Hulk, Vol. 4: Hulk vs. X-Force

Hulk (2008) (Collected Editions) #4

by Jeph Loeb (Writer), Ian Churchill (Artist)

It's THE Hulkbusters vs. X-Force! Who are the Hulkbusters? How about Red Hulk! Deadpool! The Punisher! Elektra! Thundra! The Crimson Dynamo! What terrible secret could bring this group together - only to run headlong into the deadliest team of X-Men? All this - and wait until you see Red Hulk vs. Wolverine!

Collecting: Hulk 14-18

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

120 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2010

About the author

Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III is an Emmy and WGA nominated American film and television writer, producer and award-winning comic book writer. Loeb was a Co-Executive Producer on the NBC hit show Heroes, and formerly a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.

A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner (see below), Loeb's comic book career includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, the Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale, who provides the comic art seen on Heroes.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the Hulk a lot, but I don’t like him enough where Marvel has a yen to start creating mysterious Hulks of different colors. It doesn’t quite border on the mind numbing need for Green Lantern creators to add a bunch of different color rings and corps, but its close. Real close. So, Marvel, if you’re thinking of adding an orange Hulk or a yellow Hulk, please don’t.

This volume was back in the day when the identity of the Red Hulk was still a mystery and Mr. Red Hulk wants to keep it that way, so when he thinks Domino sees him transform...



…he’s sees red and goes after her. He’s a big, slow-assed Hulk so he has to hire himself a crew to help out.



You’re saying to yourself, “Ooh Deadpool’s in this one, it’s a must read, right?”

Um, no. Loeb’s Deadpool is annoying, rather than funny. Sorry.



It’s also a frantic, fantastic, fantasmagoric Marvel first; it’s Red She Hulk’s debut.



And she’s wearing Domino’s clothes!

By God!! Wait, if she’s wearing Domino’s clothes, then Domino is wandering around in this book buck naked!

Sorry, pervy, random Goodreader. Sadly, it isn’t the case. I checked. Several times.

So who’s the Red She Hulk?

Let’s do some Marvel algebra. If Red Hulk is “X”. And if you figure out who Red Hulk is, it’s:

(Red Hulk)X + Daddy Issues = Red She Hulk.

You have X-Force pitted against Red Hulk’s kooky, crazy crew which brings up the inevitable Hulk-Wolverine showdown.



In Spanish!!! Caramba!!!

Although he gets a few shots in, Wolverine’s record against the Hulks remains painfully unblemished.



Bye, Canucklehead!

The last issue is all about Doc Samson, Marvel’s premier psychiatrist. Samson’s sick of writing Ritalin prescriptions for Franklin Richards, as well as this:



…so the lure of the dark side is strong.



Bottom line: If you like superhero smack downs, this one’s okay. I could have done without the Red Hulk thought process that was posted throughout, which when watered down to its essence was: “I hate the green Hulk, cuz he’s better than me. Waaaaaaaaaaah!” Loeb's run on the Hulk books was underwhelming and this volume does nothing to change that. The plot outside the punchy/kicky/hurty stuff is nonsense.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

It's been said before, but this whole thing with the Red Hulk comes off as a little disjointed.
The story in volume 4 kept my interest, though. It was fun, but not great. Who is the Red Hulk and Who is the Red She-Hulk? It's kind of obvious. Fun story line...but obvious. If you weren't sure before, then this volume is a flashing neon sign.
Still, it's enjoyable.

[🐢 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red Hulk sucks! Everything out of Deadpool’s mouth was irrelevant and unfunny in this one. But hey, at least I got to see Wolverine say “Bub” one more time..

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

While definitely more fun than the previous volumes, this one does the opposite of helping the overall situation. Instead of working towards a solution to the big mystery, it just further complicates it. (Although I do enjoy some good red herrings thrown in.) Interestingly, the last chapter featuring Doc Samson at a psychoanalyst, is really good. It was a total break from the bombastic, annoying main plotline to a subtle, character-driven, thoughtful piece. What the heck was Loeb thinking? (Or, my real question, why won't he do that more?)

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book oversells it a bit. While there is a conflict with X-force, it is minimal and it is not the main focus of the book.

