Look at that cover. That's Hulk fighting hulk sharks. It makes a great first impression. But there's a problem with this latest issue of The Incredible Hulk: the art just can't keep up with the book's intriguing plot.
In issue #2, writer Jason Aaron gives us more backstory to Bruce Banner going all kinds of psycho, and why he's so adamant about recreating his "greatest achievement," the Hulk. Aaron has a solid handle on Bruce's character, and his drive for perfection ratchets up the tension of this series. It's kind of hard to give the Hulk a nemesis that's tough enough to stand toe to toe with the Green Goliath, but a crazy Bruce Banner might just do the trick, giving the Hulk a villain that requires more than just multiple punches to the face to take him down.
However, The Incredible Hulk's art is just downright disappointing. For all the fuss made about Marc Silvestri joining Jason Aaron for this new series, the Silvestri we know and love just isn't present, replaced by a shell of his typical, bombastic work, which was then finalized by not one, but two supplementary artists in Whilce Portacio and Billy Tan. This gives The Incredible Hulk #2 an incredibly uneven look with little-to-no consistency. Nearly every panel handled by Silvestri lacks definition and energy. How you can manage to make the Hulk fighting giant mutant shark boring is beyond me, but Silvestri, Portacio and Tan pull it off here.
Silvestri also has a hard time evoking emotion in his artwork. A lot of this series thus far has been characters standing around talking about their emotions. Silvestri is just not the type of artist you want for that. If this series was smashing things at all times, sure, but Aaron's scripting a story that is about more than that, and Silvestri's style just isn't in lock-step with that notion.
I want to love The Incredible Hulk. Jason Aaron is a great writer, and Marc Silvestri is typically a solid artist. But things are not gelling. It's sad for me to admit this, but I'm ready for Silvestri to move on and a more fitting artist with a passion for the project to step aboard. The Incredible Hulk's story deserves as much.
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