Jeph Loeb and the future of the RULK
Posted by dailypop on July 8, 2009
First introduced last year with the triumphant new Hulk series by Loeb and McGuinness, the ever mysterious Red Hulk (or ‘Rulk’) has been keeping readers guessing as to who he is. After taking down almost every heavy hitter in the Marvel Universe from Thor to the Watcher, readers have been split on the tongue-in-cheek tone of the book compared to the dynamic series that Greg Pak delivered in Planet Hulk and World War Hulk previously. In a recent issue of Skaar, Son of Hulk, Pak addressed this brilliantly by saying that the Hulk’s personality has regressed as a reaction to the loss of his wife and kingdom on Sakaar.
As Pak and Loeb start to finally work together on the page, readers are again curious about what comes next. Writer Jeph Loeb took some time to talk to comicbookresources.com to give us a few hints.
In August’s “Hulk” #13, Loeb and Ed McGuinness follow up on the events of “Incredible Hulk” #600. Also in August, “Incredible Hulk” establishes itself as a proper new title, with Greg Pak and Ariel Oliveti beginning their run with issue #601. The end of this particularly big month for the Hulk sees the release of “Hulk” #14, beginning the four-issue “Code Red” story by Loeb and guest artist Ian Churchill, who will depict what happens when someone discovers who the Red Hulk is, and the dangerous consequences felt by characters including Wolverine, X-Force, The Punisher, Elektra and Deadpool. Finally, writer Paul Jenkins steps in with the newly renamed “Son of Hulk” title, which is still set in space.
“It was always planned from ‘Hulk’ #1 that Greg would come back after we had established who the Red Hulk was and what that story was going to be about,” Loeb said. “It is not by coincidence that ‘Skaar’ was a book that built right up until ‘Incredible Hulk’ #600. When you put it all together, clearly we had a plan. What we never did was say at the beginning, ‘This is what we’re going to do’ because I think it’s one of those things where if you come right out at the very beginning and say, ‘Jeph and Ed are only doing to the first six issues of the book’ then your investment is less. I think then everybody focuses on, ‘What happens after that? Where are Jeph and Ed going after that?’ That’s not what you want. You want people to be present in the stories you’re telling.”
“Are there people who are frustrated by not having the answers? Yes. But that only happens when you care. If you don’t care, then you don’t buy the book and you’re not frustrated by anything. You just throw up your hands and go, ‘I don’t care who’s behind the cowl.’ If you’re not compelled to read ‘Who is Batman?’ – which people clearly are – what are you going to do? Nothing. And there have been some very good story lines where the readers have abandoned the story. We’re super lucky – and I never take it for granted – that people are on board and want to know what I refer to as ‘the story of the Red Hulk,’ not necessarily ‘Who is the Red Hulk?’ Because once you know who the Red Hulk is, that’s a valuable piece of information, but as you learn in #600, that’s just a piece of the puzzle.”
After the great success that Greg Pak and Jeph Loeb have experienced with their Hulk comics I am looking forward to see how this new ‘Hulk family’ line will do. Marvel has gotten quite bold in the past few years with specials, one offs and cross-overs that have resulted in new series. That in itself is nothing new but the success of these new titles is startling to say the least.
One thing I’m still unclear on regarding all these different Hulks… who’s the strongest there is?
