After 70 issues, Greg Pak’s run on The Incredible Hulk(s) has come to an end with Incredible Hulks #635. With amazing stories like Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, Pak’s run is sure to be remembered for years to come. Having never been a fan of the Hulk until Pak took over writing for the character, I found this issue, despite its flaws, to be a really good end to the series.

In this final series everything in the Hulk’s world has gone crazy since A.I.M. scientist, Monica Rappaccini, has accidentally given wishing magic to the Hulk and everyone around him. After the majority of wishes has worked against the wishers, Hulk and Red She-Hulk are trapped in the Dark Dimension. Is this crazy enough for you yet? If it’s not, there’s also Fin Fang Foom gorging himself on Gamma radiation to worry about. We are then left with She-Hulk and A-Bomb to try to save the world while Dr. Strange and Amadeus Cho try to bring the Hulk back to Earth.

After everything that Pak has done with the Hulk over the last several years, I was a little disappointed that this was the story that was going to be his last and be the end of one of Marvel’s longest running series. I’ve always thought that the Hulk was a creature that was created from science, and didn’t really have any place in things involving magic.

Overall, I thought that this story was a bit too convoluted. There were just too many characters involved, mostly I’m talking about the villains. It was cool to see Windigo and Fin Fang Foom, but Tyrannus was almost pointless. It was just hard to keep track of everybody.

That being said, while this may not have been the best story from Pak’s run, I was happy to see everything get wrapped up in the end. one of the many ongoing things in The Incredible Hulks has been guilt. Bruce feels responsible for his friends being turned into monsters and he feels responsible for any harm the Hulk has created. In this final issue, Banner has to confront his guilt and make up for it. In the end Betty Ross, Jennifer Walters, and Rock Jones are given control of their monster sides so that they can find balance as superheroes and normal human beings. Also, Bruce is finally able to admit that he and The Hulk are the same person.

The art is done by Paul Pelletier and Tom Grummett, both of which I feel do a great job on the Hulk. Great artwork combined with great inks and colors really make the story work, and now that it is over I can say that I’m really going to miss the Hulk. Luckily we’re only going to be missing the Hulk until next month when Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri bring the character back in Hulk #1.

Ken Zeider
Ken@ComicImpact.com