The World War Hulk Challenge

Monday afternoon I broke down and bought World War Hulk #1. I had sworn off the crossover after I was unable to procure a copy of Incredible Hulk #106 for our Book of Doom review. I was sort of crossovered out anyway, and missing the first issue of the crossover seemed like a sign to avoid it altogether. But as you may have read about in this week’s Meaningless Awards, I was rather disappointed with the comics that came out this week. I figured Hulk beating the crap out of a bunch of people would be worthwhile reading.

Turns out, it was. I really enjoyed the issue. Maybe it had something to do with Hulk being an uber-badass. Maybe it had something to do with John Romita’s art, which even Romita-hater Jim Doom enjoyed. Or maybe it had something to do with seeing Tony Stark getting his ass handed to him. Yeah, that’s probably it. Sure, I could be complaining that it took a grand total of three months before the country turned to non-registered superheroes for help, but I’m a little too giddy that Tony Stark finally got what he deserves.

Whenever Marvel promotes a big new crossover, they say the only books you should have to buy to understand the story is the main mini-series. That may have been the case with House of M, but it most certainly was not the case with Civil War. And with a parallel story running through Incredible Hulk, I kind of doubt that’s the case for WWH.

Here’s where the challenge comes in: since Marvel claims all I need to read is the main mini-series, that’s all I’m reading this time through. I’ve decided to buy World War Hulk, but only World War Hulk. Unless a crossover happens in a book I’d be buying anyway, I won’t buy it. I won’t even browse through it at the store. I won’t even read reviews of the crossover issues on the internet. And come October, we’ll know if Marvel’s claim is actually true.