spider-man: new ways to die

by Dan Slott & John Romita Jr.

collects Amazing Spider-Man # 568-573

the premise:  Norman Osborn and the Thunderbolts set their sights on apprehending Spider-Man, while Eddie Brock sets his on eliminating the Venom symbiote.

the lowdown:  The first big "event" storyline of the Brand New Day era is put together exactly like an event should be - contained to one title, by a single creative team, but featuring a big whopping storyline with lots of characters and lots of action.  Slott and JrJr bring the Thunderbolts into the title for a pivotal storyline that doesn't break up the book's ongoing storylines but builds on them, and ratchets the drama up to "ten".

Although they've done an excellent job capturing the feel of classic Spidey stories, at times the BND stories have lapsed into a style that's a little too retro, or dated.  This arc more than any other maintains the classic feel with a more modern style, and it's a nice blend.  I know a lot of longtime Spidey fans don't like Venom, but I do, at least the classic version.  Slott actually makes the Mac Gargan Venom more interesting than usual, too.  Osborn is at his manipulative best, and the "new" Anti-Venom character is interesting despite his name.

JrJr on Spidey just feels right after all this time.  He does an excellent job with the Venom/ Anti-Venom/ Scorpion stuff in particular.  The book also includes a pretty good interview with him in the back, where he gives his thoughts on OMD/ BND.

the verdict:  The best of the BND volumes so far.  This isn't perfect but it's a strong action story with a nice high concept.

transhuman

by Jonathan Hickman & J.M. Ringuet

collects Transhuman # 1-4

art shown is not actual cover

the premise:  Two competing corporations struggle to bring gene enhancement technology to market, with profound results.

the lowdown:  This is the second of Hickman's works to make it to the collection stage, following The Nightly News, and although there are huge differences between the subject matter of the books, Hickman is really establishing his own unique voice.  This is a science fiction story told in the form of a "behind the scenes" television show, and focusing on the battle between two corporations over advances in the gene enhancement field.

As you might imagine, that format lends itself to a lot of talking heads, but there is some action as well, though this really isn't an action/ adventure story at all.  It's a pretty smart, relatively detailed look at the process, and in places calls to mind Joe Casey's excellent Wildcats 3.0.  Lest it seem the book is a dry technical manual, though, rest assured it's anything but.  This is a very gripping story mixed with elements of pathos, wonder, and a healthy amount of humor.  Hickman has a very dark sense of the absurd, and it plays itself out quite nicely within these pages.

This time around Hickman provides story only, with J.M. Ringuet handling art chores.  I enjoyed Ringuet's work, although his design sense isn't quite as radical as Hickman's.  This is in many ways a challenging script to illustrate, largely because of the aforementioned talking heads, but Ringuet manages to keep things fresh throughout.

the verdict:  I thought this was outstanding, one of my favorites so far this year, and that's coming from someone with little or no interest in science fiction.  Very nicely done.

iron man: with iron hands

by Stuart Moore, Roberto de la Torre and more

collects Iron Man: Director of SHIELD # 28-32 & Iron Man v. 3 # 36

the premise:  Iron Man faces high-tech threats on two fronts as two people from his past become embroiled in terrorist activities.

the lowdown:  To the extent there is such a thing as a by-the-numbers Iron Man story where he's Director of SHIELD, this is probably it.  This book features Iron Man squaring off with two separate threats at once, and essentially finding himself stretched too thin with lives in the balance.

It's a well-executed story by Moore.  It's pretty disposable in the sense that it has little bearing on continuity, features only a few recurring characters, and will almost certainly never be mentioned again.  I kind of like stories like that, though, and I liked this.  It really doesn't strive to be anything other than disposable entertainment, but it's good disposable entertainment.

de la Torre handles most of the art this time, but he gets an assist from a few other folks.  I had trouble picking out who drew what, which IMO is a good sign.  The art changes aren't jarring or anything like that.

