Tags
Al Ewing, Alex Ross, Bruce Banner, Horror, Hulk, Joe Bennett, Marvel Comics, NCBD, Paul Mounts, Ruy Jose, The Hulk, The Immortal Hulk, The Immortal Hulk #1, The Immortal Hulk #1 review, The Incredible Hulk
The Immortal Hulk #1
Review by Paul Bowler.
Bruce Banner is back in The Immortal Hulk #1 and this time his raging alter ego won’t just smash everything in sight, he’ll scare the God dammed bejeezers out of you as well! Following the green goliath’s initial return in Avengers: No Surrender, Marvel’s new horror themed ongoing series The Immortal Hulk from writer Al Ewing and artist Joe Bennett will send Banner’s life spiralling into darkness like never before!
With the quote from Carl Gustav Jung ominously setting the tone from the outset, writer Al Ewing immediately sets the scene and premise of the series with a gas station robbery that goes tragically wrong. However, not all the gunman’s victims are as dead as they seem, and once the sun goes down a monstrous retribution soon comes calling!
Banner’s return to the Marvel universe – for the most part – was already explained in Avengers: No Surrender, giving Al Ewing unparalleled freedom to hit the ground running with The Immortal Hulk whilst clearly embracing the early issues crafted by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko that made the original six issue of The Incredible Hulk so compelling back in 1962. However, the horror themes in The Immortal Hulk are far darker. It quickly becomes apparent that Banner still can die yet bizarrely when the Hulk rises come sundown its almost as if he has become Banner’s instrument of vengeance. There are some distinct nods to The Incredible Hulk TV series that ran from 1978-1982 as well, especially with one of the new characters names and profession in this issue, and Bruce Banner is very much portrayed by Ewing as a man the world believes to be dead while he desperately struggles to control the raging monster that dwells within him.
Simple, uncluttered page layouts deftly convey the powerful beats of Ewing’s script. The art is gloriously rich in detail and atmosphere, with the pencils by Joe Bennett and inks by Ruy Jose complementing each other perfectly. The bright, everyday scenes that kick off the issue almost lull us into a false sense of security, but it’s not long before the Hulk’s wrath is unleashed, and Bennett clearly relishes every moment as the horror tropes build with unnerving intensity with every page. There are big double -spread pages that will make your jaw drop as much as they make your spine tingle. Color artist Paul Mounts also deftly balances vivid and sombre tones to bring a startling clarity to every scene – at times it almost feels like the Hulk is glaring out from the pages right at you!
Detective Mayes investigation into the fate of the hapless robber, along with some particular chilling revelations for Banner, all serve to round off this first issue of The Immortal Hulk with a grim blend of mystery and psychological horror. Is he man or monster or… is he both? Yes that wonderfully ambiguous caption from the cover of 1962’s 1st issue of The Incredible Hulk is indeed still very much the underlying question that beats at the heart of this new series. The Immortal Hulk #1 is a comic that presents a dark reflection of itself, Al Ewing and Joe Bennett have done a fantastic job establishing this new series and taking the character of Bruce Banner in an entirely new direction (something that’s clearly evident from its hauntingly impressive cover by Alex Ross alone), and I look forward to seeing how their brilliantly macabre take on the Hulk evolves in the issues to come.
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Al Ewing / Pencils: Joe Bennett
Inker: Ruy Jose / Color Artist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit / Main Cover: Alex Ross
Sci-Fi Jubilee 
Sounds like this book is worth taking a peek at…..great review,Paul.
I’ve been looking foward to the return of the Hulk, they’ve done a great job with this sereis brining it back to the core elements that made the character so interesting, and I love the horror vibe the book has as well. Cheers, glad you enjoyed the review 🙂
I really liked this book a lot. Can’t wait to pick up the next issue.
Me too, The Immortal Hulk was brilliant! Really like the dark horror tone as well. Great to have Hulk back, so excited to see what happens next issue 🙂
Sounds like a terrific start to the series.
That cover is almost terrifying.
Yeah, its great to see the Hulk go back to its horror roots so to speak, and do something different with the character. Agreed, that cover is brilliant 🙂
Great review Paul, this sounds like a promising new start for Bruce Banner and his raging alter-ego (I didn’t follow No Surrender but I’m aware of the basics of his return).
I like the fact that there’s an element of horror that harkens back to the early Lee/Kirby issues and I’m especially enthused about the nods to the Bill Bixby tv series which was always a fave of mine growing up in the late 80s/early 90s – and am currently revisiting via my complete series blu-ray box-set.
I will probably wait for the more cost-effective collected editions to come out though given my weekly comics budget is pretty squeezed as it its!
Its a great star to Incredible Hulk, I only checked out No Surrender because the Hulk returned in it, but you don’t need to have read that to enjoy this new sereis. Yes, the horror elements are so well done, as are the nods to the Lee / Kirby original and the Hulk TV sereis – SNAP! I’ve been enjoying the Bluray box set as well, love those old episodes so much! As I’m only reading DD from Marvel atm, I did add Incredible Hulk to my pull list, but I agree. Comics are so expensive now so tend to be a bit more choosy which titles I get now. Cheers for commenting and glad you enjoyed the review 🙂
Awesome, I’m even fond of the TV movies – they’re cheesy now but as a kid I absolutely loved them.
Oh year, the Hulk TV movies weren’t as good as the sereis, but still fun to watch and revisit. It was a wonderful sereis and seeing anything related to the Hulk TV sereis always brings back happy memories 🙂