Bruce Banner returns in the Immortal Hulk

[lordultimus]

source: CBR.com


Scheduled to launch in June, The Immortal Hulk by writer Al Ewing and artist Joe Bennett (with covers by Alex Ross) revisits the idea of the Hulk as a monster - an unkillable, "Immortal" monster. "A lot of people have been a little wary that we’re actually bringing him back for keeps this time, so I figure this is as good a place as any to confirm that yes, this is Banner, he’s back, he’s got an ongoing solo series and he’s not going to die again any time soon. In fact, that’s kind of the point," said Ewing. The Immortal Hulk spins out of Avengers' "No Surrender" (which Ewing co-writes) - and a new 10-page prologue is being added to March's Avengers #684 which will lead into this new ongoing.

"And then we’re free to go into Immortal Hulk with all those questions answered and without any baggage," said Ewing. " That was very important to me - to be able to make that promise, from me to you, that you do not need to read a single other comic to enjoy Immortal Hulk #1. Retailers - there’s nothing else your customers will need. Readers – I welcome you with open arms. We want every Hulk fan, old and new, to experience this."

Immortal Hulk will return the Jade Goliath to the horror genre, with Ewing expecting it to be "one of the most talked-about comics of 2018."

"It’s a comic about a monster who can’t die. It’s about a man who believes he can use the darkest elements of his personality to do good in the world, and where that belief leads him," said the writer. "It’s about mortality, atonement and denial. It’s about all the parts of ourselves we don’t like to look at. It’s a horror comic."

Bennett, who has illustrated five different Hulk titles in his long career in the business, said he's drawing The Immortal Hulk with a style "reminsicent of Bernie Wrightson.

"The Green Goliath will have a darker and more nocturnal look in this book," said Bennett. "I’m trying to evoke the feel of all those great Warren magazines like Eerie, and Creepy."

For Ewing, The Immortal Hulk aims to evoke another classic piece of comic history - the 1970s Incredible Hulk TV show - for a supporting character.

"Then there’s Jackie McGee, who’s a slight borrowing from the TV show – since we were looking at Banner walking the Earth and moving from one situation to the next, I thought it’d be nice to have a reporter tracking him, looking for the story," Ewing said.

"After all, in a world where the Hulk is a beloved celebrity in some states and a natural disaster to be feared in others, his comings and goings have the potential to be big news. Jackie finds herself on Banner’s trail in Arizona, and as the Hulk makes his presence felt in the world more and more, she’s right behind him. Banner, of course, doesn’t want to be found, or written about, or noticed, and he especially doesn’t want to be questioned. People in denial about themselves rarely do."

A more familiar face in The Immortal Hulk is Alpha Flight's Sasquatch.

"And finally, there’s an old favorite who’s new to this title – Walter Langkowski, aka the Sasquatch. He’s taking a leave of absence from Alpha Flight to sort out some personal issues, and he needs Bruce Banner to do it," the writer explained.

"Langkowski and Banner were college friends, and Langkowski ended up duplicating Banner’s experiments and becoming Canada’s own hairy half-a-Hulk – I’ve been fascinated by Langkowski as a kind of healthy version of Banner, an intellectual jock, a big, handsome ex-Quarterback, millionaire, beloved hero of his country and his planet, and gosh-darned nice with it," Ewing continued.

"How did Banner ever get along with this guy? And maybe more importantly – if Langkowski is so healthy and normal, why doesn’t he want to change into Sasquatch any more? And why does Sasquatch suddenly have matted, filthy fur, drool on his muzzle and a vicious gleam in his eye? Alpha Flight fans might remember the Great Beasts – but as I said, we’re not doing old continuity. This is something new…"

Although the book will pull characters in from other places, Ewing said he's being "adamant" with Marvel about blocking crossovers.

"In the spirit of 'no baggage,' one thing that I’m very adamant about is having no crossovers if at all possible. If you have to buy another comic to enjoy Immortal Hulk, that means I’ve failed in my duty to you," said Ewing. "In terms of his connection to the main Marvel Universe – at first, we’re very deliberately avoiding it. Bruce Banner walks the world alone, and that’s how he wants it."

