Generations: Hulk

By Greg Pak, Matteo Buffagni, Dono Sanchez-Almara

There has been a big change with characters at Marvel in the past few years. Some, although apparently not many, have liked that younger and more diverse legacy heroes have been taking over for iconic and legendary characters. It wasn’t enough for some characters to share the spotlight, but some characters have been killed, the Hulk being a prime example of this. With all of that being said, Marvel is now rolling out Generations, a series that teams legacy characters with their iconic, and in some cases, dead counter parts. To kick things off, we have Generations Hulk. This is an important issue because it is setting the bar for the mini-series.

Greg Pak has shown that he can make many characters interesting and cool. He currently writes Totally Awesome Hulk, so him writing this issue makes total sense. Pak does a nice job of showing the differences between Cho’s hulk and Banner’s. Cho has a moral compass that he uses as he transforms, and Banner is all rage and rarely thinks. Pak presents both of these characters in their human form, which is where we get a look at seeing how Bruce Banner really lives, alongside the sad truth about Bruce Banner. A big negative for the book is that we are just thrown into the action and there is no explanation as to how or why. As readers, we also get no answers to anything. The issue just ends and we’re left with more questions. This may be addressed in later installments, but if you picked this issue up hoping for answers, you will not get them.

The pencils this issue are handled by Matteo Buffagni with colors by Dono Sanchez-Almara. The pencils this issue are well done by Matteo Buffagni. It’s easy to tell the difference between both hulks, and lines are crisp and clean. Buffagni’s action pages, such as both Hulk’s attacking tanks together, look good and intense. There is a realistic approach to the pencils and colors that really help this book look like something you may not see in every other comic on the shelf. Something as little as a bird’s eye view of a neighborhood as an explosion goes off in the distance looks great and very detailed. The colors by Dono Sanchez-Almara are a great compliment to the pencils laid down by Buffagni. The colors play a huge role in the book because there are many panels that have heavy shading or light shining through, like the page where Banner eats trash. There really isn’t anything to complain about with the art in this issue. Both pencils and colors are extremely well done and show off the skill and talent that Buffagni and Sanchez-Almara possess.

On the writing side, this isn’t a bad issue, and it gives Amadeus Cho a little more insight into what awaits him the longer he lives as the Hulk. However, as a fan and reader, it’s a disappointing issue because we are thrown into the story and get no answers regarding Generations. The art being spectacular is a huge boost to the issue, but overall, the disappointment from nothing changing in the status quo may affect how you feel about this event moving forward.