If this was the ’30s and I was a major newspaper editor reading the work of a reporter I didn’t know, this would be the point when I stood up and demanded, “Bring me Joe Keatinge!” After a few months of pointless, meandering and often boring stories in Indestructible Hulk, my lifelong interest in ‘the strongest one there is’ was waning.
Cue Marvel Knights Hulk. First a little history. Apparently, this latest version of Marvel Knights is an attempt to inject new life into the Marvel Universe by allowing writers to script their dream stories for a character. Writer Joe Keatinge is not exactly a household name, but his work at Image Comics and the Popgun anthology is well respected. This is Keatinge’s first foray into the Marvel Universe and, based on this first issue, I’m excited to see where he takes the Hulk.
Opening in Paris, France, the half dead body of an American is discovered by a local girl. The man, an American currently with amnesia, is none other than our beloved Dr. Banner. Keatinge doesn’t hide Banner’s identity from the readers, only the central characters. The local girl, a gorgeous Parisian named Dyane, helps Banner heal up in secret, figuring he needs to stay under the radar. As the story progresses, two men in trench coats track Banner down and attempt to get him to hulk-out. When the attempts aren’t successful, the two men hulk-out instead, and chase Banner through the streets of Paris.
While the story itself doesn’t sound thrilling, and Hulk doesn’t appear other than a brief flashback, Keatinge’s work here is exceptional. Since the Fall of the Hulks, Banner’s newest “fuck you, I’m Bruce Banner” outlook hasn’t quite gelled. Part of what has made Banner such an intriguing character is the balance between is childhood rage and his terror that the Hulk will hurt somebody. Keatinge brings that aspect back, especially when the Hulk-ish creatures are leveling a Parisian subway and hurting people.
Keatinge also brings in intrigue with the two men chasing Banner, and Banner’s lack of hulking-out. Usually, if you shove Banner, he goes green, but here he remains normal, even after having his head shoved into a wall. How did Banner get amnesia? Why isn’t he hulking-out? Why is AIM after him, and how do these trench coat Hulk-wannabes work into the picture? Keatinge has three issues to work this all out, and hopefully he continues it with the level of excellence shown here.
Piotr Kowalski brings his refined artistic sensibilities to Marvel Knights Hulk. While keeping some of the trappings of standard comic book art, Kowalski brings something almost intangible, a dynamic in his pencils more akin to cartoons in The New Yorker, or old Broadway theater posters. The lines are soft here, relying more on complex strokes than hard, thick inking. Kowalski’s faces are outside the norm for comics, but the way he communicates the Hulk in flashbacks is very powerful. This is a perfect blend of fine art skill and comic book appreciation.
(4 Story, 4 Art)
