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The Hulk still has to “Stay Angry” as we learn, issue by issue, what Banner’s secret plan is. In this issue, we see the Jade Giant stuck in the jungle against none other than Kraven the Hunter, as well as a bunch of apes (well… Bigfoots, Yeti’s, and other ape-like creatures. You get the idea). 

Read on for my review!

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I love Kraven, I love the Hulk, I love Jason Aaron, and I’m pretty fond of Dalibor Talajic, this issue’s artist. So I should love this issue, right? Well… it fell a little short of my expectations.

If I’m looking for a lot of fun, then this issue doesn’t fall short. Jason Aaron’s ability to create ridiculous enemies for his characters to go against is delivered in spades here as the Hulk is taken by Kraven to the “Hidden City of Sasquatches.” So we get an issue full of giant apes of all kinds and the Hulk is pitted up against them, so it sounds like a lot of fun. However, rather than having Hulk fight off a lot of the apes, all we see is him kind of working with them. 

The best part of the issue, actually, is the opening as we see Kraven capturing the Hulk while the narrative boxes outline his character as an expert hunter. It’s such a good opening, in fact, that I wish it had made up the majority of the issue, rather than having us lend so much focus to Hulk’s happenings with the apes. 

One factor of the story that has been bugging me through this arc is the fact that we still don’t know what the endgame is that Aaron is working towards. This issue seems like Aaron is attempting to shed some more light on that matter, but he really doesn’t give enough to satisfy me, especially since we’re four out of five chapters through this story. If all you expected out of “Stay Angry” was a bunch of crazy one-off adventures with the Hulk, then this would definitely be satisfying, but after a few issues it starts to wear thin. I have hope that Aaron will close off his run (which is to end with issue #15) effectively, with a really great conclusion tying together all the plot threads he has sown, but as for now he’s not hitting the same strides I thought he had in the first arc of the title. 

Talajic delivers on the art, though. As we move forth with this arc, I have to say that the art in each issue is better than the last, and hopefully with Carlos Pacheco on the interiors in the next issue (along with the fact that Banner’s plan is to be fully revealed, and we also have Hulk up against both Wolverine and Thing) it takes the cake and rounds this arc out successfully. Talajic’s style seems perfectly suited for the jungle scenes which make up almost all of this book, especially when we see the Sasquatch City, and his character designs are fantastic. I have to say, though, that Frank Martin’s colors make the artwork really stand out as his palettes blend perfectly with the settings Talajic illustrates. 

GO Rating: 3/5