World War Hulk: A Shellhead, A Bughead, and a Head on Fire

World War Hulk is exceeding demand. This week's offerings: World War Hulk: Front Line 1 and World War Hulk: X-Men 1 have both sold out through Diamond. Marvel has announced they're going back to press on Hulk 106 (3rd print) & 107 (2nd), plus 2nd print runs on many of the books covered below: Ghost Rider 12, Heroes for Hire 11, and Iron Man 19. They're coming with new covers, of course (which you can see at the link above), but they just look to be panels taken from inside the book and slapped on the cover, which is kinda lame but probably cost effective.

Here's this week's rundown of WWH books I've managed to read, so far. (I'll get to the Front Line and X-Men tie-ins later.) If you're not familiar with how the Anxiety is handling World War Hulk, each book is rated based on how well it meets the selling point of the event - that is, how much Hulk-related ass-kicking it contains.

Invincible Iron Man 19 (Gage & Juice).

SMASH! LEVEL: CONTEXTUAL.

MAIN EVENT: HULK V. IRON MAN.

Iron Man 19 contextualizes the events of World War Hulk 1, giving you the perspective of Iron Man and SHIELD to the reappearance of the Hulk. It's a really strong issue that integrates itself well into the WWH storyline. We don't see the event pushed forward here, but we understand Stark's actions and SHIELD's response to a much higher degree, which enhances the event. Fill-in writer Christos Gage integrates the ongoing Iron Man story and the WWH story together effectively. Instead of this book feeling hijacked by the WWH event, it fits in seamlessly. The battle between the Hulk and Iron Man isn't as explosive here as it was in WWH 1, but Butch Juice's art is strong throughout the issue.

There's a cool double-page spread early in the issue showing various historical Iron Man suits working as a first response team to the cosmic arrival of Hulk's warship, but they're taken out rather easily and quickly. I was hoping to see a bit more of a space battle, and I don't think the book would have been hurt by having this be the issue's dominant battle instead of another take on the battle from WWH 1, but that's a small complaint in an excellent issue.

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Heroes for Hire 11: "World War Hulk, Part 1: Infestation" (Wells & Mann).

SMASH! LEVEL: BUG STOMP.

MAIN EVENT: HUMBUG V. WEIRD-ASS LITTLE BUGGY DUDE.

I have nothing against humorous superhero titles - I like my Spider-Man (mostly) humorous, I loved the classic Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League, I dig the Great Lakes Avengers (or whatever they're calling themselves these days) - but I don't think Heroes for Hire has the right cast to pull it off. When I think funny, I don't think of Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Black Cat, Tarantula, and Shang-Chi. Humbug, sure. (At least pre-Savage Land Humbug.) Yet the latest HfH series has been infused with a silliness, or lack-of-seriousness, that hasn't really played. It's been more surface-oriented stories and though I've read most of the issues of this series (I dropped out a couple issues before Zeb Wells took over) I don't really feel like I know these characters all that much better.

Zeb Wells is definitely an improvement over the previous writers, however, and even if I'm not getting the kinds of stories I'd prefer to read with this group (which would be a mix of high-flying kung-fu and espionage instead of wacky assignments), Wells makes it fun to stick around and delivers more of the character building I'd like to see. Since Wells took over this is a good book, just not the book I'd prefer.

Tying books like Heroes for Hire and Ghost Rider into World War Hulk is a smart move because it gives the lower-selling books a chance to suck in some fans and show them what the book is like. I'd be surprised if HfH doesn't see their numbers raise after their time with WWH is done. Wells dialogue is sharp and his pacing smart. There's a lot of characters in this book, though, and none of them really step out front to take over, so we're left with a lot of Aaron Spelling soap storytelling, with quick hits of the various plots and a bit too much recap.

For a tie-in to WWH, Wells spends a bit too much time cleaning up after last issue, when the team extracted Moon Boy from his habitat with Devil Dinosaur in order to bring him back to a SHIELD science lab. They arrive in NYC to find that the Hulk has come back to Earth and everyone is clearing out of Manhattan. SHIELD enlists HfH for a "freebie" to save the day and the team ends up running into the colonizing efforts of Miek and Brood. Brood is pumping babies like mad and the new attuned-to-the-world-of-bugs Humbug is drawn to the baby pumping. After Black Cat tries to make nice with one of the little drones because he's sooooooo cute, Humbug pops its head off, then rips the body apart, splattering the team with buggy ooziness (and giving Clay Mann a chance to gratuitously show that ooze all over Misty and Colleen's breasts) which he claims will shield them from the bugs detecting them.

Humbug points to the mother ship, intimates that's where they're headed, and ... that's it for this issue. (There's a back-up featuring Scorpion and Paladin about what they're doing when all this is going on.) A good issue taken as it is, but for a tie-in it's all set-up. It's a lot better than the Ghost Rider next tie-in issue, however.

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Ghost Rider 12: "Apocalypse Soon, Part One" (Way & Saltares).

SMASH! LEVEL: NONEXISTENT.

MAIN EVENT: NONE.

Yeah, if you're looking for any part of the cool Ghost Rider vs. Hulk throwdown promised on teh cover, you'll have to come back next issue. This is a Ghost Rider issue with a Hulk appearance tossed in at the end, so if you're buying this just for the Hulk, don't bother. Marvel could've still delivered a kick-ass issue, using WWH to promote Ghost Rider, but they treated it like a jumping-on issue, instead. The story is painfully slow and we see some Ghost Rider vs. Lucifer action, but since Lucifer is in the body of a pilot, well, there's a reason the cover depicted GR vs. HULK and not GR vs. AIRLINE PILOT!

Two good books and a disappointment. As promised above, I'll hit World War Hulk: Front Line 1 and World War Hulk: X-Men 1 a little later on.