STORY
The synopsis for this issue implies that everything has gone to Hell; Hulk, Absorbing Man, Shadow Base, Jackie McGee, New Mexico, the whole Earth! Al Ewing crafts a different sort of Hulk story here. Not your typical man monster tale or epic battle but a rather nice bit pf philosophical horror. As Hulk and Jackie journey through the hellscape the very nature of what is Hell is explored in narration from an unknown source complimented by gray toned images mostly of disaster, violence, loneliness and ruin. It sets the tone right away before shifting into the story itself which features Jackie and a shriveled Hulk, journeying across the wasteland that was the world.
This issue is quite wordy but this is happily not a minus as this story explores what it means to be a useful monster like the Hulk vs being normal human. Jackie notes that the Hulk is often forgiven his great sins while a normal person is not free to rage at injustice as he is. She correctly notes that Hulk is often given a pass on his behavior because he can be useful as a monster and wonders what it must feel like to be so totally free. Its a very interesting perspective on the Hulk that I have not seen explored before and it was quite engrossing. This nifty segment is unfortunately and needlessly bogged down by making inferences to race and gender issues which honestly don’t seem to serve the story at all.
The hellscape is also populated by the shades of those who may or may not be dead. We encounter horrific hollow effigies of Rick Jones and Thunderbolt Ross to name a few as well as Jackie’s father. The Hulk notes that they are just repeating old lines but there is some evidence that his deduction is incorrect and you can’t help but wonder what sort of machinations are going on as Hulk is goaded into a new level of savagery when fighting a Red Hulk Ross. Hulk trades in his new catch phrase of Hulk Smash for Hulk kill! A telling moment since Hulk recently and deliberately killed someone for the first time in his existence, a fact that haunted Banner.
This issue offers what I consider one of Puck’s best moments ever as he finds Crusher Creel wallowing in pity at the realization that he has damned the world. Ewing writes a nifty little but of exposition about the life of Puck from Puck himself and it made me admire the character all the more as he considers being trapped in Hell just one more adventure in a life full of adventure. It was a real Peter Pan moment if you ask me. Lastly we get a nice little cliffhanger revealing that the devil of a Hulk centric Hell could be none other than his abusive father, who it seems has the Banner persona contained in the center of this dead world.
ART
Joe Bennett (pencils), Ruby Jose’ (inks) and Paul Mounts (colors) do a fantastic job if bringing this story to like. The storytelling on Joe’s part is superb. The page layouts are great and the flow is easy to follow. I really enjoyed the inking by Ruby for all the feathering strokes which reminded me of greats like Rudy Nebres. It’s not a common technique these days which really made it stand out for me. The colors serve the story perfectly from the vignettes to the quiet moments to the action. Paul knows when to be subtle and when to punch up the art with vibrant tones and a lot of the mood and tone is the product of his fine work here.
LETTERING
I feel compelled to add that the lettering in this book is handled quite well. Especially given just how full of prose some of the pages are. VC’s Cory Petit does a great job of making sure the art is always the star of the show and is never obscured.
FINAL VERDICT
This issue was mostly a great read and a visual feast. 4 out of 5 stars!
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
(W) Al Ewing (A) Joe Bennett (CA) Alex Ross
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