I Reads You Review: SAVAGE HULK #1

SAVAGE HULK #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER/PENCILS: Alan Davis
INKS: Mark Farmer
COLORS: Matt Hollingsworth
LETTERS: VC’s Clayton Cowles
COVER: Alan Davis and Mark Farmer with Val Staples
VARIANT COVER: John Cassaday with Paul Mounts; Alex Ross
28pp, Color, $3.99 (August 2014)

Rated T+

“The Man Within”

Savage Hulk is a new comic book starring one of Marvel Comics’ seminal characters, the Hulk.  Like Savage Wolverine did with Wolverine, Savage Hulk will feature the Hulk in standalone story arcs produced by some of Marvel’s top creative talent.  […big names, super stars and break out talent…” says Savage Hulk editor Mark Paniccia]

Savage Hulk’s first story arc is being produced by a comics creator who truly can be called a “superstar,” veteran writer, artist, and writer/artist, the great Alan Davis.  Davis is writing and penciling Savage Hulk with his longtime collaborator, Mark Farmer, inking his pencils.  To start things off with an incredible Hulk bang, Davis is teaming the Hulk with a group of characters that are familiar to Davis, the X-Men.  Davis is essentially writing a sequel to X-Men #66 (cover dated:  March 1970), which featured the original X-Men against the Hulk.

Savage Hulk #1 (“The Man Within”) recaps a battle between the Hulk and the X-Men: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, and Iceman.  The X-Men needed the help of Bruce Banner, the Hulk’s alter ego, to bring their teacher and leader, Professor Charles Xavier out of a coma.  They succeed in getting a device from Banner that helps Xavier; now, the Professor wants to return the favor and help Banner.

Joined by Polaris and Havok, the X-Men return to the last place they saw Banner.  However, long-time Hulk nemesis, The Leader, has been monitoring the actions of Hulk and the X-Men.  Now, he is ready to launch his latest diabolical scheme against the Savage Hulk.

My review of Savage Hulk #1 is this:  I like Alan Davis.  I enjoy the clean, straight-forward way that Davis tells superhero stories with a mix of soap opera and the kind of weird fantasy that is unique to comic books.  Thus, I thoroughly enjoyed Davis’ Savage Hulk #1.  I’m ready for the next issue, and I wish someone at Marvel Comics would encourage Davis to do more comics starring the original X-Men.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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