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| World War Hulk (Marvel Comics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Greg Pak
Creator: John Romita Jr.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $12.87
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 3801
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 10.2 x 6.6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0785125965
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9780785125969
ASIN: 0785125965
Publication Date: June 4, 2008
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Product Description
An epic story of anger unbound! Exiled by a group of Marvel "heroes" to the savage alien planet of Sakaar, the Hulk raged, bled, and conquered through the pages of last year's "Planet Hulk" epic, rising from slave to gladiator to king. Now the Hulk returns to Earth to wreak his terrible vengeance on Iron Man, Reed Richards, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt - and anyone else who gets in the way! Stronger than ever, accompanied by his monstrous Warbound gladiator allies, and possessed by the fiercest and purest rage imaginable, the Hulk may just tear this stupid planet in half! Collects World War Hulk #1-5.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
A fun, quick read May 21, 2008
16 out of 19 found this review helpful
World War Hulk is the comic book equivalent of a summer action movie: long on action and fun, but short on plot. If that appeals to you, then grab your popcorn, sit back, and enjoy! Pretty much the same thing happens in all 5 issues: a succession of Marvel's heroes all line up to stop the Hulk, who's madder than he's ever been -- and one by one, they all fail. Up until the last issue, which seemed a little cliched (see spoiler alert below).
The Hulk has always been one of my favorite characters, and it was nice to see him in a big "event" comic which affects other Marvel characters. Then again, it doesn't really affect other characters much, because, by the end, lots of people have been beat up, and lots of property damage has occurred, but nothing else really changes. Nobody dies, nobody's life is changed, and the status quo is pretty much the same at the end as the beginning.
The fact that the Hulk is prepared to wipe out the entire eastern seaboard makes it a little hard to root for him. And the fact that no heroes have any success at stopping him makes the storyline seem a little repetitive -- like it doesn't really matter what anybody tries next, because the result is only going to be the same as with the last hero who tried. That is, until the last issue, when ...[SPOILER ALERT]... the Sentry fights Hulk to a standstill, and the Hulk finally calms down. Sentry is referred to all throughout the book as one of the Hulk's closest friends, and the one character who could always calm Hulk down, which does build up anticipation for the final battle, but to me it also raised another question: Who in the world is the Sentry? I've collected almost 250 Hulk comics, from each decade that the Hulk has been published, including all issues of the then-current "Incredible Hulk" series that ran at the same time as WWH, and I'd never even heard of Sentry before. When did he and Hulk meet? How did they become such close friends? Sentry seemed a little like a deus ex machina, thrown in to give the storyline some resolution. It would have made more sense if the final character who turned the tide had a more familiar history with the Hulk (like Rick Jones, She-Hulk, Leonard Samson, the Bruce Banner persona, or even the recently-resurrected Betty Ross).
Well, these are all criticisms of the story, which is fairly pedestrian. But most people won't buy this for the story. As a simple, straightforward action story, which shows "the Hulk doing what he does best," this book is a lot of fun. He smashes everyone and everything in sight.
The strongest selling-point for this book is the art: I have seen about 40 artists portray the Hulk, and John Romita Jr. is one of the best, and probably my all-time favorite -- and here, he cuts loose like never before. One reason for the paucity of story is the high number of splash pages and oversized panels, which really show off JRJR's beautiful art. He captures such rich emotion in the faces of the characters, and his Hulk displays a primal ferocity which almost makes you feel his anger yourself. Also, the covers by David Finch (if they're reprinted in this volume) are wonderful -- easily equal to the gorgeous covers Ladronn put out for the earlier "Planet Hulk" issues.
If you're interested in a smash-em-up fun-read, or if you're upset with the way Marvel's "Civil War" ended, then you'll probably like this book, because two of the strongest proponents of the "Superhero Registration Act" (Iron Man & Mr. Fantastic) are among the first to get it. If you open it up expecting a prolonged, intense, lavishly-illustrated battle royale, involving all sorts of superhero guest stars, and you don't expect much in the way of plot development, you won't be disappointed.
 The Hulk comes home May 17, 2008
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
After the tragic events of the spectacular Planet Hulk, Marvel's green goliath returns to Earth with revenge on his mind in World War Hulk. Setting his sights on the ones that tricked him and shot him into space: Tony "Iron Man" Stark, Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards, Doctor Strange, and the Black Bolt, the Hulk takes on all those that stand in his way (including the New Avengers, the rest of the Fantastic Four, and more) as he and his Warbound turn New York City (and Madison Square Garden) into a total warzone. While the overall story of World War Hulk is great fun, the story as a whole just feels short. While there are a number of tie-in's to the event (but thankfully not as many as there were with Civil War), the main World War Hulk story just feels like there is a lot missing, especially the involvement of Hercules, who you will find plays a pretty big role in other featured tie-in's. While it isn't the classic that Planet Hulk was, writer Greg Pak still continues to be the best Hulk writer since Peter David (and Bruce Jones to a lesser degree), and the artwork from the great John Romita Jr. and veteran inker Klaus Janson impresses, even in the cataclysmic final battle between the Hulk and the Sentry, which is the comic art equivalent of an exploding sun. All in all, World War Hulk may be too short, but it is an enjoyable Marvel event, and ends up being more satisfying than Civil War ever ended up being.
Didn't Meet My Expectations. May 13, 2008
7 out of 14 found this review helpful
I love Pak as a writer. He's great. However, compared to Planet Hulk, this story just didn't work for me. Yeah, the Hulk wanted revenge for being shot into space by Stark, Richards, Strange, and Blackbolt, and yeah I'd probably be pretty mad if my wife was disintegrated as well, but compared to Planet Hulk, this story was pretty lame. It was cool that the Hulk's Warbound allies were included, and the betrayal revelation was amazing and totally unpredictable, but I think the art was the main reason that this didn't hook me. John Romita Jr. is not one of my favorite artists out there, no matter how many awards and accolades he gets. In fact, I think the only things that he has done that really worked for me are his Eternals run with Neil Gaiman and his work on the new series Kick-A@#. I am sorry that Marvel, with the abundance of talented artists that they have out there, had to choose JR JR to do this book. They should have kept the same artist from Planet Hulk if you ask me. Anyway, asides from the art, the story wasn't that bad, but it's nothing to write home about. Peace and Love, Jake (This is reviewing the paperback version, which is available by the way).
 Not Much of a War May 21, 2008
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
For the most part I'm not a fan of the Hulk, but I do enjoy him as a story element. So even though I don't like the character I like seeing characters I do like deal with him. Since the Hulk is like a force of nature in the form of a man it can make for an interesting read given the right setting. But I was hugely disappointed with World War Hulk.
-POSSIBLE SPOILER- The book should have been titled "Hulk Beats Up the Marvel Universe" cause thats pretty much what the thing is. Theres very little actual "war" in this, no back and forth, just a basically invincible Hulk beating on everyone and insisting that they deserve it, despite his main reason for the war is over a misunderstanding, meaning that he is actually wrong in the end.
The Book also fails to really touch on the the other side of the "war" in that the characters who sent Hulk away may have been justified in doing so, regardless of the outcome.
So in the end it just felt like the whole story failed to deliver on the very premise. But if you like seeing the Hulk smash stuff then I'm sure this is the book for you.
If you're like me then I'd recommend Ultimates vol. 1 and vol. 2 some awesome moments with the hulk in those books.
A lot of action, very little heart June 22, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
As another reviewer said, this novel seems more like an action packed summer blockbuster filled more with eye candy than real character development. It was fun to see certain characters being beat up by the Hulk, but I was never drawn into the story (no pun intended) like I was with Planet Hulk.
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