Writers: Donny Cates & Daniel Warren Johnson
Artist: Martin Coccolo
Color Artist: Matt Wilson
Cover Artists: Gary Frank & Brad Anderson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
It’s the biggest battle of the year: Hulk vs. Thor! The two Avengers have been in a competitive rivalry for the title of the strongest for years. But in the wake of a terrible incident, the two heroes clash violently. This has led to much destruction and punch outs, and Thor has even been hulked out. Now, it’s all comes down to Hulk, Bruce Banner, and the ghost of Odin to defeat the enraged Thor in Hulk #8, before he tears the ten realms apart!
Review:
After five chapters and a couple of months waiting, we finally get the ultimate conclusion to the Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War crossover event. And it is good. Not as great as I would’ve expected it to be, but it’s fine all the same.
So, the story picks up where it left off with Thor hulked out and Hulk wielding Mjolnir and the powers of Thor with Bruce and Odin’s ghost trying to figure out how the heck they’re going to be Thor and calm him down. On top of that, the fight between them was taken back to Asgard itself, so now the trio have to worry about keeping Thor from tearing apart Asgard and the World Tree while they’re at it and fast.
Let’s start with the good, ’cause there’s a lot of it. The art by Martin Coccolo with Matt Wilson’s colors continues to be the biggest highlight of this entire crossover. It’s fun, epic, the fight scenes and moments of action and sheer destruction are made larger-than-life as one should expect from a big brawl between the Hulk and Thor. The action is stellar, the fighting is amazing as this comic is never without any sense of energy or momentum to it in terms of the art or even the story. Speaking of which, Donny Cates at least stays consist with how he’s writing both Hulk and the Thor-related characters and plays to their strengths in terms of personalities, power, and the dialogue especially.
The main negatives of this comic is mainly how the fight concludes. I won’t say it’s the worst way to end the fight between the two, but it’s not the best. It matches up with how Cates has written both Thor and the rest of his supporting cast, so at the very least it fits with what we’ve seen. However, despite that, the comic does have a promising resolution between Hulk and Thor that could lead to a good development between the two heroes and to what they both do in their respective titles, which Donny Cates are writing at the same time. Overall, the crossover event delivers the epic and destructive brawl it promised and ends in a way where the two heroes have somewhat grown in their own ways.
Final Thoughts:
Hulk #8 delivers the epic finale to the Hulk vs. Thor: Banner of War crossover. You get more great action and art from Martin Coccolo, along with solid pacing and character dialogue from Donny Cates. The ending is a little underwhelming but the heroes leave on a better note than when they began.