By Jim Beard
You only think you know big summer events. You only think you know the Incredible
Hulk. WORLD WAR HULK will change all that.
The Incredible Hulk is on his way back to Earth, feeling very undecidely merry after his exile in space by the
Illuminati, Earth's most secret collection of powerful personalities. When ol' Jade Jaws lands, well, its gonna be WAR.
"Last year, the puny humans of Earth convinced themselves that the Hulk was a dangerous monster," explains gamma-irradiated Hulk-scribe Greg Pak. "So they betrayed him, exiling him to the savage alien planet of Sakaar where he became a slave, then a gladiator and rebel, and finally a conquering king. Now the Hulk is returning to our world, and the 'heroes' of Earth will find out who the Hulk thinks the monster of this story really is."
Thus, WORLD WAR HULK, the summer event that's so big, so smashing, so Hulk-tacular, it needs several other books to contain it all.
Hulk editor Mark Paniccia is determined to give the event both the scope and the depth it demands…that the Hulk demands! "The WORLD WAR HULK companion titles are going to give you the stories we don't have room to tell in the main miniseries or in INCREDIBLE HULK," says Panaccia. "And of course they're designed to give the fans some of the fights they've been begging to see."
The Hulk's special brand of smashing begins this May in INCREDIBLE HULK #106, by Pak and popular Hulk artist Gary Frank, and WORLD WAR HULK PROLOGUE: WORLD BREAKER, by writer Peter David (no stranger to the Hulk!) and a cornucopia of amazing artists.
Then the real fun begins.
June unleashes the core miniseries, WORLD WAR HULK, on an unsuspecting world, and then the first three of four very special companion series will fall into position, ready to strike.
WORLD WAR HULK: X-MEN finds the Marvel's Merry Mutants going toe-to-toe with the Green
Goliath, bringing their unique abilities to bear on the problem of a Rampaging Hulk.
WORLD WAR HULK: FRONTLINE will tell the personal tales of the men and women on the perimeter of the struggle, in the same spirit as CIVIL WAR: FRONT LINE. Is it any wonder that Marvel has roped Front Line expert Paul Jenkins into penning the title, aided and abetted by his old foxhole buddy, artist Ramon Bachs?
WORLD WAR HULK: GAMMA CORPS, written by emerald-hued Frank Tieri and illustrated by verdantly pastoral Carlos Ferreira "is about a genetically altered strike force, whose lives have been affected by the Hulk," enthuses Panaccia. "With the events of WORLD WAR HULK, they finally get a chance to give Hulk their own special helping of payback."
Artist Ferreira is beside himself with excitement for the project. "I think it's an opportunity to be part of a family when you work for Marvel, which is priceless," notes Ferreira. "On GAMMA CORPS, they gave me great characters to work with and teamed me up with great professionals. What else could I ask for?"
"I'll put a lot of effort and inspiration into GAMMA CORPS, and hope the fans like it…and come back for more!"
Come July, the worldwide battle continues in not only the aforementioned books, but also in WORLD WAR HULK: YOUNG AVENGERS. Confidential information on the tie-in has not yet been declassified, but suffice to say that a certain creative team by the name of Jeph Loeb and David Finch will be putting the already-famous
Young Avengers through their paces…and then some!
And the crushing, stomping, and body-slamming doesn't stop there. WORLD WAR HULK's effects will be felt throughout many of the Marvel Universe's ongoing titles, namely INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, GHOST RIDER, HEROES FOR HIRE, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, and IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN.
"As far as guest-stars go," says Panaccia. "I'm excited about
Hercules,
Amadeus Cho, the Angel, the new Scorpion,
Namora, and a few other surprise combatants. With WORLD WAR HULK, almost all the Marvel icons will be represented so you just can't go wrong."
"I've had a dream team to work with on this event. Greg Pak is a brilliant comic book writer and has an immense knowledge of the Hulk's history and a great insight into what makes him tick. We were lucky to get Gary Frank to do some spectacular and unforgettable artwork. And John Romita Jr? Good God. WORLD WAR HULK has so much energy you're going to faint from exhaustion when you're done with each issue."
The Hulk editor smiles knowingly. "This is going to be one of the greatest Marvel events ever and you're going to see some of the greatest superhero battles in the past couple of decades!"
Hit our
World War Hulk hub for more info, including a
World War Hulk checklist and more. And don't forget to check out all our
New York Comic Con coverage.
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