Open Mike Night: Red Wolf #1 & The Totally Awesome Hulk #1

by Mike Maillaro and Mike Weaver

Red Wolf #1

Written by: Nathan Edmondson
Pencilled by: Dalibur Talajic
Inked by: Jose Marzan, Jr
Colored by: Miroslac Mrva
Lettered by: VC’s Cory Petit

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $3.99

Maillaro: 1872 was one of my favorite Secret Wars titles.  It reimagined the Marvel universe as if it took place in the Wild West town of Timely.  Tony Stark was the town drunk who had built himself a steampowered power suit.  Steve Rogers was the sheriff until he was killed because of the machinations of corrupt Mayor Wilson Fisk.  At the end of the series, Red Wolf had become sheriff after the town rose up against Fisk, though most people don’t trust him because he’s an Indian.

I actually hadn’t even bothered looking at the solicits for this series.  I enjoyed 1872, and I was glad that Marvel was trying to give new life to a character most people hadn’t given much thought.  Yeah, I am sure some people will cry “social justice warrior” at the fact that Marvel is doing a book with a Native American hero, but I am definitely in favor of diversity in the media, no matter what the reason.

This book basically picked up where Secret Wars left off...at first.  We see Red Wolf’s struggles in trying to track down a murderer with what appear to be supernatural powers (really, it looks like technology).  When Red Wolf manages to catch up to the killer, Red Wolf is sent through time and/or space and ends up in the modern Marvel universe. At least that is where this issue ends.

Weaver: I hadn’t read the 1872 title, but this was easy enough to pick up and read.  Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed that he got sent into the future (or through space, whatever) because I liked the setting for the intro.  This makes it into a classic fish out of water tale, which is fine and all, but I was hoping for something a little different.  Supernatural Western stories used to be at least sort of popular, as the Phantom Rider from those old Hulk issues will attest, and I was excited to see something like that.

Obviously, though, there’s no guarantee Red Wolf stays in the future, or whatever reality he went into, or whatever happened.  I hope that he goes back, even though his supporting cast got decimated.  Interesting to me that his mother’s house is basically on a convergence point, that may very well be a plot point that lets him bridge between modern and 1872.

Maillaro: Yeah, I can totally agree that I was actually disappointed by the ending too.  For a few reasons:

1. We still have a lot of mysteries left to deal with in 1872. At the end of the mini-series, we had hints of Spider-Man, Hulk, and Punisher, but none of them made an appearance here.

2. As much “variety” as Marvel’s comic line has in theory, in practice, pretty much all of their books are basically superhero books set in the core Marvel 616 universe.  The only exceptions I can think of is Spider-Gwen and the two Weirdworld books (Black Knight and Weirdworld, which isn’t even out yet).  When I saw Red Wolf on the release list, I was really hoping it would be a Wild West series.  I really want to see more unique genre books, especially coming from Marvel and DC.  I was glad that DC did All-Star Western as part of New 52, but I think doing it as an alternate reality story like 1602 has a lot more hooks for the modern reader.  

All that said, I did enjoy what this comic had to offer, it just is not quite what I am looking for.

Weaver: Black Knight even had some level of core universe crossover, with the lame Avengers showing up.  This is kind of a double-edge sword...I used to always love alternate reality stories, especially the old pre-Crisis multiverse...my favorite Batman comic ever features him teaming up with an adult Earth-2 Dick Grayson (before the Earth-1 Dick moved on from being Robin).  But comics get pretty confusing to some people with all those plates spinning, especially when alternate reality people get integrated into the core reality.  Remember when there was only one Black Canary?  It lasted until people pointed out that Ollie was basically dating an 80-year old.

Anyway, I like comics of various genres that are now under-represented.  Horror, Crime, War, Western, Martial Arts, whatever.  There is a reason that this got streamlined into superheroes, though, so I’m not sure the market can bear spreading beyond superheroes again.

Maillaro: I talked a little about this in my review of Seduction of the Innocent last week (CHEAP PLUG).  I think Image, Dynamite, and Dark Horse have shown that there can be a market outside of all-superheros, all-the-time.  And of course, DC has Vertigo.  Even Marvel does a few quirky series like Powers and 22 Brides every now and then.   It’s just that Marvel and DC seem real hesitant to step outside their comfort zone for their main line.    I think it’s just limiting.   

