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Immortal Hulk
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47 posts in this topic

Apologize if there is already a thread for this. I searched and came up snake eyes. Have any of you been reading this title? The Hulk has always been my favorite character going all the way back, and I heard this run has been good so far so I picked up the first TPB. I really like it! It's more of a horror take on the character playing with the original ideal of Hulk coming out and being more dominant at night. Anyone else on here digging it?

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2 hours ago, bb8 said:

Apologize if there is already a thread for this. I searched and came up snake eyes. Have any of you been reading this title? The Hulk has always been my favorite character going all the way back, and I heard this run has been good so far so I picked up the first TPB. I really like it! It's more of a horror take on the character playing with the original ideal of Hulk coming out and being more dominant at night. Anyone else on here digging it?

So far, it's probably been the best Marvel book coming out of the "Fresh Start" initiative.  I agree that the horror take feels unique in the current marketplace.  Al Ewing's writing is superb and the book strikes a good balance between narrative and action.  The only thing missing is that there doesn't seem to be some overarching story that connects it all.  Each issue seems to be mostly self contained and whatever arcs they've had have been short so it's easy to jump in.  But, me personally, I enjoy when a story builds and I like seeing the connections throughout the individual issues (a la Hickman's Marvel run).

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1 hour ago, ExNihilo said:

So far, it's probably been the best Marvel book coming out of the "Fresh Start" initiative.  I agree that the horror take feels unique in the current marketplace.  Al Ewing's writing is superb and the book strikes a good balance between narrative and action.  The only thing missing is that there doesn't seem to be some overarching story that connects it all.  Each issue seems to be mostly self contained and whatever arcs they've had have been short so it's easy to jump in.  But, me personally, I enjoy when a story builds and I like seeing the connections throughout the individual issues (a la Hickman's Marvel run).

But there are some common threads running through the series, at least in the first 5 issues. There's the reporter story and the more horrific take on gamma with the green door. I've kind of liked the self-contained stories, though. It really harks back to the tv show with Bill Bixby-type stories with Banner wandering from town to town solving problems.

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On 12/13/2018 at 1:00 PM, ExNihilo said:

So far, it's probably been the best Marvel book coming out of the "Fresh Start" initiative.  I agree that the horror take feels unique in the current marketplace.  Al Ewing's writing is superb and the book strikes a good balance between narrative and action.  The only thing missing is that there doesn't seem to be some overarching story that connects it all.  Each issue seems to be mostly self contained and whatever arcs they've had have been short so it's easy to jump in.  But, me personally, I enjoy when a story builds and I like seeing the connections throughout the individual issues (a la Hickman's Marvel run).

Are you caught up on the series? I felt the same way, but felt like it came together with the last couple of issues. I love the book, but I have one complaint...the fill-in artists aren't up to Bennet's pencils. I wish they would at least try to get someone that can resemble his work. I'm guessing his detailed style takes awhile. 

When I heard Ewing was doing this book, I had my doubts. Going from Avengers & the highly under-rated/read Ultimates & Ultimates2 to a horror Hulk book? But he's nailed it.

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It's the best book marvel publishes that isn't written by Cates.  I think it has lasting appeal and that the character is going to stick around because (1) people like the idea of a Hulk horror comic generally and (2) skilled writers are going to be eager to undertake writing this incarnation of the Hulk.  In an era where Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales get their own blockbuster animated major motion picture and DC is embracing the idea that multiple incarnations and interpretations of its characters beginning with the Joker, there is a future for the Immortal Hulk.  Great book.  I also believe we will see speculators snag up every cheap copy of his first appearance on eBay over the Winter and drive up the prices on his books.   

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FINALLY getting around to reading this series. The copy of #1 that I got was the Ashley Witter variant. I opened it last night to read and realized the Alex Ross “regular” cover is inside. Is this supposed to be a double cover? I am assuming so, but want to be sure I don’t have some one-in-a-million error. 

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2 hours ago, elibowman said:

FINALLY getting around to reading this series. The copy of #1 that I got was the Ashley Witter variant. I opened it last night to read and realized the Alex Ross “regular” cover is inside. Is this supposed to be a double cover? I am assuming so, but want to be sure I don’t have some one-in-a-million error. 

Seems like the double cover is normal for that variant...at least there are several sold listings on eBay with that setup.

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Third times the charm. There is a hop-scotch Prequel to the Immortal Hulk. Although Banner is the Immortal Hulk, he hasn't been resurrecting himself . After Banner was killed by Hawkeye in Civil War II #3 , the criminal ninja organization ,The Hand, stole Hulk's body in Uncanny Avengers #14. The Avengers tried to stop the Hand's ritual in Uncanny Avengers #15 but were unsuccessful. The resurrected zombie-like Hulk emerged and engaged the Avengers in battle that ran from Uncanny Avengers #16  into #17. In issue #17 Doctor Voodoo was able to free Bruce Banner from The Hand's control and Banner subsequently "died" again.

