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World War Hulk: Aftersmash #1: Review

Jan 2008

Greg Pak, Rafa Sandoval

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World War Hulk: Aftersmash #1 Review by Rob Johnson (July 22, 2015)

Presumably Avengers Mansion has been rebuilt since Civil War, when it was still in ruins. It will be usable by the New Avengers after Dark Reign. Hercules actions here remind me of Marvel Team-Up #28 where he also stopped Manhattan being shaken apart by underground robots. (At least that's what Hulk #241 says happened. Hercules told the story in MTU#28, and claimed that he single-handedly towed the island back into place after the villains moved it.) Her Death's Head droid and Sakaarian followers aren't seen again in Misty Knight's later appearances.

Tie-ins:- The back end of certain WWH titles fit into the post-WWH period:- WWH: FRONT LINE #6(p9.2-22) The city starts to recover. Anti-registration outlaw Daredevil can't help the people he promised in #2. Sally Floyd works out that J Jonah Jameson is Front Line's mystery backer. He confirms it, and also that he arranged the CNN report that praised them in the previous issue. Competition is good for both papers. She decides not to tell Ben Urich. WWH: GAMMA CORPS #4(p22-23) Grey decides that the team will go after the Illuminati. Then there are some later series/issues running under the Aftersmash banner (or at least listed as part of it in comicbookdb.com):- INCREDIBLE HULK #112 (really the 1st issue of Incredible Hercules) SHIELD captures the Renegades but let Angel and Namora go. Hercules and Amadeus Cho escape and Cho plans to take down SHIELD. Ares, Black Widow and Wonder Man go after them. INCREDIBLE HERCULES #113-115 Ares uses his comrades as part of a vendetta against Hercules. The plotline continues until Herc defeats Ares, and Cho uses tech from Hulk's stone spaceship to unleash a computer virus that disables all SHIELD tech, including the Negative Zone prison (from Civil War) where they're holding the Sakaarian aliens. But Herc persuades Cho to give up his war against SHIELD. Then they team-up with Herc's sister Athena in time for Secret Invasion.

WWH AFTERSMASH: DAMAGE CONTROL #1-3 After the period under the villainous Walter Declun, Damage Control is now back in the hands of Mrs Hoag, and she recruits the original team for the job of rebuilding Manhattan. Many superheroes, including the new Goliath, volunteer to help especially with finding and rescuing trapped survivors. But some of them aren't registered, and the Thunderbolts turn up to arrest them. Intern Bart Rozum uses his connection with ex-intern Penance to get a 3-day amnesty. They find robot ARCH-E's body and reboot it. The Chrysler Building has 'had an origin' because of contact with bits of Hulk's stone spaceship, and has come to life. It wants to leave town to see the world. John Porter arranges a deal whereby it gets every August off. SHE-HULK #19-20 (These aren't officially attached to Aftersmash, but are relevant.) Tony Stark took She-Hulk's power away again after WWH. Leader is put on trial for his many crimes, but gets off on a technicality. Jennifer Walters sues Stark to get her powers back permanently. WWH AFTERSMASH: WARBOUND #1/2-4/2 Miek isn't dead, he's in the Negative Zone prison. SHIELD Agent Kate Waynesboro gets him to tell her how to track his fellow Warbound, and about their weaknesses.