To fill out the book, Marvel included a random issue of the pre-Disassembled series, by Chuck Dixon and Paul Ryan.  It's got IM and Nick Fury and is basically cotton candy.

the verdict:  This was an enjoyable installment of what has become a pretty good political/ action thriller series.  It's a nice book to check out if you're not really all that familiar with Iron Man but just want a good seat of your pants tale.

batman: private casebook

by Paul Dini & Dustin Nguyen

collects Detective Comics # 840-845

the premise:  Batman squares off with Ra's Al Ghul, the Mad Hatter, and the new Ventriloquist.  Plus: he flirts with Zatanna.

the lowdown:  The latest volume of Paul Dini's done-in-one Batman stories features the arrival of Nguyen as the new artist.  His style is very different from Don Kramer's, and as a result the tone of the book shifts somewhat.  It feels a little darker and more stylized.  Not better, not worse, just a little different.

The stories themselves pick up after the Resurrection of Ra's crossover, with Batman at odds with Ra's in the first issue.  That segues into shorter stories featuring the characters mentioned above plus a few others, including Catwoman.  Dini plays up the Batman/ Zatanna potential romance, providing some resolution to their flirtation, and shows the origin of the new Ventriloquist.  As with prior volumes, the stories are tightly constructed and quite appealing.  These are not the epic sagas DC seems to be so in love with at times - they're just solid, well-done Batman stories that should be reasonably accessible to old and new readers alike.

There is one fill-in tale written by Peter Milligan (and drawn by Nguyen) that deals with the Suit of Sorrows and its origins.  It's okay if inconsequential.  

the verdict:  Another enjoyable volume of this excellent run.  Dini has been doing excellent work on this title without much fanfare - it's worth checking out.

marvel 1985

by Mark Millar & Tommy Lee Edwards

collects 1985 # 1-6

the premise:  A young boy is surprised to learn that his favorite Marvel comicbook heroes are becoming real - and threatening to lay waste to his town.

the lowdown:  Some might recall this was originally planned as a fumetti book, before Marvel realized that would be cost-prohibitive and went with Edwards as the artist.  That was a wise decision - this book would have really been terrible as a fumetti.  Edwards' work is the best I've seen from him, and really makes the book.

Moreover, it glazes over some of the weak points with the script.  Not that it's a bad story - this is an unusually sentimental effort from Millar, who is not exactly known for sentimentality, to say the least.  At its heart this is a story about a young boy who is learning the hard way that the world isn't the way he wants it to be, all the while facing an intrusion into the real world by his fantasies.  As a straightforward adventure/ horror story it's cute but nothing noteworthy, but it's pulled together pretty nicely into a bittersweet tale about the beginnings of adolescence and growing up.  The use of superheroes, and particularly superheroes from a particular time, reinforces the story's themes by bringing childhood icons into the "real world" and twisting them.  

Not that the book isn't without its problems - a somewhat goofy resolution to the central conflict with the villains is among them.  None of the villains really have any character development or anything distinguishing about them other than their costumes.  There's a lot there that wasn't really explored, perhaps because the villains are mostly plot devices rather than real characters in the story.

the verdict:  It doesn't quite live up to Millar's endless hype, but then again what does?  This is a pretty neat story that looks really really good.

ultimate spider-man vol. 21: war of the symbiotes

by Brian Michael Bendis & Stuart Immonen

collects Ultimate Spider-Man # 123-128

the premise:  Venom returns, only to find that the symbiote prefers Peter Parker.  Thus Brock and the Ultimates are trying to get the symbiote, and the symbiote's trying to get Spider-Man.  Plus: the return of someone who died.

the lowdown:  This volume shifts away from the teen drama and focused character stories of the last installment, in favor of a big-budget throwdown featuring Venom, Carnage, and the Ultimates.  It's presented, however, in Bendis' favored style where he jumps around and tells the story out of order.  And frankly, that threw me out of the story more than once.  I spent half the book convinced Nick Fury was back, only to have Carol Danvers show up at the end.  I "get", after some re-reading, that the earlier scenes are flashbacks to before Fury went off somewhere else in some other book, but I kinda need a cue other than telling me the earlier scenes happened "a month ago".  How am I supposed to know how long ago Fury's departure "happened"?  I don't mind working along with a narrative but this is unnecessarily confusing.

