So don't see this new kind of posts as a review but rather as the very personal opinion of a random little person on the internet and don't take everything for granted haha, always make your own opinion.
But anyway, time to react to that Incredible Hulk vol.4 14 issue !
Alright. It's weird starting with issue 14 so this post will be way longer than it should 'cause I gotta put some context here.
Long story short there's a new Hulk run atm by PKJ and Nic Klein and I've been loving it.
Some people call it the rightful Immortal Hulk 2 but I strongly disagree with that. PKJ's Incredible Hulk created it's own lore and aesthetic. The narration is also very different. Al Ewing would take his time and create a very lovecraftian world. In fact you barrely had any action in Immortal Hulk when you think of it, it was mostly a while PJK is more into action with impressive big fight and a more gothic aesthetic.
Let's talk about the aesthetic while we're at it. I often said that it strongly reminds me of video games such as Diablo (mostly Diablo tbh but I'm a big biiiig fan of Diablo), Bloodborne, Elden Ring etc... And Nic Klein confirmed recently that Elden Ring and Bloodborne and this kind of games were part of his is main influence so if you love theme you'll love reading that run.
Long story short there's a new Hulk run atm by PKJ and Nic Klein and I've been loving it.
Some people call it the rightful Immortal Hulk 2 but I strongly disagree with that. PKJ's Incredible Hulk created it's own lore and aesthetic. The narration is also very different. Al Ewing would take his time and create a very lovecraftian world. In fact you barrely had any action in Immortal Hulk when you think of it, it was mostly a while PJK is more into action with impressive big fight and a more gothic aesthetic.
Let's talk about the aesthetic while we're at it. I often said that it strongly reminds me of video games such as Diablo (mostly Diablo tbh but I'm a big biiiig fan of Diablo), Bloodborne, Elden Ring etc... And Nic Klein confirmed recently that Elden Ring and Bloodborne and this kind of games were part of his is main influence so if you love theme you'll love reading that run.
As a monster lover I'm quite delighted by every issues. PKJ created his own mythology with new monsters and I love how he tends to dedicate a little page to explore the lore he created with informations that aren't necessarly important to the reading but still nice to get.
As for the story, basically PKJ is doing a crazy good work taking into consideration not only Immortal Hulk but also Cates' Hulk and it was hard to do something fans would love out of it considering the amount of hate it got.
I'm gonna take a small lil' moment to talk about Cates here. I don't blame him for the failure his Hulk run was. You gotta understand that Marvel asked him to use an old speech he made out of a 5 issues silly story he wrote a few years prior to Immortal Hulk, he had only a few month to completly rewrite to match everything Immortal Hulk did ('cause Immortal Hulk pretty much rebooted all our gamma knowledge by adding the supernatural to its root) when it was supposed to be a simple sandbox of Hulk beating the shit out of random powerful characters just for fun. It was never meant to be serious nor part of the main run, it was just Cates having fun and he had to turn that into something relevant in very little time. Marvel also forced him to do all these annoying useless Thor crossover he didn't want and on top of that his personal life was a bit crazy and depressing at the time so he wasn't in a good condition to write this run and he probably hated working on it honestly.
He still tried to build something nice out of all this shit (and honestly it could have paid of), but Cates went into a very serious car accident and while he survived he got a very bad brain injury, lefting him amnesic (and I think to this day he still struggles with memories and coordinations issues). He also spent a few months in hospital so Ryan Ottley (who was the artist working on that run with him) did his best to finish it as soon as possible on his own. I won't pretend it's good because it's plain awful to read but I want people to stop blaming Cates over that failure, if you want to blame someone blame his haters and Marvel.
Alright that being said let's go back to our business, so without spoiling too much the story is about a girl named Charlene (Charlie) who wanna be like Hulk and who will follow Bruce and Hulk after the death of her abusive father. A past very similar to Bruce's, thus the reason him and Hulk got some affection for her.
