Scott's Take: The Immortal Hulk Volume 3: Hulk in Hell

The Immortal Hulk Volume 3: Hulk in Hell by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Kyle Holtz, and others is the third story in the Immortal Hulk Series. Before reading this series or this review further, one needs to understand that the movie version of The Hulk is a far softer and sanitized version that Disney and Marvel use to sell to the general public and to kids who identify The Hulk as a hero. The comic version of The Hulk is far more complex and far less of a heroic figure. Among other things, in addition to being killed and brought back more than once, Bruce Banner also committed suicide and was brought back. In this series, he is dead and yet not dead. Bruce is broken inside and each death has caused more damage to him and there have been a lot of deaths. The Hulk, in this series, he is immortal. Banner is still mostly dead during the day and has some control, but at night The Hulk is in full control.

If that was not enough, in the comic books, Bruce Banner has Multiple Personality Disorder which manifests through various personalities of The Hulk. The most common is the “Savage Hulk” personality. That is The Hulk which is a good guy who wants to be left alone. He speaks in short sentences and is childlike to some extent. When this personality is manifested, The Hulk is mostly a hero. This story is not about that personality.

This book as well as the series is about the “Devil Hulk.” This is Bruce Banner at his worst as he is smart, cruel, and full of rage and wants revenge and innocence. This one is his worst personality in The Hulk being, and it scares Bruce Banner who is also very aware that he can’t control it at all.

One should also be aware that despite what one is told in the movies, in the comic books, there was a gamma bomb that exploded. That explosion did not create The Hulk. The explosion unleashed The Hulk as it was always present in Bruce Banner since he was a child. The bomb just gave the Hulk a form. The Hulk is just a byproduct of Brian Banner (Bruce Banner’s father) and his work in radiation which caused genetic damage that he passed on to his son, the childhood abuse of Bruce Banner and his mother, and his own mental illness  that involves Multiple Personality Disorder.

The Hulk is investigating the mystery of the Green Door, gamma radiation, and more. It is hard to go in to much detail without ruining the story to this point. So, readers are warned that a few series spoilers follow. At this point in the series, The Hulk is in Hell and is trying to get out.

One of my favorite parts of this series is that it explains a lot of what has been happening with The Hulk for the last few years and plays heavy into the history of The Hulk. The Hulk and Bruce are very complicated. Bruce Banner/ The Hulk are one of the few heroes in popular culture that have mental illness and survived extreme childhood abuse. They are one of the few depictions of a heroic character in comics that is from a broken home.

While characters like Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, and more had people who loved them and were good parents--even if their lives were cut short—Banner /The Hulk did not as only his Mom was good to him. She was just as much a victim of abuse as was the son. Despite everything that happened to Bruce Banner/ The Hulk there is still good in both. They can both be a hero or a villain. They make the choice and for this series they are anti-heroes.

I have enjoyed this series so far, especially in regards to how they have worked in the supporting cast, but I do wish things were sometimes more explained. As the story is not finished, writer Al Ewing is choosing to keep a lot of information to himself. That means numerous major questions are being developed and resented to the reader, but we have yet to get the answers.

Immortal Hulk Volume 3: Hulk In Hell is a really good book as is the series, but this is not a read for children. This is paranormal horror as there are other worldy forces at work. The read is very graphic in terms of illustrations and many of those illustrations have a strong and disturbing visual impact. This is not the sanitized movie versions of The Hulk and readers are cautioned to be aware of that before reading.  

The Immortal Hulk Volume 3: Hulk in Hell

Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Kyle Holtz, et al.

Marvel

https://www.marvel.com

May 2019

ISBN# 978-1-302-91506-3

Paperback (also available as an eBook)

112 Pages

$11.53

Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System. My copy came from the Central Branch also known as the Downtown location.

Scott A. Tipple ©2019