"The Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing" Surprising Depth for the Hulk

 

    I've never done this sort of review before, at least not usually, so I thought it might be interesting to just write about it, even if it's largely a one paragraph footnote talking about what I found interesting. After all, this is basically just supposed to be an archive of everything my singularly-focused mind goes through, since I seemingly hate the idea of multitasking too many hobbies at once (do not ask me how The Boondocks season 4 review is coming along). And in addition to that Twitter has just been loving to feed me comic book content as of late, which makes sense since the NBA offseason is in full swing, so, The Immortal Hulk, let's talk about it.

    First off I will say you probably want at least a little bit of general comic book knowledge before going into this run. I'm not saying you need to be some expert in Hulk knowledge, but in fact knowing what comes before this run will be a pretty good way to build a solid foundation so that you aren't just flipping the pages asking "what?" ever couple of seconds. Luckily, I loved watching YouTube videos as a child so I was pretty familiar with everything, whether I actually read the events like World War Hulk to Banner dying in Civil War II or just knowing about characters like Rick Jones, Doc Samson, Joe Fixit and the like. If you don't it might just make you a little bit more confused, but you don't need to know much, the comic does a decent job of filling you in, but it's nice to not see a character and be like "who?" when you see them for the first time in this comic.

    In terms of what this run brought that I was pleasantly surprised by. This run had more depth than I ever thought it would? That's not say I dismissed The Hulk entirely as a character, but I didn't realize any author would have, or will ever be able to wring out this much fascinating backstory and lore to this character ever again. It was oddly spiritual and religious. Whether it be "The Green Door" or these conceptions about life and death which seem so fragile in a universe where people regularly come back to life, I didn't realize The Hulk could be so religious, and it not feel hamfisted because the Hulk really is one of those characters that just always managed to find a way to come back.

    On a side note, I also really enjoyed how it sort of delved into the fragile mental state of Bruce Banner. Whether it be his past with his father, or his Dissociative Identity Disorder. Honestly though? I kind of wish they leaned into it further. They do a good job, giving readers plenty of Joe Fixit, Child Hulk and Devil Hulk, but even still I really wanted more scenes with them all sort of managing the "system." Like those panels where they all debate the merits of letting Venom in for a brief period of time and Bruce is talking to the symbiote in his chair. 

    This run is basically just exactly what I'd want from a Hulk run, and as someone who isn't the biggest Hulk fan I don't know if I'd ever want/need anything different/more from him. Like this comic does such a wonderful job with all the different art styles and homages to older comics, showing that the Hulk really does have a much deeper, and richer history than myself and many others would have expected.

Final Score: 75/100

    Certainly not my favourite comic book run of all times, I'm biased so it still might be Geoff John's Green Lantern, but it's a very good run that I recommend any comic book fan check out if they have the time to either way. Like I said the barrier to entry may be a little higher and Devil Hulk kind of gets old after a bit so they scrap him like 3/4 of the way through but this comic was surprisingly good. There were also plenty of panels that I actually recognized, like the ones involving The Thing or the weird skinny Hulk era which just looked absolutely terrible and I'm glad they got rid of. What's next for me? Well probably a Dread Delusion review and if not expect me to finish The Boondocks season 4 and complain about it the entire time.

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