Shit happened because of some kind of entity named The Eldest who's apparently the mother of all monsters. Charlie got her spirit trapped into a very hellish place and now Bruce and Hulk are trying to rescue her but the thing is, because of everything that happend in the Cates run where Bruce was pretty much an abusive egocentrical cunt (one of the reason people hated this run but I personally loved it 'cause it was very "Sam" of him to do that and considering how it ended it made sense that Bruce was acting like Sam) and because he was a cunt to Betty too, Hulk hates him even more than usual and wanna trapped him forever in his own mindscape while he's in controle.
Sooooooooo things aren't doing so well for Bruce atm.
From now on we're gonna spoil Incredible Hulk 14 so if you wanna read it first go ahead
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson cover art by Nic Klein
Alright, let's talk about the issue itself now. Bruce dies and he needs to get out of his mindscape before the door closes. And the more he dies, the hardest it gets to leave before his door completly closes apparently.
There's a lot of things to say already, of course the door should refer to the Green Door, the power all gamma irradiated have inconsciously, the ability to use a green door to comeback to life.
In Immortal Hulk Sam was able to get controle of everyone's green door and he supposedly closed all of them so they shouldn't be able to comeback to life anymore and yet, Bruce still crosses a door.
But let's talk about his death very quickly first. While he was hitchhiking to reach Las Vegas, he get hit by a truck and dies.
In Immortal Hulk Sam was able to get controle of everyone's green door and he supposedly closed all of them so they shouldn't be able to comeback to life anymore and yet, Bruce still crosses a door.
But let's talk about his death very quickly first. While he was hitchhiking to reach Las Vegas, he get hit by a truck and dies.
Considering how the truck itself being green rather than a hot nuance of yellow like the car in the previous page and how the truck seems to left the road to "follow" Bruce I don't think it's an accident, someone wanted him dead (probably the Eldest).
Once he dies, he finds himself in a cage in his mindscape with a dead body talking to him.
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson art by Nic Klein
So Bruce is in his mindscape and... His mindscape is oddly familiar ? It looks like the Place Below... The destroyed buildings, the red sky, the green figure in the sky (that is supposedly Hulk but he looks like the One Below All).
It could be because Bruce was pretty much traumatized by the Place Below (Hell, even Sam was) but I think maybe it will be deeper than that later.
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Immortal Hulk 50 (2021) writing by Al Ewing
Immortal Hulk 14 (2019) writing by Al Ewing
And while Bruce wakes up his nightmarish mindscape, he meets the dead body of Rick Jones. It also happened in Immortal Hulk the first time we see Hulk being able to wander in the Place Below and remembering it.
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson art by Nic Klein
Immortal Hulk 11 (2019) writing by Al Ewing
Considering all the Immortal Hulk references this run already throw it's either just a cool throwback or something more important but I like it nonetheless. Let's keep going with references.
The obvious was Bruce's flashback as he explains to Rick why Hulk is angry at him :
Of course it's a direct reference to Cates' run we mentionned above (except for the part with Betty, it's new) but I also really love how Nic Klein tried to reproduce something similar to Ryan Ottley's artstyle to illustrate this flashback, it's a cool move.
I also wanna talk about Bruce confirming one of my long time theory about gamma and how it works on people and for Betty specifically (aka a need of independance) but I'll go back to that in a Big Brain Time another time 'cause there's A LOT to say on that matter.
I also wanna talk about Bruce confirming one of my long time theory about gamma and how it works on people and for Betty specifically (aka a need of independance) but I'll go back to that in a Big Brain Time another time 'cause there's A LOT to say on that matter.
Bruce keeps trying to escape while talking to Rick and this panel happens :
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson art by Nic Klein
Of course it's a direct reference to Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delight :
Garden of Earthly Delight by Hieronymus Bosch (~1510)
But that specific part of the triptych was already referenced in the cover of Immortal Hulk 42 by Alex Ross :
Immortal Hulk 50 (2021) cover art by Alex Ross
So it has me wonder. Is it an homage to Bosch ? To Immortal Hulk ? To both ? If it's meant to also be a ref to Immortal Hulk is there a reason they took the issue of Sam getting possessed by TOBA after playing with Bruce's mindscape ?
