Red Hulk: Haunted

Hulk (2008) (Collected Editions) #11

by Jeff Parker, Elena Casagrande (Illustrator), Carlo Pagulayan (Illustrator)

RED SHE-HULK shows up to confront big daddy and it's the return of the villainous villainess, ZERO/ONE!
COLLECTING : HULK 47-52

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fiction, Fantasy

122 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume sees the wrap up (for the time being) of the zero one storyline. Then Red Hulk find himself haunted by the ghosts of his past...literally. To close things out we get an appearance by some of my favorite Marvel characters, the Legion of Monsters.

Overall a volume I enjoyed slightly more than most Red Hulk volumes because this has elements of horror.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, hey, cool, a conflict between a father and daughter whose lives have been affected by the Hulk, and now they're hulks, too. ...oh, nevermind. Jeff Parker's playing with action figures.

[Alex E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Red Hulk has done a lot of bad things not only as the RULK persona, but as Thunderbolt Ross. More so even because when you are a general in the army, you probably have made some choices that were not the easiest, and which people died because of.

Jeff Parker addresses this by having the ghosts or spirits of these soldiers literally haunting Rulk. He then needs to work with Doctor Strange to find a way to cleanse himself of these spirits. It's an interesting premise that I think could have worked a bit better. But Parker takes us down a path where Rulk has to go looking for this "spirit cleansing" pool, and some ex vampires show up and then monsters.... its just a bit of the mess towards the end. And it's only 4 issues, and I felt like it was a fractured story with strange pacing.

The one good thing, which I gave the extra star for, is the art. Both Elena Casagrande and Carlo Pagulayan do a great job with what they have, and manage to elevate the book. If it wasn't for the art... well lets just say its the best thing about the book.

Not a good volume of Hulk. Recommended for die hard fans of the Hulk and completionists only I guess.

[Ian Raffaele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I was wrong. Zero/One still had a little bit of story left to tell. Ross and Betty appear to be reconnecting with each other in a positive manner while they both stay in their human form. However, Betty has joined the Defenders and it's clear that her Red-Hulk form still wants nothing to do with Ross or the Red Hulk. I like these stories because they add depth to the character. The second half was another damned monster movie with vampires. I really don't care for vampire/monster movie storylines in Marvel comics. It feels like laziness on Marvel's part when they have to mine content from Universal Studios.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the Red Hulk character but this "spooky" stuff seems out of place with this character - hence, the 2 stars.
I had noticed Ross looking more fit some time back and was gratified to see an explanation in this volume that actually made sense. The appearance of Betty and/or Red She-hulk was handled better than in the past imo. [Honestly- every character in these Hulk stories seems certifiably nuts- including Doc Samson. Kind of makes me question the writers of these stories. It might be something you wouldn't notice read individual comics months apart but when you are binge-reading graphic novels it almost slaps you in the face.

[Eligos Vespillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red She-Hulk/Betty Ross finally crosses pathes with her father after a year of seperation post-Jeph Loeb to neutered results as Parker's story is suddenly interrupted and derailed by other books. An emotional reunion is assassinated by a seperate plotline and replaced with a short, shoe-horned flashback a-la Doc Strange.

All is not dissapointing garbage, as Thad is beset by the angry spirits of those he ordered to their deaths during his time in the military...including a couple of suprise guests! It is lovely to see Strange assisting another hulk with the spookier side of things, and more vampires are almost always a good thing!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Jeff Parker's work. Zero/One is an excellent creation, the Eternals are always fun and the monster accumulation and final reveal of the bad guy in the third story hit the spot. Parker's work is just subtle enough where Loeb was and is always obnoxious.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as I'd hoped. Still enjoyable, though.

[Frans Kempe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hulk faces of aginst Zero/One, the Eternals and monsters.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed.

[Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I guess it was inevitable that something consistently good, say, like the Red Hulk series by Jeff Parker, would produce such a dud as this volume. What've got this time? A six-issue collection broken down as follows:

** A two-part story featuring yet another encounter with Zero/One with inconsistent art (in quality) by Elena Casagrande. These encounters are increasingly frequent but losing my interest just as fast. Problem is that the plot line feels like it's getting re-heated needlessly, as there isn't any real progress/development made. 2 stars.

** A stand-alone story with even more inconsistent art by Elena Casagrande, featuring the Eternals [!] The art was really an issue for me in this story, as it felt like a rush job. This one is basically a filler, while we wait for issue 50. And do we really need another Eternals story? 2 stars.

** A three-part story with [terrific] art by Carlo Pagulayan that comes close to the level of quality I've come to expect from this series. While the art for this arc is top-notch, it is the storyline that is the problem: basically it sucks. I will even allow myself to spoil it for you (and maybe save yourself some $$): Red Hulk is being haunted by... [wait for it] the "ghost of Evil Doc Samson's residual energy" (I know, right?) And in case this tips the scales in your interest in this story: it also features the... Legion Of Monsters! (I know, right?) Final verdict: 2 stars.

** A "bonus" 10-page story with art by Dan Brereton, which has absolutely no point or impact on anything. ...As with most bonus stories from anniversary issues (this one was from issue 50). 1 star.

Bottom line: This whole collection feels like filler material and suffers from inconsistent art and "meh" plotlines. The glory days of Parker and Hardman seem to be behind us. We're getting rotating artists of varying degrees of skill, coupled with storylines that are either uninteresting or re-hashed. I really, sincerely hope the next volume picks it up again, or I will most likely be getting off the Red Hulk train. There are much better things out there...

[!] If your first thought was: "Who are the Eternals?", then you've made my point. I also have never heard of them.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This low rating is maybe more on the editorial department than the creators. This collection is someone disjointed. The first few issues are the culmination of a larger Red Hulk story and not enough info is given before the reader is thrown right in. While the characters of Zero/One and Black are interesting, there isn't enough for a new reader to grasp onto at first. The "Haunted" portion of the book is really good and fits really well into both the book and its history. The addition of some of Marvel's monsters is fun. The standout of the entire collection is the artwork by Carlo Pagulayan. Its phenomenal. His Red Hulk is perfect and seeing him draw Dr. Strange, Morbius, and others was great. Overall the book was hit and miss but worth a read. The Betty/Thunderbolt relationship could've been worked on much more here, especially during the interlude chapter. Overall, it was decent.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parker's Red Hulk continues to go from strength to strength. Haunted is another excellent trade with two/three great stories in, ranging from another battle with Zero/One to a supernatural romp through the Marvel Universe. A Hulk in these settings shouldn't work, but does perfectly, and the addition of Red She-Hulk to the cast gives me good feelings about the upcoming renaming of the title.

[Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what it is about this series, but I really don't care about any of the characters...