The Immortal Hulk | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre | |
Publication date | June 2018 – October 2021 |
No. of issues | 50 |
Main character(s) | Hulk |
Creative team | |
Written by | Al Ewing |
Penciller(s) | Joe Bennett |
Inker(s) | Ruy José |
Letterer(s) | Cory Petit |
Colorist(s) | Paul Mounts |
Editor(s) | Tom Brevoort |
The Immortal Hulk was an ongoing comic book series written by Al Ewing, pencilled by Joe Bennett, and published by Marvel Comics. The series starred the various dissociative identities, or "alters," of Bruce Banner as they grapple with the discovery that gamma-irradiated beings such as the Hulk are unable to die. [1]
It quickly garnered critical acclaim, [2] [3] [4] including three Eisner Award nominations for Best Continuing Series. [5] [6] [7] After spawning numerous one-shots by various creative teams and a spinoff miniseries starring Gamma Flight, the series concluded with issue #50 in October 2021. [8]
The series begins in the aftermath of the "No Surrender" storyline in Avengers, with the Hulk returning from his death at the hands of Hawkeye during the Civil War II crossover event. His return and random appearances causes Jacqueline "Jackie" McGee, a news reporter whose childhood home was destroyed by the Hulk, to investigate. She and other gamma-irridated beings learn about the Below-Place, where gamma radiation, an emanation of the manevolent deity, the One Below All, resides. Brian Banner, Hulk's abusive father, and The Leader, his longtime nemesis, both plan to use the realm for their own nefarious goals.
In its 50-issue span, The Immortal Hulk addresses a wide range of themes. Its opening issues focus on the idea that all people have a monstrous side to their nature. After Hulk travels to Hell, questions of the Problem of Evil and the nature of morality come to the fore. The introduction of Joe Fixit and the Savage Hulk into the story, as well as the sealing away of the Devil Hulk (the main Hulk persona seen in the first half of the series) in Bruce's mindscape, leads to an exploration of Dissociative Identity Disorder and the reconceptualization of the Hulk's psychological makeup as a "system" rather than a Banner-Hulk binary. The Roxxon storyline takes an environmentalist approach, portraying the dangers of capitalism and propagandistic media. Additionally, race, gender identity, and religion (particularly Judaism) are also explored.
The Immortal Hulk garnered high praise following its debut in 2018. Matt Lune of Multiversity Comics called the first issue "extremely well done," praising the reimagining of the Hulk as "a terrifying figure, with a grim, twisted, toothy smile, piercing stare and distinctly disturbing eloquence." [2] In 2019, 2020, and 2022, the series was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series. [5] [6] [7] Upon completion of the series, Tony Thornley of Comicon.com called it
the greatest run ever written about [the Hulk]. This is a seminal story that started as a monster movie, evolved into a supernatural thriller, then a cosmic horror. It further molted into an anti-capitalist protest. A psychological thriller. Back to cosmic horror. And then a meditation on the character himself and what made him great. [...] In the end, we got a single, continuous Hulk story that redefined the character, his powers, his world, even his mental illness. [...] We find ourselves at the conclusion of one of the greatest comics series Marvel has ever published. [4]
Bennett caused controversy by including what was interpreted as antisemitic imagery in the background of a panel in The Immortal Hulk #43. [9] Though the imagery made it to print in the single issue, it was removed in collected editions. Following this, a 2018 political cartoon resurfaced in which the then-Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro was allegorically depicted as an “Independence Dragoon” (a member of a historical Brazilian military unit) fighting political opponents (including former presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer) in the shape of monstrous rats. [10] In response to this illustration, Ewing severed ties with Bennett. [11] On 9 September 2021, Marvel announced that he had been removed from his current assignments and was not on any future Marvel projects. [12]
In addition to the main fifty-issue run, several Immortal Hulk one-shots were released. Initially created as a way for the series to tie into crossover events without intruding on the main series, these one-shots expanded their focus to allow other creative teams a chance to tell self-contained Immortal Hulk stories.
