Hulk, Vol. 6: World War Hulks

Hulk (2008) (Collected Editions) #6

by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness (Illustrations)

In HULK, the FALL is over. Long wage the WAR. Red Hulk and Banner have failed, and their worst nightmares have come to kill them. Will they die fighting M.O.D.O.K. and his army of Hulks or die by the hands of the Hulked-Out Heroes?

COLLECTING:

Hulk #22-24

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

112 pages, Hardcover

First published November 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]

How many Hulks does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Bad man says Hulk get puppy, not light bulb. Hulk smash light bulb. HULK SMASH BAD MAN!!!

We finally find out who the Red (What? No Chartreuse or Mauve) Hulk is and is it ever anticlimactic.

Part of the plot here is gamma- irradiated superheroes running amok in Washington. How many Hulks are too many? Thor-Hulk looks cool and Hulk-Pool was funny for three panels (okay two), yet this re-enforces the problem with the adding of more Hulks to the Marvel Universe. What’s the point? You have the (Incredible) Hulk and the (Sensational) She-Hulk. Isn’t that enough? Don’t mention that treacherous bastard, Doc Samson. Just don’t.

In the recounting of the Red Hulk’s past, other Hulk artists were used for a few pages each to great effect.

From here, in Marvel continuity, Jason Aaron handled (poorly) the Hulk writing chores. His take was good for a few laughs but not much else. Skip ahead to The Indestructible Hulk storyline, it’s excellent

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably my fault, I keep reading Hulk titles in weird order or tie-ins but haven't actually read the event, stuff like that. I don't know why I keep doing this when I am specifically on Goodreads to keep track of what volumes I need to read in order for graphic novel/comics. Oh well!

This was basically one big smash after another between Red and Hulk. I watch the cartoons and also know from other graphic novels that Red is (GASP) General Ross, so I guess a lot of this volume was unnecessary for me.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is more for the World War Hulks event, not necessarily this volume per se. If it was just for this volume, I would say this is a one star cause I find these types of volumes annoying. Like, we are supposed to buy 14 different books to get the whole story? Just give us an omnibus or something....

ANYWAYS... the event itself was pretty fun. It's very much a 90's type of event that is pretty much a big excuse to "Hulk up" the Marvel heroes and have them fight. Which is dumb, but fun. In the last issue, there is a nice emotional moment between Hulk/Bruce and his son Skaar, and how Bruce seems to be continuing the cycle of violence that he himself experienced from his father. This was unexpected and not entirely out of left field. If anything, I would say this event is a great showcase for, not the Hulk so much, but Bruce Banner, as he is constantly one step ahead of everyone else. Also for how calculated and cold he can be, as he doesn't mind some "collateral damage" in order to attain his goals.

Of course, this event also finally reveals who Rulk is/was. And I think for the most part, it was an ok mystery. I mean, the signs were there for all to see who it was. However, I would be lying to say that it didn't feel a bit forced. Whenever LMD's are necessary, that's usually an indication of a forced plot point. But overall, it made for an interesting read, and an interesting arc all together (bar the more "extreme" examples such as punching the watcher. ugh).

Not a bad event, but not the greatest, this is more for people who like less plot and more punching.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty decent wrap up to the Red Hulk Saga. His identity is revealed General Thunderbolt Ross. There was some cheating involved as they used a LMD to stand in for Ross so we could see them Ross and the Red Hulk together. and we get to see just how all the pieces of the puzzle fell together.

We also got the definitive Green Hulk/Red Hulk battle, which was something anticipated since the first appearance of the Red Hulk.

One thing about this volume though is how it's presented as part of World War Hulks, and it was, but it was really more about wrapping up the Red Hulk story than the World War Hulks story. The real ending of World War Hulks was more in the Incredible Hulk volume.

The whole Red Hulk story line was a little scattered to me, but the ending was pretty satisfying.

[Andrew Sorrentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reveal of who Red Hulk is. And who Red She-Hulk is.
Boyohboy, that it took two years worth of comics to get to is surprising. Dunno if I would have followed along all that time without knowing. Also, much of the story seems to be Red Hulk rather than Hulk. As a fan of Hulk and Banner, I’m not sure I’d enjoy the Hulk title that features so little Hulk and so much Red Hulk.
That being said I do enjoy this collected edition. The conflict between the two is incredible. And the parallels between the two is special.
I enjoy the main artist. And many artists from historic Hulk issues are featured in the second chapter of this book.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smash em bash em rock em sock em plot point big fight punch em done.

[Louis · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, I'm not a fan of Jeph Loeb. I really tried to be, and his earlier volumes of Hulk blew me away, but after reading more of Jeph Loeb I realize that he's just writing the same characters over and over again. They all have the "noir" aspect where we hear the character's thoughts, and each character is completely bland and could easily be swapped out for another. And everything is cheesy! Compare his work on Batman with Daredevil: Yellow; they're basically the same character! Then again, this is the same guy who wrote "Commando," which is, honestly, one of my favorite movies, but not for character development or dialogue, but for cheesy action. Maybe that's what Loeb is best at: cheesiness.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is it - everything the Intelligencia has been working towards begins coming to fruition. Red and Red She-Hulk have been making life misserable for the Hulk, General Talbot is ready to take control of the White House, and the cosmically-charged Hulk robot is along for the ride. So who is the Red Hulk? See for yourself...