No progress is made towards the solving of the "Who is the Red Hulk?" mystery, and a few more pieces of the puzzle are thrown in:

(1) The people responsible for creating the Red Hulk now find him expendable (ostensibly because he went "off the reservation")

(2) Red She-Hulk makes her first appearance, goes up against (and defeats - albeit off-panel) Elektra & Domino. Readers interested in catching up with this missing part of the story will have to read the back-up stories from Incredible Hulk #606-608, avilable in collected form in Hulk: Fall of the Hulks - Red Hulk (which is itself collected in the Incredible Hulks: Fall of the Hulks omnibus).

The final part of this book is a character study of Leonard Samson, more or less explaining why he's gone bad. Oh - and MODOK is somehow involved.

*********

The Loeb-penned Hulk series (and the Red Hulk mystery that is the at the heart of it) are mostly entertaining, and it only gets moreso in Hulk, Vol. 5: Fall of the Hulks and in Hulk, Vol. 6: World War Hulks. However, there are a lot of tie-in stories (some better than others) that can be read to help you get the most out of this storyline. To that end, check out these two omnibus collections:Incredible Hulks: Fall of the Hulks and Incredible Hulks: World War Hulks.

[Pturingan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, this actually getting better, after the awfulness of Vol. 3

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like Loeb's time on this book is pretty much turning into him just getting a bunch of action figures and make believing them into fights and having adventures.

I mean its "fun" but so, so vapid. Like, lets get on with the story shall we? How long can Loeb hold onto the "mystery" of the Red Hulk? If I was reading this back when it was coming out in single issues, I totally would've expected to know by now. I mean, this is volume 4, we just had an 600th issue anniversary come and go, and still we are no closer. This book feels like a soap opera in its cheesiness and has almost no depth at all.

This volume is pretty much: Domino see's the person who is Rulk turn into Rulk. So in order to keep his identity secret, he contracts a team to go and look for her and she gets Xforce to protect her. They fight.

That's literally the entire volume. Sigh. I think if Loeb would get passed this "mystery" the book could explore other themes and ideas but for now, it seems we are stuck in this rut.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this issue we do get to see Red Hulk assemble a team that ends up in a battle with X-Force. If you put The Punisher, Wolverine, Archangel and Warpath in a story together I'm probably going to like it, but once again it just feels forced. This whole series comes across as an excuse for big battles. The plus side is, the big battles are always fun.

Great art as always, but with the constant big fights and guest stars it feels like the title is spinning its wheels.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the good news is that this is not worse than the third volume. Then again, it's not better than the same. So its decent.
Side note-the artist draws like he went to a school for Archie Comics. Red Hulk's smirk [which is in almost every drawing of his face looks like Reggie Mantle's perpetual smirk from the 1950s & 1960s Archie Comics. I thought that might be the only one but Red She-hulk smiles like Betty & Veronica. It actually made me laugh.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Domino accidently sees who Red Hulk is, so he is determined to stop her telling people. He gets his own team, and so does Domino- X Force.

This is a fun, and clever storyline. Some great character moments, and adds some depth to the Red Hulk character. Though a lot of the book is mainly fights. A good read.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best of the Red Hulk series so far that I've read. It had an iteration of X-Force, a less than funny Deadpool, Electra, and introducing Red She-Hulk. Also, Wolverine has another Hulk beat him down. Great story and even better art.

[Eligos Vespillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red Hulk's story continues to the utter detriment of his identity mystery, which is dragged out beyond reason. At least the adventures he has along the way are entertaining, especially with the reveal of a new Red She-Hulk! Who is she?!?...here we go again...

[guanaeps · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see the first teaming up of what would end up becoming the Thunderbolts team down the line with Red Hulk, Punisher, Deadpool, and Elektra.

Dumb, but enjoyable.

[Aarthika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was messy once again, but I really enjoyed the X-force in this. I did not like the last issue in this though.

[Cameron (camzcollection) Skip · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough X-Force.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big, bombastic baloney. I enjoyed it, though. Life is full of so many responsibilities that a little brain candy is sometimes just what the Doc Samson ordered. 3.5 stars.

