By Damon Lindelof (writer), Leinil Francis Yu (pencils, inks), Dave McCaig (colors)
The Story: With Forge’s restrainers in tow, Wolverine hatches his end-game plan against the Hulk and his consort, She-Hulk. After disposing of the latter he make his move against the Hulk only to be outsmarted by Fury who, as always, is one-step ahead of everyone else.
What’s Good: The dialogue, built on exceptionally strong characterization, is the best thing in the comic. Repeatedly, Damon Lindelof delivers some great lines at the perfect times. The various characters and their individual motivations and personalities work better in this issue than the previous installments. But Wolverine’s persona, which is a mix of Clint Eastwood cowboy and Harrison Ford good guy, is notably strong. It’s a lot of fun watching him play the reluctant hero in his own uniquely twisted way.
There are nice “human” touches and humor that Lindelof sprinkles into the story that make it even more entertaining. For example, there is a scene when She Hulk and Wolverine bicker about the proper name of a night table. It was funny and natural, and didn’t bust into a Seinfeldian dialogue which a lot of writers resort to when they want to be funny about everyday stuff. Most importantly, this moment and others, are great “telling” details about the characters that help the reader engage in the story.
Leinil Yu’s pencils are perfect for this series and I am really impressed with his work here. He’s got a heavy touch to his work that you either love or hate, but I found myself really enjoying the selection of imagery for the panels he put together. His characters were nothing exceptional, but they were still solid as they enhanced the story in their body language and expressions.
What’s Not So Good: This is a fun series and obviously one had to not knit-pick about the logic behind certain developments to get into it fully. That being said, a couple of sequences were too bombastic. The scene where Wolverine hops over a metal detector at the airport while security was distracted was ridiculous. In a busy airport, somebody would have seen him, and that truth was just ignored. I understand that for the sake of the story there needs to be a narrative slight-of-hand, but that was just way too over the top. Same goes with Nick Fury knowing how to arrive on the scene at the end of the book. Totally unbelievable.
Conclusion: I’m not really sure why this series isn’t getting as much attention as I think it deserves. It was a particularly memorable Hulk and Wolverine tale that had a lot of interesting story and character development crammed into it. Also, it was a rare good and fun trip into the Ultimate Universe. Perhaps the biggest compliment that I can give this arc is that I will be rereading it from start to finish the first chance that I get. To me, longevity is the highest accolade for comics these days.
I hope to see Lindelof at the helm of more projects in the future. He adds an interesting voice to familiar characters and has an excellent sense for the mythos surrounding them.
Grade: B+
-Rob G
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Damon Lindelof, Dave McCaig, Hulk, Leinil Francis Yu, Marvel Reviews, Nick Fury, She Hulk, Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk, Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk #6, Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk #6 - Review, Weekly Comic Book Review, Wolverine
