In the 3rd issue of Incredible Hulk, Hulk’s patience is tested by a teenager as he fights through a zombie horde and battles a Lovecraftian-like creature that could be related to Cthulhu.
Picking off where we left off, Hulk fights off undead worshippers of the mysterious “Brother Deep” and learns more about these supernatural events related to the “Green Door” while holding another intense grudge towards Bruce Banner that feels outdated and stale at this point.
The Hulk’s internal conflict with Bruce Banner has been a staple in Hulk stories for years, but Immortal Hulk gave the relationship great development that felt like closure to a very long feud and the start of something new. Unfortunately, it was not followed up, and we’re back to the Hulk being mad at “Puny Banner” once again.
Despite that irritating, but minor issue, the story is still on the right track and this issue gives us a little more information of the supernatural enemy Hulk is fighting against, and while Hulk has battled many creatures, and beings of omnipotent power, this supernatural threat feels legitimate because of how these events are somehow related to the green door, the very source of Hulk’s immortality and subsequent rebirths. My theory is that these creatures have a way to tamper with the Green Door once they have what they need from the Hulk, possibly nullifying his immortality. If this is true, then Bruce Banner and Hulk are in a very rare state of being vulnerable and quite possibly outmatched.
A Hulk horror story, in my opinion, is the best approach to the Hulk. It fits the “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” dynamic that inspired the Hulk in the first place and with a touch of the “misunderstood monster” trope that Frankenstein made best. It puts Hulk in a very raw environment that allows him to be as disturbing as the writers will allow him to be, while also reminding that inside all that rage and power is a monster that just wants to be respected, and left alone.
I can’t wait for what the next issue brings. It teases a fight between Hulk and Man-Thing, and I have only seen Man-Thing twice, in Night Wolf and the infamous 2005 movie of the same name, but both appearances impressed me enough to get excited for this inevitable fight. What happens when an immortal gamma being faces off against an immortal being of mother nature itself?
Newsdesk