Anyway, Bruce keeps trying to escape and as he reaches the door (which is yellow, not green, though it does have the exacte same design as the green door), it is revealed that the Rick Jones bird was a Hulk trick.
I have a few things to say about it. First of all, the bird is of the same color as the door. I don't know if it's relevant but it's a thing I gotta point.
Anyway, Bruce keeps trying to escape and as he reaches the door (which is yellow, not green, though it does have the exacte same design as the green door), it is revealed that the Rick Jones bird was a Hulk trick.
I have a few things to say about it. First of all, the bird is of the same color as the door. I don't know if it's relevant but it's a thing I gotta point.
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson art by Nic Klein
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson art by Nic Klein
And after that, Bruce falls into oblivion and darkness. And has he's all alone, trapped here, he meets Betty (she's super pretty btw, her eyes are stunning).
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson art by Nic Klein
And that's it for this issue.
Now there's a few odd things to me. First of all it's not in Hulk's habit to torture people through tricks like that. Maybe he just changed and is using the mindscape to torture Bruce the way Bruce tortured him in Cates' run when he forced him to fight his enemies as a revenge, it could very well be just this, but Hulk is more of "smasher" y'know so I don't know, it's kinda odd to me.
But I'm a Sam simp and as such I want him back so, because it's conveniant to me, let's remember that tricking Bruce is more of a Sam trait. Especially using Rick, which he did in the Peter David run but ALSO and mostly in Immortal Hulk. Sam also had access to Bruce's mindscape in Immortal Hulk so he could very well kept a part of himself here that is poisoning Hulk the same way Bruce's mind was poisoned in Cates' run. After all, even if Immortal Hulk ended up with Sam being "freed" from the Leader, we all saw the ugly little baby Leader in the end of Cates' run doing God knows what by having some useless villain (I don't even remember his name lol) twisting Bruce's mind.
Pretending he's someone he's not would be typical Sam tbh so lemme dream. We saw him change form a few time in Immortal Hulk after all.
And in that run they would also use an image of Betty to lure Bruce and have him think he was making the right decision. So is it really Betty being used by the Eldest ? It could be, as she said in previous issues, the Eldest promised her She would give her a good life with Bruce so it could be.
But it could also be another trick. And not necessarly from Sam but from the Eldest, as Betty's mirage is known and often used to disturb Bruce and kinda control him.
And to be honest before Rick's Hulk reveal I thought it was Sam (again) helping Bruce 'cause while Sam is a villain who pretty much wants Bruce dead, he's also TOBA's herald (or mask or servant or whatever) and it seems the Eldest is against The One Below All so it could have make sense to have Bruce in the middle of a fight between the Eldest and TOBA, as both would need Hulk for their nefarious purpose (yes yes I know TOBA is TOAA but TOBA still exists for the balance and shit) so obviously it's not what happened here as Hulk trapped Bruce in his own mind in the end, but it's a thought I wanted to share anyway.
And, idk, Hulk taking the appearance of TOBA to torture Bruce seems kinda odd as I said but again after all the shit he went through because of Bruce it could be just him wanting revenge. But Sam WAS litteraly TOBA at some point, they are "one", his Leader self is still probably part of TOBA, his human body was freed but the Leader never left the Place Below so far.
I don't think we'll get Sam in this run unfortunatly but if we do that's how we could get him. I just want him way too hard so I explore any possibilities, what can I say ? Sometimes it does pay of, like I did with Cates run and MCU Sam in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and turns out I was right in both case. A part of me really wanna hope that Sam could show up in this run and another is just "nope, it won't happen" haha.
Now there's a few odd things to me. First of all it's not in Hulk's habit to torture people through tricks like that. Maybe he just changed and is using the mindscape to torture Bruce the way Bruce tortured him in Cates' run when he forced him to fight his enemies as a revenge, it could very well be just this, but Hulk is more of "smasher" y'know so I don't know, it's kinda odd to me.
