The Immortal Hulk #2 - "The Walking Ghost"

[laughing_tree]

You might go into this thinking you know about the Hulk, but new reader or old… there will come a moment when you look into the eyes of this Hulk and you’ll feel that moment of fear. Because you don’t know him at all. -- Al Ewing

Comments

[captainbellman]

The Hulk comic book Edgar Allan Poe would have read...?

[owlbrigade1]

Fear? No. Repulsion? Yes.

[crinos]

Okay, I'm christening this new incarnation Asshole Hulk. Because Holy shit.

You ripped off the guys arms and legs and then buried him alive? Is Hulk trying out for the Specter's job? Cause I think he aced it.

[bruinsfan]

To be fair, the crazy doctor murdered a whole pile of innocent people to avoid them revealing his little hidey hole (on what's apparently a very popular nature trail) apart from the unintentional death of his son and all the people who mourned at his grave too long. It's a sadistic punishment, but I wouldn't say undeserved. And burying him under meters and meters of collapsed rock makes sure no one else will be running afoul of him in the near future.

[crinos]

Good point, but then that's why I made the Specter comparison.

[cypherfdp]

I quite like Ironic Punishment Hulk.

[malitia]

I never thought I write this, but... me too.

[cyberghostface]

I really don't get reinterpretations of characters like this (i.e. the Hulk is a sadist and a monster) because sooner or later it's one of those things that will be retconned or reverted to status quo.

Stuff like 'Banner' which takes place in its own continuity or even stuff like the Ultimate Universe where Millar can do whatever he wants is one thing but you know something like "the character Disney sells on underwoos is now a sociopath who dismembers people and buries them alive" can only go on so long.

[crinos]

Well of course its gonna get reverted eventually, Just like Jane Foster as Thor or Sam Wilson as Captain America (Actually, is he still Cap? I know Steve is back and not HYDRA agent anymore), but the point is we might get some good stories out of it in the meantime.

If nothing else, this is a unique take on the character. Its sure a hell of a lot better than what they're doing with She Hulk.

[cyberghostface]

Well with Jane and Sam it's still part of their history, they just passed their respective torches. I think Hydra!Cap is a closer example to this because they presented him as being Cap for a few years minute swearing up and down that this was the real Cap only to pull the curtain back at the last minute and go "Hey this guy for all purposes isn't the real Cap, none of it mattered in the long run and everything's back to normal".

I doubt Ewing will got that far but I wouldn't be surprised if something like Shadowland happens that shows he's been corrupted or altered by some external source.

[nyadnar17]

If these books sell well than this version of the Hulk will get added to the roaster of Hulks that pop back up from time to time.

I really like "Horror Hulk"

[katefan]

Or perhaps this Hulk is another persona like Grey Hulk/Mr. Fixit? I don't really mind that idea, that the trauma of dying spawned a new Hulk that could at a later date be brought back. It reminds me a bit of how James Robinson explained why there were so many iterations of Solomon Grundy; with each death he is reborn into a different character. Sometimes he is dumb, other times cunning. Sometimes good, sometimes bestial, sometimes evil.

So I'm not too hung up on this interpretation of The Hulk, although since I'm not buying the comic I guess I don't a dog in this hunt.

[thehood]

You are right though, it is a new Hulk persona brought on by his death.

[thehood]

"I wouldn't be surprised if something like Shadowland happens that shows he's been corrupted or altered by some external source."

Would explain "the green door" that's driving Gamma mutates like Hotshot crazy.

[an_idol_mind]

This isn't really that much of a reinvention for the Hulk. If Peter David wasn't still verboten here, I'd happily post scans from two stories (one from the 1980s and one from the mid-2000s) that exactly match this tone and which haven't been retconned away.

[phantomfo]

Yeah, PAD's whole run was basically reinventing the Hulk every few years. Hulk had never really had what you'd call a "status quo."

[laughing_tree]

Aren't you a fan of Superior Spider-Man?

[cyberghostface]

Yes, I am. There’s a pretty big difference between having a concept like Otto Octavius trying to be a hero in Spider-Man’s body to varying results than if Slott had written Peter Parker as the person torturing and killing people.

