Fall of the Hulks Gamma REVIEW and General Ross SPOILERS
Fall of the Hulks Gamma #1 review: written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by John Romita, Jr. And so it ends. General Thunderbolt Ross is dead, killed by Rulk. In a flashback scene used to piece together the evidence of the crime scene, it looks like Thadeus Ross, using The Redeemer armor, ambushed and defeated the Red Hulk in front of the Washington Monument. Before delivering the killing blow, Ross showed Rulk his face from The Redeemer’s helmet to taunt him. This made Rulk angry. Very angry. So Rulk killed Ross.
The bulk of Fall of the Hulks Gamma showcased General Ross’ funeral. I’ve read many comic book funerals, and this one ranks pretty well, because they covered all aspects of Thunderbolt Ross (he has an Enneagram Type 8 Personality). However, it was not an emotional funeral by any means- I shed no tears for Thunderbolt, and neither did any of the comic book characters present. Another reason why Ross’ military funeral was not sad was because…well…Ross DID die at least three times now. The most emotional time he died was the first time- when he told his daughter Betty Ross how wrong he was, and how much he loved her, as he died in her arms. This was during Hall of Famer Peter David and Todd McFarlane’s run. Can’t get any better than a Darth Vader death scene.
Who was at Ross’ funeral? The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Steve Rogers, Rick Jones (a Blue Hulk called A-Bomb), Doc Samson, and military, plus a very special guest at the end. M.O.D.O.K., The Leader, She-Rulk, future She Hulk, and others from The Intelligentsia were watching from their hidden base, and Doc Samon was their plant, since he is part of them. In fact, so was General Ross. Ross’ death was not part of the plan.
Doc Samson, the skewed hypocrite, spoke first and painted Ross as a national hero. Colonel Simon Savage spoke next- he had the most inspirational speech, saying that Ross was the ideal leader in combat. Ben Grimm – The Thing- was next. He brought up how the Hulk was Ross’ obsession and how Ross was a nutjob. A-Bomb came on and announced the special guest speaker- Bruce Banner! (The Avengers are there just in case things get ugly…besides Banner is probably wanted for some crime.) Bruce Banner went over how Betty Ross is the true person that Thunderbolt Ross’ life revolved around, and gave a tribute about their relationship. Banner was not negative at all- he admitted Ross was right- the Hulk was a menace since Day 1.
At night fall, two people approach General Ross’ grave to pay their respects. They show their ID to the guard, and he lets them pass. You won’t believe this: it turns out BETTY ROSS and GLENN TALBOT are ALIVE and MARRIED to each other.
Yes, Glenn Talbot is alive and Betty Ross is alive. Can’t wait for the explanation.
This was a great issue by Jeph Loeb. John Romita, Jr. was solid, but was a bit low key. Anyway, this is a classic issue by Marvel Comics, a must buy for Hulk fans.
Similar Posts:
- Red Hulk #16 Review
- Incredible Hulk 606 Review: Dr DOOM vs Hulk, She-Hulk Dead?
- Fall of the Hulks Alpha Review: Origin of Red Hulk
- Incredible Hulk #603 Review
- Red Hulk #18 REVIEW: Origin of Doc Samson
DailySkew RANDOM Posts:
- Facebook Review
- Ivan Koloff Book: Is That Wrestling Fake?-The Bear Facts Review
- Hangin’ from the Rear View Mirror: Nightwing talks about Oracle
- China Killing Protesters
- Review: Peggle Deluxe for PC (2007)
Vahl: Great twist at the end. Not sure if 17 issues of Rulk was needed to set this up, but great issue.
Loeb better let Glenn Talbot be a life-model-decoy-clone-Leader-mental-projection-Russian spy sort of thing. Resurrecting Talbot after 340 issues makes no sense.
Peter David even made Talbot's (almost twin)brother serve Glenn's function of being a Hulk-hater and got revenge on Betty for breaking Glenn's heart.
Come on…we saw Glenn Talbot's body and everything.
I also noticed a bunch of mistakes on John Romita Jr's art. He has no idea on how to draw military ranks. He can never depict characters, especially mutated ones like A-Bomb, or fictional objects to look anything like other artists' depictions.
This book was horrid. The only good thing about it was that it cemented my belief that General Ross IS Rulk and that he didn't really die at the beginning- it's all of a stage.
See, General Ross is teaming up with Banner and Rulk to fight Samson, Leader, MODOK and the Intelligentsia.
Fall of Hulks Alpha = Good.
Fall of Hulk Gamma = Fail.
Problem = Jeph Loeb.
By the way, Damian, actually it was Al Milgrom in HULK #330 that killed Thunderbolt Ross, it was the issue BEFORE Peter David's first one. Most people make that mistake.
Anyway, Betty Ross can't be alive.
Let me point out the obvious:
- General Ross was in the Redeemer armor, which had been built by the Leader.
- General Ross's body was snatched away by the "Air Force."
- General Ross's grave is under guard in a "restricted area" at Arlington.
- The Intelligensia took Betty's body as shown in the flashback scene in Fall of the Hulks Alpha.
- Red She-Hulk mocked interest in being at Ross' funeral, in other words, she knew it was a farce.
- Red She-Hulk doesn't like Lyra. the future She Hulk.
- Betty at the of Gamma is acting like her 1970's self.
Read between the lines:
General Ross killed an imposter in order to start a war with the Intelligensia. The Intelligensia wants to keep the death secret.
"Talbot" showed the guards a brain washing Leader ID card.
Betty had been resurrected by the Leader and transformed into a Red She-Hulk by the same process that turned General Ross into Rulk.
The process gave Betty two warped personalities, same as Samson: her old no confidence self and a crazy over the top Rulk version
She resents Lyra as the child that she and Bruce never had (Lyra is the daughter of future Hulk).
The calm Betty doesn't know what's going on, and the Leader is using an impostor Talbot to keep her placated. He took her to Ross' grave as part of the plan.
I think it's funny how Bruce Banner was barely tolerated at the funeral, and was snubbed at by the Avengers, but Doc Samson was able to be the guest of honor even after President Osborn framed him for attempted presidential assassination.
Thanks, Loeb.
Rulk is CLAY QUARTERMAIN.
Do I win a prize?
Rulk is General Ross.
She Rulk is Betty Ross.
Next.
Don't you people see the Russian connection in Fall of Hulks Gamma?
We see Bucky Barnes as Captain America. He was brainwashed and kidnapped by the Russians.
We have A-Bomb Rick Jones, who takes the place of Emil Bronsky, the original Russian Abomination.
Glenn Talbot was also kidnapped and brainwashed by the Russians AND he died in Russia.
We also had the Winter Soldiers one shot with a Hulk label on it.
Russia is behind this.
You should say that Abomination was killed in Russia by Rulk, too.
That's right..I am telling you:
Glenn Talbot was the person that Bucky Barnes recognized at the Washington Monument, AND Bucky's "Hmmm"'ing when seeing Glenn Talbot's photo as posted by Bruce Banner at the funeral.
Something BIG happened in Russia involving Bucky's days, and it revolves during Talbot's Russian storyline(HULK #163 – #188).
Winter GUARD, not Winter Soldiers. Winter Solider was Bucky's Russian program.
See? It's all a big Russian conspiracy.
KILL SAMSON
It's a trap!
Clay Quartermain … man, that's a great blast from the past. Wow. I love it.