laissezfarrell's review against another edition
3.0
Sales art is great. The colors are great. The frame is very mediocre.
thebeardedpoet's review against another edition
4.0
This collected mini-series didn't start to impress me until the 2nd or 3rd installment. The first couple sections seemed a bit thin to me, but once the "overdubbed" counseling session developed and started tying in thematically with the recounted action story, I got engrossed in the psychology the story. Banner is dealing with the essential nature of the Hulk and the Hulk's relationship to General Ross. Who is the monster? Who is responsible for the destruction? Why has the Hulk refrained from killing anyone? And so on. The art was a mixed bag for me. I didn't care for the humorous/cartoony take on the Hulk which just made him look goofy. Yet the art otherwise was eye-popping and larger than life, as was the work of Jack Kirby (one of the inspirations here). I'd recommend it for anyone who liked the early versions of the Hulk and remembers the Hulk vs. General Ross dynamic which is the core of this book.
mkindness's review against another edition
5.0
The Hulk has never been a favorite character of mine, but this story was filled with incredible humanity and emotion. I wonder if there are other Hulk stories out there that can live up to this? Marvel fans, I'm open to suggestions!
tamnhauser's review against another edition
2.0
A nice throwback to some of the origins behind Hulk, as well as a nod to the original plan for Hulk to be gray. A new angle on a story that offered up something refreshing! Certainly enjoyable enough to read.
dozmuttz's review against another edition
3.0
The 3rd chapter in the 'MARVEL: Colors' series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, focuses on our favorite Jolly Green Giant. Well, as the title insists he's actually Gray in this story. Like the two stories prior to this one, Loeb and Sale take us back to an early time in the Hulk's history, as Bruce Banner retells his origin to Doc Samson in a therapy session. The story focusses a lot on specific decisions Bruce made as the Hulk and just in general what he remembers those early couple times he was the Hulk. We see his first interactions with Betty Ross and some real sad dialogue between the two. We also see the hatred from Ross to the Hulk as well as vice versa, and Bruce more in depth describes what he actually felt and thought through those interactions. The story touches on a lot of similar themes that most Hulk stories cover, while adding it's own more in-depth look and kinda sad twist on it.
So far this is my least fav of the 'Color' series and it's not to say that the book is bad but, there was a lot on Loeb's part that I felt made this read not up to par when comparing it to the other two. Loeb's writing in this one felt a bit rushed and kinda lazy. The overall plot and idea wasn't too bad however for a character like the Hulk, this story felt very small and grounded, but not in the greatest way. As always with these two, I do love how Loeb lets Sale do some great pages and really fill everything with AWESOME artwork, however this time around it felt like Loeb was falling back a little too much and at times I would finish the issue and just be like "ok." I do like the way he writes the interactions with Hulk and Betty as the love with these two is displayed really well by Loeb. That probably is the biggest win with Loeb, the love tale in this story is done nicely, although nothing original by him, he does a great job adding to what is already there.
Tim Sale once again leaves me smiling with his iconic artwork. The world recently lost this amazing artist and so that's the main reason I wanted to get back into this series. I've loved Sale's artwork sine I first saw it with his Batman work. His ability to truly set emotion in a book is one of the best and it works really well in this story that features our sad gray Goliath. Sale's take on the Hulk makes him less brute and more vulnerable, but not by making him smaller or "un-Hulk" like but the emotion he displays on his face, his body language, and actions. I will admit it wasn't my absolute favorite work from Sale, that's all mainly due to it at times feeling empty. There are a lot of splash and spread pages yes, however they felt dull and the impact wasn't there for me. Now that's not to say it was bad as they are still great too look at, but the tone in the overall story does just make it feel BAM and done. I wouldn't say rushed like how Loeb's writing felt, but Sale for sure took some shortcuts. But as mentioned for the 100th time, it's still Tim Sale so the work is still AMAZING. Mainly in character's and emotion, Sale still does an INCREDIBLE job!
Overall the story is a neat little Hulk tale with the only fault being that the creators maybe only gave us 95% but we're so use to 110%. So I won't blame anyone here. (maybe Loeb a little c;) I'd say if you're reading the series already or are a fan of the Hulk or shoot, even want a cool little Hulk origin story to get you into the character, this read is worth that shot.
So far this is my least fav of the 'Color' series and it's not to say that the book is bad but, there was a lot on Loeb's part that I felt made this read not up to par when comparing it to the other two. Loeb's writing in this one felt a bit rushed and kinda lazy. The overall plot and idea wasn't too bad however for a character like the Hulk, this story felt very small and grounded, but not in the greatest way. As always with these two, I do love how Loeb lets Sale do some great pages and really fill everything with AWESOME artwork, however this time around it felt like Loeb was falling back a little too much and at times I would finish the issue and just be like "ok." I do like the way he writes the interactions with Hulk and Betty as the love with these two is displayed really well by Loeb. That probably is the biggest win with Loeb, the love tale in this story is done nicely, although nothing original by him, he does a great job adding to what is already there.
Tim Sale once again leaves me smiling with his iconic artwork. The world recently lost this amazing artist and so that's the main reason I wanted to get back into this series. I've loved Sale's artwork sine I first saw it with his Batman work. His ability to truly set emotion in a book is one of the best and it works really well in this story that features our sad gray Goliath. Sale's take on the Hulk makes him less brute and more vulnerable, but not by making him smaller or "un-Hulk" like but the emotion he displays on his face, his body language, and actions. I will admit it wasn't my absolute favorite work from Sale, that's all mainly due to it at times feeling empty. There are a lot of splash and spread pages yes, however they felt dull and the impact wasn't there for me. Now that's not to say it was bad as they are still great too look at, but the tone in the overall story does just make it feel BAM and done. I wouldn't say rushed like how Loeb's writing felt, but Sale for sure took some shortcuts. But as mentioned for the 100th time, it's still Tim Sale so the work is still AMAZING. Mainly in character's and emotion, Sale still does an INCREDIBLE job!
Overall the story is a neat little Hulk tale with the only fault being that the creators maybe only gave us 95% but we're so use to 110%. So I won't blame anyone here. (maybe Loeb a little c;) I'd say if you're reading the series already or are a fan of the Hulk or shoot, even want a cool little Hulk origin story to get you into the character, this read is worth that shot.
krismoon's review against another edition
4.0
This is a must for comic book fans/fans of the Hulk. It shows the many complexities of The Hulk, his emotions, and his inner turmoil being two very different people at once.