Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Skaar Son Of Hulk #1
Marvel Comics
Pak, Garney & Mounts

You forgot Hulk had a son? Maybe that’s because he didn’t. His pregnant wife died sending Hulk back to Earth in a fit of rage. Well, it turns out his son survived the fire pits and explosions and emerged after his pops left his world. Skaar invites readers to munch on the Conan of Marvel super hero universe with this savage tale. If you like sword and sorcery wrapped into your Hulk titles then this issue is for you!

The issue gives a few pages of recap to catch new readers up to speed with what happened at the end of Planet Hulk and how Skaar came to live through it. This only slightly explains how this “boy” was able to walk, talk (growl) and fight as soon as he (it) came out of the lava. This is the aspect of the book takes a bit of liberties with the whole growing up part of growing up.

Skaar shows early on that he battles monsters but can also protect other creatures. The story really tries to make the modern day Hulk, with the sometimes hero look infused into the Skaar character but making him more savage. I’m not sure it works though. Early on, Skaar kills, eats, protects, kills, eats – almost without any rhyme or reason. In this, I found the issue to be a little confusing and difficult to understand what we were meant to see. Are we supposed to think that Skaar is a psycho monster with a soft side? Are we supposed to think Skaar is just going through some growing pains and that’s why his behavior is so erratic?

Skaar seems to find some friends and then a year passes. This is very important to note because if Skaar is to come to Earth we would have a mismatch of continuity. This to me is a problem. Not a huge one, but a can of worms I wished was not opened.

The issue wraps up with Skaar finding a very worthy adversary who has raided and killed many of his friends. This sets up the battle for the next issue.

This comic is clearly more for the fans of the Mad Max ilk then it is for the Hulk fans. I say that because there really isn’t too much Hulk involved here. Sure, Skaar picks up the leader role from his Dad in Planet Hulk, but really what other elements are here that scream out Hulk? Or even scream out Hulk’s wife? I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I am saying you need to like the leader in a wasteland type of stories to fully get into this one.

The artwork is interesting. I cant say that it’s a style I love, but it does fit this type of story. Particularly of note is the coloring. The colors are muted, even dull. This really makes the comic feel like the land had an atomic bomb blast through, which is pretty much what happened. While I wasn’t crazy about how Skaar looked, I did enjoy the other creatures found in the comic.

One other complaint about this comic is the usage of the elements of Planet Hulk. There are barely any new aliens used in this story and if all we are going to get is the same type of cast we saw in Planet Hulk this title could get dull very fast.

To be honest this comic was okay, but I don’t know if it will have any lasting impact on me. Meaning, I’m not sure I will pick up the second issue. Again, that isn’t to say its bad, but I like the Hulk stories, not savage stories. As much as I enjoyed Planet Hulk I was getting tired of the planet and its creatures in the end. With that I can recommend this story for the sword and sorcery type fan but not necessarily the Hulk fan.

3 out of 5 geek goggles.


Skaar Son Of Hulk #1

Skaar Son Of Hulk #2

Skaar Son Of Hulk #3