Hulk #2-3

[arbre_rieur]

"Hulk fans are impossible to please. . . [L]ovely people but I don't like them when they're angry." -- Mark Waid

Hulk #2:















Bruce transforms into the Hulk just as the Abomination comes crashing down on him from the sky. Fighting ensues.





Hulk #3:



















The issue ends on the Hulk, carrying Captain America's shield, about to go at it with the Abomination.

Comments

"Stay Calm and Let The Avengers Handle It"

[big_daddy_d]

Annnd thank you for that Mr. Waid.

[thosefew]

Well the main thing I got from that is that I want Ms. Bassey and Aunt May to fight crime together.

[burkeonthesly]

Yes.

[bewareofgeek]

I really hated this arc...

There aren't so many super-scientists in 616 that we can afford to lose one.

[leoboiko]

It won't stick. Nothing does.

[dcbanacek]

Well... Uncle Ben is still dead, does that count?

[bewareofgeek]

Oh, they've already resolved it.

I just want one "scientific adventurer" book. Is that too much to ask? ;)

[shadowpsykie]

how did they resolve it?

[aperturedreams]

(SPOILERS) Retooled Extremis virus from Arno Stark that shifted his brain too far in the other direction so now Hulk is smart.

[silverhammerman]

The idea of a Hulk that keeps the core of anger and rage intact, but coupled with the intellect to do more than just punch things, and thus could play things a little more subtly, interests me. I hope Waid does something like that rather than just a Professor Hulk retread.

[aperturedreams]

Waid is off the book, it's going to be written by Duggan

[lbd_nytetrayn]

"...so now Hulk is smart."

What? Again?

[dcbanacek]

There's always Atomic Robo.

[bewareofgeek]

Indeed. And Gina Diggers.

It's no coincidence that those are the only ongoings I have left....

[doodleboy]

Honestly I don't think that's the point. Yes, of course continuity reboots itself subtly every fifty or so issues. Of course lasting changes don't stick. It's the inherent flaw with the superhero comic narrative.

Of course Marvel has super-scientists sticking out the wazoo yet somehow humanity is still technologically on par with human civilization.

Science doesn't make sense in superhero comics, magic doesn't have rules in superhero comics, ages don't make sense in superhero comics.

But the point of the scene is that Bruce Banner is willingly sacrificing the part of him that he most values. His entire motivation throughout Waid's run is to make a mark on the world using his intelligence. He's driven by jealousy of the other scientist's successes to the point that his password is "Smashtony".

But in the end of the day Bruce Banner is a hero, when the chips are down he'll gladly sacrifice that intelligence in order to save his friends and civilians.

And I like that, that kind of sacrifice says alot about Bruce and his relationships, along with what happens right after.

[halloweenjack]

Yeah, there's not much drama here. We've already been down the "Banner will be lost forever" road.

[starwolf_oakley]

I'm surprised Waid didn't add something like elements of the Hulk's history. Like Bruce wonders where Rick Jones or Jim Wilson are, thinking it is "years" ago.

[shadowpsykie]

hmmm don't think anyone believed a) he was really permenantly brain damaged b) that the hulk wouldn't heal him.

i will say that the idea of setting a bone as an analogy was interesting.

i also like that Bruce was motivated in the begining of this arc (end of the last one) to really try and leave his mark in the scientific comunity and is here making the choice to risk that in order to save his "friends" which is in my head a really noble thing to do.

hm still again don't buy any of it

[silverhammerman]

"On his best day Hulk couldn't add two and two!"

Boy do I ever miss the Greg Pak version of the Hulk, who actually got to be reasonably intelligent, even if he wasn't a genius. It also solved the long standing problem of Banner being the much more boring of the pair, but also the only one who could do anything other than fight scenes.

[tianyulong]

Nice to see Maria Hill in a role that isn't being a pointless roadblock to stop heroes from doing their job for once.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Oh, good. I was enjoying her here, and was worried something might be wrong until you said that.

[joetuss]

Didn't Bruce once try offing himself by blowing his brains out with a handgun? That didn't seem to do anything but piss the Hulk off and cause him to transform, but now bullets to the brain cause brain damage? Did I miss something?

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Maybe it didn't work because he saw it coming?

[writeofway]

Apparently someone had to be able to sneak up on him (while he was on a SHIELD helicarrier, prompting the notion that it's an inside job) and shoot him in two specific spots of the brain to neutralize him. And he had brain damage because secret organization of evil #672 wanted a chip in his brain to trigger Hulk-outs by remote control any time they want. But a brain surgeon with a conscience and a nurse whose family Bruce once saved as the Hulk wake him up mid-surgery and help him escape.

[lieut_kettch]

"On his best day, Hulk couldn't add two and two!"

coughProfessorcoughGreenScarcoughJoeFixitcough