Red Hulk #6: Less Thinking, More Talking

Percy all but drops the internal monologue storytelling device that is his hallmark in Red Hulk #6. He employs it with Ross in five panels, but the rest of the issue moves along via dialogue. It’s an ideal choice in this case as Percy splits the focus between Ross’ captivity and Deathlok and Machine Man’s efforts to find him. In some ways this is the culmination of the last few issues as the three characters had been slowly branching off in exactly this fashion.

Ross’ storyline arguably takes a backseat in Red Hulk #6. Following him as he is shown around his prison is interesting enough in a lay-of-the-land sort of way, but very little happens. Even the reveal in the issue’s final pages underwhelms. The dialogue exchanges Ross has are a surprisingly refreshing change, though. Percy has so far played out most of the series in Ross’ head. The back and forth between him and a character whose nature is not entirely clear provides another insight into the character’s thought process. Percy has demonstrated several times via Ross’ internal monologue how he processes information in order to formulate his actions. Here Percy showcases how Ross baits and bounces suppositions off another person as a means of gathering information.

Deathlok and Machine Man provide most of Red Hulk #6’s excitement (to the extent that there is any) and humor. Unlike with Ross’ storyline, there is a sense of progress here. There is also somewhat more action as Deathlok must break into a facility to recover Machine Man’s parts and also as Machine Man demonstrates his driving skills. The dialogue between the two characters is fairly matter of fact and very dry. What little humor is in the issue comes from the two characters’ interaction. As with Ross, the extended dialogue between the two is refreshing even if it isn’t quite as informative on their characters as it is with Ross.

Red Hulk #6’s relatively quiet nature means that the bombastic action sequences and wide vistas that have made up so much of Shaw’s art to this point are absent. Shaw has demonstrated just as much skill handling character interaction and expressiveness, though. Once again the level of detail he brings to Deathlok (and now also Machine Man) is impressive. Deathlok’s face in particular always looks rugged, as though its age and experiences are on display, thanks a liberal use of shading. Rather than simply fill the space with on extended or thick craggy lines, Shaw relies on short thin lines in patches to create the illusion of depth–Deathlok’s cheekbones and chin are high and somewhat protruding against his skin, his human eye is deep set, the space above his mouth appears scarred, and so forth.

Shaw uses that same technique with every character except Machine Man. In that case he relies more on longer thin lines which gives the character an artificial look relative to everyone else. This is reinforced somewhat by Valenza’s coloring which is also less subtle relative to the other characters. Machine Man’s face is more two-tone when reacting to implied light sources, seeming to shine.

The art team does a particularly good job early in the issue depicting the transformation of Red Hulk back into Ross over the course of two panels. Shaw uses darker shading than is typical for his art, adding patches of straight black in some areas. The variation in shading techniques creates the appearance that Red Hulk’s skin is unevenly bulging with veins protruding everywhere and his body seeming to be bigger in some places than others. Valenza colors Red Hulk/Ross unevenly with a range of red, pink, and flash tone spread across his body. The second panel is a mostly changed Ross, his body looking somewhat like twisted putty thanks to the more liberal use of heavy lines relative to patches of shading. The transformation happens over just two panels on one page, but it is easily Red Hulk #6’s most striking visual sequence.

Petit has seemingly less text to deal with here than is typical for a Percy comic. Even so, it is as well organized as it has been through the series to this point. His work is more attention grabbing during a sequence when Machine Man and Deathlok drive off toward where Ross is being held. The sound effects themselves are typical fare that one would expect a car to make. But Petit arranges them such that they add a much greater sense of motion and power to Shaw’s art.