Red Hulk #1 Is More Brains Than Brawn, and That’s a Good Thing (Review)

A reader would expect a lot of smashing and red rampaging to take place in a Red Hulk comic. However, that is surprisingly not the case with the first issue of Red Hulk’s new Marvel series. All eyes have been on Red Hulk ever since it was confirmed he’d be played by Harrison Ford in Captain America: Brave New World. So of course, Marvel had to release a new Red Hulk series to capitalize on that renewed attention on the character. So far, it’s opening issue does an excellent job of letting readers into the mind of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, while steadily setting up a showdown between Red Hulk and Doctor Doom.

Red Hulk #1 ties into Marvel’s “One World Under Doom” publishing initiative, which sees Doctor Doom taking control over the Marvel Universe. The comic doesn’t waste time bogging the reader down with all of the unnecessary details of what Doom has been up to. Instead, we get to learn why Doctor Doom has captured Red Hulk and exactly what he’s been doing with him. There are moments where some action takes place through simulated scenarios, but Red Hulk is mostly kept to the background. We see more of Ross than of Red Hulk, and it doesn’t feel as if we’re missing anything because Red Hulk is always looming.

Geoff Shaw, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Cory Petit make for a formidable trio on art. The big epic action sequences are kept to a minimal amount, so the real work comes in illustrating the quieter moments, such as Thaddeus Ross washing up in an airplane bathroom, or Ross communicating with his fellow cellmates through Morse code. It’s all well done and well presented on each page, and you can’t wait to see what they do once Ross breaks out and seeks revenge against Doom. Benjamin Percy excels at placing readers inside the head of Ross/Red Hulk, showing how his strategic mind operates and can problem-solve with the best of them.

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The cast of characters working with Red Hulk are plucked from the more obscure corners of the Marvel Universe, but their interactions with Red Hulk moving forward should offer contrasting styles. As a man, Red Hulk is a military man through and through, while Deathlok and Machine Man are used to combat, but are also filled with technology. Red Hulk will look to utilize them as weapons for his purposes of escaping, not making him much different from Doctor Doom in that instance.

Just as things start heating up, the issue comes to an end. They say you should always leave ’em wanting more, and that’s what Red Hulk #1 succeeds in doing. Red Hulk would succeed with or without its Doctor Doom connection, but Victor Von Doom does make for an excellent adversary.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Published by Marvel Comics

On February 26, 2025

Written by Benjamin Percy

Art by Geoff Shaw

Colors by Bryan Valenza

Letters by VC’s Cory Petit