That aside, the arc isn't bad.  I do kind of like Ultimate Venom, and once you piece the plot together it's a fairly interesting take on the whole Spidey/ Venom dynamic.  This book has really gotten sucked into lots of shared universe stuff, though, to the point that Spidey goes and tries to find the FF or the Ultimates when he has a problem?  Too much - IMO treating the Ultimate books like a shared universe is one of the reasons the line is failing.

Immonen's art worked for me this time.  Still not overly thrilled with his depiction of Peter, but everyone else looks really good here.

the verdict:  If this series wasn't coming to an end soon, I'd probably let it go after this volume.  As it is there's only one more, so I'll stick around to see how Bendis concludes things.  IMO this title has seen better days though.

flash: emergency stop

by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar & Paul Ryan

collects Flash # 130-135

the premise:  An old villain known as the Suit strikes a crippling blow against the Flash.  With Wally confined to a wheelchair, his colleagues take on the role of protecting Keystone City.

the lowdown:  DC takes another opportunity to get more of Morrison's work in print, collecting the first half of his Flash run with Mark Millar (from back in the late 90's when they co-wrote lots of stuff).  The first half of this book is the Suit storyline, which is pretty vintage Morrison.   Lots of wild ideas, a frenetic pace, and a suitably creepy villain.  (Actually this used to be vintage Millar too, though he seems to have moved away from that kind of thing.)

The Suit story is followed by a one-off issue focusing on Jay Garrick, and inadvertently introducing Jakeem Thunder.  It's quite good as well, and actually feels more like Millar's work than Morrison's.  The final issue here is the third part of a crossover with Green Lantern and Green Arrow.  Though it makes sense despite missing the first two parts, the courtroom stuff frankly makes me cringe.  (Note to all aspiring lawyers: if you have grounds for a motion to dismiss all charges, make your motion BEFORE the trial!)

Paul Ryan handles the art, and it looks very 90's, but since it was published in the 90's that kind of makes sense.  I've always thought of Ryan as a journeyman guy, but his work here is pretty good.  He handles movement (a must for a Flash artist) much better than I recalled.

the verdict:  Most of this book is pretty good, despite the tacked-on last chapter.  It's not on par with Morrison's better work but it's a solid superhero story that will deliver a fun hour's diversion.

the programme vol. 2

by Peter Milligan & C.P. Smith

collects The Programme # 7-12

the premise:  It's America's superhumans versus the newly awakened Soviet superhumans - but the American ones are conflicted over issues of race and violence.

the lowdown:  Milligan & Smith's tale of cold war politics brought into the present day reaches its conclusion in this volume.  This book wasn't cancelled; it was a limited series, so this is a real conclusion.  In my review of volume one, I compared this series to Rising Stars or Supreme Power.  Now with the whole series in the rearview mirror, I'd say it's a bit more nihilistic than either of those books.  But as always, Milligan has lots of excellent ideas on the page.  So much subtext here - Senator Joe, totally a product of 50's politics, paralyzed by confusion over racism.  Meanwhile, his 60's counterpart finds his weakness to be... you guessed it... sex.  (Maybe you guessed drugs, but sex would've been your second choice.)  Meanwhile the Soviet characters are this seemingly invincible other - much as we viewed the Soviet Union right up until its fall.  Milligan deftly uses these characters to mirror their respective nations.

