Jarella died. So Hulk goes berserk. Or more berserk than usual.
Len and Sal continue to mine familiar territory, but they also continue to tell these same stories with more nuance and humanity than ever before–and even some symbolism. Like when Hulk breaks off the Statue of Liberty’s torch and uses it as a weapon against the Army who refuse to leave him alone.
And having his Defenders teammates (instead of The Avengers) arrive to try to stop his rampage. Nighthawk convinces Hulk that they are his friends and shouldn’t fight, and they even get Hulk to repair some of the damage he caused.
Which is a very nice touch.
They return to the mansion and Hulk feels his feelings. He even denies food!
There are some genuinely poignant moments as Hulk finally accepts Jarella’s death.
This is an extremely well done story.
This is, indeed, a very good story. Actually, it’s a very good Defenders story. I just don’t believe it’s worthy of an “A+” rating. Wein and Buscema at the top of their form, but it’s not “A+” material. An “A+” rating needs to go to top-of-the-heap classics like ‘Silver Surfer’#3-5, ( 1969 ) ‘Captain America’#’s 250-255, ( 1980 ) ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #’s 56-65, 94, 141-143, ‘Fantastic Four’ Annuals # 1,2, and 4, ‘Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up’ #1, ‘Sergeant Fury & the Howling Commandoes’#75, the ‘Phoenix Saga’, ‘The Kree-Skrull War’, etc., etc. I would, however, give it a “B”. The Hulk seems to be a little more well-spoken throughout these issues, although that is probably due to two reasons: 1) The shock of Jarella’s death is forcing his mind into lucidity, and 2) more likely, Len Wein tends to write ol’ Hulky as being smarter than most other writers do. ( not Peter David, of course ) I have always liked the second Red Guardian, for the following reasons: Her abilities are plausible- like her fellow Russian spy-comrade the Black Widow, she gets by on superior fighting skills, and considerable smarts. ( she really IS a brain surgeon!! ) She brings a flavor of international intrigue to all of her appearances, it’s fun reading her dialogues, AND she’s very easy on the eyes! I dig Dr. Belinsky! I’m sorry the various ‘Defenders’ writers did not use her more often. Getting back to the Hulk, his refusal of food from Wong here is undoubtedly due to his depression over losing Jarella. Depression kills appetite. Jarella is, easily, the most attractive girl he’s ever gotten next to, ( sorry, Betty ) and now she’s gone. That would depress me, too. Finally, the Valkyrie should have stayed in that most excellent gold lame’ single-piece bikini, as it really did things for her, but I suppose she eventually discarded it in favor of that most unflattering white body-suit on feministic grounds. What a shame. This is Midgard, baby, and on Midgard, a woman has to have either one of two things in order to make it here: Looks, and/or money. I’m not sure about her bank, but she was most attractive in Barbara Norriss’ most exquisite body, and the white body-suit totally obscured it. ( Booooo!!!!! ) So, this most interesting ‘Defenders’ adventure rates a full, nice “B”, in my book. And there’s nothing wrong with a “B”!