It's the ultimate brains versus brawn contest in Marvel Comics' just-announced World War Hulks: Alpha, as the smartest men in the Marvel Universe stop to think about the newly-formed Hulk family. Well, the smartest villains, at least.
Announced at this weekend's Fan Expo Canada convention, World War Hulks: Alpha will introduce the Intelligensia, the evil equivalent of the company's "Illuminati" grouping of Iron Man, Professor Xavier, Mr. Fantastic, Black Bolt, the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Strange that's been active in the run-up to their Civil War, World War Hulk and Secret Invasion events. Writer Jeff Parker explains:
The collective are: The Leader. Dr. Doom. Modok. Red Ghost. Egghead. Wizard, and Mad Thinker... What they have in common is their super minds. Each are so smart that they tend to feel like a different thing altogether than the rest of humanity. Like the laws of man shouldn't apply to them.
And what brings them together? Well, that'd be what's happened to the Hulk recently... which, by the time Alpha is released, will include Bruce Banner's alter-ego's son and daughter living on Earth (One of them's more of a clone-thing than a sex thing, mind you), the continued existence of the still-mysterious Red Hulk and new and equally-mysterious Red She-Hulk, plus some suspicious goings-on surrounding old-school characters Doc Samson (gamma-powered shrink) and She-Hulk (gamma-powered lawyer). As Alpha leads into a story that'll run in both The Incredible Hulk and Hulk, it'll become, according to The Incredible Hulk writer Greg Pak,
the kind of insanely huge, no-holds-barred smashfest that could only be done in comics. For sheer, visceral, fun action, it's gonna be tough to top... All mysteries and character development of our biggest characters pay off in the hugest ways imaginable during this story. It's absolutely critical for Bruce Banner, the Hulk, and every member of the Hulk Family — and it'll set up an incredibly rich dramatic arc for future stories.
World War Hulks: Alpha is released in December.