Original Sin #3.1 Hulk vs. Iron Man Comic Book Review-by Comicshistoryguy
The whole
Original Sin crossover event promises to change the Marvel Universe forever. After the murder of the Watcher, z-list villain The Orb detonates the "Eyeball Bomb" that opens up the worst secrets in the Marvel Universe. Two of the heroes thus affected by the revelation detonation are
Hulk and
Iron Man. The last words of the Hulk in Original Sin #1 were "Hulk...Smash...Stark." This bodes badly for Tony Stark.
As
Original Sin #3.1 Hulk vs. Iron Man opens up, we see Hulk and Iron Man duking it out. One of the best guilty pleasures of being a Marvel reader, is the wonderfully destructive, clobbering smashfests that are seen when Marvel's heavy hitters go at it. Whether it be Hulk vs. Thor, or Hulk vs. The Thing, or Hulk vs. Sub-Mariner (see a theme here?), or to be fair, Thing vs. Subby, or any of these guys vs. bad guys like Abomination, Juggernaut, the Wrecking Crew, and so on, the reader is guaranteed a great fight. But on a certain level, the most logical, and potentially best battle should be between Hulk and Iron Man. Why is that you ask? Look at it this way. In their "civilian" personas, Banner and Stark are both very similar, yet very different. Banner is a quiet, introverted teetotaler, and keeps his emotions largely bottled up, especially his rage. As Hulk, he is the opposite, letting his emotions out there for all the world to see and get smashed for seeing it. Stark, especially the modern "Robert Downey Jr.-version" is a loud braggart who thinks nothing of letting it all hang out, both intellectually and emotionally, especially when he is drinking. Similar in their genius level intellect, but total opposites in terms of personality.
Now, look at Hulk and Iron Man. Hulk is the embodiment of physicality and anti-intellectualism (at least as the most common variation of the Hulk: the relatively dumb one). He is all emotion. Ever heard him say something like "the madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets?" Yeah, he does not even try to hold it in. Iron Man, on the other hand, is just a really smart guy in a walking, flying piece of self-made technology. He is the embodiment of brains over brawn. Iron Man is constantly coming up with new versions of his armor, and is always developing new strategies and tactics and tech to match his foes. Hulk-Buster armor anyone? While the armor gives Stark a variety of weapons, and projects his physical strength, the very idea of an Iron Man comes from intelligence and mental discipline. In essence, the Hulk and Iron Man are total opposites. Which means that any serious battle between them will be epic!
And epic is what we get in this book. While the book opens in the midst of a battle, the bulk of the story is told in flashback, to the day prior to the accident that turned Banner into the Hulk. Without giving away any major spoilers, the interaction between Banner and Stark is well-written and is a logical outgrowth of the similarities and differences mentioned above.
Although the central secret sin that causes all the ruckus between them is fairly easy to deduce from the cover art and the fact Hulk wants to smash Tony Stark, this review will not give it away. Let's just say that it fits and is a logical potential conflict between them. With one caveat. The whole series of events in this flashback leading up to the creation of the Hulk has been retconned into the Hulk's origin story. None of this Stark-Banner interaction seen in the flashback has been seen before to our knowledge. Not to say it is a bad retcon, but sometimes these things get out of hand at Marvel. Having said all that, it does all make sense. Stark and Banner were both working on weapons for the military back then, and having Stark somehow involved makes sense.
Mark Waid and Kieron Gillen co-wrote the story, with art by Mark Bagley and Luke Ross. The story is good, and promises to get better with future issues. The art is great, and the Silver Age feel to the cover art evokes the old Kirby touch, which is appropriate to the whole flashback angle.
This is a good chapter in the Original Sin crossover, and you should pick it up at your local comics shop.
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