The Incredible Hulk #1: A New Age of Horror

The Hulk has always been a monster, but how the horror of his existence has been portrayed is always different. Al Ewing’s Immortal Hulk, which many consider the last great masterpiece in terms of Hulk stories, took the jolly green giant down a route of esoteric and even biblical terror. There was a level of pretension with this that occasionally lost the book’s more horror-tinged appeals amidst a sea of over-wrought and thought-provoking theming.

In that regard, The Incredible Hulk #1 from Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein couldn’t be more different. While the book focuses on the character as a horror monster, the team here stays away from the style of writing that made Immortal so popular and is invested in penning a more blue-collar ‘human horror’ story reminiscent in small ways of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep.

The issue opens with a couple of tomb raiders discovering the burial place of Tammuz, the world’s first Hulk. After being eviscerated by one of their own who had come in contact with a being supposedly from the Green Door, the book cuts over to its main title page, a work of art. The increasing attention to detail with title pages as of late has been a much welcome facet of the weekly comics game, and they shared no expense with making the Hulk undeniably dope.

Any issues this book has can be seen in this opening, which is near perfect from a plot and art perspective. However, the dialogue writing in this issue is off-balance and strangely paced, possibly due to an attempt at dialect writing that didn’t simply work. It’s a problem throughout the book, but it doesn’t tank the reading experience or one’s ability to understand the story. It’s more of an annoyance.

There’s also a lack of editor notes or explanation for all the Green Door/Monster Mythology stuff transferred over from Immortal Hulk. Yes, the book was popular, but this is a new number-one issue under the book’s original title. New fans will jump on to read it, especially since it carries DC darling Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s name on the front. Something small to denote that it’s Tammuz and a redirection over to the story in which he first appeared would’ve been helpful for new readers, and even more so, a simple ‘hey, this how things are now’ is something the book sorely lacks. Any negatives end there.

Following the opening, the book marches forward alongside three ongoing plot points that merge with the issues at the end. The first, of course, follows Bruce as he is on the run from someone who is ‘hunting him,’ and the reveal of whom that is comes later in the book, and it is one of the most visually disturbing moments Marvel has allowed on the page in a while. The second follows what will be a series ride-along character Charlie, who stumbles into the Hulk’s mess after fleeing her abusive father. The third surrounds the book’s building mythology and antagonist, The Mother of Horrors and all her children.

As for the first two, Phillip rights human emotion and relationships quite well, and that doesn’t change with Bruce, Charlie, or the Hulk. His characterization suits Banner and Greenie; their internal battles with desperation and fear are on full display as they fight one another for total control. The two are no longer allies or friends. They’re one another’s prey and predator; all wrapped up within the same body. From this, a lot of uneasy tension spills out from Bruce’s demeanor that makes every setting he’s in, such as this diner scene, one where you don’t honestly know what could happen.

Charlie is a new introduction to the series, but man, is she a perfect fit. Her situation is reminiscent of Bruce’s own from when he was a child suffering abuse from his father’s hands. Her scenes in this issue are grim and filled with honest depictions of violence that spills out of desperate anger. While we don’t necessarily see how she will interact with Bruce or The Hulk yet, her thematic place in the story is very clear.

The antagonists are where the book may stumble for some in terms of its overall pacing. Their scenes slow the book’s pacing down a smidge, but it is needed to fully introduce the scale of their threat to the reader and what precisely the Hulk will be battling against throughout this run. Their designs weigh on the side of subtle yet creepy, but the monsters they surround themselves with are a different story.

Both new and old, all that goes bump in the night from across the Marvel Universe will come up against our hero in this book for better or for worse. The team is swinging big; the Eldest and the other children of Mother Horror provide a more universal and thematic threat for Bruce than a human one. In that regard, the team does step on the toes of Immortal, but its tone and presentation are so distinctively rooted in a midwestern folk aesthetic that it manages to stay out of its shadow.

While Pillip manages to sell us on Bruce and Charlie, Nic Klein’s art really sells the antagonists in this story. Besides their grand mythological statements, they don’t have much outside their surface-level personalities, but Klein turns their interest factor to eleven with how this book is penciled. Every scene is drenched in a dark and atmospheric tone, him taking it a step further with every depiction of terror that he pens. How the Hulk’s transformation is visually represented in this book sums up everything you need to know about it, but that visual is so surprising it won’t be spoiled here.

So much of this issue is set up, however, and is more hooking you into the promise of something than it is the actual execution of it. For some, this might be run that requires a second or even third issue to honestly sell readers on the brand of Marvel Horror on display here, which is entirely understandable. This first issue doesn’t have a story of its own to tell and sometimes reads like a competent anthology preview setting up a vast multitude of stories. This possibly could be purposeful, as PKJ is a notorious world builder with a lot in store for this character and his mythos that he wants to explore. The overall satisfaction with the plotline suffers from here, but that’s sure to change with future issues.