This arc was so much better than the previous basketball one. This was a heartfelt conclusion. There was a STRONG Hulk showing and thought provoking presentation of the gray area around the fair sentence that Phalkan got and justice he deserved. But there were some science and AFSS quibbles.

Amadeus makes the underwhelming climax of the Protectors' story a cheap pulpit for a sermon about the value of mercy. Pay attention to hipster banker Jeffrey Gunderson in all this. He got killed by the man-eating aliens, and the climax of this arc is Amadeus stopping Jimmy Woo from killing the head baddie in revenge. While Amadeus spouts noble platitudes about holding oneself to a higher heroic standard, poor Mr. Gunderson gets forgotten. This paints Amadeus as pious, egotistical, and perhaps even a bit cowardly. (He's always avoiding the hard parts of heroing.) I'm not sure if this was Greg Pak's intent, but i think it's a pretty valid and insightful way to see the self-proclaimed "Totally Awesome" Hulk. I just wish that after 18 issues he'd start to develop at least a sliver of self-awareness.
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