Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
World War Hulk After Smash #1
Marvel Comics
Pak, Sandoval, Cifuentes & Staples
I was ready to not like this issue at all. We know the Hulk lost. We know Hercules is taking over his title. We know that the Warbound are getting their own series. I just figured this issue would be the start of a long list of disappointed post-Hulk titles. I was pleasantly surprised.
Sure this issue doesn’t have Hulk and only centers around some obscure characters, but it was entertaining nonetheless. The primary story lines involve the Warbound, Tom Foster and Misty Knight. Right off the bat that sounds pretty darn dull.
However, the Warbound story is very interesting because they are able to flip in this issue from just the ‘other monsters with Hulk’ to pseudo-heroes in the eyes of Spider-Man, Thing and Luke Cage. By the end of their tie-in to this story they also stop a war between the Miek race and the Elloe race. Basically, the discovery of the bomb being planted by Miek has left the natives a little restless. We watch how Elloe reveals her secret happiness of the bomb going off and eventually feeling the guilt for that hidden joy. Finally, we see how Korg holds and fuses the city street together with Thing and Hiroim. By the end Iron Man is asking questions about where the Warbound are and Thing, Spidey and Cage aren’t talking.
The arc with Tom Foster is also interesting, but probably wont have much legs past this issue. In short, Foster figures out the Goliath formula and takes his Uncle’s place. He starts out battling Iron Man and in the end is working with the clean up crew to put the city back together. It was okay, but not really something I was burning to see. I mean, Goliath is a C-lister at best. Did the Marvel Universe really need a new one that badly? At least this sequence had action and some development of the character.
Finally, Misty Knight. It should be noted I read the first couple of issues of the Heroes For Hire tie-in before bagging it once the first delay hit. To be honest, in the two issues I read I couldn’t determine that Misty was the leader. From my perspective she was just one of the woman who showed a ton of cleavage in the book. She might have only been third or even fourth on the list of the best cleavage in the title. In this issue she is coming to grips with the Heroes For Hire being done and it being her fault because she killed one of the Miek brothers. I didn’t know the Heroes For Hire were done (beyond the series being cancelled) so this was a surprise to me. Are they all dead? Anyway, she helps Iron Man take out some the Hulk’s robotic guards. It was tame.
The issue ends with a bunch of intros into the new series: Hercules, Warbound and Damage Control. None of which look particularly good based on these previews.
The bright spot surprise from this issue overall was Iron Man. He was all over the place and he wasn’t the bad guy he was in Civil War or post-Civil War. I actually found his involvement make me want to pick up his own title and leaf through it. He was charming, but authoritative. He had good lines and was fast in the action department. Without him I would have been mostly bored outside of the Warbound plot.
The art was good. Actually, above good. I liked the action and the details in the destroyed city. Iron Man, Thing and Elloe looked particularly good.
In short, if you liked Warbound, Iron Man, Misty Knight or Tom Foster than this is the issue for you. Thankfully, this issue is light on Hercules and Cho. Not a ton of action, but some good wrap-ups for the Warbound and some of the others. Probably not worth the $3.99 price tag, but we knew that once Hulk wasn’t going to be in it, right?
3.5 out of 5 geek goggles.
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