Loeb, McGuinness hulk out

Believe it or not, Planet Hulk was just the first part of a trilogy of an epic Hulk saga that Marvel had planned!

Planet Hulk was A New Hope, World War Hulk is The Empire Strikes Back, and the next part of the epic arc will no doubt rock as hard as the previous two arcs.

And who better than the creative team behind Superman/Batman to tell the stories of the Hulk post-WWH?

Well...Greg Pak, I suppose. A little bit disappointed that he's not the one ending the trilogy, since he WAS the guy who created the whole Planet Hulk and World War Hulk storylines. Ah well.


LOEB, MCGUINNESS HULK OUT
The writer and artist will have fans seeing red (and green) as they help Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan conclude the epic arc that began with ‘Planet Hulk’

By Kevin Mahadeo

Posted September 10, 2007 9:05 PM

He’s mean, he may or may not still be green, but he definitely remains the Marvel U.’s biggest smashing machine!

From being blasted into space by his so-called friends to experiencing yet another life-mate dying tragically in his arms, it’s no wonder why the Hulk has been seeing red this past year as he smashed and bashed his way from the battle planet of Sakaar in “Planet Hulk” through Earth’s mightiest heroes in “World War Hulk.” With so much already going on, retailers were rocked out of their seats at Baltimore Comic-Con when Marvel announced longtime collaborators Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness would be pulling up a chair to the Hulk’s creative green table—where the team of Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan will also be sitting.

“The Hulk mythos is busting out all over,” reveals Pak. “We have two giant stories that require two giant creative teams.”

Pak also reveals that those “giant stories” constitute the final part of the super-secret Hulk trilogy planned since the conception of “Planet Hulk” in 2006. And what better way to end the trilogy than to bring back the artist who first breathed life into it?

“I thought [Carlo] couldn’t top his pencils with the last couple issues of ‘Planet Hulk,’ but he keeps getting better with every issue,” Pak enthuses. “He’s already done a few covers and designs for the new project, and they’re out of this world.”

Loeb and McGuinness collaborated on a number of works previously, including stints on Action Comics and Superman/Batman for DC. Both Loeb and McGuinness have wanted to go toe-to-toe with the Hulk since returning to Marvel, says Hulk editor Mark Paniccia. And after the events of World War Hulk, he says, “It’s go time!”

“They’re bringing an incredible amount of enthusiasm and inspiration to the project,” says Paniccia. “You’ll see in [their] first issue that they’re going in full throttle.”

As if that announcement weren’t enough, minds were nearly blown with the release of an image “penciled by the electrifying Ed McGuinness, inked by dazzling Dexter Vines and colored by Jazzy Jason Keith,” featuring an extremely ticked-off half-red/half-green Hulk!

“It is pretty mysterious, isn’t it?” jokes Pak.

Paniccia teases it could be symbolic, it could be two characters, or it could be one character. “Maybe environmentally friendly Hulk and artificial cherry sweetener Hulk?” Pak jokes. “Or maybe it’s a Valentine Day’s story—jealous Hulk and romantic comedy Hulk?”

However, that story may still be a way off—early 2008, according to Paniccia and Pak. Before then, Pak will be co-writing an arc on Incredible with the “supercool” Fred Van Lente of Super-Villain Team-Up fame beginning with issue #112. Marvel is keeping information on this arc under gamma-irradiated lock and key, but Paniccia reveals that while the action will reach high-intensity levels, it all boils down to a mystery.

“There are things going on that just aren’t adding up for our cast. By issue #4 or #5, there will be some monstrous reveals.”

LOEB, MCGUINNESS HULK OUT
The writer and artist will have fans seeing red (and green) as they help Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan conclude the epic arc that began with ‘Planet Hulk’

By Kevin Mahadeo

Posted September 10, 2007 9:05 PM