Next the Hulk returns to Manhattan and fights Iron Man, this being one of the best fights I’ve read in a comic book in a long time. During the fight Stark Tower is destroyed and Iron Man defeated. This fight though, raises a question. The Hulk just defeated Black Bolt, and then ALL of the X-men. He’s madder and stronger than he’s ever been. What is Tony Stark thinking? He wouldn’t even stand a chance against a base line Hulk, how is he expecting to beat the super mad Hulk by himself? Wouldn’t a coordinated attack with himself, the Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange and maybe the X-men together have been a better idea? Well, I guess now we can see why Captain America was the leader of the Avengers and Tony Stark was the bankroll. Needless to say, Iron Man gets smashed, and then the Avengers and Doc Samson jump in, and they get smashed too. The Hulk also fights Ghost Rider and beats him too.
Then the Fantastic Four, Storm and Black Panther are defeated as well and Reed Richards is captured. Meanwhile Sue Storm and the U.S. President vainly attempt to convince the Sentry to intervene. The Hulk, who has imprisoned the defeated superheroes, attaches “obedience disks” to his captives, preventing them from using their superpowers.
The Hulk then encounters Doctor Strange, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, breaking the sorcerer’s hands and preventing him from invoking any spells. And at Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, Warbound members Hiroim and Elloe defeat Iron Fist, Ronin, and Echo. Strange mystically invokes a powerful old enemy, Zom, replacing his shattered hands with spiked maces, and defeats Hiroim. Strange though, is still defeated and imprisoned along with the rest of Earth’s defeated heroes.
After the Hulk allies with Hercules, Namora, and the Angel, General Ross calls in the U.S. Army. The Hulk defeats them, and with the Warbound transforms Madison Square Garden into a gladiatorial arena, There he forces Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Black Bolt, and Mr. Fantastic (the four members of the Illuminati responsible for his exile) to fight a tentacled alien and later each other to the death, as a cheering audience watches on.
At the end of the fourth issue, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man face off, and Iron Man is defeated (Tony’s not having a good week). When the Hulk orders Mr. Fantastic to kill Iron Man, the Sentry, in response, leaves his mountainside retreat and speeds toward the arena, stating “It’s time to play God.” Up to this point, this storyline has been amazing. The Earth hero who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who became an emperor. Striking story! But now the people want to know how the story ends. Only a famous death will do. And what could be more glorious than to fight Sentry himself in the great arena (Madison Square Garden)? We’ll see this Wednesday when the fifth and final issue comes out. Until then, we’ll be left to wonder who will win when this epic showdown finally occurs.
Next: Review of World War Hulk Issue #5
what about spiderman, he pwns all for 250 gold