Comic Review: Immortal Hulk (2018-) #11

Immortal Hulk (2018-) #11

Marvel Comics

Writer: Al Ewing

Artist: Joe Bennett

In this issue, it all goes to Hell, in a literal sense, as the Hulk, Gloria Mayes, Puck, and Carl Creel, the Absorbing Man are dragged straight down to its deepest pits. The Immortal Hulk is a series which has well and truly embraced the Hulk’s origins as a horror comic, and nowhere is this more evident than in this issue.

Al Ewing and Joe Bennett absolutely excel in this book. The story is pure religious existential horror, with Ewing deftly weaving pages of absolutely beautiful philosophical narration about Hell, the wrath of God and the Hulk in-between pages featuring Hulk’s eerie encounter. Hulk encounters two dead men from his past or rather hollowed out skins of those men. The book is absolutely loaded with terror, and not just from Ewing’s exquisite narration and these eerie apparitions, but also from the Hulk himself. Despite technically being the protagonist of this book, the Hulk is just as much a monstrous horror as anything else that’s appeared in the series, and that holds true here. As depicted in this issue, the Hulk looks positively emaciated, but being the Hulk he still towers over Gloria and looks like he could snap a human in half. It creates a strange chilling effect to observe this almost skeletal Hulk think and evaluate or to enter a rage; every facial expression he makes from curiosity to anger looks like someone moulded putty. It’s utterly gross and I love it.

Joe Bennett’s artwork is absolutely the crown jewel that makes the Immortal Hulk such a horrific read. As strong as Ewing’s writing is, it would mean very little without an artist who could fully realize his vision. Thankfully, then, Joe Bennet’s artwork ranges from incredibly grotesque in his depictions of the Hulk and the hollow shell men, to strangely magnificent and chillingly beautiful for his portrayal of Hell. One panel in particular really makes the stomach churn as Hulk tears a certain someone into pieces that pull apart as if made of clay. The colouring in this book is simple but highly effective. Hell is and bathes everything in, practically every hue of red possible, which really brings out the magnificence of Bennett’s rendition of the place. In the narration interval pages, the colouring switches to basic black-and-white. It’s far from a new technique, but it’s one that perfectly accentuates the various apocalyptic and symbolic imagery that accompanies the harrowing narration on these pages.