Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Marvel Comics
David, Lucas, Campanella & Anderson
Banner is lost in Antarctica. He Hulks out when he encounters humans. Humans find and awaken Fin Fang Foom. Hulk saves humans by sending Fin Fang Foom to the moon. Pretty standard stuff. I didn’t like it.
The main story is by Peter David. Generally, I expect an excellent story about the Hulk from him, especially when it is a story out of the mainstream, such as Hulk: The End. So before I even open the cover I am thinking to myself, “Man! This is going to be good!” So shame on me from the start for forming assumptions.
The story is very much like the science fiction movie, The Thing. An expedition finds something in the ice from millions of years ago and thaws the thing out. This comic adds the element of the Hulk wandering the continent. The inner thoughts of the Hulk in the beginning are great and set me up for the nosedive after the first few pages. Hulk passes out and becomes Banner.
The expedition finds Banner, half naked and near death. They bring him into their camp and start peppering him with questions. Now, I realize you don’t have much room to work here, but you find a half naked man on Antarctica and you don’t grill him for more than his name and his reason for being there? They dismiss everything to memory loss way too quickly for my tastes. Also, if Banner was near death then wouldn’t he Hulk out?
While the interrogation of Banner is going on, other members of the expedition find Foom and dig him up. He wakes up and disappears while one of the ones who found him goes for help. Everyone, including Banner runs back to the spot, only to find a giant hole in the ice and their teammate missing. They don’t question where their man is, they just head back to base.
Later on, they discover one of their own all dead and mummified. After some arguing a gun appears and Banner Hulks out. One of the team members then rips off his skin to show how he is Foom.
Hulk fights Foom. Not to save the humans, but because he is bored and the woman reminds him of Betty Ross. Foom tries to make an offer to the Hulk to join him in the fight against humans, but Hulk decides the planet is only big enough for one monster and punches Foom to the moon.
It’s obvious the issue delivered as advertised in terms of the Hulk fighting Foom. However, the story felt awkward. Personally, I would have been happier if the Hulk had found Foom in the ice and they battled without the humans around. The humans in the story seemed interchangeable and forgettable.
The artwork was ok. I am not a fan of the dumb Hulk look, but the Antarctica background looked great. Foom also looked very good. Especially when compared to the backup story reprint which I will address in a moment.
As a companion to this issue we get two one-page bios for the Hulk and Foom and then we get a reprint of the first appearance of Foom from back in 1960 in Strange Tales. Were these extras worth the extra buck I paid for this issue? Not at all. In fact, it made me feel ripped off. The reprint of the Foom appearance was hardly interesting and didn’t contain anything to battle Foom. The whole story was 13 pages of Foom chasing some dude on foot.
You really got to be aching for an “old” Hulk story and villain to want this issue. It might have been more interesting if they used the 2007 incarnation of the Hulk versus Foom, but whatever. At least some of the issue was good.
2 out of 5 geek goggles.
 Hulk vs. Fin Fang Foom One Shot Marvel Comics OCT072095D |
