To coincide with the release of the biggest superhero movie ever, Marvel has teamed up some of comics’ coolest creators to bring us “Hulk Smash Avengers”, a five part, weekly mini-series set to reveal several previously unseen tales of run-ins between the strongest one there is and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
HULK SMASH AVENGERS #1
Written by Tom Defalco
Illustrated by Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema– A five-part, weekly punch-fest that explores the ever-evolving relationship between the Gamma Goliath and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!
– Hulk vs. the 60’s-era Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp and Thor!HULK SMASH AVENGERS #2
Written by Joe Casey
Illustrated by MAX FIUMARA
– Hulk vs. the ‘70s-era Avengers: Iron Man, Wasp, Vision and the Beast!
Nobody does an “untold tales” book like Marvel. Sadly, though, it’s very easy for people to look at these books as throwaway comics, viewing them as having no real value since they don’t necessarily add to the immediacy of the modern Marvel U. And what a shame, because those folks probably missed out on some amazing books, like Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe’s “Untold Tales of Spider-man”, Busiek and Patrick Zircher’s “Iron Man: The Iron Age”, or both of Joe Casey’s “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” series, to name just a few. When done right, a story from yesteryear can say just as much about the present as it does about the past, and thankfully, “Hulk Smash Avengers” is turning out to be just that kind of book.
The Avengers are the most popular fictional characters in the world right now, and by the end of the week, it’s quite possible they’ll be the world’s most profitable. Quite an accomplishment for a team of superheroes that were mostly known for being confused with a 40 year old British TV show not six months ago. And thanks to the film’s portrayal of the team, the rest of the world now knows what we’ve known for years, and that is, the Avengers group dynamic is just as much about internal conflict as it is about external, and at the center of more than a few of those conflicts is the Hulk.
Since the very beginning, the Hulk’s been the odd Avenger out. Sure he’s a founder, but only sort of by default, as he was also kind of the catalyst that brought the team together in the first place. On some level, the Avengers existed as parole agents for the Hulk, and only later evolved into a team of superheroes. Funny now that we can’t imagine the Hulk as a modern member of the team, and yet there would most likely be no Avengers without him, and it’s that fact that drives much of what we see in “Hulk Smash Avengers”.
Smash #1 takes place shortly after the team’s formation, but after the revival of Captain America and when the Hulk still talked like a gangter. The Avengers are doing what they can to assist the military to subdue the Hulk, but things aren’t going well. The Hulk unleashes a major whooping on them, before escaping into the desert, where he eventually falls into the clutches of Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil. The Hulk and the Masters then attack the Avengers, leading to another enormous slugfest in the mighty Marvel manner, this one ending with the Hulk basically saying to hell with all of ’em and jumping off into the sunset.
This is Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz doing what they do best, telling a timeless Marvel story that looks and reads like a missing chapter of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s Avengers. Of course, Sal Buscema assisting and stepping in to finish Frenz’s pencils goes a long way towards reinforcing the look and feel. But while it’s a good blend of then and now, there’s maybe just a little more then thrown in than it needs to be effective. And things even get a little distracted in the middle of the issue, with it becoming more Avengers vs. the Masters of Evil rather than a Hulk vs. the Avengers story. Still, with the exception of the one little hiccup there, it’s a fantastic kickoff to the series, and there aren’t too many guys better suited to do it.
Continued belowSmash #2, out this week, is set during the heyday of the 70s-era Avengers team… or roughly 10 years ago Marvel-time for you continuity hounds. The National Security Council has forced themselves into the operations of the Avenger, and everyone’s favorite pencil-pusher Henry Peter Gyrich’s imposed roster is making things difficult for the team. When the Hulk goes on a rampage, the under-manned Avengers squad of Iron Man, the Beast, Wasp, and the Vision are dispatched to shut him down, all the while, with Gyrich scheming behind the scenes to prove a point. The Hulk’s in full-on “HULK SMASH” mode here, and even though the Avengers hold their own and ultimately end things relatively peaceably, they get wrecked pretty good.
Joe Casey does a terrific job making the story about both the Hulk and the Avengers, and in the end, delivers a beautiful resolution. Nothing shocking about it, considering Casey’s well documented love of the Avengers, but it’s always a real pleasure when the guy gets a chance to tell an Avengers story. Are you listening Marvel? Let’s have more Joe Casey Avengers!
Artist Max Fiumara is fantastic, and does great work, but it might’ve been nice to see something closer to the art style the issue was meant to evoke. While uniquely his own, Fiumara’s work reminds me of the Eric Canete drawn “Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin”, a slightly tweaked retelling of Iron Man’s first encounter with the Mandarin, also written by Joe Casey. And maybe that’s what editor Bill Rosemann was going for here, which isn’t a bad choice, as Mandarin was quite good. Still, in keeping with the first issue’s feel, I would have liked to have seen someone like, I don’t know… Karl Kesel or Paul Ryan, maybe? But good art’s hard to come by these day, so why complain about good art, right? Fiumara’s tops!
And while we’re on the subject of art, HOLY COW — what about those Lee Weeks covers, huh? Weeks is one of comics most underused artists. He’s perfect in just about every way, and there a few things in the this world better than a Lee Weeks drawn comic. Here’s hoping we get another one soon, but until then, we’ve got three more Hulk Smash Avengers covers headed our way!
From a commercial standpoint, “Hulk Smash Avengers” is an absolutely brilliant move on Marvel’s part. Like “Avengers Assemble”, it’s a gateway plug series, but unlike Assemble, it doesn’t pander. Smash doesn’t feel forced in the least, and falls in line with everything we know and love about Marvel. I can imagine it doing really well in bookstores, especially with younger readers, and that’s great, because these two issues are super fun. It’s perfect for people that didn’t get enough of Hulk hitting Avengers last weekend, and more importantly, anyone who would like to get to know the REAL Avengers a little bit more.
Final Verdict 8.0 – Definite buy!
