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Hulk #25: Review

Sep 2010
Jeff Parker, Gabriel Hardman

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Story Name:

Scorched Earth Part 1: Singularity


Synopsis

Hulk #25 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

At the campus of Omnisapient Systems in Santa Clara, California, a disaster has released their synthgraft subjects—living weapons—and they are fighting and killing people. Dr. Parul Kurinji and her assistant Jacob Feinman are trying to stop the spread of the virus powering them. And then Red Hulk arrives….

Previously, in the wake of World War Hulks, Red Hulk was imprisoned and Steve Rogers spoke with Bruce Banner about using him in a mission but he needed to be tamed first. Eventually, he is trapped in a sensory-deprivation room and has time to look over his previous life until he’s ready to cooperate. Red Hulk turns back into Thunderbolt Ross and he is sedated and his ability to absorb others’ biopower has been removed. Bruce tells Ross that the ability would have killed him shortly as was intended by his creator M.O.D.O.K. Steve Rogers arrives so they are briefed by Bruce on “Scorched Earth,” the plan by the Leader and M.O.D.O.K. that if they lost the war, their most dangerous plans will be put into effect to destroy Earth. Steve and Bruce has several heroes and teams to deal with these trouble and they can always use more help. Red Hulk will be sent to Omnisapient Systems where a virus used in experiments with human-metal skin grafts has gone out of control. And so…

Red Hulk is smashing technomorphs and their contagion does not take hold on Hulk. Iron Man, who did not get Steve’s message that the Red Hulk was on their side, attacks Big Red with all he’s got. Iron Man is then seized by the mad subjects and his armor is compromised by the destructive virus. Red Hulk crawls out of a crater to see the mad monsters with Iron Man’s empty armor….

“Step Up”

Writer: Jeff Parker. Pencils: Mark Robinson. Inks: Terry Pallot. Colors: Antonio Fabela. Letters: Ed Dukeshire.

Synopsis: As part of the Scorched Earth defense, Bruce Banner contacts A-Bomb (Rick Jones) to head to San Diego to confront a sea monster headed toward the coastal city. A-Bomb arrives via huge jet-pack—and the monster shoots him out of the sky. Rick clouts the monster with a thrown anchor and discovers that what he thought was the whole monster was just its head and it slams him back into a ship. A pair of ghostly figures observe him and once he is identified as Rick Jones, they decide they should kill him before he figures out the full use of his powers. Rick decides that as he is a Hulk he should fight like a Hulk and he hurls himself into the monster’s maw….

“Hulk Skiing”

Writer: Audrey Loeb. Art: Dario Brizuela. Colors: ?. Letters: ?

Synopsis: The Mini-Hulks go skiing: on a slope, Green Hulk and Red Hulk argue about who is the better skier. On the way down they crash into one another and cause a mini-avalanche. Blue Hulk decides that hot chocolate is better than skiing.


 

Review / Commentaries

Rating:
4 stars

Hulk #25 Review by (July 7, 2020)

Review: And so starts the Red Hulk’s solo series. As Steve Rogers tells Thunderbolt Ross, a general needs to learn to follow orders. As Steve explains to Bruce Banner, a lot of military lifers give up and it’s Steve’s job to show him that he still has a future. The best lesson Ross learns is that he will never defeat Green Hulk as Bruce reminds him in a rare moment of what sounds like Banner’s bragging about being the Hulk. The real challenge? As Tony tells us, no one likes Ross so getting readers to care what happens to this longtime (since THE INCREDIBLE HULK #1 in 1963) Marvel antagonist would be a challenge; something must have worked since this series runs for another thirty-odd issues. My only complaint with the issue is that following up Ed McGuiness’ very solid Hulks, he seems a lot less substantial here. The back-up series with A-Bomb/Rick Jones is clearly going for a different effect, namely comedy. Which is all right by me as Rick has been kicked around the Marvel Universe for a long time, as the mystery beings point out: Hulk sidekick, Cap sidekick, Mar-Vell sort of sidekick. And the Mini-Hulks are just adorable.

Comments: Story is a follow-up to the World War Hulks event. First appearance of Dr. Parul Karinji, later known as Zero/One and Jacob Feinman. Other heroes seen tackling Scorched Earth problems include Thing, the Thunderbolts, and the Agents of Atlas. The ghostly figures in the A-Bomb story are tied into Ixchel, introduced in issue #31.



> Hulk comic book info and issue index

Elektra
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Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Iron Man MARK7 Statue ARTFX 1/6 Statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Gabriel Hardman
Gabriel Hardman
Bettie Breitweiser
Ed McGuinness (Cover Penciler)
Dexter Vines (Cover Inker)
Dave McCaig (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Red Hulk
Red Hulk

(Thunderbolt Ross)

Plus: Jacob Feinman, Mini-Hulks, Zero/One (Parul Kurinji).