Customer Reviews

Incredible Hulk: Prelude to Planet Hulk

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a prelude, it's interesting to see how Nick Fury and the Illuminati "tricked" Hulk into space, but it's unnecessary--everything you need to know about the storyline is summed up in the first few pages of the Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk collection. The The Road to Civil War trade paperback, reprinting the first Illuminati one-shot, actually shows the five "heroes" coming to their decision to shoot the Hulk into space--so I would recommend that book over Daniel Way's stoic execution here.

I had recently read the planet hulk hardcover and had read the original Illuminate oneshot that showed the decision on what to do with the Hulk. So i was looking foward to finally picking this up.

Basically it sets the stage for how the hulk ended up in space. But it is pretty lackluster. Do yourselves a favor and read the oneshot, or the Road to Civil War trade instead, that includes the illuminati oneshot that shows the decision.

Also half this book is made up of Hulk Handbook 2004, which is useless. it is just profiles on hulk characters that is a waste of space and paper. It is just fluff to add more bulk to this already slim book.

These four issues (all written by Daniel Way, the first two pencilled and inked by Keu Cha, the last two pencilled and inked by Juan Santacruz) show Bruce Banner once again being dragged into a situation that only the Hulk can handle. The final result sets the stage for the Planet Hulk 14 issue epic.

The story itself is fairly good, though it really doesn't stand on its own. The main purpose is to take the Hulk we know and move him off planet. This feeds into Planet Hulk, as well as the imminent World War Hulk.

In short, the creative team gets the job done, but the job is to set the stage for other stories rather than to tell a complete story in itself. If you plan to stick around for Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, and the third story that follows it (announced but not publicly named at the time of this writing) then this is a worthy piece to pick up. If you're looking for just one good Hulk story, this isn't it.

I read Hulk about once a year, but I read a year's worth all at once. When I heard that Hulk was moving to a story in deep space, I wondered how they would accomplish that transfer, as usually the Hulk does not like to wander that far from home.

The story was believeable enough for me, international emergency requires the Hulk's intervention, but the way they pulled the obvious twist at the end had me very interested in what was to come and how long they can keep this up. Most of the time a story line doesn't have to fix itself if the popularity doesn't last very long, but while I can see them working this angle for a bit, I hope we don't have to pull an existential interstellar Swamp Thing travel story for him to get back...

This book was one of the best "Hulk" stories I've read in years. Beyond great art and great dialogue, it shows a real range of thought and emotion from the hulk, much more than what's normally covered in the average comic, cartoon series, t.v. show or even feature film. It begs the question, have Hulk and Banner begun to reconcile their odd relationship?
I can't wait for World War Hulk!

No. this is definitely not the best Hulk story there is. Sure, it's not a bad one either - but don't set your hopes high before you're reading enough about it so you will decide fairly if it worth your money.
It's Daniel Way, which apparently not many in the comics industry like. He now writes the Wolverine Origins ongoing series, if this rings any bells. I personally love his writing - he puts the character through many situations, emotional situations, which hasn't been dealt like his style. In this particular story we get to see two versions of Hulk - the heroic type, and the confused type. That's the best thing I like about this story.
The first issue in this collection is nothing but awesome. But the following issues have a very unreliable background story. I simply don't buy it. It's too farfetched. But what you do get, if you're not trying to analyze the scientific and historic contradictions between this story and the actual world is a pretty good story, lots of interesting plot-twists and action packed TPB.
The one thing that really really bothered me, and I mean REALLY bothered me, is that they added the Hulk Handbook 2004 to this TPB. Why. There's no real good reason for putting it in. I really dislike all those handbooks out there, and it's a waste of money. I prefer if they just gathered the 4 issues, took off a couple of dollars and that's it.
I gave it 4 because I really like it, but if I was a really new reader or a really old Hulk-fan I wouldn't give it more than 3.

INCREDIBLE HULK: PRELUDE TO PLANET HULK collects THE INCREDIBLE HULK (3rd series) #88-91, and is written by Daniel Way, and drawn by Keu Cha & Juan Santacruz. After Peter David's second departure from the book, fans wondered what would become of the Hulk. The results here were rather unspectacular, but they did ultimately lead somewhere interesting in the form of PLANET HULK and the current WORLD WAR HULK miniseries. Here, Bruce Banner hides out in Alaska until fate--and Nick Fury--come a'calling to usher his brutish alter-ego into the service of S.H.I.E.L.D., the super-spy organization. Sent into space, the Hulk finds treachery...but is that anything new for the green goliath? In short, no, no it's not. True, there's terrific art by Keu Cha, who only stayed on board for half this 4-part story (leaving lackluster Santacruz to ape his style for the second half). However Daniel Way's script is weak, threadbare, and doesn't really say anything new about the characters in it. Here, the Hulk once again takes on the Bruce Jones shorthand characterization of a nearly-mute brute instead of a more fully realized entity. Skip this book and proceed directly to PLANET HULK proper. Two stars.

I ordered this as a gift for my husband, and he loved it. The vendor was promt on the delivery.

Many reviews have stated that this book is not necessary due to it being summarized in the beginning of Planet Hulk and some of the information in the Illuminati's other appearance. However, if you weren't following the Illuminati's activities or the Civil War material that included them, then it fills in that gap without having to jump to a non-Hulk title. Also, for those complete-ists out there that want the entire story from beginning to end, the only other way to get this story is in the individual monthly issues.

If you already know how Hulk got stuck in space, and you don't care about the specifics, then this volume isn't really for you. However, if you're a Hulk fan that wants the whole story from Hulk's perspective, it's definitely worth picking up.

Story is over the top but entertaining at the same time. As with most comic book stories this one involves an "end of the world" theme, where the only one that can save the planet is the Hulk. The only piece of this that relates to Planet Hulk is the last couple pages where he's double crossed.

Overall an entertaining piece of work with average artwork.