Comments

[kd_the_movie]

soooooo the Hulk riffing off Solomon Grundy instead of the other way around?

Luckily I have faith in Al Ewing.

[thanekos]

Can't wait for " Miss McGee, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. "

[shadowpsykie]

Jackie: What makes you say that...? Anger is the spice of life....

[zachbeacon]

Wonder how many months they'll stick to the "no crossover" thing

[thatnickguy]

I give it 6 months. Tops.

[cricharddavies]

Optimist.

[scorntx]

It's an Al Ewing title. It's be at least two-thirds crossover.

(Still pissed 'bout USAvengers being dragged into Secret Empire... mutter mutter mutter)

[kore]

Amen to that! (After Ewing's New Avengers got dragged into CW II, too. AND Cap and the Mighty Avengers got dragged into Last Days. JUST GIVE THE MAN AN UNINTERRUPTED AVENGERS BOOK, alksjflasjdlfkj)

[laughing_tree]

He says right there in the interview that there won't be crossovers. (And there weren't any in his Inhumans run, so I hoped you guys checked that out.)

Also, he's said in the past that Marvel doesn't force him to do tie-ins; it's his own decision.

[kore]

I just got both volumes of Royals in trade, so yes.

Every single Marvel comics writer does that line about not being forced to do tie-ins or crossovers. It sounds like the tired thing the MCU actors have to say about snipers.

[laughing_tree]

What thing about snipers?

[zachbeacon]

"Sorry, [talk show host]. I can't tell you more about the movie because Disney and/or Marvel has trained snipers"

[kore]

Yeah, what zachbeacon said -- it's just a line the actors repeat so frequently it sounds like something from the PR office. "Nobody here is forced to do tie-ins to the giant line-wide events (that get all the publicity and advertising dollars), it's totally a matter of choice" sounds similar to me anyway.

[laughing_tree]

What are you saying, that these writers are literally lying to us?

[onsokumaru]

Ewing is my favorite writer, but I'm not sure even him can sell me another Bruce Purplepants story.

I just hope that he gets a second ongoing full of C to Z list character.

Because even if Ewing doesn't write Hulk, there are still a dozen of other writers wanting to take the task. But if Ewing doesn't write characters like Blue Marvel, Songbird or Toni Ho, they are likely to go back in the toybox for Dende knows how much time.

[kore]

But if Ewing doesn't write characters like Blue Marvel, Songbird or Toni Ho, they are likely to go back in the toybox for Dende knows how much time.

What are you talking about, Zub wrote Songbird in his T-bolts book! HA HA HA //cries

I would just love to see Ewing do an Avengers book on his own. He's so great at effortless retcons and easter eggs and keeping continuity, all while doing great characterization and handling plot. I'm pretty disappointed Aaron got it instead.

[laughing_tree]

https://twitter.com/Al_Ewing/status/966638924021075968

[shadowpsykie]

*sigh* I am REALLY tired of the "Hulk is monster" trope... it makes it seem like anger is a bad thing. but it isn't. anger that is left to fester and boil and not release is bad. that kind of anger is dangerous to others and hurtful to the carrier. But anger also motivates people to action. to fight. to push through and seek justice. Those students in florida are motivated by anger. people pushing companies to end relations with the NRA are motivated by anger. BLM and DACA protestors are motivated by anger. their anger has is and will be the catalyst for change. Anger isn't bad.

[janegray]

"Anger is the engine that drives him." -Neil Gaiman on Terry Pratchett.

“Granny Weatherwax was often angry. She considered it one of her strong points. Genuine anger was one of the world's greatest creative forces. But you had to learn how to control it. That didn't mean you let it trickle away. It meant you dammed it, carefully, let it develop a working head, let it drown whole valleys of the mind and then, just when the whole structure was about to collapse, opened a tiny pipeline at the base and let the iron-hard stream of wrath power the turbines of revenge.” -Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters

That is to say that I fully agree with you.

[shadowpsykie]

damn that is sexy prose (I really want to get into Pratchett. but THAT is a commitment...)

