Hulk by Cates & Ottley vol. 2: Hulk Planet

Why “Hulk Planet?”  Because it’s a planet inhabited by Hulks.  Or rather, the castoffs created by the alternate universe Bruce Banner from the first volume of the series.  Their growth was accelerated by the Banner we know after he harnessed all of the Gamma from the climax of that arc and shunted it there.  The result being a civilization full of Hulk-like individuals who revere our protagonist as a God.  It seems like it’d be the perfect place for him to reside and live out his days, except we all know that’s not possible.  There’s still a poison festering inside of his mind known as Titan.  Worse still is the familiar face that it wears.

Donny Cates’ run on this series, and “Thor,” was tragically cut short after he was involved in a brutal car accident earlier this year.  That tragedy is more keenly felt here as the first two issues, the only ones he fully wrote in this collection, show that he was onto something good here.  He displays a good understanding of Banner’s trauma  and his history while segueing seamlessly into the setup of Hulk Planet and his history.  Ottley’s art is detailed as ever here, enhancing the drama and spectacle of these scenes effortlessly.

Ottley then took over as writer for most of the issues that followed (Cates gets a credit as a co-plotter on issue #12), but it feels unfair to blame him for the rest of the volume not being as good.  He stepped up when this storyline needed to be finished and I can’t fault him for that.  If anything, the “We Gotta Wrap This Up Now!” feeling that pervades the rest of the volume is to be expected.  Ottley wraps up the story being told and in a way that I felt could’ve been a lot worse given the circumstances.  That may seem like damning with faint praise, but given the circumstances I’m glad that it managed that much.