Utilizing two of the largest titans in Marvel, Jim Starlin has come up with a creative way to pit The Incredible Hulk against the Mad Titan himself, Thanos. While the first issue does not prove to be an all out slug fest, the name of the comic promises we’ll be seeing the two come to blows by the end of the mini-series and I cannot wait to see what happens. First up, I really have to stress that you should start off by reading the introduction of the book which I have a tendency to skim or skip. While usually just a recap of the recent story line or previous issue, this one actually tells us when the book is set which is something I was about 3 pages in before I turned back to see what exactly was going on.

Newbie mistake, I know.

Prior to the events of ‘Thanos: The Infinity Revelation‘ and while Bruce Banner was working for S.H.I.E.L.D. is exactly when you’ll see this issue come into play. In fact, according to Starlin, this is a stand alone issue but if you had read both ‘Thanos Annual’ #1 and ‘Thanos: The Infinity Revelation’ you’ll be able to get a little more out of it. Not at all neccesary but there are a few tie-in moments.

Jim Starlin has always been one of the big names in comics and not only does he creatively take some of his space dwelling characters on, but does a wonderful job at throwing the Hulk into the mix as well. Art wise you can tell Starlin’s work right off the bat which is a double edged sword. It’s great once we get into space but the first few pages that set the scene seem a little off as Iron Man and Director Hill both seem out of proportion and a little too close to one another in a scene.

That being said you can’t hold the first few pages truly against such a fun comic.

The entire confrontation seems ridiculous from the start. It would appar that Annihilus is using Pip the Troll to kidnap the Hulk. In order to make things right we see that Pip decides to use one of his old friends from the Infinity Watch and realizes that only Thanos has the power to be able to really help out. Also after the events in the ‘Annihilation Wave’ he might be the easiest one to convince that facing down Annihilus is something to voluntarily do.Tricking the Mad Titan into help though might be a little more than Pip had argued for.

I can’t give this one a perfect score for a combination of the art and not actually seeing Hulk and Thanos physically confront one another quite yet. I understand it’s a 4-issue mini-series and they have to build to the great brawl between these iconic characters but I was hoping for a little more than just a couple words being said between the two at the issue’s end. Still, it’s a great introduction and I can’t wait to see where Starlin takes us. Overall, a great issue for fans of Starlin’s writing style.

atoms_4.5

THANOS VS HULK #1
Writer: Jim Starlin
Artist: Jim Starlin