The Immortal Hulk #35 // Review
What could have been a filler issue turns out to be an eventful character development downbeat in The Immortal Hulk #35, written by Al Ewing, with guest pencils by Mike Hawthorne, guest inks by Mark Morales, and colors by Paul Mounts. Previously, the world was hypnotized by the presence of the powerful alien known as Xemnu, tricked into believing he was a central figure in people’s lives, beloved by all. Luckily, Banner’s alter ego, the Savage Hulk, was able to see the truth of things, and Xemnu was defeated. Now, Hulk sees a rare period of public acceptance, due to his heroics, but it’s not all sunshine and roses. Banner’s old enemy, the Leader, has been secretly posing as Rick Jones, gathering information on him and manipulating his multitude of personalities.
As a singular issue that still has to move the overall story along, this chapter worked perfectly. Not much is happening on the action front. Still, there are intense character moments throughout, including a confrontation between Bruce and Betty that has been building, and some much-needed panel time for the Savage (and most popular) Hulk. Plus, there’s the cliffhanger ending that will leave you wondering what the hell the Leader’s overall game plan is.
Ewing isn’t afraid to make Banner unlikable in the least, and that’s a good thing. He’s a flawed hero if you could even call him that, and he’s clearly too self-involved to listen to Betty or notice that his best friend has been acting strange since he came back from the dead. Whether there’s any development for Banner coming, or he’s destined to be the hero despite his deep flaws, Ewing is weaving an exciting story about a broken man, forced to work with his broken pieces for lack of ability to put himself back together.
Any time this book has a fill-in artist, it’s a little bit of a letdown. And that’s no slight to any of the talented artists that have filled in over the last 35 issues. It’s just a testament to the fantastic work Joe Bennett has been turning in since issue 1. He has defined this run visually, and with such a unique, horrific twist to an established character, it’s hard to see anyone but him draw the Hulk now. That being said, Hawthorne and Morales do an excellent job on the pencils and inks in issue 35, especially when it comes to the scene where Bruce and Betty have their run-in. As fill-in artists go, Hawthorne and Morales were excellent choices and made the lack of Bennett’s title-defining pencils as painless as possible.
If you’ve been enjoying Ewing’s run on this book, so far, this issue isn’t going to change your mind. He’s taken the last couple of chapters to slow down a bit, but it feels more like the calm before the storm than any kind of real lull in the story. Especially, given the Leader’s arrival, and the big ending to this issue. This title is a high recommendation for any Marvel fan, and it’s easily one of the best series of the last decade, so do yourself a favor and start picking up the trades if you haven’t already.
