Comic Review: Immortal Hulk (2018-) #26

Immortal Hulk (2018-) #26

Marvel Comics

Writer: Al Ewing

Artist: Joe Bennett

How do you follow up the mind-bending cosmic extravaganza that was Immortal Hulk #25? Leave it to Al Ewing and Joe Bennett to bring it back down to a grounded human level, while thematically building on the previous issue. After showing us the Hulk’s far-flung cosmic future and his status as the World Breaker, Ewing brings us back to the present. Bruce is kicking his plans to “end the human world” into high gear.

Bruce essentially espouses a socialist manifesto in this issue, and I’m here for it. He may not look it on the surface, but the Hulk is a perfect character to use as a commentary on capitalism and the environment. He is a product of man’s tampering with the forces of nature. A product of capitalist greed and militaristic opportunism. Ewing uses very relevant social issues to add real-world weight to his ongoing story. Immortal Hulk is often frightening in a traditional horror sense, but this issue is frightening in a prescient sense.

Hulk comics became very crowded in the last few years before this run started. In Bruce’s family and friends, everyone and their dad was a Hulk of some kind. Throughout Immortal Hulk, Ewing has excelled at taking other Hulks and putting them to unique use that justifies their existence. Betty Ross, Rick Jones, Doc Samson, and now Amadeus Cho. While Bruce was “dead”, Amadeus was known as the “Totally Awesome Hulk” in a run that is pretty much the opposite of this one. So you’d be forgiven for worrying about how well he’d mess with Ewing’s tone.

Thankfully, Ewing knows what he’s doing. His writing brings Amadeus back to the kind of characterisation he had before he was a Hulk. His conversation with Bruce represents the dichotomy between the more cynical activist and the young idealist. They both have their hearts in the right place, but one is willing to work within the system and the other wants to dismantle the system. While I’m inclined to side with Bruce, Ewing presents Amadeus’ arguments cogently and sets him and Bruce up for potential conflict in coming issues.

For an issue that is mostly dialogue, Ewing’s writing makes it an engaging and intelligent read. Bennett’s art brings it to another level. He has been on most issues of this run and excels at matching Ewing’s writing. His moody pencils and rich facial expressions are perfect for the discourse between Bruce and Amadeus. Ruy José’s well-defined inks cast a subtle shadow over proceedings, adding depth to the complex shades of morality and heroism. Paul Mount’s colours provide a nice contrast between environments. The cold and metallic feel of Shadow Base, the whiter light of the café, the warmer light of the Arizona Herald. This art team is exemplary at chilling with body horror, but they also portray human emotions beautifully.

Overall, this is another great issue of Immortal Hulk. Bruce is on a collision course with the government, the Avengers, and well, all of humanity. At this point, the creative team has proved their worth, and this book only gets better with every issue.

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