Hulk vs Thor: Banner of War

The same friend who lent me Dark Knights of Steel, Volume 1 lent me Hulk vs Thor: Banner of War.  I wasn't really expecting much from it, but wow was this a wild ride!

After a tragedy in El Pasco, Bruce Banner removed himself from the world, trying to stop anyone else from getting hurt. He separated his body and consciousness into three: Hulk's body was acting like a space ship, taking them out away from everyone. Hulk's psyche was powering the engines by fighting ever increasing (simulated) threats, and Banner himself was the captain of the spaceship. Unfortunately Thor gets wind of where Banner is, and tries to bring him back to face justice, resulting in an all-out brawl between the two! Unfortunately Hulk's powers/madness are contagious; is even the God of Thunder safe?

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did. One of the things that I really enjoyed was that Odin's ghost is currently inhabiting Mjolnir; after hitting Hulk, his spirit is able to enter the control room to talk to (and fight) Banner himself! The two of them ultimately work together to end the fight after Thor is infected; Mjolnir-wielding Hulk was a very unexpected but fun touch to the end of this story, too!

I'll admit that I didn't follow the story super well at times (I basically had to describe some of what happened as "space magic," even though I know it wasn't really magic at play at all). But it was really crazy, a lot of fun, and definitely worth the read!

Interlude: Planet Hulk

A friend of mine lent this to me a long time ago. I decided to read it as I have a bit of time right before school starts.

Planet Hulk starts with the Hulk being tricked by his "friends." They send him into space to a planet with no sentient life so that he will no longer be a danger to Earth. His shuttle accidentally goes through a portal and the Hulk finds himself on the planet Sakaar. The Hulk is enslaved by the Imperials and find himself a gladiator in their arena. Unfortunately for the Imperials, the Hulk allies himself with some of the other gladiators, and together the slaves fight not only for their own freedom, but for the very future of Sakaar.

I have to admit that Planet Hulk didn't really appeal to me when I first started reading it (or really at all - I didn't really want to read it, but I wanted to give it back to my friend). I found the beginning a bit slow and boring, which is rather odd as the Hulk has crashlanded on a planet and is turned into a gladiator. It was only about halfway through the story that I started to enjoy it. I thought it was entertaining, but I really have no desire to read the next part (World War Hulk). The end was a bit predictable in my opinion, and the whole thing just wasn't really for me.