WWH AFTERSMASH: WARBOUND #1-5 Waynesboro tracks down the Warbound, but she and they are teleported away by the Leader, who uses Hiroim's power to erect a giant gamma dome in the desert, and he declares the contents Gammaworld. The Warbound team up with trapped soldiers to save a town from gamma monsters. Hiroim uses his power to create a tunnel out of the dome for the townsfolk and soldiers to escape before it closes. Our heroes are attacked by Horde, a gamma monster created out of several people and a dog. Hiroim gets Korg to kill him, and the dome disappears without his power to sustain it. But it's only temporary, and both Hiroim and dome recover. After more fighting the Leader absorbs the dome's power, becoming a grey giant. But Hiroim also absorbs some of the dome power, and the 2 giants clash until their powers wear away. Before dying Hiroim passes his power to Kate. And the Leader teleports away. HULK #1 Doc Samson, Gen'l Ross, Iron Man, Maria Hill and She-Hulk investigate the death of Abomination in Russia. Evidence and a witness suggest it was a red Hulk what done it. After a gratuitous fight with the Winter Guard, Ross and Samson go to consult Bruce Banner who's still a prisoner. Meanwhile we are led to suspect that the red Hulk was Rick Jones. (Later we'll learn the Red Hulk is Gen'l Ross, and Rick Jones is a blue Hulk called A-Bomb. Their new ids are the work of the Intelligencia, including the Leader.) SKAAR: SON OF HULK #1 Hulk's wife Caiera did die on Sakaar, but her child was still born. Skaar inherited her stone power which causes him to age rapidly to a Hulk-like teen. He protects a group of Sakaarians against the ravages of Axeman Bone's army. (Skaar will later come to Earth and team up with Bruce Banner.)

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

World War Hulk: Aftersmash #1 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

This 1-shot tracks several characters from World War Hulk and its tie-ins.

Tony Stark is recuperating from his injuries in the arena, but is back running SHIELD. He lets Damage Control use Avengers Mansion and its facilities as their field HQ.

Biophysicist Tom Foster is the nephew of Goliath who was killed by the Thor clone during Civil War. He publicly blamed Iron Man and Mr Fantastic for it in WWH#4. He gets in to the Mansion's basement labs as part of Damage Control, and uses the facilities to activate his uncle's growth serum so he can become the new Goliath.

Amadeus Cho breaks in to SHIELD communications to let Stark know that a crevice Hulk created is about to split Manhattan Island in 2. Stark goes into action as Iron Man because he detects that Hulk's Death's Head robots are acting on their own and are responsible for Manhattan splitting. Hercules is holding the halves together.

Misty Knight was part of the current version of Heroes For Hire, but the team fell apart in its last issue #15 because of its actions during WWH. She is attacked by insectoids angry that her team killed 1 of the Brood hivelings. The Golden Avenger rescues her, but they are hit by giant Tom Foster. IM hits back then takes Misty away. Meanwhile the insectoids are set upon by humanoid refugees from Sakaar, angry at the revelation that the insectoid Warbound Miek destroyed their world. (Actually he just knew about it and didn't stop it.)

The surviving Warbound (Brood Queen No-Name, Elloe, Hiroim and Korg) are captives of SHIELD, but they break free to help solve the problems. Unfortunately Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Thing don't trust them and a fight ensues:- Cage vs Hiroim, Brood Queen vs Spider-Man and Stone Man Korg vs rocky Grimm. But Elloe slips through to force a truce between the Sakaar factions.

Shellhead takes Misty to where the Death's Head droids are planting bombs in the fissure. Since he used Extremis to take some of them over in the arena they have upgraded their software to be proof against his attack. But Misty's bionic arm is based on an out-of-date operating system they won't be familiar with. Stark has transferred some programs to it that will shut the 'bots down. Now she just has to deliver the payload.

Misty takes out the robots 1 by 1 while Iron Man disarms their bombs. But the last robot is about to throw the last bomb into the fissure. Misty actually takes over 1 of the droids and uses it to grab the bomb and throw it to IM. But the last droid falls into the crevice himself, and self-destructs.

That explosion initiates the breakup of Manhattan. Hiroim uses his stone magic to stop the fissure widening, but isn't strong enough to close it. Korg and Thing lend him their stoneness and the fissure is totally healed.

Afterwards the Warbound slip away, as do Amadeus Cho and Hercules (and the rest of their Renegades). Misty Knight and her Death's Head robot lead some Sakaar humanoids away. Contrite Goliath gathers up dead Sakaarian warriors as SHIELD corrals living ones. Later Goliath helps Damage Control with repairing the city.

Story #2