Title | Writer | Artist | Colorist | Notes | Release date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Immortal Hulk: The Best Defense #1 | Al Ewing | Simone Di Meo | Dono Sánchez-Almara | Tie-in to The Best Defense crossover | December 5, 2018 |
Absolute Carnage: Immortal Hulk #1 | Filipe Andrade | Chris O'Halloran | Tie-in to Absolute Carnage crossover | October 2, 2019 | |
Immortal Hulk: Great Power #1 | Tom Taylor | Jorge Molina Adriano Di Benedetto Roberto Poggi | David Curiel | February 5, 2020 | |
Immortal Hulk #0 | Al Ewing | Mattia de Iulis | Original framing story | September 16, 2020 | |
Bill Mantlo | Mike Mignola Gerry Talaoc | Bob Sharen | Reprint of Incredible Hulk #312 | ||
Peter David | Adam Kubert Mark Farmer | Dan Brown | Reprint of Incredible Hulk #-1 | ||
Immortal She-Hulk #1 | Al Ewing | Jon Davis-Hunt | Marcio Menyz | Tie-in to Empyre crossover | September 23, 2020 |
Immortal Hulk: The Threshing Place #1 | Jeff Lemire | Mike del Mundo | Mike del Mundo Marco D'Alfonso | September 30, 2020 | |
King in Black: Immortal Hulk #1 | Al Ewing | Aaron Kuder | Frank Martin Erick Arciniega | Tie-in to King in Black crossover | December 16, 2020 |
Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1 | Declan Shalvey | February 17, 2021 | |||
Immortal Hulk: Time of Monsters #1 | Alex Paknadel Al Ewing | Juan Ferreyra | Introduces prehistoric "original Hulk" | May 19, 2021 | |
David Vaughan | Kevin Nowlan |
The series has been collected into a number of hardcover and trade paperback collections:
Volume | Title | Material collected | Page count | Publication date | ISBN | Additional notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Or Is He Both? | Immortal Hulk #1-5 and material from Avengers #684 | 136 | November 20, 2018 | 978-1302912550 | |
2 | The Green Door | Immortal Hulk #6-10 | 112 | February 12, 2019 | 978-1302912567 | |
3 | Hulk in Hell | Immortal Hulk #11-15 | 112 | May 14, 2019 | 978-1302915063 | |
4 | Abomination | Immortal Hulk #16-20 | 136 | September 3, 2019 | 978-1302912550 | |
5 | Breaker of Worlds | Immortal Hulk #21-25 | 136 | November 19, 2019 | 978-1302916688 | |
6 | We Believe in Bruce Banner | Immortal Hulk #26-30 | 112 | March 17, 2020 | 978-1302920500 | |
7 | Hulk Is Hulk | Immortal Hulk #31-35 | 136 | September 1, 2020 | 978-1302920517 | |
8 | The Keeper of the Door | Immortal Hulk #36-40 | 112 | January 19, 2021 | 978-1302920524 | |
9 | The Weakest One There Is | Immortal Hulk #41-45 | 112 | June 8, 2021 | 978-1302925970 | |
10 | Of Hell and of Death | Immortal Hulk #46-50 | 184 | December 7, 2021 | 978-1302925987 | |
11 | Apocrypha | Immortal Hulk: The Best Defense #1, Defenders: The Best Defense #1, Absolute Carnage: Immortal Hulk #1, Immortal Hulk #0, Immortal She-Hulk #1, King in Black: Immortal Hulk #1, and material from Immortal Hulk: Time of Monsters #1 | 248 | January 11, 2022 | 978-1302931162 | Anthology collection of the Ewing-written Immortal Hulk one-shots |
Great Power | Immortal Hulk: Great Power #1, Immortal Hulk: The Threshing Place #1, Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1, and material from Immortal Hulk: Time of Monsters #1 | 112 | November 2, 2021 | 978-1302931179 | Anthology collection of the non-Ewing-written Immortal Hulk one-shots | |
Gamma Flight | Gamma Flight #1-5 | 112 | January 4, 2022 | 978-1302928063 | Spinoff miniseries following Gamma Flight after the events of Immortal Hulk #47 | |
Defenders: There Are No Rules | Defenders #1-5 and material from Marvel Comics #1000-1001 | 144 | May 3, 2022 | 978-1302924720 | Related miniseries revealing where Harpy went at the end of Immortal Hulk #48 |
Volume | Material collected | Page count | Publication date | ISBN | Additional notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Book 1 | Immortal Hulk #1-10 and material from Avengers #684 | 264 | October 15, 2019 | 978-1302919658 | Compilation of Vol. 1 & 2 trade paperbacks |
Book 2 | Immortal Hulk #11-20 | 232 | July 7, 2020 | 978-1302923471 | Compilation of Vol. 3 & 4 trade paperbacks |
Book 3 | Immortal Hulk #21-30 | 256 | May 11, 2021 | 978-1302928308 | Compilation of Vol. 5 & 6 trade paperbacks |
Book 4 | Immortal Hulk #31-40 | 248 | November 16, 2021 | 978-1302931285 | Compilation of Vol. 7 & 8 trade paperbacks |
