When it comes to the Hulk, Greg Pak has quickly turned into one of my favorite writers. A lot of it had to do with the great and charming Amadeus Cho but, overall, he created a Hulk that was fun to read and interesting to watch. Unfortunately, when it comes to Hulk's son, it's looking like the apple has fallen a bit too far from the tree. Pak has created a rather interesting cosmic backdrop for Skaar. He's basically ticked off Galactus and spoiled the sacrifice of his mother (and The Hulk's One True Love) and has now landed on Earth. But like Daken or X-23, he just feels like a hollow replacement of the original, without any of the complexity (or supporting cast). Pak does his best, giving him a new Achilles heel. On Earth he reverts to the vulnerable humanesque form of a child. But it's not really enough to make him as interesting a character as his father.

Speaking of whom, the issue centers around their conflict and then their teaming together to keep the fallout from killing a bunch of people. Both events end up reading a lot more boring than they should have. The fight is pretty standard and the rescue is over too quickly, and there's very little peril in either instance. Skaar even buries his sword to the hilt in his father's chest and the end result is barely exciting. The issue just feels a bit too by the numbers, and it was no surprise to find that the final page advertises a new creative team on the book. Perhaps Pak just ran out of steam at the end.

Ron Lim draws most of the issue, and his work is good, but not dynamic or exciting enough to really draw the reader into the battle or subsequent action. He's just not that kind of artist. He's always been at his best depicting the widescale cosmic conflict he made his name drawing back in the "Infinity War" days. Which makes it even more strange that the epilogue featuring Silver Surfer, Galactus, and at least two different planetscapes, is drawn by a completely different artist.

Overall, "Skaar" #12 is an unexceptional book. When you're trying to have a new character make the kind of impact he needs to be a lasting presence in the Marvel Universe, you need to make every new turn in his story just the opposite.