Runner Up: The Immortal Hulk #19 – Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, Paul Mounts, Rachelle Rosenberg and Cory Petit
I think I’m going to be sick. Sick with disgust, fear and absolute love for this amazing series and the levels it goes to push the envelope of horror storytelling in a superhero universe.
Beginning with an impressive analogy, foreshadowing the events of the book, a young Captain Fortean is trying to impress a young Betty Ross with the importance of spiders to the ecosystem as they watch a butterfly trapped in its web. He tells her that spiders keep the rest of the insect population in hand so that the world isn’t in chaos. As they drive away, the butterfly escapes from the web.
Continuing the events from the last issue, Hulk is in the middle of battle with RickBomination, who displays an ability to dissolve Hulk’s body parts with his acid. Truly it’s a gruesome display from the fluid splashing off of Hulk’s arms, to the acid dripping from both of Rick’s mouths, to the slop of flesh falling off of Hulk’s hand as it fails to regrow.
Elsewhere, a kill team utilized by Shadow Base is taking care of witnesses and kills one of the hotel staff. This act is witnessed by Jackie McGee, the reporter that’s been following the Hulk and his exploits for the entirety of the series and her new friend: a newly resurrected and terrifying Harpy, Betty Ross-Banner.
Betty’s new form is a thing of nightmares. In her original Harpy form, Betty was a green skinned beast, resembling a centaur/manticore like monster consisting of wings and feathered legs. She was also the Red She-Hulk, pretty much exactly what it sounds like. This new Red Harpy is…something else. With a jaw that seems very snake-ish, the talons of her hands and feet are razor sharp, capable of grappling, ripping and slicing through anything. Her display of violence against the kill team is brutal and horrific.
She rips off heads, tears bodies in half and just strikes fear into the hearts of the men. The expressions on their faces are not unlike any previously seen in the series, but they still carry with them the sheer terror of what they’re facing. Jackie tries her best to stop Betty’s rampage, but her voice is mousy, unheard as Betty goes absolutely mad.
Throughout the book, Betty narrates that everything about her is her own. Her rage, pain and violence is all hers. Her new Harpy form is hers and after years and years being defined by her relationship to Bruce, she has something all on her own again. She is not endlessly loving, she is not forgiving, she is no one’s friend or soulmate and that if she is seen as a monster, then this is the perfect world for her. The truly horrific bit is saved for the end and it is disgusting.
This issue had a big focus and did a great job of reintroducing Betty Ross-Banner in a meaningful way after her “death” at the hands of Bushwacker a few issues earlier. It also teases a release from her role as just Bruce Banner’s love interest and more into her own kind of beast, more ferocious than her Red She-Hulk past. I’m excited for what the future has in store for her and the rest of the Gamma Monsters.
Ty Talks Comics 