Smith's artwork was, as I mentioned the first time around, an acquired taste.  But I've gotta say, I've acquired it.  I thought it was stellar this time around, such a nice mix of abstraction and photorealism.  There are 3-4 scenes in this volume that are just outstanding.

the verdict:  Not the most optimistic take on the superhero genre you'll ever read, but this is a well thought-out and compelling one.  I liked this a lot and would like to see Wildstorm do more stuff like this.

invincible iron man vol. 1: the five nightmares

by Matt Fraction & Salvador Larroca

collects Invincible Iron Man # 1-7

the premise:  Ezekiel Stane, the son of Obidiah Stane, embarks on a terrorist campaign against Stark Industries.  Plus: Spider-Man.

the lowdown:  In a way Marvel got caught with its pants down when the Iron Man movie surpassed everyone's expectations.  Frankly Marvel has very little in the way of an Iron Man backlist, and the only stuff with a setup remotely resembling the movie is very dated and probably not of much interest to moviegoers.  So this series returns Tony to a status quo very reminiscent of the movie, though the collection probably came out too late to pick up on the buzz.

Fraction continues one of his plot threads from The Order, albeit not in a way that requires one to have actually read The Order, as the son of Obidiah Stane engages in a battle of wits and technology with Stark.  For most of the way through it's a fairly light read, much different in tone from either Ellis or the Knaufs' run on the character.  There's lot of technological gizmos, lots of Tony-as-James-Bond, a key role for Pepper Potts, and so on.  While not spectacular most of it is very good, although the Tony/ Pepper relationship seemed a little.. overt for my tastes.  At the end, though, Fraction surprises by putting together a more thoughtful aftermath to all the violence than books like this usually show us.  This all ties in to Spider-Man's appearance, which was a little awkward as some of the OMD/ BND changes to their relationship are played out, but was otherwise enjoyable.

Larroca does an excellent job on the art, delivering a slick, polished product that makes all the special effects work without sacrificing storytelling or detail.  His work grows on me more and more every time I see it - not sure if he's getting better or I've just grown more accustomed to his style.

the verdict:  A winner IMO.  I'll be staying on with the book, although it looks like it's getting a too-early dramatic change in the setup.  A nice first chapter, though.

showcase presents superman family vol. 3

by Otto Binder, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger and more

collects Jimmy Olsen # 35-44 & Lois Lane # 8-16

the premise:  Jimmy and Lois take center stage in a wide variety of adventures and misadventures.  These stories are from the late 50's.

the lowdown:  You know the drill by now.  Goofy, outlandish but highly imaginative stories.  Superman's a dick.  All manner of wacky stuff happens.  Included in this volume are stories where:

* Lois becomes queen of the jungle people and decides not to resume her old life.

* Lois and Clark are stranded on an island with cavemen, and Lois is forced to marry a caveman named Blog.

* Jimmy takes a tablet that exponentially increases his appetite, and begins eating his personal belongings (including a football) to satisfy his hunger.

* Jimmy dresses up like a woman and goes undercover in the mob, causing the top gangster to fall in love with him.

A few thoughts:  Lucy Lane is an even more obnoxious you-know-what than Lois is, and that's saying something.  Also, it's pretty telling that on the Lois issue where the cover suggests Superman and Lois will get married and start a family, they felt the need to assure us that it's not a story involving robots.

the verdict:  If you liked the rest of them you'll like this one too.  More great Silver Age fun.

spaghetti bros. vol. 2

by Carlos Trillo & Domingo Mandrafina

the lowdown:  The lives of five Italian immigrants continue to intertwine, as one gets married, two vie for the attention of the same woman, and one attempts to come to grips with a prior murder she committed.

the lowdown:  Carlos Trillo continues to spin his Soprano-esque story in the second installment of this series.  As before, this volume consists of shorter (8-10 page) stories collected together, with serialized plot threads running throughout.  Where the first volume spent a good bit of time establishing the characters and their relationships to one another, this one moves a bit more briskly, introducing several plothammers that bring the siblings into conflict with one another.

