What great timing, eh?
While DC Comics releases a comic where Superman and Batman fight werewolves, Marvel published a king-size special where the Hulk dukes it out with the Monster of Frankenstein, Werewolf by Night and Dracula himself!
I purchased the special issue in a kind of flurry of excitement and will admit that I did not hope for much when I finally decided to read it. Yet what a surprise this issue turned out to be!
The first tale is the real star where Bruce Banner is tricked into giving the Monster of Frankenstein a blood-transfusion, turning it into a raging super-powered monstrosity. Stellar art and a tight story make this a must-read (while I’m still hazy as to why Bruce helped revive the monster at all). The rumination on what makes a monster is textbook stuff for Hulk fans, but this story added a little something to the formula by presenting a genuine monster to co-star.
The second tale is cursed by poor coloring that make it nearly illegible, but I have to admire the attempt to mimic moonlight in the battle between the Hulk and Werewolf by Night. A character all but forgotten these days, it was a treat to see the Werewolf by Night return to the page if only for a moment.
A brief humorous tale (which I adored) breaks up the rhythm just enough for the finale that I had not planned on reading at all as it was mostly text (so many words and few pictures frustrate my puny mind). But the Hulk vs Dracula short story by Peter David was both fun and exciting. An accomplished writer or prose and comic books, David remains one of the best out there.
So if you are looking for a Hulk comic to dive into after this week’s release of the Incredible Hulk DVD, you should check this one out at your local comic shop!
