Dr. Jeff Parker (Or How I Learned to Stop Hatin' and Love the Rulk)

What can I say? He did it. Jeff Parker, you magnificent bastard, I READ YOUR BOOK! (and liked it, too!)

A few months ago, Jeff Parker announced that he would be taking over the writing duties on Hulk, and he literally begged jaded Hulk fans to come back and read one issue, #25, and see if he couldn't change their minds. He even resorted to bribery. I bit. I like free stuff, and I love Parker's writing as of late (Atlas, Thunderbolts). I said to no one but myself, "You have ONE issue, Parker, to change my mind on Red Hulk!" If you know my short and sordid history with Rulky, you know that this was nigh an impossible task. The one character I hated in the Marvel U more than any other was Rulk. Jeph Loeb pranced him around like a four-year-old bully kicking down sandcastles.

I imagine that Parker got this. He seemed to understand the transgressions committed by this character and his creator. There was a checklist in my mind I was unaware of until I read Hulk #25, a checklist that subconsciously stored every sin I felt had been perpetrated by Red Hulk and Loeb. While reading the book, the items on list began to get checked off.

Rulk had an a-hole attitude, he was allowed (by Loeb) to run roughshod over Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and others and they could barely put up a fight. It reminded me of two kids playing, one saying "A-ha! I got you!" and the other responding annoyingly, "Nuh-uh, I'm invincible!" Nobody likes that kid. And that is what Loeb was doing.

In one issue, Jeff Parker redeemed the sins of Red Hulk and Loeb by recognizing this subliminal checklist and hitting it item by item. And in return I added Hulk to my pull list to ride this out and see where Parker can take this character, now that he is no longer a spoiled brat, and is being to forced to clean up the mess he made. It is just too bad that Parker has to be the one cleaning up, as if Loeb was a bad dog who messed on Marvel's carpet.

The promise of Thor teeing off on Rulk's head doesn't hurt either.

Seriously, if you are a Hulk fan, and hated the Red Hulk stuff, give this book a try. I was surprised how much I liked it. Even the back-up story with A-bomb was fun.

Thank you, Jeff Parker! You get it.

How do you solve problem like the Rulk?

Attention True Believers! This is a call to action. As may already know, the Marvel Universe is under siege by a horrible blight known as the Red Hulk, or 'Rulk.' This monument to stupidity has destroyed any goodwill that Greg Pak created within the Hulk titles after the fantastic Planet Hulk and World War Hulk. Incredible Hulk #600 came and went, and we are none the wiser as to who the Red abomination to comic-dom is. And now, in an effrontery to common sense and good taste, the Rulk family is being expanded with the edition of the Red She-Hulk. (wait for face twitching to subside...)

We, the offended comic buying fans, need to do something to bring this horrendous nightmare to an end. This is an open call to all who are put off by the ridiuclousness of the Rulk, and to those of you who have subsequently dropped the title, to post in the comments of this very blog entry your feelings, protests, or detailed descriptions of solutions to the 'Rulk Problem.' Have fun with it. Maybe Jeph Loeb or Joe Quesada himself will wake up and smell the gamma rays and give us back the old Green Goliath! Let your voice be heard!
If the response to this is good enough, I'll repost the best ideas later. Make 'em good!