bruce Banner and the Hulk in and join the two sides of the coin. These are both valid issues and answers the question of why Bruce Banner doesn’t just kill himself if he’s so miserable.

The problem is that Azzarello doesn’t really get into the idea. He sets it up, but I feel that he misses the spike. The series is short and doesn’t have much dialogue. Too much of the story involves the Hulk…it would have been nice if the Hulk was never seen in the story to focus on the Banner aspect.

I also am not a fan of Richard Corben’s art. Corben made his name with magazines like Heavy Metal, Creepy, and Eerie. His art feels very cartoony and it doesn’t mesh well with this serious comic book. I think he might have been a good choice for a shorter story or a run on the comic, but I don’t like his art for this story.

I wanted to like this series. I am a big fan of Doc Samson and the ideas in Banner were worth exploring for fans of the Hulk character. Unfortunately, the execution of the series was pretty poor, underdeveloped, and largely unexplored. Don’t bother seeking out Banner, it just isn’t worth the time.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Marvel-does-Elseworlds story with two great creators playing around with an iconic Marvel character. This time it's the Hulk, an intentionally-killing monster spawned by the government to use in military operations. Instead of being hounded primarily by General Ross, Azzarello substitutes Doc Samson for a nice juxtaposition wherein Samson gets to call the shots and Ross must fume at the edges of the story.

The basic plot is that Samson chases the Hulk around a lot with the hopes of capturing him, caring not for what happens to the civilians and soldiers caught in the middle. He's basically a muscle-powered jerk obsessed with finding a way to bring in the Hulk. When they finally capture him, though, it's Ross that has the upper hand--he's got a plan to rid the world of the Hulk forever, and isn't that what Bruce wants, anyway?

As with Cage, once you throw out all the continuity you know, it's possible to relax and enjoy the story being told here, which is a more real-life look at what might happen should a government experiment go terribly wrong. My only problem is that Corben's art doesn't work for me here at all--his style just doesn't cut it when you have to show so much sheer destruction.

All in all, though, I like the story told here and I wish Marvel would look at doing more of these, albeit with a continuity disclaimer first. (Library, 02/07)

Trebby's Take: Worth reading, but again, take off the continuity hat first.

[Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book collects the four issue mini-series of the same name by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Richard Corben. I know Azzarello's work from various Vertigo series such as the great 100 Bullets, the not quite so great western series Loveless and a run on Hellblazer that I did not like terribly much. Corben also illustrated an Hellblazer story line during Azzarello's run but I am more used to seeing his work in Heavy Metal magazine though he does have a serialised story running in the latest incarnation of Dark Horse Presents.

This is one of a number of tales labelled as Startling Stories. I am not sure of where they lie in Marvel's continuity with at least one source claiming that they are set on an alternative Earth. In any case, this is a dark little tale from Azzarello with Banner attempting suicide after one particularly devastating episode that completely destroyed part of a town. Azzarello explores Banner's feelings of guilt and remorse to a level that I have not read before - though I am not the greatest Hulk fan so am ready to be corrected on that. The art from Corben is as good as usual and I like his portrayal of the Hulk. I normally see his work in a fantasy or horror context and I think that this story is enhanced due to his background in those genres, especially in the scenes that feature a reflective Bruce Banner.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always meant to read this one, as I hear it thrown around as one of the classic Hulk stories. It ended up being a simplistic take on a story they've told over and over again dressed up as something more "serious." Richard Corben is a legendary comic artist, though I'm not entirely sure why. His work never seems to fit the stories I see him given, and his Hulk here looks like some sort of green inbred manchild. And I can't think of a single thing I've liked from Brian Azzarello since his "Hellblazer" run, and even that was disjointed and left me scratching my head half the time. (Silly me, I thought that was just the enigmatic John Constantine never fully explaining his actions and the nature of magic granting no closure rather than the fault of a writer who completely fails to ever convey enough information to his audience.)
It's not the worst comic I've read, but it's far from anything special.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian Azzarello and Richard Corben combine to craft an odd look at the life of Bruce Banner in this collection of Startling Stories. The collection examines Banner's role as a meager prison for the raging Hulk, forever damned to erupt into a rage of devastation. Doc Samson is cast in the role of protagonist and antagonist, hunting the Hulk for the military while trying to find a way to salvage the genius that was Bruce Banner. The art from Richard Corben attempts to channel a Frank Quitely vibe, but instead feels rough and unfinished; facial features and expressions are the biggest areas of concern. Azarello does try to offer a different take on the Hulk/Banner relationship, but the story feels as if it was cut short - I actually checked to make sure the library copy was not missing pages upon reaching the end of the volume. Once again, Banner pales in comparison to his green alter-ego; leave this trade for the mean, green Hulk fanatics.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una vez más, dos autores que me gustan se unen para narrar un comic que no me gustó para nada, o prácticamente nada (Update: aunque la verdad que no recuerdo a qué cómic me refería cuando escribí esta reseña :P). Nunca Corben dibujó tan feo y nunca Azzarello escribió tan desganado (y con un final digno de una mala telenovela de bajo presupuesto). Leído de la edición en dos números que sacó la casi siempre patética Conosur. Cuando lo relea seguro revise mi reseña, pero no creo que marce un gran cambio. Marco la edición española de Panini pero en realidad tengo la edición argentina en dos revistitas de Conosur.

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un inicio brutal, con un Banner acosado y destruido por lo que es,viviendo como un mendigo aunque es un genio,queriendo dejar de vivir aunque Hulk no se lo permitira.

-Me encanta la descripción de la celda de carne.

-El arte de Corben no es para todos, pero a mi siempre me encanta, con esos músculos hipertrofiados,con esas perspectivas dinámicas que te erizan viñeta a viñeta.

-El final demasiado abierto,demasiado inconcluso...daña lo que era una obra redonda.

[M.i. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the artwork, and for a good portion of the book it dragged, but hit its stride towards the end. It portrays Banner in a sympathetic light, of a man who can't get away from his alter ego, yet runs into situations that constantly leads to the Hulk getting out.

In a subtle way, it questions how we treat our poor and those less off, and how in looking down upon them, we fail to realize just how demeaning our actions may be.