One of the things long time readers of the Hulk will know is that perhaps more than any other character and series, it goes through a lot of reinventions. It's been a story about a reluctant hero, a mob boss, a 'smashtronaut', a warrior king, a horror character, a hero, and a villain. You can drop the Hulk into any kind of genre and get a decent story with him. And one of the most popular ones in recent years was Immortal Hulk making it a horror story. This new volume of The Incredible Hulk is doing similar, but throws a very different, very entertaining kind of horror our way.
If Immortal Hulk was a cosmic horror story, with a bit of body horror thrown in, The Incredible Hulk is a monster movie, filled with zombies, witches, and swamp monsters. It's a wonderful way of having the Hulk tear his enemies apart and not care about them, because when you've got a giant swamp witch murdering children what does it matter if the Hulk rips her in half?
We get some more information as to why the Hulk is being suddenly besieged by every monster around, as Teddy (the man within Man-Thing) tells him about an ancient evil that has awoken, something that has set its sights on the Hulk. It's all very mysterious, but the mystery doesn't last a whole lot of time, as Betty Ross arrives to give us a bit of an info-dump on the villain and their overall plans. She's working for this ancient evil, the Eldest, who want Bruce to hand himself over to it. She needs the Hulk's power, and is willing to use her abilities to create flesh to separate Bruce and the Hulk, and Betty and Harpy, in order to take their monster sides and allow them to live normal lives again.
Of course, this would not be a good thing, and Bruce makes a point to ask why she wants the Hulk; a question that Betty dodges. Whilst it does seem like Bruce and Hulk are reaching a point where they're going to be at war with each other, and Bruce is losing control, he's at least wise enough to know that just giving the Hulk over to 'the first abomination' is probably not a good thing. And so we have the motivations, if not the stakes, laid out for us. We don't know what the Eldest wants the Hulk for, be we know that she's after him and will send as many monsters after him as it takes.
The artwork on the issue by Travel Foreman, with Matthew Wilson on colours, looks really good, and I liked the way that the Hulk was portrayed this issue. His look has an intelligence and nobility to him that can sometimes be missing in other versions of the character. They also do a fantastic job at showing how monstrous and awful the Swamp Witch is, and the fight with her is done well. Perhaps the stand out moment of the issue is the Hulk transforming back into Bruce, which is so horrible and disturbing that I can't help but feel that page is one that will get shared a lot in the future.
There's also a back-up feature this issue, which features the Victor Alvarez version of Power Man, who has a quick fight with the Hulk before he and Bruce get to have a heart to heart chat. Written by Vita Ayala, with art by Alitha E. Martinez, and Matthew Wilson, it's a nice little extra thrown on to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month that brings in a character that you don't get to see interact with Hulk all that often, and might even be new to some readers. Having not ever read a book with that character in it before, this was my introduction to Victor, and I feel that it gave me a decent enough idea as to the type of person he is, and left me intrigued enough to want to read more about him.
The Hulk works as all kinds of characters, but I love it when he gets to be a horror character. This series isn't just retreading old ground though, and it's use of known and brand new monsters of the Marvel Universe means that you're never sure what might be coming next. That being said, the preview for the next issue promises Ghost Rider making an appearance, though one that we're not familiar with as the '100-year-old zombie Ghost Rider' makes ready to enter the narrative. I can't wait to see it.
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