World War Hulk; No. 2, September 2007

The format is approximately 6.5 inches by 10.25 inches. Number TWO ONLY. Unpaginated (56 pages plus covers). Illustrations (color). "World War Hulk" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled limited series and various titles published by Marvel Comics in 2007, featuring the Hulk. The series consists of five main issues titled World War Hulk, with Greg Pak as writer and John Romita Jr. as penciler, and three other limited series: World War Hulk: Front Line, World War Hulk: Gamma Corps, and World War Hulk: X-Men. It also ran through several other Marvel comics series. The plot is the culmination of a series of events that began with the Hulk being tricked into space by the Illuminati and a Life Model Decoy of Nick Fury. Planet Hulk shows the Hulk's subsequent exile and his imminent return to Earth to seek revenge on the Illuminati. Greg Pak is an American comic book writer and film director. He is best known for his work on books published by Marvel Comics, including X-Men (most notably X-Treme X-Men), several titles featuring the Hulk, and Hercules. In 2019, Pak began writing Star Wars comics for Marvel. Pak began writing for Marvel Comics in September 2004 and signed an exclusive deal with them in July 2005. Pak helmed the year long Planet Hulk story arc in the pages of The Incredible Hulk in 2006 & 2007, beginning with #92 and concluding with #105. Dor the World War Hulk event in 2007, he wrote the primary miniseries as well as the core tie-ins issues of Incredible Hulk (#106-111). The story, a crossover throughout various series, began in the one-shot World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker (May 2007), written by Peter David and penciled by Sean Phillips, Al Rio, and Lee Weeks. Marvel followed this with Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #106111 and World War Hulk: Frontline #16 as parallel stories following the impact of the Hulk's return on various characters. The crossover extended into regular issues of Avengers: The Initiative, Ghost Rider, Heroes for Hire, Irredeemable Ant-Man, The Punisher War Journal, and Iron Man, as well as a miniseries starring the Hulk and the X-Men and a newly created group, the Gamma Corps. The stories ran from summer through fall, beginning in issues cover-dated July 2007. Initially scheduled to end in October, Marvel announced through the October 10 Diamond Dateline retail newsletter that the final titles in the crossover would be delayed until mid to late November. After the Illuminati (Black Bolt, Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, and Reed Richards) banished Hulk from Earth, the spacecraft they used explodes, killing Hulk's pregnant wife. Blaming the Illuminati for her death, and more powerful than ever because of his time spent absorbing the radiation levels on Planet Sakaar, Hulk returns to Earth for revenge with his allies, the Warbound: Hiroim, Korg, Elloe Kaifi, Miek, No-Name of the Brood, Arch-E-5912, and Mung. Stopping at the Moon, the Hulk defeats Inhuman king Black Bolt. The Hulk proceeds to Manhattan, New York where he demands the presence of The Illuminati. He travels to the home of the X-Men, where Professor X, absent from the decision to send the Hulk off-planet, admits he would have agreed with the decision, but also tells him he would not have agreed to permanent exile. The Hulk defeats several teams of X-Men and battles the Juggernaut but leaves after learning of the M-Day incident, believing that Xavier has suffered enough. The Hulk returns to Manhattan and battles the superhuman-operative team Gamma Corps and Ghost Rider. Hulk defeats Iron Man, destroying Stark Tower in the process. Hulk and his Warbound next defeat the New Avengers, the Mighty Avengers, Doc Samson, and the Fantastic Four (including Black Panther and Storm). The Hulk attaches "obedience disks" to the defeated, imprisoned superheroes, preventing them from using their powers. Following speeches from the Hulk's human supporters, the Hulk arranges for Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Black Bolt, and Mister Fa. …