The major storyline involves Amerigo falling in love, or at least what passes for love for him.  Amerigo is blissfully unaware that the object of his affections loves someone else, a shocking degree of naivete for a career gangster.  As always Trillo's characters can go a bit 2-D at times, but where the story really excels is in showing long-term consequences of actions.  Carmela's son, left fatherless after the events of volume one, shows difficulty adjusting to his new situation, and searches for a new father figure.  Amerigo's courtship has consequences that will play out indefinitely.  In the hands of a lesser writer it's easy to lose sight of things like that, but Trillo nails it almost every time.

Mandrafina's art continues to entertain.  There are a few times his faces aren't quite distinct enough, particularly the women.  Overall, though, he does a very nice job.

the verdict:  I'm still digging this one.  It's heavy on the soap opera, maybe, but it's a well-done soap opera.

batman: joker's asylum

by various writers and artists

collects the five Batman: Joker's Asylum one-shots

the premise:  The Joker narrates five standalone tales featuring fellow rogues Two-Face, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and.. well... himself.

the lowdown:  This was an odd little project that came out right in the midst of the 2008 movie craze, presumably to try and get people who like the Joker to look at other Batman villains.  Each of the one-shots is a character piece focusing on a particular rogue, and there's no connection between them other than they're all narrated by the Joker.  Which is really no connection at all, because the narration doesn't really read any differently than it would if they were narrated by someone else.

There's a fair bit of talent assembled here for what is essentially a throwaway miniseries, including Jason Aaron, David Hine, Guillem March, and Jason Pearson.  Aaron and Pearson's Penguin story is the best of the lot.  The rest range from okay to forgettable.  Juan Doe provides some rare interior art to the Scarecrow story, and it looks GREAT but has the weakest script of the lot.  

I'd suspect this book would be most enjoyable to someone unfamiliar with the Batman villains, and in fairness that's probably who the book was intended to reach.  For a veteran reader there's not really much new here - a few stories that are nicely executed but no real new insight into any of the characters.  

the verdict:  Recommended for Batman completists or for readers new to the Batman mythos.  It's not a bad book by any means, but there's nothing here that's just screaming for you to plunk down your cash.

young liars vol. 1: daydream believer

by David Lapham

collects Young Liars # 1-6

the premise:  Danny is a twenty-something loser who's in love with Sadie.  Sadie is a rich girl with a bullet lodged in her brain, removing all her inhibitions.  They and their friends are off on a whirlwind adventure that may not be exactly what it seems.

the lowdown:  I've made no secret in the past that I consider Lapham to be one of the best creators in the industry.  Stray Bullets has long been my favorite Lapham work, and this project is probably the closest thing he's done, thematically, to that work.

At least, that's what he'd have you believe.  And the book seems for the first few chapters like a variation on Stray Bullets - slice-of-life human drama featuring obviously flawed characters.  But you have no idea HOW flawed until you really get into the story.  Without spoiling anything, this book is a really neat experiment with perspective - normally first-person POV isn't *really* 1st-person.  The narrator usually acts as if s/he's omniscient.  Lapham turns that on its head and gives us a story told like any other story - by a human being who may not always be telling the truth.  This is a book that rewards careful reading - Lapham is letting you know all along where he's headed, but he does it in a very subtle way.  What looks like something straightforward becomes something altogether different.

