Colours

Nuv: What up, fans? That bitch Ian is back from getting his tits signed by Bendis. I thought I’d let you experience my pain and make you listen to him ramble on about some bullshit that doesn’t matter. Feel free to skip straight to his second paragraph when he stops making excuses for himself (realizing there are none) and gets to the point. Without further ado: Sing it, S#!%face!

Ian: Hey kids! Well it’s been a total failure party for THIS GUY when it comes to my Review 2.. duties. First I was supposed to write about the Rebirth Series’, but unlike Nuv I didn’t really have the patience to get in line to give Geoff Johns another hand job, so I didn’t read it. Then, I was supposed to write about the Jeph Loeb / Tim Sale colour books, but I didn’t have time to re-read them either. I guess the reason for that one is that I like Spider-Man comics less than I like that punk Nuv, so what I did instead was (once again) ignore my mandate and instead focus on one of the colour books alone. Daredevil: Yellow? Nope! Captain America: White? Haw! Haw! Haw! Naw.  I’m writing about the red-headed step-child of the colour books, Hulk: Gray.

Critics didn’t like this book and many long time fans of the Loeb/Sale team didn’t really like it either. There were accusations that the book presented nothing new. That Loeb was in a writing rut and that Tim Sale was not producing his best work. Motherf@¢&ers, as they say, will talk.

So why did I choose to write on this title alone? Because I think it’s amazing and I honestly believe that anyone who goes back and spends some time with the six-issue series will feel the same way. The first thing you’ve got to do to prepare yourself is to realize that this is not a happy story. Kinda like Nuv’s success rate in the club back-in-the-day. In fact, of all the Jeph Loeb / Tim Sale collaborations, this one is by the far the darkest. Not surprising, considering that Daredevil: Yellow dealt with fear and Spider-Man: Blue dealt with (among other things) the heartbreak that goes hand-in-hand with romance. The colour books deal with themes and Hulk: Gray is no exception. More than anything it’s a story of internal conflict, and nowhere in comics is the concept of the Id vs. The Super-Ego more prevalent than in the origin story of the Incredible Hulk.

Hulk: Gray begins with Bruce Banner in the office of a psychologist friend discussing the history of how everything went straight to hell in his life. The conversational narrative that continues throughout the story is a strange one, but well-suited to the emotional atmosphere of the story, and is very effective in adding gravity to each of the scenes where things get progressively worse for Banner. And sweet Jesus, do they ever. Loeb writes so many great scenes in this series, and in my opinion, Tim Sale has never been better. Sure, his tones are much more subdued than anything he’s drawn before (the man is colour-blind, after all), but more to the point, they probably should be muted. Anything else would lessen the mood.

Take a look at the scene where Hulk picks Betty up off the ground, and realizes that General Ross would just as soon shoot his daughter, if it meant Hulk would be killed too. From this point on, it’s a sea of sadness (Hulk and the bunny), unbridled rage (Hulk vs. Iron Man), total despair (Betty and Hulk in the cave) and full blown hatred (Hulk vs. General Ross). (See all in the Gallery below.) Sound like fun? Well, it kind of is, as long as you’re not Bruce Banner. Sale’s Banner is a milquetoast! Like Nuv, he’s such a skinny little candy-ass that when the Hulk is unleashed full-blown – which he is for the vast majority of the series – it’s an absolute triumph of scale and savagery.

I’m not going to speculate what got into Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale on this one. The critics are right insofar as they say this isn’t like their other collaborations. Hulk: Gray is very different and really shows the range of what Loeb and Sale are capable of. Banner sums up the entire series right at the start of the second issue when he states “That’s the problem with not living in a black and white world. You’ve got the possibility for ‘vague.’ The probability for…gray.” What I can’t believe, however, is the spectrum of emotion the two creators managed to pull out of what is essentially a non-colour. It’s a great title and well worth a first (or second, or third) look, so do yourself a favour and check it out!

Nuv: If you read and enjoy Hulk: Gray, ignore Mr. Receding-Hairline’s rhetoric and check out Spider-Man: Blue and Daredevil: Yellow. In his truest statements in this whole article, his own failures and limited ability to read are the only reasons he did not cover those series here. The colours in the titles refer to emotions, specifically sadness (blue) and fear (yellow), emotions familiar to anyone that has seen Ian’s face. Expertly illustrated and beautifully written, they are not to be missed.

As far as Captain America: White, I have to share Ian’s sentiment. It is laughable that #0 (essentially a prologue) came out in mid-2008 and there hasn’t been an issue since. The funny thing is, whenever it does finally come out, both Ian and I will still buy it, and love it. Loeb and Sale always deliver. Eventually.

Ian: Wow! I detect a little extra venom this week.

Nuv: Aww. Did I hurt your feelings? Do you need to a minute to collect yourself? I think they have one of those maxi-pad vending machines around the corner…

Ian: …are you mad ‘cause I called you skinny, little guy?

Nuv: Nope. You’re a pipe cleaner too, f@¢%-o. Kettle, black.

Ian: Touché, Cliché.

Nuv: Kill yourself.

Put two in the air…

– The Big Two

[Editor's note: The only other Marvel Team-Up of Loeb and Sale was Wolverine/Gambit: Victims.]

NEXT ISSUE: IAN & NUV HOP THE FENCE TO PEEP OUT LOEB & SALE’S OLD STOMPING GROUNDS.
TUNE IN: SAME IAN-TIME, SAME NUV-CHANNEL…