Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk #3
Marvel Comics
Lindelof, Yu & McCaig
It’s impossible to review this comic without mentioning the obvious mixed feelings with regard to the awful delay. A creator comes from the world of television and completes a partial comic series and then with little explanation completely abandons it. For many, that right there is enough to spend your money some place else. However, the creator came back and seems to be ready to complete it. This takes some level of guts on the part of all involved because I would guess many never thought this would happen which essentially reopens some old wounds on the part of the readers. So you could say by purchasing this comic you are aiding the scenario of late books being “okay” because the masses will still run out and buy it. On the other hand some may be purchasing this comic never having read the first two issues when they originally came out but rather when their new printings came out last month. With that in mind I’ll hold back my venom and review this comic as if it was any other story.
The style of the series has been to tell the story out of order and it makes it very unpredictable and lot of fun. This issue is no different as it jumps around the timeline two or three times. It begins with Wolverine playing out some scenes in his mind, some of which have “happened” while others have yet to occur in the series. Hulk and Wolverine then meet up at Wolverine’s legs and begin to discuss which leg Hulk should eat. The dialogue is brilliant as Wolverine appears to be the idiot and Hulk is the mildly professor type.
Then we jump through the fight via more flashbacks. In playing out the scenes in reverse we eventually get back to the ending of issue two, which was Wolverine walking into the Hulk’s lair. Here the issue delivers the conversation where Wolverine manages to bait Hulk into a fight. It’s clever and its fun. The issue closes with them talking about Wolverine’s legs again with a new player entering the fray.
The comic is a good installment but it reads like the middle of a trade. It’s not quite the fight we’ll see at the end and it isn’t as good as positioning the pieces on the board in the opening.
There were two things that stuck out at me as negatives. First, Wolverine barely puts up a fight. He gets throw around like a doll and it’s a little ridiculous. Second, Wolverine narrates it like he’s telling a story while watching the movie of his fight. It’s strange and it reminded me of Mystery Science Theater too much.
The art is very good. It captures all the right characteristics of the Hulk that you would want to focus on. The only gripe would be the lack of backgrounds. Many of the close-ups on Wolverine simply have an orange background. It seemed strange. I think the image of the Hulk staring at his reflection in the mirror with Wolverine looking on was probably one of the more memorable in terms of symbolism in the book.
This comic has some great dialogue, a lot of one-sided action and some interesting storytelling in it. It’s a good issue but not a great one. I think this is the lull right before the ramp up to the big finale. I liked the comic but didn’t think it was near as good as the first two issues in the series.
3.5 out of 5 geek goggles
