Big "if." It wasn't. All Loeb did was rip off his own Long Halloween. He also admitted from the start that all he cared about in writing the story was giving Lee a chance to draw as many DCU characters as possible.
I get this impression from his Hulk run - McGuinness, Cho & Adams have drawn what they want and Loeb has to fit a story around it.
I think Loeb has really benefited from working with hot artists.
Having said that, who can forget Heroes Reborn Captain America!
I think at Loebs best, he is an average writer who for some reason became hot.
The Marvel color books are pleasant but by no means classics!
The eye raping that Rex refers to, began with(to me) World at War?