Although there are no particularly likeable characters in this book, many of them are interesting.  One can only wonder how many more twists and turns Lapham is planning, but after a well-executed first chapter, this looks like a series that could have a nice long life.

the verdict:  A terrific new series that manages to evoke the best of Stray Bullets yet be something distinct.  Nice work from Lapham, and this series immediately moves near the top of my DC/ Vertigo list.

avengers the initiative vol. 2: killed in action

by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Stefano Caselli & more

collects Avengers: The Initiative # 7-13 & Annual # 1

the premise:  The attempts by the headmasters of Camp Hammond to cover up the death of a prized recruit blow up in their faces when a new villain is created.  Plus: the secret of the Scarlet Spiders.

the lowdown:  I reviewed volume 1 of this series quite a while back, and then kind of let it go.  Recently I decided to give it another go and picked up where I left off.  This meaty volume picks up on the dangling plot threads from volume 1, specifically the covered-up "death" of MVP, the assault on Gauntlet, and the Scarlet Spiders.  If anything, it's even *more* old-school than the first volume.  The pacing, the dialogue patterns, even some of the more contrived plot twists - they feel like they could've been plucked from a Marvel comic from 1978.

Books like that can be fun but they need something other than nostalgia to support them.  Otherwise, why not just go re-read the books from 1978, right?  This series does a bit better at creating verisimilitude this time around, now that it's not dropping all-new characters at you on every page.  I'm not still entirely enamored of the ongoing "training" conceit, as it seems to create too much lineup churn, but honestly this isn't a series that's going to see its 100th issue.  The premise will play itself out before then, so the churn is less a concern than it would be if the book was attempting a long-form character analysis.  This ain't that book, and that's ok.

Caselli does another nice job with the art, handling almost the entire book.  

As an aside, there's a story hook built in that's designed to provide an in-story explanation for why Spider-Man's identity isn't public anymore.  It's cute but doesn't really work.

the verdict:  An enjoyable disposable read.  It's pulled me in enough to get me to read the next volume.

madame mirage vol. 1

by Paul Dini & Kenneth Rocafort

collects Madame Mirage # 1-6

the premise:  The sultry and stylish Madame Mirage cuts a swath through the underworld - but what is the secret of this mysterious illusionist?

the lowdown:  Paul Dini really should do original books more often.  Yes, he is very good on Batman.  But this is a whole 'nother ballgame.  Dini's latest creation is the girly-girl Madame Mirage, who is part Shadow, part Batman, part Catwoman, but with a somewhat unique twist that I won't spoil.  She is apparently able to appear and disappear at will, and leaves a legion of completely befuddled bad guys in her wake.

Dini crafts an excellent action-adventure story filled with espionage and plenty of butt kicking.  Rocafort's atmospheric art assists in immediately setting a brisk-but-mysterious mood.  I haven't encountered Rocafort's art before but I was taken by it right away.  At times it gets a little too T&A, which undermines the stylish mood Dini's going for - but for the most part it looks really good.

Dini does a wonderful job of world-building, setting up a backstory for MM as well as a fairly diverse cast of supporting characters.  This has the feel of a concept that could sustain itself indefinitely but which is relatively fluid, allowing for long-form storytelling and real change.

the verdict:  I liked this a heckuva lot.  This is one of the best new superhero concepts I've encountered in quite some time, and I definitely hope Dini and Rocafort return to the character soon.  Recommended for all fans of stylish superheroes.

project superpowers

by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, Carlos Paul and more

collects Project Superpowers # 0-7

the premise:  In order to combat a modern threat to the world, an aged former hero must revive long-lost Golden Age heroes.

the lowdown:  This review took me much longer to compile than it will take you to read.  The reason for that is that, quite frankly, I struggled to decide what to say about this book.  It's perfectly competent, but when the best thing one can find to say about a book is that it's "competent"... well... that's not exactly a ringing endorsement, right?

The creative brainchild of Alex Ross, this series is a reimagining of a bunch of lost Golden Age heroes, brought into the present using a convoluted but acceptable plot device in order to thwart a threat in the present.  It's fairly unpretentious, a relatively straightforward superhero story.  There's no character that really stands out as being all that cool, though.  Only a handful of the characters get much development beyond the superficial, and none of them are really all that compelling.  The book looks good, with Paul and Stephen Sadowski (on the #0 issue) doing solid work.  There are a few places where it's better than good, even.  But for whatever reason, I was left feeling a noticeable lack of depth, and didn't leave with the sense that the creators really had anything to *say* about any of these characters.  It felt more like they just thought these were cool characters and wanted to use them, but didn't have any particular purpose in mind.

