It must have been fun reading comics in 2006. “Events” weren’t a new thing, but amazing events kinda were. We got Annihilation and Planet Hulk in the same year. Wow.

Hulk has been sent into space by an Illuminati of superheroes who conspired against him. Their intent was essentially to sentence him to a life of solitary confinement on an uninhabited planet, but due to a misfire he ends up on the planet Sakaar.

As soon as he lands, he finds himself being pursued by alien soldiers who demand that he kneel.

The planet is enslaved by the “Red King,” who forces Hulk to become a gladiator.

Hulk’s supposed to be slave, but being that he is born for combat, he finds he actually likes this new life.

The king’s bodyguard, Caiera, is the survivor of a race taken over by the king and she now serves as his bodyguard.

When Hulk arrives, she moves to protect Red King–but by the end of this story, she’s is won over to Hulk’s side. We get the first sense of their future entanglement when Red King rewards Hulk with some sex, and Caeira seems jealous.

Their chemistry develops organically, over time, and it’s fantastic. It’s completely believable when she becomes pregnant with Hulk’s son, Skaar.

Hiroim, another member of Caeira’s “Oldstrong” race, is also a gladiator who joins Hulk’s warbound gang.

Elloe Kaifi fills the role of “fallen nobility.” Her father betrayed Red King and so she, too, becomes Warbound.

What’s great is that each of these characters has their own redemptive storyline. None are here just as wallpaper. For each of them, freedom from Red King ties back to an earlier trauma in their life that they are inspired, by Hulk, to overcome.

Silver Surfer has a cameo.

He’s also briefly made to be a gladiator. Hulk kicks his ass.

Over the course of this extremely decompressed–but definitely not slow going-story, we meet the cast of the Warbound, some of whom will be around for a while.

These are the fellow slaves, fellow gladiators, who Hulk eventually unites to overthrow Red King.

The first worth noting is Miek, a bug-creature who looks alot like Bug from the old Micronauts series.

There’s a brood survivor called No Name.

There’s also Korg, a giant Thing-like being who is almost as strong as Hulk. In one issue, the Warbound get to tell their origin stories while sitting around a campfire. Korg, it turns out, once fought Thor!

I love this. Superheroes betrayed Hulk and sent him to this planet. He and Korg share that suspicion of “heroes,” and that will be important later. I also like that the backstories are done by guest artists.

After the Warbound overthrow Red King, Hulk bonds with Caeira, and they become king and queen of the planet. Here’s a particularly tender moment…

Meanwhile, Miek the Bug restores the shipboard computers on the craft that Hulk arrived in, and it has a video message from the Illuminati.

Due to his own character arc, Miek–who has transformed from a small and meek bug-like creature into a giant, strong monster–needs anger as fuel. (Yes, there’s a clear parallel to Hulk.). Therefore, despite the fact that Hulk has freed the planet and deserves a little quiet time with his queen, Caeria, Miek has to show him the video and get him all mad again. When that isn’t enough to drive Hulk to a bloodthirsty rage, the ship explodes and kills many of Hulk’s peaceful subjects…As well as his queen.

Hulk believes the Illuminati created the self-destruct sequence and swears revenge. That’s where this arc ends, and World War Hulk will begin.

Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan do a wonderful job at creating aliens and characters who are new and very different, but who also fit what is basically the familar story of the man who leads slaves to freedom. It’s as old as Moses.

Note: Amadeus Cho gets a back-up story in the oversized issue #100, where he is introduced as an antihero, taking on SHIELD. It’s nicely laid groundwork for Hulk’s return to Earth.

It’s very cool that even the back-up feature in this extended arc is a great read. Nothing is wasted in this year-long story.