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 2 out of 5]

The action is good and parts are enjoyable but feels like the story can’t find what it wants to do.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read Red Hulk stories that come after this, so I was pleasantly surprised that this volume featured the first appearance of Red She-Hulk. The title is a little misleading because there is very little of Red Hulk vs. X-Force. It's in there, but only briefly, and then later in the book, after the initial fight is over, X-Force inexplicably works with Red Hulk, having seemingly forgotten that he attacked them the night before. I actually enjoyed this read quite a bit, but it isn't great. It is just good.

I often tease one of my close friends because he is a huge Deadpool fan. The truth is, though, that this is probably the first time that I've ever read a book with Deadpool in it. What I know of the character never appealed to me before, but he ended up being (slightly) entertaining.

Also watch for guest appearances by: Punisher, Electra, The Crimson Dynamo, Thundra, Domino, Doc Samson, Archangel, Warpath, and Wolverine.

In case you were wondering, there are no appearances of the Green Hulk in this story.

[Adhitia Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

yah lumayan menghibur ketimbang yang volume 3. sedikit ada cerita yang menarik di volume kali ini.
Red Hulk marah ketika salah satu anggota dari X-Force berusaha memata-matainya untuk mencuri identitas Red Hulk. Sadar bahwa dirinya dalam situasi yang gawat, Red Hulk langsung mengumpulkan para super hero lainnya dan membentuk tim untuk mengejar anggota X-Force yang berusaha mencuri identitasnya. Namun, Red Hulk dengan tim nya harus menghadapi hadangan X-Force yang dipimpin oleh Wolverine.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main storyline, Hulk vs. X-Force is just more of the same: a mindless fight spread out over several issues, with no real consequences. The annoyance of the ongoing who-is-red-hulk tease is just made worse by the introduction of she-red-hulk. I mean, please [3/10]. Contrariwise, the final issue, "Delilah" feels like it was written by a different person, with its careful concentration on continuity and its thoughtful psychological profile of Doc Samson [7/10].

[Holden Attradies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still not a stellar read, but definitely getting better. that last part with Doc Samson was actually pretty flawless. It's biggest over flaw is still delivery: The dialog is shit, the narration seeming to be pointless, the story wonders about to much just being a macho punch fest. I keep putting it down and thinking that in a better writers hands and with different art choices this could have been incredible!

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Red Hulk has interesting possibilities but this book wasn't all that great. Neither the writing nor the art was all that impressive. And even though I've read a later incarnation of the Thunderbolts with pretty much the same set of characters, in this book the character choice seems more random. There were bits that were better - Domino in general and the Samson story - but in general there just wasn't enough good here. And the ridiculously over-muscled over-breasted art got in the way.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mystery of the Red Hulk may have been accidentally uncovered by X-Force's Domino, causing Red to gather a crew to take her out. The so-called "Code Red" consists of Thundra, Deadpool, Crimson Dynamo, and Punisher; they find themselves up against Wolverine, Warpath, Archangel, and the X-Force crew. Serving to also add the Red-She-Hulk to the mix, this is a nifty little beat-'em-up.

[Mike Shepherd · Rating 2 out of 5]

As as been said before about this book(in fact it could be said about the whole RedHulk run) it feels disjointed and the rhythm is upset by the narrative interjecting into converstions.

Lovely art though.

I'm just looking forward to getting back to Bruce and the GREEN (or Gray) Hulk

[Trey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It seems like Loeb's run with the Red Hulk is just an excuse to have him fight all the characters in the Marvel Universe. There's some good action here, but the shadow-plot behind it all seems kind of dumb on its slow reveal. This is not a thinking man's book.

[raman · Rating 1 out of 5]

the only redeeming thing was ian churchill's art.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is top notch, but this isn't Loeb at his best. Every time I read a Hulk thought-caption I felt it was needless and an interference to the flow and pace of the story and dialogue.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is top notch, but this isn't Loeb at his best. Every time I read a Hulk thought-caption I felt it was needless and an interference to the flow and pace of the story and dialogue.

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally this story is back on track! I loved the first volume, but 2 & 3 were mostly jumbled violent messes. With volume 4, the plot returns. Thank goodness.