About Heroes

This review was submitted by Spider-ben:

World War Hulk: Frontline #1
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Ramon Bachs
Cover: John Watson

I was originally going to only pick up this tie in series to the World War Hulk event, and not only am I enjoying other tie-in issues to this event, but this issue was better than I expected. Sure, there wasn’t hardly any smashing going on in this issue, but Paul Jenkins has made me a big fan of Sally Floyd and I’m glad Marvel is continuing to tell her story.

The issue opens with Ben Ulrich and Sally having a terrible time trying to start up their own Frontline newspaper. Both are running low on money and in need of a huge story to make their paper a success. Sally notices that there aren’t any pigeons seen in New York, which is suspicious. As Sally and Ben realize they may have to shut down their newspaper, the Hulk’s starship arrives in the sky. Sally and Ben realize this is their story, their big epic event to make their paper a success. As New Yorkers evacuate the city, Ben is approached by a mysterious man who promises both Ben and Sally 200,000 dollars a piece and keys to a struggling newspaper to call their own. Ben and Sally watch as people and family members evacuate. Ben tells his new staff they are free to stay or go and their decision will not affect their job standings.

Meanwhile, Sally’s boyfriend is a detective who is given a strange case. One of the Hulk’s warbound alien brothers is reporting an attack on one of his alien brethren. The attack will lead to a deadly confrontation with the Hulk and his warbound allies if the attacker isn’t brought to justice. The twist is that they are only giving the detective 24 hours to solve this case, much like the dilemma the Hulk has given the heroes of New York. When the big countdown is up, Sally and Ben watch as Iron Man and Hulk duke it out over the skies of New York, with Sally realizing that they have entered a brand new war. However, they wonder if they will actually win in this latest attack on the Marvel Universe.

Thoughts/Comments:
Kind of a slow start, but the character development is what I wanted and Jenkins provided plenty of that. It’s good to see what Ben and Sally have been up to since Civil War Front Line wrapped up. I am anxious to find out who the mysterious benefactor helping Ben and Sally is, Jenkins leaves us with few clues to this mysterious individual. Watching random New Yorker’s reactions to the aliens is great. I loved it when one guy praised the aliens for being just like us. “These guys are great. I gave one of them a beer and he let me shoot his gun!” Like I said before, there was little smashing going on but there are plenty of other tie-in books that have lots of smashing in them. If you are looking at a regular New Yorker’s reaction to this event, look no further than to World War Hulk Frontline. Solid A, great job gang.