Book 5 | Immortal Hulk #41-50 | 304 | December 6, 2022 | 978-1302945268 | Compilation of Vol. 9 & 10 trade paperbacks |
Omnibus | Immortal Hulk #1-50, Immortal Hulk: The Best Defense #1, Defenders: The Best Defense #1, Absolute Carnage: Immortal Hulk #1, Immortal Hulk #0, Immortal She-Hulk #1, King in Black: Immortal Hulk #1, Gamma Flight #1-5, and material from Avengers #684 and Immortal Hulk: Time of Monsters #1 | 1,616 | August 15, 2023 | 978-1302916688 | Collection of all Ewing-written Immortal Hulk material. Does not include Immortal Hulk: Great Power #1, Immortal Hulk: The Threshing Place #1, Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1, the non-Ewing-written material from Immortal Hulk: Time of Monsters #1, or the Defenders miniseries |
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk. In his comic book appearances, the character, who has dissociative identity disorder (DID), is primarily represented by the alter ego Hulk, a green-skinned, hulking, and muscular humanoid possessing a limitless degree of physical strength, and the alter ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved physicist, both of whom typically resent each other.
Rick Jones is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been depicted as a sidekick and friend to the Hulk, Captain America, Mar-Vell / Captain Marvel, Rom the Spaceknight, and Genis-Vell / Captain Marvel.
The Abomination is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Gil Kane, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #90. He is one of the main enemies of the superhero Hulk, and possesses powers similar to his after also being exposed to gamma rays.
Elizabeth "Betty" Ross is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) as a romantic interest of the Hulk. She is the daughter of General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross. Over the years, the character has undergone multiple transformations, including the Harpy and Red She-Hulk.
She-Hulk is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared in The Savage She-Hulk #1. Walters is a lawyer who, after an assassination attempt, received an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner, and acquired a milder version of his Hulk condition. As such, Walters becomes a large, powerful, green-hued version of herself. Unlike Banner in his Hulk form, Walters largely retains her normal personality in her She-Hulk form, in particular the majority of her intelligence and emotional control. Furthermore, though she's much taller in her She-Hulk form, Walters's body mass is just as dense as that of her normal human self. In any case, like Hulk, She-Hulk is still susceptible to outbursts of anger and becomes much stronger when enraged. In later series, her transformation is permanent, and she often breaks the fourth wall for humorous effect and running gags, as the first major Marvel character to do so frequently, ahead of the more famous fourth wall breaker Deadpool.
Sasquatch is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The Leader is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Leader first appeared in Tales to Astonish #62, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko as the archenemy of the Hulk. He has mainly appeared in Hulk-related comic books over the years and was one of the featured characters in the Marvel NOW! Thunderbolts relaunch.
Al Ewing is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press, for 2000 AD, and for Marvel Comics.
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Hulk Classics was an action figure line based on the characters of Marvel Comics, and produced by Toy Biz in 2003. The line revolves around the Hulk and his supporting cast from the comic book series.
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Benedito José Nascimento, better known as Joe Bennett, is a Brazilian comic book artist.
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Brian Banner is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #267. He is the abusive father of Bruce Banner. His abuse was a contributing factor to Bruce Banner's eventual transformation into the Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk is an ongoing comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero the Hulk and his alter ego Dr. Bruce Banner.
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