But I'm a Sam simp and as such I want him back so, because it's conveniant to me, let's remember that tricking Bruce is more of a Sam trait. Especially using Rick, which he did in the Peter David run but ALSO and mostly in Immortal Hulk. Sam also had access to Bruce's mindscape in Immortal Hulk so he could very well kept a part of himself here that is poisoning Hulk the same way Bruce's mind was poisoned in Cates' run. After all, even if Immortal Hulk ended up with Sam being "freed" from the Leader, we all saw the ugly little baby Leader in the end of Cates' run doing God knows what by having some useless villain (I don't even remember his name lol) twisting Bruce's mind.
Pretending he's someone he's not would be typical Sam tbh so lemme dream. We saw him change form a few time in Immortal Hulk after all.
And in that run they would also use an image of Betty to lure Bruce and have him think he was making the right decision. So is it really Betty being used by the Eldest ? It could be, as she said in previous issues, the Eldest promised her She would give her a good life with Bruce so it could be.
But it could also be another trick. And not necessarly from Sam but from the Eldest, as Betty's mirage is known and often used to disturb Bruce and kinda control him.
And to be honest before Rick's Hulk reveal I thought it was Sam (again) helping Bruce 'cause while Sam is a villain who pretty much wants Bruce dead, he's also TOBA's herald (or mask or servant or whatever) and it seems the Eldest is against The One Below All so it could have make sense to have Bruce in the middle of a fight between the Eldest and TOBA, as both would need Hulk for their nefarious purpose (yes yes I know TOBA is TOAA but TOBA still exists for the balance and shit) so obviously it's not what happened here as Hulk trapped Bruce in his own mind in the end, but it's a thought I wanted to share anyway.
And, idk, Hulk taking the appearance of TOBA to torture Bruce seems kinda odd as I said but again after all the shit he went through because of Bruce it could be just him wanting revenge. But Sam WAS litteraly TOBA at some point, they are "one", his Leader self is still probably part of TOBA, his human body was freed but the Leader never left the Place Below so far.
I don't think we'll get Sam in this run unfortunatly but if we do that's how we could get him. I just want him way too hard so I explore any possibilities, what can I say ? Sometimes it does pay of, like I did with Cates run and MCU Sam in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and turns out I was right in both case. A part of me really wanna hope that Sam could show up in this run and another is just "nope, it won't happen" haha.
There's also that mark on Betty's hand, which is the mark of the Eldest but to me it looks like Tammuz's horns
Immortal Hulk Time of Monsters (2021) writing by Al Ewing/ Alex Paknadel, art by Juan Ferreyra
Tammuz is the first gamma irradiated, the first child of TOBA and I know he's gonna play an important part in this run 'cause Hulk's "new form" on the upcoming covers is clearly a fusion with him
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 16 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson cover art by Nic Klein
Incredible Hulk vol. 4 14 (2024) writing by Phillip Kennedy Johnson cover art by Nic Klein
He was also "here" when Bruce and Sam's ancestors re-opened the Green Door through their mutual betrayal and cursed their children of a destiny of hatred and anger forever.
Whatever the future holds for Hulk and Bruce, Tammuz will be involved and I'm very happy about that, I liked his story, I can't wait to see more and how he's related to Hulk and the Eldest.
In conclusion
This issue was once again an absolute banger. I'm so in love with the whole aesthetic and the art already but Nic Klein's painted pages are incredibly beautiful and breath taking.
It's too soon to say what I think of the story, that will depend of where it leads us and how it pays off but so far so good, I enjoy where it's going and how respectful it is to what was done before will creating something completly new and adding to that kinda biblical gothic aesthetic I love a lot.
It's too soon to say what I think of the story, that will depend of where it leads us and how it pays off but so far so good, I enjoy where it's going and how respectful it is to what was done before will creating something completly new and adding to that kinda biblical gothic aesthetic I love a lot.
