I get it.

I wasn't all too sure what the fuss was about when Jeph Loeb began his run on Hulk, except that he made a Red Hulk (now called Rulk, he he) and seemed to be playing a whodunit-type of plot, with a lot of violence and a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor. What I saw a lot of were comments from a lot of fans upset with the new approach, that it was lousy, sloppy, and below par when it came to the Hulk franchise.

Really? I like it.

It's actually a brilliant break from all the brooding, epic, semi-tragic plotlines we often get with the Hulk. Most see the Hulk as a character that's supposed to suffer, that the Hulk is supposed to be this perpetually persecuted character hobbled by idiocy and a conscience that literally is a separate entity. What I think Loeb is trying to do is inject some of the classic fun that comic books used to represent before everything got all dark and broody. The cute cartoons at the back reinforce that. They're poking fun at the hulk while at the same time paying tribute.

I've read the first 10 issues and it's actually quite fun to watch the action unfold. The whodunits, the humor, the art (which is wonderful), gives this book a look that insists that it is not Bill Bixby's hulk. Everything's too bright and well lit for it to be dramatic.

I think one of the reasons for the whole feeling of being let down was this Hulk seems to have gone back to the "hulk smash" hulk, which is just so, well, three decades ago. The Worldbreaker of Planet Hulk and World War Hulk was more like it, a grumpy monster with a mind of his own (interestingly, the Worldbreaker was also in some sort of agreement with Banner). But, with these later issues, it's clear Loeb is fully aware that there are several Hulks out there, and it seems like he's intersested in using every single one. Again, this sounds like fun to me.

The humor and hijinks of the first 10 issues are beginnings. Loeb obviously has some big idea brewing in the background. He actually reminds me of another author who turned the hulk into something different during his run. That hulk then was fun and funny. The name Peter David ring any bells?

I'm going to follow this because he's going somewhere with this. And while it may piss off the purists, I'm rooting for him. Because even the Hulk deserves a laugh.