Red Hulk #1: Doom’s Prison

Doctor Doom may be acting like a benevolent leader to most of the world. But to a small group of people in Red Hulk #1, he is nothing more than a cruel and demanding captor. The latest tie-in to “One World Under Doom” reminds readers just how bad Doom can be.

General Thunderbolt Ross is prisoner in Red Hulk #1. Ross, Machine Man, an alternate universe Deathlok, and others are all in Doom’s cells. Doom questions them, making them formulate ways to destabilize rivals and enemies around the globe. Even Ross has been broken by Doom. But that all changes when an opportunity for escape suddenly presents itself.

It’s unclear when Red Hulk #1 takes place relative to One World Under Doom #1. Percy provides no clues. But Percy’s story in this first issue isn’t concerned with larger events in the world at all. This issue is more of a psychological battle of whether Doom’s captives can resist breaking under his captivity. For this reason, the use of General Ross as the viewpoint character is ideal. To use a crude expression, Ross is a tough S-O-B. He is both the kind of character who would resist and try to escape at any cost and the one who would be most surprising if he was broken. Percy does touch on the ladder aspect of his character but he doesn’t linger too long, instead leaning into the former which is exactly what is necessary for a prison break story.

Red Hulk #1 is told primarily via Ross’ internal monologue. At least for this issue, it limits how much the reader can learn about the other characters. But Percy is one of the best at telling stories via narration (either first person internal monologue or third person). Despite the story being told at a kind of remove from events (again, everything proceeds from Ross’ telling of the matter), it grabs the attention quickly and races forward.

Percy is particularly economical with text when it comes to Ross’ internal monologue. And his script mostly avoids traditional grid layouts, primarily using page width panels, half and full page spreads, and borders that blend with the art. All of this allows Percy’s visual partners to tell much of the story.

Shaw delivers a variety of both action sequences and borderline character hero views. In the case of the ladder, Shaw is very detailed. Deathlok’s first appearance in Red Hulk #1 takes up ? of a page. Shaw outlines multiple spaces on Deathlok’s metal arm to delineate color variation on the metal. The scars on the human side of Deathlok’s face are clear and delineated. Light and dark shading adds detail to the cyborg’s collarbone and surrounding upper torso.

Other characters in Red Hulk #1 receive similar treatment, even during fights as much as possible. Shaw is conservative when it comes to distinct and thick linework, but he uses liberal patches of shading, from light and gentle to fully dark, to accentuate facial features, folds in clothing, and overall build. Percy provides limited information on Ross’ fellow prisoners. Instead, it’s Shaw who gives each prisoner a distinct personality even if they might only appear in one or two panels.

Backgrounds in Red Hulk #1 are somewhat less detailed. It’s worth noting that the backgrounds in the issue are primarily brick walls, so whether the lack of detail is part of Shaw’s style or simply a matter of circumstance is unclear. But in any event, the characters pop off pages leaving backgrounds that just seem to sit there.

The issue’s most visually gripping page is a collection of six “panels” orbiting Doom’s masked face and hands with the green energy coruscating from them providing organic looking dividers between the panels, each one depicting one of the prisoners carrying out actions on behalf of Doom. Shaw manages as much detail as he can within the different panels while adding much greater detail on Doom via levels of shading around his hood and mask.

This page is also Valenza’s most impressive. The sheer variety of color grabs the attention. And the panel dividers made of the vibrant green energy flowing off Doom is brighter than anything in the panels that that energy creates. The placement of caption boxes keeps the eye tracking around the page while Valenza’s more vivid color on Doom and his power keeps him in focus as the most important element, both on the page and thematically in the issue as the captor.

Less showy than this page but of a similar value is Valenza’s ability to add further detail and dimension to characters. As with the aforementioned Deathlok, Shaw outlines separate areas for Valenza to vary his coloring. In the case of Deathlok, Shaw’s distinctly lined areas combines with Valenza’s natural color work to add even more dimension to already detailed characters.

Despite Percy’s general economy with text in Red Hulk #1, there are still several sequences heavy with caption boxes. Petit shows significant skill at using these boxes to direct the reader’s eye, especially on pages with a less traditional layout. Sometimes that calls for Petit to create a back and forth flow across and down the page, staying out of the way of the art as much as possible. Other times he creates a circular course for the reader to follow, tracking the captions around the page over a circular layout. Overall, the lettering choices made throughout the book are very successful.