The Immortal Hulk (comic book)

The Immortal Hulk
Cover to The Immortal Hulk #1. Art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Horror, superhero
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 personalities, or "alters," of Bruce Banner as they grapple with the discovery that gamma-irradiated beings such as the Hulk are unable to die.^[1]

The series began 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. 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 chronicling the fate of Gamma Flight, the series concluded with issue #50 in October 2021.^[8]

Summary[edit]

The Immortal Hulk begins as a series of single-issue horror stories, many of which cast the Hulk in the role of the monster. However, a larger story soon emerges, involving the Green Door through which gamma creatures must pass on their way back from death. Learning the truth of the Green Door sets the Hulk on a path which leads him to confront Hell, the machinations of a secret government organization, the first Marvel Comics character to be called the Hulk, and the driving force behind all evil in the Marvel Universe.

Themes[edit]

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 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.

Reception[edit]

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]

Artist controversy[edit]

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]

Collected editions[edit]

The series has been collected into a number of hardcover and trade paperback collections:

Trade paperbacks[edit]

Hardcovers[edit]

References[edit]