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who IS the Red Hulk? We find out here...of course you can 'Google' the answer and find out in a few seconds, but what fun is that?
They do a good job of "going back" and explaining who the Red Hulk is, and how they came to be. I can 'buy it'/believe it....
Good fun, for Hulk fans who 'know' the comic book version well.

[Eligos Vespillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeph Loeb concludes his Hulk series and FINNALLY reveals what most readers would have guessed from the beginning. Despite this, Loeb manages to write a heartfelt, powerful reveal with the help of some of the most important artists in Hulk history like Herb Trimpe, Tim Sale, and Dale Keown whose art alone is worth seeing this run to it's end.

[Arturo · Rating 4 out of 5]

22. Vs Hulked-out heroes and later red she hulk.
23. Origin of Red Hulk.
24. Red Hulk's final battle against green Hulk.
This is was fun and wrapped everything up which made it all worth it.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved everything about this volume.

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sloppy? Oh yes. Chaotic? And how! Melodramatic? x3

And all around good time? You bet your sweet bippy.

[Pturingan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this series had a pretty good start, I was starting to get annoyed by it (particularly the Red Hulk character) by Volume 2 and Volume 3. It seemed like nothing really was happening. The story started to pick up by Volume 4 so I'm kind of glad I stuck with it. These last two volumes, Fall of the Hulks and World War Hulks were really quite fun. The Intelligencia are quite a good set of villains for the Hulk (and the rest of the Marvel Universe) and I hope that we haven't seen the last of them. The best part for me was when the Intelligencia were explaining their role in several past events in the Marvel Universe and how a lot of storylines from the past were tied together.

One thing that irritated me though was that I found out, quite late in the story, that you had to read a whole bunch of other comics to get the full story of Fall of the Hulks and World War Hulks. I didn't realize at first that there were actually two ongoing comicbooks starring the Hulk. Anyway, it turned out okay because the other Hulk series (Incredible Hulk by Greg Pak, Paul Pelletier, etc) is actually quite good, even better than this one I think.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, we finally get a big explanation of who the Red Hulk is and what's going on and it is really convoluted, requires a lot of marvel history to get tweaked and several characters to be written basically out of character.

Chunks of it don't make a ton of sense if you try to fit 40 years of Hulk history into one big story, so we get a ton of 'everything you know is wrong!"

I don't dislike the idea of the Red Hulk ( creating a whole rainbow of Hulks was not the best idea..) but the execution just felt really forced and clunky.
Ross is suddenly the George Patton of the MU, Leader and MODOK have been working on this plan for a decade, it's really easy to create Hulks, easy to form a super secret cabal, and even easier to get a hold of those SHIELD LMD androids...and you keep think thinking 'maybe if you used less splash pages you could have fit in more story and some of this would make sense...?"


In the last decade Jeph Loeb has gone from a writer I generally enjoy to one I try to avoid.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another read to catch up on Hulk continuity --- in this case, who the heck is the Red Hulk? This volume has the answer, and - since the mystery is strongly tied up with long-time Hulk continuity - offers some nice flashbacks to earlier times in the title. Even better, Loeb's script for the flashbacks is illustrated by the appropriate artists (e.g., Sal Buscema for some mid-70's stuff).

Of course, the focus is still behemoths beating up on each other, and I don't like McGuinness's illustration of that focus. Too many closeups of too much grimacing and not enough space on the page to appreciate the scope of the characters. A nice entertaining read nonetheless.

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I have been undeniably enjoying this series, I have really disliked the delivery. This was the first volume I didn't find myself grinding my teeth wishing a different creative team was working behind the scenes, which I feel is pretty damn high praise for Loeb and McGuiness at this point.

The do a really good job of explaining who the Red Hulk is and why, and the heavy usage of the Hulk's back story is pretty damn satisfying. the story arc feels pretty nicely tied up by the last page, and the plot hook for where these characters are headed now was well delivered.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the previous volume, this one feels like the author knows what he’s doing and actually has answers to questions. It’s brought down by an overcaptioned fight in the last issue and some incoherence in the final issues that I assume has to do with crossovers that aren’t included in this volume. Still, a fair ending to a run that had much lower points.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's finally over and I'm glad. The whole Red Hulk mystery was as interesting as watching angry paint dry. The big twist was ruined for me a while ago, but it's still somewhat surprising. I'm done with this title though, and the big story line with all of Hulk's villains fell flat.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Red Hulk vs. Green Hulk. The identity of the Red Hulk finally revealed. Red Hulk is officially recognized as a potential hero by the end of the book. I never had a desire to own any Hulk trade paperbacks until this book.

[Cyn McDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact that this is Volume 6 might have something to do with why I found it incomprehensible. I suppose the story was okay, told mostly from the point of view of Red Hulk with a lot of captions. I didn't like the art.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved volumes 1-3 of Loeb's Red Hulk series, but the 4, 5, and 6th volumes weren't as interesting. Great art, however.

[BCPL Youth Services Librarian]

Click to see book in BCPL's online catalog

[Michael Keskeys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story, great art and good action, but I just love how Vague Spoiler: essentially every member of Hulk's supporting characters has Hulk powers now,like some Silver Age Superman story