The book itself is nice and includes quite a few extras, including extended sketches and character designs.  So folks who were really into the singles may appreciate the collected edition as well.

the verdict:  Eh.  It's not bad.  It's not all that good either.  

batman: gotham underground

by Frank Tieri & Jim Calafiore

collects Gotham Underground # 1-9

the premise:  The Penguin, Tobias Whale, and Intergang conduct a three-way war for supremacy in the Gotham underworld, while a mess of superheroes try to keep order following Batman's mysterious disappearance.

the lowdown:  This book would be easy to dismiss based on the fact that (a) the premise is very similar to War Games, which sucked, and (b) it's a Countdown spin-off, though DC has painstakingly avoided calling it that.  And make no mistake, this story does have some problems.  Virtually every costumed character they could think of shows up here, whether their presence really makes any sense or not.  Montoya/ Question works for Oracle now?  And shoots people?  Oracle's back in Gotham?  Vigilante?  It's a little much at times.

With that said, there's some good here too.  Basically the idea is that Penguin is selling out his compadres to be sent to the Salvation Run planet, though the consequences of that aren't really addressed.  Tobias Whale and Intergang are trying to muscle in on Gotham's rackets, and Batman is waylaid and locked up in Blackgate in his Matches Malone identity.  If you can forgive all the little diversions and useless cameos, the through-line of the story is actually pretty well put-together.  Tieri particularly does a good job giving the story a sense of finality, as the Penguin stares down the inevitable.  So yeah, at times it's a mess, but it works okay as tough-guy popcorn entertainment.

Calafiore's art shines here - he's improved quite a bit since the last time I encountered his work.  He does a good job here with a very large cast, and I wouldn't mind seeing him take another stab at some of these characters in the future.

the verdict:  Flawed but entertaining.  I wouldn't stick it on the shelf next to Dark Knight Returns, but it does War Games better than War Games did.  Faint praise maybe, but despite some reservations I enjoyed this.

hulk visionaries: peter david vol. 6

by Peter David & Dale Keown

collects Incredible Hulk # 373-382

the premise:  With Banner's MPD reaching a breaking point, Doc Samson steps in and attempt to fuse the various Hulks into one persona - with striking results.  But the new Hulk is immediately shanghaied by a mysterious group bent on using him to change the world.

the lowdown:  These issues are where the first 45 issues of PAD's run come to a boil, as the grey and green Hulks battle for supremacy in Banner's psyche, leading to Banner's changes going haywire.  Samson steps in for the turning point, in issue #377, where he attempts to reconcile the various personalities.  Quite honestly, this is the very best of PAD's lengthy run.  It's a great example of long-form storytelling paying off, as PAD ties together plot threads building over the first four years of his run.

Once that issue is resolved (for the moment), the Pantheon is introduced as a new antagonist for the Hulk, except it might not really be an antagonist.  Although the Pantheon's involvement in this series was at times overdone, almost crowding the Hulk off the page, the concept was ahead of its time.  These issues are the reader's introduction to the concept, which would be the driving force of the series for the next forty-plus issues.

Keown handles most of the art here and shows why many consider him to be the definitive Hulk artist.  Bill Jaaska has two fill-ins, one of which is a humorous Christmas story, and the other of which is a serious-as-a-heart-attack Samson spotlight.  It's a great-looking book all the way through.

the verdict:  This was one of the most intelligent superhero comics of its day, and these issues have held up quite well.  Those some purists probably will not like the liberties PAD took with the character, IMO these are very good tales.  Very good stuff.

(note: the cover says Kurt Busiek contributed to this volume as well.  However, he did not.  April Fool's!)