So, here’s a book with a mighty-thewed warrior on an alien planet peopled by an Imperial race and insectoid natives, who are kept as slaves; the Imperials are ruled by a decadent despot, who keeps his grip on power via use of a half-magic/half-tech invincible suit of armor. But there’s a prophecy that one will come to defeat the emperor, and this warrior seems to fit the bill.
This is the kind of pulpy planetary romance space opera that’s not really written much any more... except in the comics, I guess, because here’s Greg Pak’s Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk , telling just that story.
I’ve said before that I don’t care much for the Hulk, but the Hulk as barbarian space warrior is a wholly different thing from Hulk as angsty brute. Truth be told, this is hardly a superhero comic at all — the feel of this book really is that of the space opera described in the first paragraph here; that it’s the Hulk really only serves to set some parameters on the mighty-thewedness of the warrior in question.
As a result, this is the rare mainline Marvel comic that I could recommend to people who aren’t particularly interested in superhero stuff. If you’re interested in pulpy space opera, don’t worry about the Hulk stuff, just check this out. (If you are a Marvel superhero fan, though, I’m given to understand that this sets up a major crossover event, so is probably mandatory reading.)
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