Hulk #4
By Geoff HoppeJun 26, 2008 - 19:39:45 PM
Marvel Comics
Writer(s): Jeph Loeb
Penciller(s): Ed McGuinness
Inker(s): Inker
Colourist(s): Jason Keith and (Guru) EFX
Letterer(s): RS and COmicraft's Albert Deschesne
$2.99 US, $3.05 Canada
In Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness’ Hulk #4, Bruce Banner gets green and goes toe to toe with the red Hulk. R
ed Hulk decks Uatu, the Watcher, then beats up on green Hulk for awhile. Tony Stark’s investigation into the identity of the red Hulk turns up an unexpected clue, and a certain godly hero makes a last minute appeara-- 
Wait a minute…this all looks mighty familiar…
A-HA! I knew I’d seen it somewhere before! Take a look, kiddies. Here’s a page from Hulk #4…
And then below is one from another Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuinness collaboration, Superman Batman #2…
OH! I OWN YOU, LUCRATIVE CREATIVE FIGURES JEPH LOEB AND ED MCGUINNESS! Score one for me! I observed the CRAP out of that minor comparison! This ALMOST validates my atrophied social life and vestigial hopes for normal interpersonal relations! OH YEAH!
Misleading and nerdy comparisons aside, Hulk #4 is an entertaining issue. The image of the Watcher getting spanked is, quite possibly, the funniest thing that will appear in a Marvel Comic this year. It also bodes for interesting future events, as the Watcher’s presence always implies momentous happenings (or godawful What If back issues…). Not much else occurs story-wise. Hulk #4 is a good old fashioned super-hero cage match.
Said cage match is brought to surprisingly claustrophobic life by Ed McGuinness. Layout rules the day, and perspective and composition rule the layout. Almost every image of the two Hulks pounding it out, drunken frat-hole style, is a close up. There’s only one panoramic vista. Most of the visuals instead have the proximity of a paparazzi photo, though Guinness’ style never fully conveys the violence and exhaustion the layout suggest.
HULK LOVE DENTISTRY
Worth the money? Entertaining enough, but not either man’s best work. Give it a skim in the store.