Any thoughts on the current direction of Marvel's Hulk series?
Basically, Hulk now leads a "Hulk family" including his son from Planet Hulk, his wife Betty (transformed into a red hulk like her father), She-Hulk, Lyra his daughter from some future timeline, Rick Jones (now transformed into a new abomination) and the Warbound guy who looks like a conehead version of the Thing. Basically, all these new Hulks were created in the aftermath of the Planet Hulk/ World War Hulk storyline by the Leader and his 'team' of super-intelligent bad guys.
There is also of course the Red Hulk, General Ross, who is being somewhat redeemed in his own title (Now written by Jeff Parker, replacing Loeb) and will soon join the Avengers.
Technically, the Hulk has been on teams before-The Defenders, the Pantheon and of course that short stint in the Fantastic Four during his Grey incarnation. However this is the first time there's been a real group of Hulks with similar powers. For the longest time it was mainly Hulk, She-Hulk, Abomination, Doc Samson and the Leader (With some lesser known mutates here and there, including prior temporary forms for Betty and Rick Jones). However the Abomination and Samson are dead (Although the abomination returns in the "Chaos War" storyline), and the Leader is currently depowered.
There's also the added dynamic of Bruce Banner, being written as a somewhat stronger character than the milquetoast of years past. For a few months he didn't transform into the Hulk and was able to develop technology that rivaled that of Reed Richards and Iron Man. He also seems to have better control over the current incarnation of the Hulk.
Of course we don't know how long this direction will last. The 'family' is of course very dysfunctional (What Marvel family isn't, honestly?). There are also some strong hints lately that Banner's late father, Brian will return from the dead in "Chaos War" in the form of the guilt Hulk (From Paul Jenkin's run) or something like that (The Hulk battling a monster version of his father was also shown in the Ang Lee movie).
Basically, Hulk now leads a "Hulk family" including his son from Planet Hulk, his wife Betty (transformed into a red hulk like her father), She-Hulk, Lyra his daughter from some future timeline, Rick Jones (now transformed into a new abomination) and the Warbound guy who looks like a conehead version of the Thing. Basically, all these new Hulks were created in the aftermath of the Planet Hulk/ World War Hulk storyline by the Leader and his 'team' of super-intelligent bad guys.
There is also of course the Red Hulk, General Ross, who is being somewhat redeemed in his own title (Now written by Jeff Parker, replacing Loeb) and will soon join the Avengers.
Technically, the Hulk has been on teams before-The Defenders, the Pantheon and of course that short stint in the Fantastic Four during his Grey incarnation. However this is the first time there's been a real group of Hulks with similar powers. For the longest time it was mainly Hulk, She-Hulk, Abomination, Doc Samson and the Leader (With some lesser known mutates here and there, including prior temporary forms for Betty and Rick Jones). However the Abomination and Samson are dead (Although the abomination returns in the "Chaos War" storyline), and the Leader is currently depowered.
There's also the added dynamic of Bruce Banner, being written as a somewhat stronger character than the milquetoast of years past. For a few months he didn't transform into the Hulk and was able to develop technology that rivaled that of Reed Richards and Iron Man. He also seems to have better control over the current incarnation of the Hulk.
Of course we don't know how long this direction will last. The 'family' is of course very dysfunctional (What Marvel family isn't, honestly?). There are also some strong hints lately that Banner's late father, Brian will return from the dead in "Chaos War" in the form of the guilt Hulk (From Paul Jenkin's run) or something like that (The Hulk battling a monster version of his father was also shown in the Ang Lee movie).
