Editor's Note: Hulk #600 arrives in stores tomorrow, July 22.
As with this week's Amazing Spider-Man #600, Hulk #600 provides a mixed anthology of Hulk-related stories to mark the anniversary of the book's publication.
The lead story is a Red Hulk-centric tale by the regular Hulk creative team of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. There are superficial references to Watergate in the writer's conspiracy-based plot: Loeb casts She-Hulk in a "Deep Throat" role, with Peter Parker and Ben Urich the reporters who follow her lead only to stumble across a larger conspiracy than they expected to encounter. However, as with Loeb and McGuinness's other Hulk stories, I get the impression that this book is aimed at a young audience that is looking for big, colourful fights and plenty of action,
rather than particularly sophisticated writing or complex plotting.
Aside from a certain lack of visual continuity (didn't the climax of World War Hulk take place in Madison Square Garden?), it's an attractively illustrated slugfest, and there are some fun moments in the script (mostly some comedy bits from Spidey). However, anyone looking for a big revelation or clever twist -- particularly when it comes to the mystery of the Red Hulk's identity -- will probably be disappointed. Loeb also manages to mishandle one of the most likeable characters in comics, with Ben Urich's reasoning for sitting on the truth of his discovery never seeming as noble or laudable as the writer seems to think it is, undermining the story's conclusion to some extent.
Stan Lee follows Loeb's story with a Rodney Buchemi-illustrated effort that's also little more than a Green Hulk/Red Hulk smackdown (perhaps as a sly commentary on the simplicity of the two characters' relationship thus far under Loeb). It's an enjoyable if slightly hollow romp that features guest-appearances aplenty, and in-jokes that date back more than 40 years -- an Irving Forbush appearance! References to FOOM and the MMMS! -- weakened slightly by a sudden ending that seems to come out of nowhere, as though Lee simply reached the end of his page count and stopped writing.
After that, there's a Savage She-Hulk story by Fred Van Lente that didn't really do it for me. I haven't warmed to the character in her previous appearances, and this story was too full of futuristic gobbledegook and mindless fighting to hold my attention. Also, the clunky transition between artists Michael Ryan and Salva Espin is off-putting, with a change in style halfway through the story that serves as a distraction that takes the edge off a key moment in the story.
The issue closes with a short story called "Hulk Driving" that sees the Green Hulk take a driving test and go to work at a fast-food restaurant, written by Audrey Loeb and illustrated by Chris Giarusso. The simple charm of Giarusso's art made this tale of the Green, Red and Blue Hulks quite fun to read, even if there aren't as many gags as these strips usually manage to pack in.
Elsewhere, there's a sense that the bumper-sized issue has been a little padded out. A reprint of the full first issue of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's Hulk: Gray is followed by an extensive Hulk cover gallery, and a ton of advertisements that seem to have been included because there wasn't anything else to fill up the required page count. Compared to this week's exemplary Amazing Spider-Man #600, it's a slight disappointment -- but in its own right, this isn't a bad anniversary issue, even if there's probably not a lot here that will appeal to readers who aren't already enjoying Loeb's Hulk run.
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