The second volume of Peter David’s tenure on X-Factor is actually half The Incredible Hulk and half X-Factor. There’s as much jade giant as there
is green haired Polaris. Both series are written by Peter David and the members
of X-Factor do appear in all six issues, but it made for an inconsistent read.
The first two issues in the collection are The
Incredible Hulk #390-391, parts one and two of a three part story. Issue
#76 of X-Factor takes place afterwards
and that is followed by one more issues of The
Incredible Hulk and the collection ends with issues #77 and 78 of X-Factor. There’s nothing wrong about
that reading order other than the fact that the Hulk issues and the story it
tells completely distract from the story and the momentum David was building in
the first volume.
Other than the Hulk:
The End trade paperback, these are the first issues of David’s popular run
on The Incredible Hulk that I’ve ever
read. My first reaction is that Dale Keown’s art is excellent. It’s so good and
I might have to order the first Visionaries volume of David’s hulk run just to
see more of Keown’s art. Keown’s sleek and muscular art contrast pretty heavily
with Stroman’s thin lines and exaggerated anatomy. Seeing Guido and Hulk on the
same page is startling. Even when drawn by Keown, Guido’s musculature is so
bizarre it’s truly because a part of the character. Larry Stroman only draws
two of the six issues collected here and although it’s a shame because I was
just getting used to his art, it is nonetheless a welcome break. I’m warming up
to his style but being so closely juxtaposed with Keown, it does leave
something to be desired.
I wasn’t overly impressed with the Hulk issues. The story
was somewhat uninteresting but it did provide plenty of opportunity for good
superhero action. That’s what the highlight was, in fact. Watching Keown’s Hulk
in action was a treat and David has a much better grasp of him and his supporting
cast (Rick Jones!) that he has on the characters of X-Factor. It’s difficult to judge the quality of these three issues
of The Incredible Hulk since I haven’t
read any of the others by the same writer and artist but I have a feeling that
just like the X-Factor issues aren’t as representative of the rest of the
issues written by David, the same can be said for the three-part Hulk story.
There was some good character develop in X-Factor. David
is starting to get a feel for the characters and his story is developing beyond
“good guys beat up bad guys” kind of stories.
I can’t finish this review without talking about the
humour. It’s better than in the first volume. I think that has to do with David
getting to know the characters better, he’s had the time to get accustomed to
the members of the government sanctioned team of mutants. Guido especially is
shaping up into an interesting character. He’s developing a voice and it’s
often pretty funny. Rahne also starts to go through some changes and it’s
adding some nice depth to the comic. I really like the cast of X-Factor. They’re interesting because I
do not know every little thing about them and they’re not A-list characters so
I know there can be and will be some serious and pretty permanent changes to
their personalities and character makeup.
It’s unfortunate that The
Incredible Hulk gets in the way. It’s a decent story and there are some
interesting moral questions raises by some of the characters. I’m glad it was
collected somewhere but I’m not sure this was the best place. I honestly can’t
think of a better way to have included it. It’s right where it should be but it
distracts from the real focus here which should be the X-Factor team. At the
very least, Dale Keown’s art helps make the Hulk a bit more welcome in an
x-book.
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