What Is Hulk May Never Die – Immortal Hulk #20 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Bruce Banner is once again in the Below-Place, speaking to his father. Brian Banner tells Bruce that he has been here many times before and spoken to him, and he will never remember the conversations. Thankfully, the Hulk awakens once again, bringing Bruce back to Earth. The Hulk died again, but that just brought him back in full. Hulk and the Harpy (Betty Ross) must now team up against this new Abomination and protect Jackie McGee. Unfortunately, Shadow Base is sending more weapons to wipe the Hulk, the Harpy, and McGee from the face of the Earth.
In a lot of ways, there’s something quite Lovecraftian about Immortal Hulk. It’s cosmic and existential, and every issue makes you feel like you’re approaching some horrible and forbidden truth…whether you like it or not.
Immortal Hulk #20 continues that trend, as the reader must continue to grapple with the fact that Bruce Banner never survived that gamma bomb, and that gamma radiation may have come from a different and profane place.
This forbidden knowledge comes in the margins of another all-out fight between Fortean’s Shadow Base and the Hulk, with Bruce and Betty duking it out with this unholy new Abomination. It’s another action-packed issue with an ending that leaves you once again wondering about its implications.
Needless to say, Joe Bennett continues to be an artistic powerhouse, making this bizarre and horrid comic all the more darkly beautiful with every figure and stroke on the page. Ruy José, Belardino Brabo, and Marc Deering ink the book with finesse, and color artist Paul Mounts keeps things atmospheric and tangible.
Immortal Hulk #20 is another phenomenal installment in what may very well be Marvel’s best current ongoing series. The mystery of the Hulk and gamma deepens while alliances build and crumble around the Jade Giant. This comic easily gets another recommendation. Give it a read.
Immortal Hulk #20 comes to us from writer Al Ewing, artist Joe Bennett, inkers Ruy José, Belardino Brabo, and Marc Deering, color artist Paul Mounts, letterer VC’s Cory Petit, cover artist Alex Ross, and variant cover artist Nick Bradshaw with Rachelle Rosenberg.
Final Score: 8.5/10
