Comic Book Review: Indestructible Hulk Vol. 3: S.M.A.S.H. Time written by Mark Waid, art by Various
The Hulk, a.k.a. Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, has gone through multiple status quo changes over the years. Indeed, the fluid nature of just how smart the Hulk is, when changes happen, and the relationship between Banner and his (usually) green alter ego has become a major sub-theme of the character over the years. At the time of this series, the Hulk is low-IQ and high on the anger quotient. Dr. Banner is mostly reconciled to this, but also wants his legacy to be more than just a big green monster that sometimes saves the world. So he’s accepted a position with S.H.I.E.L.D. to help out with missions that require the power of the Hulk, in exchange for the laboratory and monetary resources to fund his creative genius. At this point, the director of the international crime-fighting organization is Maria Hill, a well-meaning but often abrasive and wrong-headed agent.
When an Arizona airport threatened by the white supremacist terrorist group The Sons of the Serpent suddenly vanishes, the terrorists are just as confused as the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents battling them, and the Hulk is only not confused because he’s too busy smashing “puny snake-men.” It’s swiftly discovered that this is only one of several disappearances, including an oilfield in Canada, and the White House. Maria Hill decides it’s time to introduce Dr. Banner to T.I.M.E. (Temporal Irregularity Management and Eradication), an especially secret subgroup of S.H.I.E.L.D.
They have a prisoner, Zarrko the Tomorrow Man (who also appeared in the Avengers Season One volume I reviewed earlier), who predicted these disappearances. Zarrko’s been their prisoner since before he fought Thor the first time–time travel is weird. Zarrko explains that recent events in other Marvel comics of the time had stressed the timestream to the breaking point. While normally, changing the past either gets absorbed back into the flow of events or branches off a new timeline, it’s now possible to make permanent changes within your own timeline. And three criminal scientists named the Chronarchists are taking advantage of this to create a timeline in which they reign supreme.
Zarrko has developed an armored suit that will allow a person to track down the Chronarchists through time to battle them. The catch is that no normal person has the toughness to withstand direct contact with the timestream even with the armor’s protection. So the Hulk will need to go. Doctor Banner’s memories are duplicated in a robot drone so that he can go along and direct the Hulk.
Banner and the Hulk battle the Chronarchists in Wild West Arizona, Camelot and across time, winding up at the gamma bomb explosion that created the Hulk in the first place–and then we learn Zarrko’s true plan (oh come on, you knew he had an evil plan from the beginning.)
Finally, the timestream is repaired. But there remains one dangling plot thread for the next volume!
This is a fun adventure with the Hulk battling dinosaurs, time soldiers and various supervillains and featuring some beloved Marvel characters from the various time periods in guest roles. The art is decent, and I enjoyed the blasts from the past of the Hulk and other characters.
This volume, however, does require some knowledge of Marvel’s history to fully appreciate. New readers may be somewhat lost.
This volume concludes with a cover gallery and storyboards for the issues reprinted here.
Recommended to Hulk fans.
