Hulk #2

Dear DC Comics:

Please resign Jeph Loeb.  Have him write Hush 2.  I liked Hush.  I liked it a lot.  Loeb seems to get Batman.  He seems to get Catwoman.  He seems to be a nice man and I don't want to see him homeless, so please rehire him.

Thank you.

- A Marvel Fan

Alright enough with the joking about.  I understand that Peter David wrote some terrific Hulk books.  Maybe one day I'll buy a trade, because everytime I've ever tried to read a Hulk comic, no matter who wrote it, I've always hated it. 

Wanting to read a Hulk comic to me seems like wanting to read about the further exploits of the tornado from Twister or the shark from Jaws.  The Hulk is a force of nature, a natural disaster in a big green purple pants wearing manifestation.  Make me care about the people around the Hulk and maybe I'll buy in, but don't ask me to care about the Hulk.

Loeb does seem to get this, and so this is a book more about Iron Man and friends than it is about the Hulk.  The trouble is that's about the only decision I would argue that Loeb got right.  We get an issue of flat dialouge where things happen to people for no apparent reason, with no attempt to explain them.  We left last issue with Bruce Banner miles below the ground in a special SHIELD facility, and there's no followup on that.  Did he have anything to say about this new red Hulk?  Is it him?  Who knows.  By the way apparently the Hulk can fly.  And has invisibility and or phasing powers.  Possibly both.  Or this is all just a case of poor writing. 

I guess this is all my failing.  I like a book that makes sense, in which people act generally like they're known to act for reasons that can be understood.  But I never liked Hulk, so I'm fine with letting Loeb play with it as long as it keeps him busy.