Hulk: Gray by Loeb/Sale
Writing has never been the strong point of the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale collaborations. Loeb’s story is usually workman-like and dependable, while Sale’s art is striking and distinctive. I found the writing in Hulk: Gray, book #42 in my 50 book challenge for the year, quite disappointing. The framing conceit is that Bruce Banner has called a psychiatrist friend of his in the middle of the night. The eventual conclusions of the book rest on psychological implications for the characters, all of which are interesting and valid. I think the same conclusions could have been done with a less forced method. There are several scenes in which Bruce isn’t present. While it’s possible that one of the characters there could have told him later, it is exactly this kind of question–how did he know what happened if he wasn’t there–that weakens the entire book. And while there aren’t many characters in the book, none of them feels much more than two-dimensional. Perhaps if the reader brought a prior knowledge of these characters to the book then the flimsy characterization wouldn’t be such a problem. These graphic novels, though, are meant to stand alone and not rest on intimate knowledge of Marvel Universe continuity. Sale’s art is the best thing about this book, but is not enough for me to recommend it.