WARNING!!! SPOILERS!!!!
Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri kick off their run on the Incredible Hulk with this issue. They have a pretty tough act to follow; Greg Pak's stellar 4 year run on the character. Aaron needs to explore some original material if he wants to keep the keep the book fresh. Does he succeed? For the most part yes. Marc Silvestri's art is pretty fantastic for this kind of book. Giant monsters have rarely looked better. There are some cool monster battles in this issue that look amazing thanks to Silvestri. As for the plot itself...there isn't really much of one yet. That's not to say that the writing is bad, just that this issue is mostly set-up for the bigger story. We get to see a Hulk who is free of Banner, and rather than being a mindless monster, he is an introspective hero of the moloids who is just seeking peace. Of course, that peace is interrupted by some government agents who want Hulk's help in stopping none other than Bruce Banner. It's an interesting role reversal, and I'm definitely excited to see how it will play out. Bruce Banner is seen at the end of this issue as a kind of (SPOILERS) mad scientist experimenting with gamma on various animals. We get to see some funky mutant pigs and I'm sure that's only the beginning of the monstrosities Banner has created. I'll say that I find this characterization of Banner to be a bit odd as it doesn't really mesh with any previous interpretations of him, but I'm willing to give Aaron the benefit of the doubt and hope that he further explains Banner's behavior in the issues to come. Overall, this is a good start and I hope Aaron will proceed to elaborate on his ideas and further flesh out the character of crazy Bruce Banner.
7.5/10