This comic is dark, disturbing in places but enthralling and is obviously building to something which I look forward to reading in the later volumes. But to obtain the answers he seeks, Bruce Banner will have to face roaming gamma experiments, a ruthless assassin out for his blood. There’s also an annoying attempt to ret-con Banner’s family tree, which would be too much of a spoiler to expand on.

There are unanswered questions, and ties to nighttime and whatnot, but nothing genuinely scary to speak of. Loved the MCU movies to bits, tho, and grew up with the Hulk TV show so, given how many praises of this I've read on comics sites recently (and having really enjoyed Al Ewing's Zombo strip for 2000AD), I thought I'd give it a go. I remember reading that they dressed Scully in big suit jackets and shit to sort of downplay her looks, also to age her a little. Definitely recommended if you are a Hulk fan or want to know the character in a way more complex way than "The green dude that says Hulk smash".

I could see the sinew in each foot, and the Hulk always looks impossibly strong—it is very striking. There’s also the usual problem with plots set in dreamlands/mental spaces, as in the scenes where the Hulks and/or Banner deal with one another in a psychic landscape. Al Ewing has turned the Jade Giant back into the horror monster of his early years, but with a modern twist that has revolutionised the character. As Bruce Banner struggles to control the undying monster within, he finds himself hunted by his old friends and allies.

There are plenty of additional plot lines to keep you interested too: good to see Alpha Flight, Avengers etc all used properly. However, it's a bit of a thin story that, after 15 issues, I still have little to say about: the Hulk is an immortal being separate from Bruce Banner and which arises regenerated from Banner's mass every night; this literal Jekyll-and-Hyde situation leads to some episodic moral dilemmas as Banner stays in hiding following a destructive event before this series began (as per usual for Marvel, I'm told); the Hulk and all other beings associated with "gamma ray exposure" have a delicate mental health situation due to the intrusion of incorporeal beings from hell; at some point the Avengers catch up with Banner/the Hulk.Al Ewing and Joe Bennet really lean into the horror aspect of the Hulk with this new approach/title. You could argue there’s one, complete, complex narrative, which would make it a rare contender to be an actual “graphic novel”. The story in itself is very good, in the middle, The first pages hints about some puppeteers that then are absent from the story, and the ending is just confusing. Especially as we are introduced to characters with long-standing backstories deeply entwined with Banner’s past (looking at you, General Fortean) a new reader has a lot to catch-up with.

Bennett has contributed to Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man and Thor, and worked extensively at DC Comics, including on 52. Which kinda sucks but the narrative is so strong that you don't necessarily have to know everyone and everything. This reminds me a lot of the New 52 Swamp Thing and Animal Man, particularly the faux-Lovecraftian hell dimension stuff, which isn’t a good thing. There’s some very of-the-moment satire around Fox News and Black Lives Matter; alas, Ewing passes up the opportunity for a Green Lantern/Green Arrow “what about the green skins? This is damning with faint praise, but the Immortal Hulk series doesn’t fall into the “decompressed writing” trap, doesn’t insult your intelligence too often, is occasionally readable and fun, and even the poor ending didn’t make me want to throw my (borrowed) copy at the wall.Even so, even though there’s a lot of this book that he didn’t draw, this is still Immortal Hulk by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett.