Hulk and The Agents of S.M.A.S.H.: Hulk-Busted, Review
Iron Man! Blastaar! And a fleet of Hulkbuster armor! Oh yeah, and The Leader doing the "menacing background villain" thing throughout!
Before anyone accuses me of being a snob, I’d like to point out that a significant portion of my job description involves me watching cartoons…but really, I’d be doing it anyway. I love ’em. I know what I’m getting into any and every time I sit down to watch one of these shows, and I adjust my expectations accordingly. That being said, so far, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. just isn’t doing it for me. And this week’s episode, “Hulk-Busted” just compounded some of the bad feelings I had left over from the opening two-parter.Since this show takes place in the same world as Avengers Assemble, it was only natural that Iron Man would make an appearance before too long. And, as any fan will tell you, what does Iron Man bring to a Hulk party? Hulk-Buster armor! Seeing a fleet of Hulkbusters in armored, animated glory was pretty cool, but a terribly thin plot (yes, even by kids’ cartoon standards) and an awfully pat ending sank this one pretty fast. It was nice to see Blastaar in animation, I suppose, however brief it was.That being said, my esteemed colleague, Mr. Marc Buxton, is the fella who reviewed the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. premiere, and he clearly enjoyed it more than I did, and perhaps has a better grasp of what the show’s intentions are. Seriously, go read his review. My problem is, I’m just not buying this show’s premise. The “reality show” format is extraordinarily irritating, especially since it gives Rick Jones/A-Bomb license to unleash a boisterous barrage tired catchphrases, and allows for the strange characterization of the Hulk as a sensitive, neurotic soul who is desperately concerned with his public image and the well-being of his friends.Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. has potential. The idea that this, Avengers Assemble, and Ultimate Spider-Man all take place in the same animated universe is too much fun to ignore, and hopefully will pay off. But the threats are going to have to get much bigger than this, and the team dynamic is going to have to change in order for it
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Mike Cecchini is a man with a deep and abiding love of comics published before he was born, low-budget sci-fi, lo-fi garage rock, giant monster movies,…