The second resurrection was in Secret Empires #5. Arnim Zola brought Banner back briefly under the control of Hydra except the second resurrected Hulk wasn't zombie-like. Although Bruce Banner didn't want to help Hydra, the Hulk persona had no qualms about doing battle against the Anti-Hydra group known as The Underground.  Zola used a time-delayed device to kill Hulk again right before the Hydra base was destroyed in Secret Empire #6. Hulk's deteriorated body was left buried under the Mount.

The third and final resurrection before immortality came about in the  Avengers "No surrender" story arc. Challenger, an Elder of the Universe challenged The Grandmaster to a cosmic game. Challenger was the original Grandmaster but lost the title to En Dwi Gast after losing a previous cosmic game. The Challenger brought Bruce Banner back to life in Avengers #679 (he was in the shadows) in order to have Hulk be his ultimate champion. Bruce realized after this third resurrection that he was essentially immortal and he is captioned as so in a cameo shot in Avengers #682. In Avengers #684 Immortal Hulk goes into battle for the Challenger ,however, he ended up double-crossing Challenger causing him to lose the cosmic game. After the Avengers "No surrender" situation, the Immortal Hulk/Banner decided to hit the road again trying to stay under the radar and do good where ever he could. That's where the Immortal Hulk series picked up. 

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On 12/13/2018 at 2:51 PM, bb8 said:

But there are some common threads running through the series, at least in the first 5 issues. There's the reporter story and the more horrific take on gamma with the green door. I've kind of liked the self-contained stories, though. It really harks back to the tv show with Bill Bixby-type stories with Banner wandering from town to town solving problems.

The common threads are Bruce's father,Brian Banner and the One below All. Many of the bizarre actions of certain individuals throughout the series  have been secretly orchestrated by the One Below All. He is able to possess individuals that have been exposed to the mutagenic type of gamma radiation energy.

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11 minutes ago, kairos70 said:

Third times the charm. There is a hop-scotch Prequel to the Immortal Hulk. Although Banner is the Immortal Hulk, he hasn't been resurrecting himself . After Banner was killed by Hawkeye in Civil War II #3 , the criminal ninja organization ,The Hand, stole Hulk's body in Uncanny Avengers #14. The Avengers tried to stop the Hand's ritual in Uncanny Avengers #15 but were unsuccessful. The resurrected zombie-like Hulk emerged and engaged the Avengers in battle that ran from Uncanny Avengers #16  into #17. In issue #17 Doctor Voodoo was able to free Bruce Banner from The Hand's control and Banner subsequently "died" again.

The second resurrection was in Secret Empires #5. Arnim Zola brought Banner back briefly under the control of Hydra except the second resurrected Hulk wasn't zombie-like. Although Bruce Banner didn't want to help Hydra, the Hulk persona had no qualms about doing battle against the Anti-Hydra group known as The Underground.  Zola used a time-delayed device to kill Hulk again right before the Hydra base was destroyed in Secret Empire #6. Hulk's deteriorated body was left buried under the Mount.

The third and final resurrection before immortality came about in the  Avengers "No surrender" story arc. Challenger, an Elder of the Universe challenged The Grandmaster to a cosmic game. Challenger was the original Grandmaster but lost the title to En Dwi Gast after losing a previous cosmic game. The Challenger brought Bruce Banner back to life in Avengers #679 (he was in the shadows) in order to have Hulk be his ultimate champion. Bruce realized after this third resurrection that he was essentially immortal and he is captioned as so in a cameo shot in Avengers #682. In Avengers #684 Immortal Hulk goes into battle for the Challenger ,however, he ended up double-crossing Challenger causing him to lose the cosmic game. After the Avengers "No surrender" situation, the Immortal Hulk/Banner decided to hit the road again trying to stay under the radar and do good where ever he could. That's where the Immortal Hulk series picked up. 

No sense in posting all that since nothing before Avengers 682 has any relevance to Immortal Hulk.

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8 minutes ago, kairos70 said:

All that has relevance from a reading standpoint. You guys can play the speculating game, that's not my forte.

 

Not even talking about speculation. Talking about the Immortal Hulk story. Ewing has already said that previous stories before his, including multiple deaths, dont matter to the Immortal Hulk story he's doing.

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1 minute ago, Second Blight said:

Not even talking about speculation. Talking about the Immortal Hulk story.

You're wrong. Banner/Hulk didn't become immortal hulk over night (no pun intended). Banner went through several deaths and resurrections to come to that revelation. The Immortal Hulk didn't just manifest in Avengers 682. The story has been building since Bruce Banner began experimenting with a third type of gamma energy that led Hawkeye to kill him in Civil War II #3. Dude, do you even read comics? 

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I've enjoyed the series. I had picked up #1 but then fallen off with it. My lcs had reprints of several issues, so I picked those up, bought #4 off ebay, and now I'm getting current. It's enjoyable, and Ross's covers have been terrific. And I'm usually not crazy for his style, but these (and his upcoming Detective 1000 variant) are pretty slick.

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