[janegray]

Maybe this could help :)

http://blackboard-monitor.tumblr.com/post/145922277174/so-this-is-what-ive-done-all-day-apparently

I myself am only "partially" into Pratchett, in that I've only read the City Watch books (and not all of them either, but I'm almost finished) and a few spin-offs like Good Omens and Monstruous Regiment. But the compartimentalization of the franchise makes it easy to get into it.

There are over 40 Discworld books. But the series is divided in self-contained sub-series, each introducing and handling its own characters and setting (there is, of course, the occasional reference to the other sub-series, but it doesn't affect the story, it's more like an easter egg). So, yeah, 40 books in total are a HUGE committment. But, for example, there are only 8 Guards books, or only 5 Tiffany Aching books, or only 5 DEATH books.

Sort of like, the DCU has a million characters, but you could just read Wonder Woman and ignore the rest.

Normally new fans of Discworld start with the City Watch sub-series, whose first books is Guards! Guards!.

[zachbeacon]

Or you can do what I did and start with Hogfather (in the middle of a bunch of stuff) and only go back to read the older stuff after you've read the random books you found in the library.

I think the Watch and Tiffany books are continuity heavy enough that they should be read in order. The first two Rinchwind books are one story cut into two parts. Otherwise I say start wherever. Even if you don't know the characters you'll know the archetypes.


Or read Good Omens (the book he cowrote with Gaiman) just to see if you like his work. The story feels more Pratchett than Gaiman to me.

[kore]

I started off with Night Watch, a late Guards book, then read more Guards books, the Witches books, the Death books....I still haven't read a bunch of the standalones. Like janegray says, there are subseries, spinoffs, standalones and it's also a series unusually forgiving if you read it out of order. You do have to be pretty into fantasy tropes to understand and enjoy a lot of it, though, as the whole series started out as satire. But it's very worth the investment. And the audiobooks are stellar.

[zachbeacon]

Every time someone asks about a starting place in this series I forget about the standalones.

Small Gods might be the perfect jumping on point. It's early enough (both in publication and setting) that it gets to add some world building stuff that continues to pay off later but it's late enough that Sir Terry found his voice (it's MUCH more indicative of the series' tone than the first couple Rincewind books.)

[kore]

Oh, that's a great one, yeah. Going Postal, mayyybe, or Maurice and his Educated Rodents.

[locuatico]

I remember someone saying that "anger" can represent our sense of justice. we feel anger when we think someone has wronged us or someone else. Someone with a strong sense of justice will naturally feel angry upon seeing innocent people suffering.

Interestingly enough, you could be argue that the Hulk from "world War Hulk" is this. He is furious to the point that NONE of the heroes can even stand a chance or reason with him... but he is ultimately genuinely seeking justice for a REALLY good reason. his objective wasn't to kill the Illuminati, but to have them face justice they (seemingly) deserved. Hell, he even forgives Xavier.

[luxshine]

Same here. It´s one of the reasons why I loved Tony and Bruce´s interactions in Avengers and Iron Man 3. Tony understood that neither Bruce nor the Hulk was a monster and Bruce was given a much better characterization than just "gets angry for no reason and turns into a monster". But Marvel just never likes Hulk evolving, I guess. Even when he does (Usually at the expense of Banner as a character), we go back to the status quo sooner or later.

[kore]

I totally loved "I'm always angry" in that movie. That was a gem. IIRC Whedon on the commentary refers to the Hulk as the werewolf story, which was interesting. Wolves aren't bad in and of themselves, unlike Mr Hyde.

[luxshine]

Oh, the "I´m always angry" and the whole scene about eating a bullet but Hulk stopping it made me decide that Ruffalo is and will always be my Bruce Banner/Hulk. Whedon may have had some downs in Age of Ultron, but that line made me think he GOT Hulk.

What's funny is that people HAVE managed to make Hyde heroic in different adaptations, so I really don't get why Marvel can't let go of "Hulk is a violent monster because Anger is bad".

