Red Hulk #9: The General is Back

Red Hulk #9 is a triumphal reflection of the beginning of the series. Instead of a ragtag group of prisoners barely escaping Doom and Latveria with their lives, an organized unit (though still somewhat ragtag) prepares to invade Latveria and confront Doom.

One World Under Doom is merely a backdrop to a stronger character story as far as Red Hulk is concerned. It’s taken Ross from being a prisoner and fugitive to, in Red Hulk #9, being a general again. Ross takes fuller charge of his allies Deathlok, Machine Man, and Wildstreak. He also sees their well-being as his responsibility. And Percy never makes this choice contentious. The characters’ desperate struggle to survive and help each other over the last eight issues showed off each one’s capabilities, and Ross’s major trait is command.

Percy also never loses track of why Ross fights. He’s an unapologetic patriot–even nationalist. Yes, Doom took over the world, and that’s bad. But for Ross, the fact that the United States went along with it is worse. The image of Red Hulk throwing the Washington Monument through a Doom airship on Red Hulk #9’s opening pages is the perfect metaphor for who this character is. The scene’s impact is made even more effective by the size of the Washington Monument and angles of view that emphasize its pointed nature as a projectile.

Ross isn’t a blunt instrument, though. Red Hulk #9 opens with Ross working with a United States senator. He understands that the war to save the country can be fought on multiple fronts. So much of Red Hulk to this point has been Percy getting inside Ross’s mind: strategies, motivations, self-awareness, and so forth. It starts to pay off here as Ross is finally in a position to fight back.

The issue delivers very emotive characters, and much of that comes from the high level of detail Guzman brings to characters’ facial features. He uses a combination of crosshatch patches and heavy, thick black lines to define cheekbones, jawlines, brow height, and so forth. One of the strongest examples in the issue is in the opening pages when Ross meets the senator. This high level of detail is repeated throughout the issue, especially where Deathlok’s craggy face is concerned.

Backgrounds are minimal to nonexistent during many action panels in Red Hulk #9. Instead of filled panels, there is just empty space (sans speed lines for emphasis) that is filled with various colors. The coloring is not necessarily consistent during a scene. Instead, Valenza picks different colors, often lighter than the action, that provide a good contrast to the characters in the panel, helping them pop off the page.

Some of these action panels are rather text heavy. There is an extended action sequence late in the issue that features not only many caption boxes filled with Ross’ internal monologue, but a healthy number of text bubbles as well. Petit is very effective at keeping all of the boxes and bubbles out of the way of Guzman’s art–no mean feat during one two page spread made up of four vertical panels stacked on top of each other depicting a fight taking place in train cars.