[laughing_tree]

I was referring to this part: "because sooner or later it's one of those things that will be retconned or reverted to status quo."

[cyberghostface]

In that case there was no retcon for Superior Spider-Man. That's proven by the upcoming 'Superior Octopus' title. He's still in a Spider-Man's body trying to be a hero. There's no last minute "The real Otto Octavius is locked away in a closet somewhere".

Now granted Peter got his original body back but there's still nothing to the extent of "The guy we sold you as being the 100% real Steve Rogers for the past two years? Here's the real real Steve Rogers punching him out."

[laughing_tree]

I know he's getting his own book, but didn't he come back with no memory of his time in Peter's body? In other words, the exact same kind of reset.

[cyberghostface]

He copied his memories during Spider-Verse so the reset is at the halfway point. He still has memories of being Spider-Man and the memories of Peter that he kept.

[laughing_tree]

And Bruce Banner will probably still have memories of this when all's said and done, even if this iteration of the Hulk gets undone.

And do you think every Superior story after that half-way point was pointless?

[cyberghostface]

No, I don’t. And I don’t think it’s comparable to the end of Hydra!Cap which voided the premise the entire arc was sold on. There was no equivalent to that in Superior.

[laughing_tree]

Right, but what about the Immortal Hulk?

[cyberghostface]

I don’t know what the ending is. I’m just guessing based on what I’ve seen elsewhere.

[laughing_tree]

What I mean, if it gets undone, wouldn't it still have meaning to Banner, the same way Superior Spider-Man still had consequences for Peter and Otto?

[thehood]

It's not really an reinterpretation, this is more or less day one Hulk.

Besides, there's nothing to retcon. He hasn't killed anyone.

[cyberghostface]

No, he just ripped off a guy's limbs and buried him alive for a 'fate worse than death'.

[thehood]

So? The guy could kill anyone near him with the radiation he was emitting.

[cyberghostface]

So dismembering someone and burying them alive is kind of depraved. He was able to call in an anonymous tip for people in hazmats to get the other one so you can’t even argue it’s his only choice.

[thehood]

Banner did that, i doubt even this Hulk would use the phone. Or that he could.

[cyberghostface]

So Hulk had no other option than to rip off his arms and legs and bury him alive? It’s pretty obvious Hulk is trying to dole out ‘ironic justice’ more than anything else.

[thehood]

Do keep in mind this Hulk isn't supposed to be Nice. But it's not like the scientist didn't have it coming and he can't hurt anyone now.

[ekrolo2]

This is the best Ghost Rider & Spectre comic I've ever read.

[nyadnar17]

This is a fucking awesome take on the Hulk. Honestly really didn't think there was that much new ground to cover, but this? This something else.

[michaelsaint]

This is repulsive. I understand he murdered a lot of innocent people but dear lord he is still a human being - a mutated human being but a human being nonetheless. This is despicable.

That said, this IS a new take on the Hulk but, honestly, it would be a new take on most any superhero. He is a definitive anti-hero now with some super-villain leanings.

I want to point out that the Hulk is confronting people who are not even close to being able to defend themselves or even escape from him. He is THE HULK. He could be confronting Dr. Doom or another equally super-powered individual with a body count but he is not.

[malitia]

For some not yet clear reason he explicitly seems to target people who murder Banner. (It's not posted here but Dr. Frye made Bruce his latest victim to protect his secret, then came the "Oh Shit!" moment as the Hulk got up.)

[thehood]

This particular dude did have a body count.

[crimsonmoonmist]

Reading this as a sort of horror anthology type of story where the title character is meant to be just as much of a horror as his victims, yeah, I can enjoy this when I'm feeling in the mood for something spooky. I still think this book should be renamed to The Immoral Hulk, though.

[thezmage]

So this green door, do we hear any more about that? Cause I’m actually interested.

[malitia]

Yes. Seems to be the overarching plotline of the book connecting the individual issues that were horror done-in-one type things so far.

I can tell a bit more based on issue #3 and the solicits but it would be spoiler.