When I read the first 21 pages or so of Red Wolf, I really thought they were on to something here.  Again, it’s possible this will only be a short change with Red Wolf getting back home soon, but when you end the first issue with Red Wolf landing in the modern world, it suggests to me that is your intention with the series.

Weaver: Marvel recently has mostly only done non-superheroes when it’s a licensed property, which is a shame.  I like that Vertigo has stuff all over the landscape, including some great horror comics, but Vertigo is also geared towards an older audience.  I’d like to see a feeder all-ages horror title, because horror definitely can be all ages.  Just ask Henry Pym.

So, we agree?  Red Wolf was great right up until it swapped into the modern world, and then we switched to cautiously optimistic?

Maillaro: Yeah, that describes it perfectly.  The creative team did a great job, so I have some faith in them wherever they take this book.  I just feel a little disappointed that they ended up going in a slightly more predictable direction.  

But it was still a solid first issue, laying out the world and the character really cleanly.  I also liked that the world felt lived in.  Red Wolf’s mom didn’t appear in the mini-series, but I felt very comfortable with the character like she had been there the whole time.  I did think that the art was a little odd in that scene as it made Red Wolf look a little younger, so I thought for a second that it was a flashback.  But I might just be nitpicking on that.

Weaver: I liked that they didn’t feel the need to hammer you over the head with what and who Red Wolf was, they just stuck him in the story and let his interactions do the explaining.  Lived in is a great description of the world.

I’m going with a 5 for story and a 4 for the art, due to the exact same issue you had plus a few other small confusing art choices.  In general, I see this as a well-penciled book, but it’s not perfect.

Maillaro: I am going with a 4.5 for the story, but I’ll go for the 4 for the art too.  The book looked good, but nothing Earth-shattering.  It feels like a lot of the All-New, All-Different Marvel books sort of settled on decent art.  I kind of miss the days of the superstar artist.

Weaver: I miss the art, but not the delays.  I’m just going to say “Battle Chasers” and step away.

The Totally Awesome Hulk #1

Written by: Greg Pak
Art by: Frank Cho
Colored by: Sonia Oback
Lettered by: VC’s Cory Petit

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $4.99

Weaver: Amadeus Cho, as the Hulk, tries to pick up women and fight monsters, not necessarily in that order, while his sister and her robot mouthpiece roundly criticize his various foolishness.  Apparently he and his sister are tracking and shrinking down monsters, hoping to eventually figure out the source.  Eventually, they end up teaming up with She-Hulk and Miles Morales on a monster fight, leading to some hilariously awkward conversations, as Amadeus sees She-Hulk as too old for him.  At the end, they get ambushed by the person causing all the monsters, setting up a to be continued team-up.  Also, we get a flashback to Banner sucking in a lot of nuclear energy as the Hulk.  Black Panther sees this as bad as it's an incompatible energy type, but we don’t get a full resolution yet.

This was a fun comic.  It was funny while still handling a serious plotline, and the art and action were all very good.  Some really nice character designs on the monsters, who I assume are new characters.  Miles and She-Hulk were handled well, particularly Miles making light of the fact that he didn’t really contribute much to the monster fighting.

Maillaro: The best part about that was that I was actually annoyed they had Miles appear just to do nothing.  But then even he made the brilliant “And stay down!” line which made it clear that it all part of the joke.

I think this is basically the first comic I’ve read with Amadeus Cho (other than some alternate reality stories).  I don’t know all that much about him other than he’s supposed to be a bit of a boy genius.  Seeing him as the Hulk, and what that would do to a young man, ended up working real well.  Amadeus SEEMS to have more control over Hulk than Banner ever did, but there are definitely hints here that his control is breaking down.

But what made this book stand out for me is that it genuinely was a fun read.  Marvel seems very aware that the comic industry has gotten a little too dark and dire lately.  So many of their books seem to be working to subvert that.  Ant-Man Spider-Woman, Silk, Spider-Gwen, and Howard the Duck are all very a lot of fun.  But at the same time, they still manage to have serious stories and ideas in those comics.  

