When a collection of superheroes (Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange and Black Bolt) exile The Hulk from planet Earth, he lands on the planet Sakaar. There he becomes a gladiator for the Grandmaster, the leader of Sakaar, and is forced to fight others for amusement. He quickly rises in popularity and the story shifts from telling not only the story of the Hulk, but other gladiators and people he comes into contact with on Sakaar, which quickly becomes his new home.

I don’t even have the words to express how much I loved Planet Hulk. When I first began setting up a graphic novel department at my library, this title had been recommended for me to purchase several times. I partially picked this up because of Thor: Ragnarok and the small inclusion of the Planet Hulk storyline. I’ve never been hugely interested in the Hulk as a character (aside from in the MCU because hello, Mark Ruffalo) but this was above and beyond anything I was expecting.  The characters introduced in this graphic novel are interesting, compelling and make the reader truly feel for them. I was heavily invested in the plot and each main character all the way to the conclusion of the book.

This is honestly one of the best books I’ve ever experienced. I loved it from cover to cover, from the story to the art style. It was one of the first graphic novels I’ve read that I would put on my list of favorite books, regardless of format. I was honestly blown away by how much I enjoyed it. I have not only bought this for our libraries new graphic novel section, I also bought a copy for myself.

The follow up to this, World War Hulk, was also very enjoyable, though not on the level of Planet Hulk.

Title: The Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk
Author: Greg Pak
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
ISBN: 978-0785120124