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captwinghead 's review for:
Hulk: Gray
by Jeph Loeb
Re-read
3.5 stars.
This was also even better than the first time I read it but I'll get into that, later.
So, I'll preface this by admitting that I have a soft spot for Bruce/Betty and the 2008 Incredible Hulk film. I'm probably one of the only people that actually liked that film but I think they did a fantastic job portraying Bruce and Betty's relationship and, after Tony & Pepper, they are probably my favorite MCU pairing. They have a connection that's so fascinating to me. I'm kind of in love with Betty because she's protective and fearless in the face of her piece of shit dad. So, yeah, some of my affection for Liv Tyler's portrayal of her seeps into this review. Sorry.
Anyway, I mention that to explain my slight bias and because they re-create the classic shot of Hulk in the cave in this book and in the MCU film. It's a classic Tarzan/Jane situation but it works pretty damn well.
Everyone knows a version of how Bruce became Hulk. I can't speak for the Ang Lee film but I'm pretty sure the montage at the start of Incredible Hulk didn't feature Rick Jones. But, as the story goes, he tries to save Rick from the Gamma bomb and becomes Hulk. He starts out grey, which, if I remember correctly, was only changed because it was cheaper to make him green later on. This book follows the days after his transformation. Betty is pretty sure that Bruce is dead, the army wants to capture him for several reasons and Bruce isn't sure what's happening either.
Matt wrote Karen a letter, Spider-Man recorded his message to Gwen on a tape recorder; in this book, Bruce talks about Betty to his Leonard Sampson. There's an added element there because we get interjections from Sampson to suggest that Bruce may have been an unrealiable narrator. He takes the defensive and tries to suggest that Bruce is being harsher on himself than he needs to be. It's pretty interesting.
Anyway, Hulk is a giant, overgrown child in this book and I mean that affectionately. All he wants is to be safe with Betty and Rick and the army keeps attacking him. He's quite sympathetic if you like the Hulk, however I know several people that don't care about him. He kidnaps Betty in an attempt to protect her which leads to the cave scene that I like so much.
Hulk doesn't understand that he's scaring Betty, even as he does his best to help her. He continues trying to protect her when the army comes and there's an scene that, to me, is so incredibly heartbreaking. Throughout this book, the narrative is gloomy because Bruce Banner talks about himself and the Hulk as though they are monsters. He doesn't seem to find himself deserving of any benefit of the doubt. Any time Sampson tries to give the Hulk credit for not hurting someone or trying to help Betty, Bruce shuts him down. He doesn't find himself redeemable at all, so this scene with Ross really got to me.
And then Hulk's face in this scene was really well done.
Bruce Banner had a shitty, alcoholic, abusive father. He competes with Tony in the Shittiest Dad competition (not that there should be one). His father was a monster and there's a long time theme throughout Hulk comics where Bruce refers to himself that way. Part of him thinks he turned into the Hulk because, deep down, he was always a monster, undeserving of anything. Having that context makes the conclusion of this book so much more upsetting.
This book ends with the line "She's gone now... there are so many other stories of what happened afterwards. But... they will now always be colored by the knowledge that she loved me for all the wrong reasons."
Without this context, this story is still pretty effective. Even without knowing Bruce's long time struggle with identity and self-loathing, Loeb does a pretty good job including those elements in this book. It's a soft recommend from me. Not as good as Spider-Man: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow is probably more accessible. But, as I said earlier, I have a soft spot for this story.
3.5 stars.
This was also even better than the first time I read it but I'll get into that, later.
So, I'll preface this by admitting that I have a soft spot for Bruce/Betty and the 2008 Incredible Hulk film. I'm probably one of the only people that actually liked that film but I think they did a fantastic job portraying Bruce and Betty's relationship and, after Tony & Pepper, they are probably my favorite MCU pairing. They have a connection that's so fascinating to me. I'm kind of in love with Betty because she's protective and fearless in the face of her piece of shit dad. So, yeah, some of my affection for Liv Tyler's portrayal of her seeps into this review. Sorry.
Anyway, I mention that to explain my slight bias and because they re-create the classic shot of Hulk in the cave in this book and in the MCU film. It's a classic Tarzan/Jane situation but it works pretty damn well.
Everyone knows a version of how Bruce became Hulk. I can't speak for the Ang Lee film but I'm pretty sure the montage at the start of Incredible Hulk didn't feature Rick Jones. But, as the story goes, he tries to save Rick from the Gamma bomb and becomes Hulk. He starts out grey, which, if I remember correctly, was only changed because it was cheaper to make him green later on. This book follows the days after his transformation. Betty is pretty sure that Bruce is dead, the army wants to capture him for several reasons and Bruce isn't sure what's happening either.
Matt wrote Karen a letter, Spider-Man recorded his message to Gwen on a tape recorder; in this book, Bruce talks about Betty to his Leonard Sampson. There's an added element there because we get interjections from Sampson to suggest that Bruce may have been an unrealiable narrator. He takes the defensive and tries to suggest that Bruce is being harsher on himself than he needs to be. It's pretty interesting.
Anyway, Hulk is a giant, overgrown child in this book and I mean that affectionately. All he wants is to be safe with Betty and Rick and the army keeps attacking him. He's quite sympathetic if you like the Hulk, however I know several people that don't care about him. He kidnaps Betty in an attempt to protect her which leads to the cave scene that I like so much.
Hulk doesn't understand that he's scaring Betty, even as he does his best to help her. He continues trying to protect her when the army comes and there's an scene that, to me, is so incredibly heartbreaking. Throughout this book, the narrative is gloomy because Bruce Banner talks about himself and the Hulk as though they are monsters. He doesn't seem to find himself deserving of any benefit of the doubt. Any time Sampson tries to give the Hulk credit for not hurting someone or trying to help Betty, Bruce shuts him down. He doesn't find himself redeemable at all, so this scene with Ross really got to me.
And then Hulk's face in this scene was really well done.
Bruce Banner had a shitty, alcoholic, abusive father. He competes with Tony in the Shittiest Dad competition (not that there should be one). His father was a monster and there's a long time theme throughout Hulk comics where Bruce refers to himself that way. Part of him thinks he turned into the Hulk because, deep down, he was always a monster, undeserving of anything. Having that context makes the conclusion of this book so much more upsetting.
This book ends with the line "She's gone now... there are so many other stories of what happened afterwards. But... they will now always be colored by the knowledge that she loved me for all the wrong reasons."
Without this context, this story is still pretty effective. Even without knowing Bruce's long time struggle with identity and self-loathing, Loeb does a pretty good job including those elements in this book. It's a soft recommend from me. Not as good as Spider-Man: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow is probably more accessible. But, as I said earlier, I have a soft spot for this story.