The Secret History Of Reginald Fortean In Immortal Hulk #21
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
We turn our attention to General Reginald Fortean, leader of Shadow Base and the man most dedicated to hunting down the Hulk and his kind. He wants the Abomination’s body back from Gamma Flight, and so he dons the Redeemer Armor and teleports to Gamma Flight’s orbital base. He has the element of surprise and tears through Absorbing Man, Titania, Puck, Walter Langkowski, and Doc Samson with ease. While this is happening, we get a look at the life of Reginald Fortean and see how he learned direction, focus, patience, and purpose.
Immortal Hulk #21 focuses upon General Fortean, number one enemy of the Immortal Hulk. He has spent much of his adult life fighting the beast under the command of General Thunderbolt Ross, but even Ross let him down (Fortean even hunted him when Ross was the Red Hulk). Now, Fortean intends to finish the Hulk and his gamma-powered allies once and for all.
This is the best character profile of Fortean that I’ve ever seen. He got a lot of focus during Jeff Parker’s greatly underrated Red Hulk run, but it didn’t dive into Fortean’s ethos and history like this single issue did.
Fortean is brutal, cruel, and efficient, and he learned to be like this from a lifetime of admiring authority and enforcing order upon chaos. He’s a great villain for the Hulk, and this issue leaves you eager and frightened to see what he will do next.
Ryan Bodenheim joins up as the guest artist in this issue, and he brings an appealingly classic style to Fortean’s life. This comic reaches back into classic comic history, so it’s an appropriate look. Paul Mounts once again provides the color work, and he gives the book a pale and almost sickly color, bringing an unnerving atmosphere to this comic.
Immortal Hulk #21 is another powerful issue in this juggernaut of a comic book series. General Fortean is a generic military adversary no more. This comic gives him depth, purpose, and history. It’s a damn good read and is easily worth a recommendation. Give this one a read
Immortal Hulk #21 comes to us from writer Al Ewing, artist Ryan Bodenheim, color artist Paul Mounts, letterer VC’s Cory Petit, and cover artist Alex Ross.
Final Score: 8.5/10
