While it is amusing, it does bring to mind some troubling thoughts (editor's note--there's a surprise!).A) Yeah, having the Abomination call himself "A-Bomb" was cute. For about 3 milliseconds. Then they had him do it again. And again...
B) Do we need a villain who is so stupid that he can't even say his own name? Really, is that appealing at all?
More seriously, did we need to make Rick Jones stupid? Of all the various gamma-spawned beasties out there (the original Abomination, Doc Samson, the Leader, Sasquatch, et al), only Banner's Hulk had infantile intelligence. So why do it again with Rick? Since Green-Banner-Hulk returns at the end of this issue, and is apparently dim again, do we need two stupid monsters running about? Can't we come up with something more original?
(Before any of you enterprising readers dig up the Hulk issues from a couple of decades ago that I'm too lazy to dig up myself where Rick temporarily became Hulk Junior or whatever and was stupid then, let me say that that merely begs the question--making Rick a stupid gamma-monster was as questionable back then as it is now.)
C) Someone really isn't talking to corporate marketing, are they? Just before the debut of the new Hulk movie, starring Emil Blonsky as the Abomination, Marvel & Loeb have killed off Blonsky, created a new Abomination who looks and sounds nothing like the old one and has a different identity. It's like killing off the Joker before Dark Knight premieres...I'm not sure whether to attack the marketing stupidity or applaud the artistic integrity. Of course, since I've just spent the last few paragraphs slagging the artistic results, well...
And speaking of stupid, allow me one more attack. As Bruce Banner is being gassed in his cell:
Gee, Bruce, maybe the fact that YOU'RE TALKING ALOUD AND COUGHING could be a pretty good clue that you don't know how to hold your breath. Banner can figure out all the angles so as not to injure innocents, but doesn't know not to talk while trying to hold his breath? Oy...Still, "Robot Betty Birdface put A-Bomb down!" is a classic...
Words and pictures from Red Hulk #3.
Just more of that special brand of Jeph Loeb incompetence. Really...why does this guy keep getting such high profile work? Even a cursory glance at reviews and board feedback of his stuff will tell you the guy has trouble telling coherent stories that have any sort of point or logical flow. At their core, many of the plots come off as something a child might write, with the same flighty inattention to detail or characterization, albeit with a marginally better use of the language.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, is Loeb doing the "Rogue's Gallery Roll-Call" he does on just about every title he writes these days? Seeing the Harpy robot made me wonder if he was up to his old tricks (ala "Batman: Hush").
ReplyDeleteNo Rogue's Gallery Rollcall...so far only the original Abomination being murdered (seen only in a short hazy flashback), and the harpy robots were just security guards, not intended to pass for the real Harpy...
ReplyDeleteAs to why Loeb keeps getting work, two words: Tim Sale. He's been coasting on the strength of those Batman stories for a looong time now.
Hrm. At this point, I think killing off the Joker would seem more disrespectful than anything else.
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