Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson / Pencillers: Nic Klein (#1-#3), Travel Foreman (#4-#5) / Colour Artist: Matthew Wilson / Letterer: Cory Petit / Designer: Carlos Lao / Editors: Michelle Marchese, Will Young / Collects: The Incredible Hulk (2023) #1-#5 and Hulk Annual (2023) #1 / TP / Marvel Comics
Review by Paul Dunne
8th March 2024 (Released: 17th January 2024)
The Pitch: A new age of monsters! As an enraged Hulk tries to take permanent control of the body he shares with Bruce Banner, a mysterious immortal turns every monster on Earth against him in an attempt to free their creator, the primordial Mother of Horrors! With the help of an unlikely new friend, Banner must stop the world from being plunged into darkness - and his journeys take him from an abandoned coal-mining town that gives terrifying new meaning to the term "ghost town" to swamplands where a sultry seductress lures unsuspecting victims into her trap! What is her connection to Marvel's macabre muck-monster - and will the Hulk burn at the Man-Thing's touch?! Plus: A documentary crew on the Hulk's trail gets too close to the action!
Like a particularly pissed-off Hulk lading in the desert, Al Ewing's run on the character left a huge shock-wave in its wake. Although an avid reader of that run on The Immortal Hulk, I missed a lot of the later parts of it. I also missed the run that followed. Long-time readers of this site will know that this happens a lot. When you read this stuff as a job, there's always too much to read and not enough time to read it. Here's a catch-up: Banner, after working with The Hulk to close the green door and then torturing the monster's psyche to keep him at bay, finds the tables turned. He's on the run from the worst him he can be, cross country. The first thing that comes to mind is the seventies show I grew up on, my first exposure to The Hulk. Only the mental torment is more present as The Hulk intends to torture Banner... Then take control of the body they share. After Banner's attempt at ridding himself of his alter-ego, The Hulk will now return the favour. It's a tantalising prospect. The immense anger and inherent violence, both actual and implied, of The Hulk focused on Banner offers up possibilities other runs have only hinted at. “Hulk hate puny Banner.”
But interestingly, Johnson chooses not to focus on The Hulk's rage or show the path of destruction the monster wreaks. Instead, we’re left in the aftermath, The Hulk leaving messages for Bruce. Love notes from the damned. He also chooses to give Banner a kid sidekick. We're introduced to Charlene, an abused girl, trying to leave her small town and small-minded father. Her refrain through tears is "I'll be bigger than you someday", which connects her in the audience’s mind to Bruce. We feel deep down - have always felt - that Bruce's own psychological or physical impotence must have woken the beast inside him as much as the exposure to Gamma radiation did. Charlene's been beaten down by bigger monsters so much, her own Hulk stirs within. Shades of Rick Jones, another life saved and ruined by his connection to Banner are here in the ether.
But The Hulk is a creature of Banner's Id, and now it's others who want to lay claim to him. Here, The Hulk is a tool, a key, made to unlock the prison a far worse creature. One of many creatures, in fact, who want to walk the earth once more. The dead rise, called by something ancient. Brother Deep, who has a town full of God-fearing worshippers, God-fearin’ folk... Only the God they fear sits below the earth. Charlie too is a worshiper, praying for The Hulk to come. Can she deal with what happens when she gets her wish, though? The Hulk is no longer an Avenger and instead seeks to avenge himself, driving Banner out. But since a creature known as 'The Eldest' wants The Hulk for an unstated purpose, could this be Banner's chance to finally be rid of the Big Green? Johnson and Klein push deeper into horror territory as Banner and Charlie go deeper into the woods. There are things here that would be at home in the pages of Hellboy. Not the colourful monsters of Ewing's run, but things caked in blood and suppurating wounds. Later in the run, Banner and The Hulk must face the judgment of the Man-Thing as Banner and Charlie drift to warmer climes, only to find the cold embrace of a transformed Betty Ross, now in the sway of The Eldest. Can Banner resist her charms now? The end is left hanging, with no resolution only questions, putting us in the shoes of Banner, asking 'What next?'.
Johnson has written this as a series of one and two issue jumping on points which makes this great for new readers. Is it a better experience if you've read previous runs, especially Ewing's Immortal Hulk? Sure. Do you need to have read it to get this? Nope! The story has reminders of previous issues and runs built organically into it. All you need to know is that there's a scientist called Bruce Banner and when he gets angry or threatened, he becomes the Hulk. And you're good to go. One thing that has been absent for a while is the kind of Hulk stories that younger readers, those migrating across from early MCU films, might enjoy. That's still the case here, but I'm reminded of the fact that although comics are for everybody, not every Comic has to have a universal, all-ages appeal. The book is firmly planted in the age of Monsters and younger audiences need not apply. This is definitely one for the grown-ups!
The body horror rendered by Klein is total, so much so you may feel your teeth hurting at points. He creates a sweaty, murky world for the characters to inhabit, rendering their flesh pliable, tearable, and their bones breakable. Klein and Johnson create a physical horror that contrasts Ewing's philosophical, cosmic horror We're taken on a journey inward as The Hulk screams to be let OUT! Travel Foreman brings an entirely different look aesthetically but retains the spirit of Johnson and Klein's monstrous intent. Actually, it's Johnson and Foreman's arc that bridges the gap between Ewing's run a little better as they take him to the Nexus of Realities. Matt Wilson's colours are a joy, moving between the styles of the two artists. For Klein, it's a stormy darkness. Foreman gets something akin to the colours in NYX. Cory Petit gives us the resonant growl of The Hulk and the tired frustration of Banner in their speech. This might go down as one of The Hulk's great comic runs and already one of the year's best trades. I looking forward to seeing what other horrors grow from the depths, where the monsters dwell.
The Incredible Hulk is available at Gosh Comics now.