(And now I'm going to read one of my favorite fanfics, where Bruce actually trolls everyone with the Hulk. Because damn it, I need it now that I know that yes, Bruce is coming back, but we're rethreading every single old trope I hated of Hulk)

[kore]

made me decide that Ruffalo is and will always be my Bruce Banner/Hulk. Whedon may have had some downs in Age of Ultron, but that line made me think he GOT Hulk.

Yes! That portrayal was so neat. (Although I grew up on the TV show, so the bar was kinda low, sorry Bill Bixby....)

I'll read almost anything by Ewing, but I may be sitting this one out. Altho maybe they're going for a kind of Moore Swamp Thing vibe....? I just LOATHE the Secret Empire Clint-shoots-Bruce/Steve-made-it-happen/Hulk-brought-back-wrong recent backstory. Although if anyone could fix it, Ewing might be able to.

[deh_tommy]

Anger isn’t always a bad thing, but one musn’t necessarily let themselves become consumed by said anger. Anger left unchecked festers and leads to hate, rage, spite, etc.

[bradygirl_12]

Langkowski is gosh-darned nice? Of course he is! He's Canadian! ;)

Dunno about making Hulk a horror comic. Didn't work so well for Wonder Woman..

[lordultimus]

To be fair, Hulk started out with a lot of horror influence, his two major inspirations being Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[zachbeacon]

And IIRC he originally changed on a full moon

[panthyr]

He originally changed at night.

[zachbeacon]

Thanks. I knew it was one or the other but wasn't sure it was based on the moon or (lack up) sun

[philippos42]

Hm. Which period of Wonder Woman is a horror comic? The abortive JMS run? The ersatz Deadface of Azzarello and Chiang? The current stuff I'm not reading?

I'm not optimistic about this take, but maybe the Hulk works better as a sort of semi-horror Fugitive character than as whatever he's been since PAD.

[locuatico]

I want to give Ewing a chance but, at the same time... this has been done before. And I don't mean in the "all stories have been told" sense. I mean that Marvel seems to be afraid of Hulk being anything other than this.
You can't have Bruce just be a de-powered supporting character for a couple of years.

Sometimes, I think of Planet Hulk and how Hulk's reign as king of Sakaar only lasted like 3 issues (if you count everything going kabloom). And I can only think... was anything in the years that followed Planet Hulk worth losing all the story potential of that setting?

[scorntx]

Relieved that Ewing's writing a full series.
Interested to see where this goes. Mainly 'cuz Ewing's writing it.

Okay, entirely because Ewing's writing it.

[zylly]

I have full faith in Ewing, despite this being a somewhat iffy premise.

But I also really hope he's also got a team book full of b,c, and d-list characters coming too.

[astrakhan42]

Since supposedly the new book is going to be the "only" Avengers title after No Surrender, maybe Ewing could revive the Defenders as a home for oddball characters. He already did that great Captain Britain and the Defenders two-parter for Secret Wars.

[zylly]

I think the Defenders name is pretty well tied up with Luke/Jessica/Danny/Matt right now, but there's gotta be some oddball team name that could get co-opted. I'd even take Force Works.

[kore]

Ohhh if they're doing this with Banner Hulk, I guess that's why Aaron wanted She-Hulk for the new Avengers book, because IIRC he said they wanted "a Hulk" in that lineup.

I've loved nearly everything Ewing has done but I don't really do horror comics.

[silverhammerman]

Bennett on art doesn't exactly excite me, but this looks interesting. I always say this, but Ewing is one of Marvel's best and most underappreciated (at least by the publisher itself) writers, and him finally getting to headline a big name Marvel character is very exciting, especially with the prospect of it not being derailed due to crossovers, as I've absolutely dropped otherwise enjoyable Ewing books due to those in the past.

The premise has my attention as well, though I find myself wondering how long the day/night gimmick will last before reverting to the more well known dynamic. I can definitely see how this is going to seem like a step backwards to some people, but for Bruce Banner at least I like the idea of moving back in a more monstrous direction, as I don't particularly care for Hulk acting as the Avenger's resident lovable idiot.

It's a shame to see Amadeus Cho go though.