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| SAVAGE HULK No. 2, September 2014 |
One of my favourite super-villains, Stan Lee’s Abomination
is one of the few characters I’ll actually purchase a comic book solely for;
providing the artwork inside is reasonably competent anyway. However I’ve
always felt Emil Blonsky’s alter ego has had something of a hard time
establishing himself as an opponent worthy of rivalling the Hulk in strength
and power. Fortunately Alan Davis’ superb cover to Issue Two of “Savage Hulk”,
which depicts the large scaly humanoid seriously giving his arch-foe a good straight
left to the chin, encapsulates all the raw aggression and sheer ferocity which
once saw the human mutate attain the rank of 54th Greatest Comic Book
Villain of All Time by Imagine Games Network.
Indeed under the pen and pencil
of the English writer/artist I have not see a more powerful interpretation of the
former KGB agent as he additionally battles the original X-Men and
swiftly brings both Marvel Girl and the Angel to their knees. As Blonsky states
himself this is “no dumb brute” the Hulk faces, but a behemoth who is not only
bigger and stronger than Bruce Banner’s gamma-bomb induced form but one which
is more intelligent too. As a result Davis gets to draw some simply superb
slug-fest moments as the Abomination clearly tries to finish what he starts on
the comic book’s front cover. Readers will rarely have seen the Hulk take such an almighty
beating as the Russian smashes boulder after boulder into him; all accompanied by
the obligatory “Fram” and Throom” sound effects.
In many ways this is real old school Marvel
storytelling stuff, back to the heyday of Stan “The Man” and “King” Kirby, as
the green giants go toe-to-toe, panel after panel, punch after punch, page
after page. However such is the detail and impact of Alan Davis’ masterful artwork,
gorgeously green thanks to the wonderful labours of colorist Matt
Hollingsworth, that the relentless action doesn’t get monotonous for a moment.
There’s also some nice touches going on in the background, with the likes of
Cyclops and Iceman realising they’ve been reduced to second-stringers by the
two powerhouses before them, and simply concerning themselves with their own
preservation.
The cowardly Major Talbot also ‘enjoys’ a supporting cast guest appearance as he
begrudgingly orders his infantry and tanks forward to face the duelling
combatants. Fortunately the soldier is saved by being able to arrest an
unconscious Abomination, who, having inevitably goaded the Hulk once too often,
finds himself soundly defeated.
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| Writer & Penciler: Alan Davis, Inker: Mark Farmer and Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth |
I have Loved Alan Davis's work ever since Miracleman and Captain Britain
ReplyDeleteI must confess to not having read "Miracleman" Phil. But "Excalibur" was a terrific series which certainly brought Alan Davis' work to my attention, and, like you, I have loved his art ever since. This issue of "Savage Hulk" was definitely him at his best too :-)
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