This is a new idea I had after reading the Peter David Novel "What Savage Beast."  I wanted to include it in my weekly reviews at first, but realized that I couldn't do it justice there.  So I decided to write an actual review of it and put it on a seperate segment on the page.  I also decided that it would be easiest to simply do a review a month, so as not to be rushed.  I'm not going to be sticking entirely to novels either.  I'm planning on reviewing things such as graphic novels, mini-series and trade paperbacks.  I think this'll give a lot of variety.  Enough of that, though, on to the reviews...

What Savage Beast
Written by Peter David

    I found this book in the 99 cent bin of my local bookstore and figured that it was worth a look.  While not a fan of the Incredible Hulk, I do enjoy the way Peter David writes the character, and I wasn't disappointed with this.  What I think I really liked about the story is that it's about two people with the everyday hopes, dreams and fears that anyone has, but one of them just happens to be half a ton of pure muscle, able to take out an army and shrug off a nuclear blast.  The book is actually broken down into three sections, "Hopes," "Dreams," and "Fears."  Hope of a better life, dreams of a perfect future and fears of what can happen when the worst in each of us comes out.
    Bruce and Betty Banner try to lead a normal life, except for the fact that Bruce is really the Incredible Hulk, a colossus spawned from a weapon of mass destruction, the Gamma Bomb.  For years Bruce was an average man who became a savage beast whenever he became angry, and during that time he gained many enemies, particularly in the US army.  Even though he is now under complete control of the savage side of his personality, he is still wanted by the government, and the Banners have to sleep with one eye open.  However when a mysterious doctor shows up offering a cure for the Hulk's current state, Bruce jumps on it.  His decision is made especially urgent because of Betty's pregnancy.  The cure works, a simple microchip that pulls all the parts of his fractured psyche together and he reverts to his "Puny Human" form.  The Banners relocate to a small college town under new names, and plan to live out thier lives like normal people.
    Their dreams are shattered though when Betty goes into labor two months early.  To make matters worse, what was thought to be twins turned out to be siamese twins joined at the head.  As if that wasn't enough, some of Bruce's irradiated genes crossed over into his children and while one looks normal, the other has pale gray skin, the color that Bruce originally turned when he became the Hulk.  The infants aren't expected to live if they remain attached, but if they are seperated, there is a chance.  Bruce comes up with a plan, he reasons that if the children have his genetic structure, then gamma radiation should actually make them healthier.  However, when he returns to his lab to get the equipment, he's confronted by the army general who's been hunting him down.  In the ensuing fight, the general manages to destroy the microchip that's keeping him in his human state.  Banner nearly kills him, but remembers why he came to the lab in the first place.  He rushes back to the hospital, only to find the seperation procedure finished and the normal skinned baby dead.  The other child doesn't have much of a chance either, but the hospital officials won't allow it.  In one of my favorite scenes, the half ton Hulk asks the doctors if they really think they can stop him.  The procedure is a success, but shortly after, the doctor that cured the Hulk shows up and we find the truth behind who he really is.  In a possible future, Bruce becomes a tyrant, and the mysterious doctor is in fact this despot, the Maestro.
 
 
 

Do you want to do a review?  Do you have a different view on something than I have?  I'm willing to put up reviews of new things or something I've already reviewed.  Just send it along to [email protected]