The Incredible Hulk is one of Marvel’s oldest, best known, and most beloved characters. Even outside of the comic book sphere, you can walk down the street and ask any random person, and odds are they at least vaguely know about Marvel’s mean, green, smashing machine. Naturally, this kind of notoriety comes with plenty of sensational stories under Hulk’s massive belt. There’s no shortage of great Hulk storylines and runs, with comics like World War Hulk still regarded as some of the best comics you can get. However, there is without a doubt a definitive best run of all time for the Hulk, and it’s actually very recent. Immortal Hulk completely redefined the character in every way, expanding the mythos in ways that were both insanely unexpected and shockingly normal, and set a quality standard that no other Hulk run could possibly live up to. Immortal Hulk is one of, if not Marvel’s single greatest comic run of all time, and here’s why.
What Does it Mean to be a Hulk?
Immortal Hulk redefines the character of the Hulk from the very beginning, bringing the Jade Giant back to the horror-story roots he shook off so long ago. The Hulk had just returned from the land of the dead, and this time he had no intent on ever going back, being truly immortal. A new personality developed known as the Devil Hulk, who was much more ruthless and willing to kill than any other alter inside Banner’s head. The Devil Hulk became the main personality of the Hulk, emerging whenever the sun went down, also triggered by Bruce Banner dying. Yet as much as Devil Hulk relished in killing his enemies and inflicting suffering on the evil, he decidedly was trying to save the world. Instead of fighting each other for control, the four main personalities of the Hulk worked together as a system to accomplish their goals. They were Bruce Banner, the original and childlike Hulk, the Devil Hulk, and Joe Fixit, who mostly went around in Banner’s body instead of his normal Grey Hulk form.
The Hulk wasn’t alone in his changes. All around the world, gamma mutates were rising from the dead and found themselves unable to stay deceased. This was all the effect of the Green Door, a metaphysical doorway that connected Earth to the Below-Place, the deepest part of the multiverse that is even far down than the bottom layer of Hell. Gamma mutates souls go there after death, and are able to pass back to the world of the living by exiting through the Green Door. There resides the One Below All, the manifestation of the One Above All’s anger, His Hulk. The fifty issues of Immortal Hulk detail the Hulk’s struggle to uncover the secrets of the Green Door while he works to truly fix the problems in the world in a way only he could, and the One Below All’s mission to drag the Hulk to the Below-Place to make him His host in the universe.
But what makes this run so incredible isn’t just the amazing story or the consistently breathtaking art, but the questions it poses about the very nature of the Hulk and what he means to us. The story starts by asking if Bruce Banner is a good man, detailing how the Hulk is the manifestation of very real feelings deep inside of him, and how every aspect of him has been both a hero and villain over the years. It explores the nature of anger. How it can corrupt and so easily hurt, but also how it’s a part of everyone and how it can be used for good. The Hulk is a monster, but he fought to save people. Bruce Banner is as kind and selfless as he is bitter and selfish. The story literally gives Marvel’s God a Hulk, saying that everyone and everything feels this anger, this burning hatred that is so easily stirred inside of our souls. Yet, even though the Hulk is the embodiment of all that rage and hate, in the end he chooses to be merciful. He looks at his greatest enemy, the fusion of the Thinker and his own abusive father Brian Banner, and forgives him, because the Hulk knows how much anger hurts. Everyone has a Hulk, and while they hurt people, Hulks have to look out for one another. The story ends by asking the same question it started with. It asks if Bruce Banner is a good man, knowing all he’s done and all he will do, and puts the onus on the reader. What do you think? Knowing the Hulk, knowing your own Hulk lives inside of you, what do you think?
Immortal Hulk is a masterclass in every sense of the word. It’s about learning to love yourself despite your flaws, and learning to love other people despite theirs. Nobody is perfect, we all have Hulks, but we’re all still people, and we should help each other. It is darn near as perfect as any comic can reasonably ever hope to be. It has defined a new generation of stories for the Hulk, and will always be looked back on as one of the greatest comic book epics of all time. If you haven’t read it, I can’t recommend picking it up enough, because this is without a doubt the Hulk’s best run yet.
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