Tag: Bruce Banner

Best of Marvel: Week of March 11th, 2020

Best of this Week: The Immortal Hulk #32 (Legacy #749) – Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Belardino Brabo, Paul Mounts, Javier Rodríguez, Álvaro López and Cory Petit

Xenmu hopes you enjoy the show.

Xenmu the Living Titan or Xenmu the Hulk is a super deep cut of a character that predated The Incredible Hulk by two years and has been plaguing Hulk and his allies for the last few issues of this series. Xenmu’s origins trace back to Marvel’s old days of Sci-Fi horror in the “Journey into Mystery” anthology series back in 1960. On top of having immense strength, not unlike Hulk himself, the Living Titan is capable of using psionic abilities and mass hypnosis – something that has already come to bite Hulk in the backside.

This book begins with an incredibly creepy scene, drawn and colored by Javier Rodríguez with inks by Álvaro López, in which a mass of CRT TVs are stacked on top of each other and all show Xenmu recreating iconic Marvel moments. He emulates Spider-Man crawling down a wall, Reed Richards using the Ultimate Nullifier to scare away Galactus and even Wonder Man when he stood behind David Letterman (Avengers #239, 1984) before ending with his creepy eyes.

Al Ewing and Rodríguez do an amazing job of conveying what it is that Xenmu wants – the hearts and minds of the citizens of the Earth, to counteract the love that they’ve been giving The Hulk and other heroes of the Marvel Universe. Rodríguez draws and colors the background in a dark and dusty way with lots of dangling wires and dilapidated surfaces as well as lots of browns and hazy blues.

In the following scenes, regular series artist, Joe Bennett takes over and he and Ewing do their best Bendis impression as we get about six panels of citizens each talking about their love for Xenmu and how he’s the greatest hero in the world! One of these panels even includes a not so subtle cameo of Simpsons characters Bart Simpson, Milhouse Van Houten, Nelson Muntz and Lisa Simpson in the background. We obviously know none of this to be true and see that Xenmu’s false memories have wormed their way into their minds.

Soon after, we cut to the office of Roxxon CEO, Dario Agger, as he and Xenmu look upon the fruits of their work and continue to plan for a world without the Hulk interfering with them. Agger is always looking for a way to make a good dollar, even if that means selling out the human race to Dark Elves (War of the Realms, 2019) or by siding with an intergalactic being of mass mind control. Bennett continues to make Agger’s Minotaur form a thing of horror with his hunch back and drooling maw.

Things continue to get even more horrifying as Xenmu complains that he is getting hungry and Agger callously sacrifices Travers, one of the last men on his security team, to the monster. Bennett, Ruy José, Belardino Brabo and Paul Mounts work in tandem to create one of the most unsettling double page spreads of biomechanical body horror as Xenmu bends into a crab form like he’s Kayako from The Grudge, unleashes fleshy tendrils, dripping with blood and coiled in gold and drags Travers into the opening in his stomach. Travers screams in horror as Agger simply drinks his whiskey.

José and Brabo’s inks make the lines look incredibly smooth and do well to accentuate Bennett’s hatched shading as well as the small detail of Xenmu’s eyes peering at the floor as he reflects on the shining floor. Mounts also colors the scene with such casual, late afternoon lighting, contrasting the abject terror that is taking place within the scene. In a series with heart pounding-ly scary pages, this is HIGH up there with the most disturbing.

Soon after, we get another single page from Rodríguez with the same television set up, but this time, the news portrays the scientist, Dr. Robert Banner and his alter ego, The Devil, as a dangerous villain. These reports allude to Banner’s origin story, the events of the World War Hulk (2007) and even acknowledge the fact that General Thunderbolt Ross couldn’t be reached for comment (He was killed during the first arc of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Captain America.)

This page distinguishes itself from the other as the backgrounds are given an eerie green color, one of the CRTs has been cracked and seems to be leaking some sort of purple liquid. The images on screen are given a green and purple static effect and the rat that was on the lower right corner of the page runs away at the sight of Banner and the Devil versus when it was mesmerized by the images of Xenmu the Incredible Hulk.

Bennett returns and utilizes the six panel structure with people lambasting Banner as a cult leader, murderer and terrorist. Bruce’s best friend, Amadeus Cho aka Brawn, doesn’t even remember his old friend. Jackie McGee, still recovering from her injuries following an attack by Roxxon, has trouble remembering if Banner and The Hulk were the same person, especially after travelling with Banner for a number of weeks/months. We then get a final panel of “Robert” Banner repeatedly saying that “nothing is wrong.”

Bennett, José, Brabo and Mounts do an amazing job of pulling us into the fracturing mindset of “Robert” Bruce Banner as we transition to Shadow Base and see Savage Hulk in the mirror, trying to break out, as Banner repeats the statement. Bennett sells us on Bruce slowly breaking with various pulled in shots of his sweaty, unshaven and crazed faces. Mounts even makes use of small hints of green around Banner’s eyes alluding to any one of the Hulks trying to escape.

Bruce is acting noticeably different and the resurrected Rick Jones seems to acknowledge this just a small bit. He doesn’t seem to be affected, but that might have to do with the metaphysical nature of his resurrected powers and how he’s always on, unlike Bruce who is still just a human holding back his various forms. Bruce also keeps referring to himself as “Robert” his real first name and also what Xenmu News keeps calling him, this suggests that Bruce as a human is also susceptible to the same mind control as other people.

Dr. McGowan and Doc Samson discuss as much when McGowan presents Samson with some video footage of her talking to Rick and Betty Ross as Harpy. Much like most others, she remembers Xenmu, but also knows that she said Daredevil in the footage and Samson confirms it. He also seems to have no actual recollection of Xenmu much like Rick and McGowan suggests that his existence is acting as some sort of Mandela Effect (google it, cause it’s weird) with multiple people remembering something that no one actually experienced.

McGowan explains that her experience as a transwoman helps her to separate what parts of her really are her and what is not and that method of self examination helps her in realizing that Xenmu’s memories aren’t real and that he’s been re-writing the minds of everyone else who looks at him through the screen, including Bruce Banner, which shocks Samson and Bennett gives us his shocked face.

We actually get one more shot of the television sets, but this final one is shockingly different. Almost all of the TV sets are smashed and bleeding, except for one showing Xenmu’s hypnotic stare. Each of the sets are a dark purple color and the background is given a bright and vibrant hot pink coloring. The purple and pink color scheme extends to the disgusting tentacles emerging from the shadows, almost leeching into the minds of all of its viewers. Even the rat in the corner isn’t safe as one of the tentacles wraps itself around the creature while Xenmu proclaims, “I’m in your head.” It’s all genuinely terrifying.

Before the book ends, Banner punches the mirror to hold back the Savage Hulk, and we get a surprising return of a previously mentioned Hulk and I’m ultra excited for the next issue.

This issue of Immortal Hulk was absolutely fantastic. Al Ewing continues with his epic run with the character by introducing a dastardly and unreasonably scary villain in the returning Xenmu to act as a foil to the plotting and genius Devil Hulk. Javier Rodríguez and Álvaro López absolutely blew my mind with their pages with the TVs by conveying the scale of the psychic threat and Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Belardino Brabo and Paul Mounts continue to stun with scenes of body horror and general grossness.

This book gets the highest of recommends from me.

Best of Marvel: Week of June 12th, 2019

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.