Weaver: This is the first Amadeus Cho appearance I’ve read too, I think, although I have a funny feeling I’m wrong and forgetting something.  It appears that he chose to be the Hulk because he idolized the Hulk, and that’s a cool angle too.  Even most heroes in the Marvel Universe see the Hulk as a wild card, equally able to do great or horrible things.  Someone who sees him with rose colored glasses getting the power is nice, especially with the control slips you mentioned.  

Just a ton of fun here, and comics should have some fun represented, so I’m really happy to see that.  I hope this series lasts better than most Hulk series do...the only time it was a good seller was when there was a TV show to cross-pollinate with.

Maillaro: Oddly enough, in Secret Wars, it was shown that Amadeus Cho was responsible for creating Green Land, a domain where everyone was turned into Hulks.  It was his desperate attempt to save the domain from...uhm...something. I forget now.  

I think Hulk and the Agents of SMASH is doing pretty well for Disney.  If nothing else, it got two full seasons and 52 episodes. I mostly enjoyed the first season, but never got around to watching the second one.  And Hulk seems to be one of the most popular characters in the Avengers movies.  I have no idea if that will lead to any success for him in the comics.

But if nothing else, this was a great fresh look at the Hulk story.  And a hell of a lot better than what they had been doing with “Doc Green” over the last year or so.  With Hulk seemingly being smart again, but having a real unclear agenda of his own.  

Weaver: Amadeus’ sister is great as a foil, like Rick Jones and Betty Ross used to be in the old Hulk comics.  I hope this starts being the main comic Hulk, because I can’t say enough how much this works for me.  I like the running joke of Amadeus needing to eat constantly too...and the purple pants (or lack thereof).  Speaking of the movies, I rewatched Age of Ultron over the weekend and can’t help but think the Hulk’s popularity in Avengers is making them potentially spin him into various and sundry other things.  Maybe this has already been announced, I tend not to follow announcements, but I would welcome that happening.

Maillaro: As far as I know, this is the only Hulk that has been announced right now.  I usually try to pay attention, but Marvel does sometimes make random announcements at small conventions that I end up missing.   They haven’t even announced a new She-Hulk series, which is a bummer.  But if this is the only Hulk title, it seems like it will be a good one.

Scores?  I loved the writing.  4.5/5.  The art was beautiful at times, though Frank Cho often slips into parody of himself when drawing women.  Everyone is hot and scantily clad.  Granted that wasn’t true of Amadeus’s sister, but it still jumped out at me.  

Weaver: Just call him J. Scott Campbell.  

Maillaro: Exactly!  I will go with a 4 out of 5, but that could swing higher or lower depending on my mood.

Weaver: I’m going to bump it up a half point on the art because I really loved the monster character designs, and I’m not allergic to hot scantily dressed women.  I was going to bump the writing up to 5, but I really didn’t like the flashback to Banner.  I’m sure it’ll be important later, but it felt random and didn’t add much to the story.

Maillaro: I think it might have been necessary just to answer any “Hey, what happened to Doc Green” questions that might have come up.  BUT, I was reminded of Extraordinary X-Men, where we are getting Cyclops story in dribs and drabs.  It’s like a sentence of story each issue.  Issue 1.  Cyclops did something awful.  Issue 2.  Cyclops is dead.  Issue 3. Cyclops attacked the Inhumans and now he’s dead.   It’s very clear there is more to Banner’s story, and I’m not sure there is a good reason to drag it out.

Maillaro: You know, for two books we basically picked at random, we ended up pretty lucky.  Neither of them were on my initial pull list, but both seemed interesting enough to review.  So, for next week….

It’s been awhile since we talked Crossovers, which you know I love.  Next week, Batman/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes out!  How about we partner that with a classic crossover and we’re good to go? I am leaning towards  The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans, which I have not read.  

Weaver: I think I still own that one, with the cover separated but still wrapped around it.  It was pretty good, and one of my first X-Men stories.  I’m all for that.

Maillaro: I don’t have the single issue, but I do have it as part of Crossover Classics.  Sounds like a plan.

Final Scores