hulk 25 featured Reviews 

“Immortal Hulk” #25

By | October 25th, 2019
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“Immortal Hulk” has been an unsettling series since its beginning, closing to take the titular jade giant into horror territory. For the anniversary, double-sized 25th issue, the creative team ranks up the strange factor to new heights.

Cover by Alex Ross
Written by Al Ewing
Illustrated by German Garcia & Joe Bennett
Inked by Ruy José
Colored by Chris O’Halloran
Lettered by VC’s Cory Petit

GROUNDBREAKING DOUBLE-SIZED ISSUE! You’ve never read a Hulk comic like this before. You’ve never read a Marvel comic like this before. The heat death of our universe has come and gone. The Hulk is finally dead. Now, billions of years later, the Ninth Cosmos cowers…before the BREAKER OF WORLDS.

Comic book publishers often tout buzzwords to catch the attention of its audience. Things will never be the same. This one changes everything. You’ve never read a comic like this before. It is, sadly, rare for those promotions to be completely accurate. It is amazing, then, to see them in full effect for “Immortal Hulk” #25: this is absolutely one of the most experimental Hulk comics ever, genre defining in some ways. And while a lot of it has to do with bold choices taken by all involved, it is the marriage of script, art, color, and lettering that is truly the defining factor.

First, some explanations are due, and slight spoiler warnings ahead; no major reveals, but part of the enjoyment of this book is to appreciate it from a blank canvas perspective. This is not a direct continuation of issue #24, at least not in the traditional sense of sequential art. Instead, the script by Ewing opens up in a completely alien environment, both literally and figuratively, as readers are taken to the end of time, space, and life. It is on this setting that “Immortal Hulk” #25 truly dovetails into the bizarre, the unexplored, the new.

Visuals by German Garcia take over almost immediately. The artist foregoes traditional panelling in favour of far more open spaces, where specific elements like creatures, vistas, and planetoids playing their role to distinguish the main story beats and plot evolution. Not dissimilar to what Steranko used to do in the old “Nick Fury” series, where the constructs within the story serve as the narrative devices.

Just as impressive are his environment and creature designs. Although they may look familiar (the semi-humanoid alien, the far-escaping vessel), they are not… common. The reader will understand their purpose and functions through familiarity with shape, not because it has seen that particular portrayal before. By doing so, the feeling of being surrounded by an alien space is augmented, and the sensation of doubt, of uncertainty ever more present.

Colours by O’Halloran walk hand-in-hand with Garcia’s designs. The palette is largely muted, with shades of silver, purple, and gray dominating most pages. It gives the whole visual a sense of being washed out, of belonging to worlds and galaxies that have overstayed their welcome and are now on the way towards obscurity. On other situations, that same color is far brighter and vivid, utilised for moments set in the past, where life was more vibrant and abundant. It is so nicely done that the feeling of nostalgia is communicated through colors alone.

Which takes it all back to Ewing’s script. What a smart choice jumping so ahead in time it was. It opens up the narrative options to thrust readers into this completely unknown environment, and force them to grasp at straws, hoping to figure out what really happened… until the terrible reality exerts itself.

The connection on this landscape is made in a more common, grounded aspect, that of love between a couple of beings. How those beings are composed, where they were born, how they have evolved, that is not relevant. What matters is that they once belonged together and no longer do. It is so simple, and yet it frames the cosmic scale around them into meaning. Sure, Ewing further explores said couple through very specifically crafted dialogues choices, from how apparently gender-free or fluid they refer to one another, to how their syntax and grammar are built. It is as if Ewing has created an entire world in an issue and, in more way than one, he actually did just that.

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Credit at this point also goes to letterer Cory Petit. From how the narration boxes of these aliens are typed, to how he changes the standard fonts to something larger and more grotesque later in the issue, letters are yet another element to fit firmly into place for an astounding package. Regular series artist Joe Bennet also figures (almost at closing) for some truly horrific visuals (in the best way possible), capping a stellar issue.

Of course this is all great, but what about the “Immortal Hulk?”Is he anywhere to be found? The answer is a resounding yes… and no. For readers have never seen this Hulk, his intentions, and tragedy. Because for a comic to truly be transformative, and new, and provocative, it must shed away some of the weight and skin it uses to carry. And shed this issue does.

Final Verdict: 9.2 – Gorgeous. Strange. Fresh. In an already defining series, the creative team has crafted a gem for the ages.


Gustavo S Lodi

Gustavo comes all the way down from Brazil, reading and writing about comics for decades now. While Marvel and DC started the habit, he will read anything he can get his hands on! Big Nintendo enthusiast as well.

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