Bruce Banner: The Hulk Appreciation 2019

[your_name_here]

I must admit, as good as the book is...the first ark (1-13) was a lot better than the Shadow-Base ark (14-24)

Hulk seems to win everything a little too easily, never seems like he is out his depth/needs to overcome something.
Im looking forward to #25, but also hope we delve into the supernatural side more again by revisiting the one below all.

[ChrisIII]

It's Tricephalous, one of the Mole Man's classic monsters.

Although Hulk hasn't dealt with the Mole Man much, there's definitely another underground character who is pretty much his oldest recurring foe apart from Ross...Tyrannus (We haven't seen too much of Gremlin, Frog men, Mungu Metal Master etc from the first six issue run, but Tyrannus has stuck around)....so maybe we'll see Ewing's take on him.

[Gamma Irradiated Being]

again: "entire cosmos" is small scale when talking about something above/beyond TLT. Honestly I don't think you actually understood what I typed out.

to use your own site against you (the one you used to pull a picture of TOAA from):
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Metatron_(Earth-616)

Notice Metatron is a _distinct_ entry from TOAA. He's also specifically referenced as the one in the Hulk issue.

I've shown you how the image comparison is flawed because you're taking it out of context.
I've now shown you that the site you referenced already acknowledges that they are two different entities.
I've tried to explain your false correlation by contrasting the context of the conversation.

You've provided pretty much nothing but stubbornness.

They are not the same.

I understood you well. What you don't seem to understand is what was written in the scan you posted and how I related it to issue #24, nor do you realize what Hulk and Metatron being the last two characters in the 8th iteration of the MU entering into the 9th means.

[GreenScar1990]

Can’t wait till issue 25 reveals more. But my reading of 24 was that one of the other early “kills” by this Hulk was that of One Below All. Rather than possessing Hulk, Hulk killed him and took his power. Also killing Franklin and Craig and everyone else, this beast goes way above Maestro for most evil Hulk imo.

Ewing has a big plan. Can’t think we’ll go to end of run with Hulk destined to be this evil. So Ill enjoy the ride. And wait for the greatest hero Hulk ever, who is still among the missing personas, Green Scar persona. Think a confrontation between him and this beast would set stage for greatest battle in Hulk comics history!

I was thinking the same thing, my friend. The Hulk managed to conquer and take all, or at least some, of the vast infinite power of the One Below All. It's frightening to think of a being wielding the power of The One Above All's equal dark opposite. He'd be unstoppable. Not even Franklin Richards and a Universal/Multiversal being like Galactus could stand against him, nor anyone except TOAA. So, it's no wonder why he was able to take Metatron, a being who is the embodiment of the universe and the all-powerful angel of his creator The One Above All, and restrain and consume him.

I like to think of this Hulk as a force of nature, neither good or evil. Nihilistic and indifferent to all. Beyond our understanding and comprehension, which is why he can be seen as evil. I mean, even I admit that a part of my psyche thinks this Hulk is evil, but the more logical part of my brain simply views him as a force of nature. No more evil than a galaxy or universe consuming gamma burst, or say an earthquake or violent volcanic eruption.

Ewing is truly giving us a run that will be remembered as one of the all-time greatest. Not only in regards to the Hulk lore/mythology, but comic book sagas in general. I cannot wait for what is to come for The Immortal Hulk!

[Ursalink]

Guys, if the One-Below-All can influence through the Multiverse, doesn't this mean he must know about Maestro too? Personally, on one hand, I believe the Maestro could be his perfect host. On the other hands, considering what the Maestro has done in the past... Do you think he could actually take the power of the One-Below-All for himself?

[Vordan]

I must admit, as good as the book is...the first ark (1-13) was a lot better than the Shadow-Base ark (14-24)

Hulk seems to win everything a little too easily, never seems like he is out his depth/needs to overcome something.
Im looking forward to #25, but also hope we delve into the supernatural side more again by revisiting the one below all.

There are a few moments where Hulk is clearly out of his depth, but this is a story based on the fact that Hulk literally can’t die. What keeps the tension going is that this Devil Hulk is not a good guy and there’s tension based on the fact that Hulk winning might honestly be just as bad or worse than Shadow Base winning.

[GrandEleven]

There are a few moments where Hulk is clearly out of his depth, but this is a story based on the fact that Hulk literally can’t die. What keeps the tension going is that this Devil Hulk is not a good guy and there’s tension based on the fact that Hulk winning might honestly be just as bad or worse than Shadow Base winning.

I like this take, but must admit I don't actively think of the dominate personality as "Devil Hulk" anymore. There are not enough scenes in the arc to remind me that the dominant personality is that nefarious personality moled by the image of his father. Instead, everytime we see his father he seems to solely represent TOBA at this point ... he's hanging out in hell/afterlife taunting banner's personalities when they visit. What's left is a Hulk on a mission to clean up the gamma mess... a guy who is is running the show by intuition and efficiency, and just letting out the different personalities as needed. He almost doesn't feel evil anymore... just very determined.

I get that the dominant hulk is Devil Hulk, it is the father persona, it may even be what eventually becomes Maestro (he certainly leads and coordinates the other personalities well enough), but at least the shadow base arc feels like that was mostly put away so they can have an arc where Hulk punches things... but remind us that TOBA likes to wear his skin occasionally because we need to return to that narrative.

I suspect the next arc to be short. Like a Thanos Wins-like story where he wrecks the 9th universe and becomes a universal threat so that us, the reader, have some knowledge and consequence of what's at stake when Ewing eventually returns to present time in the followup arc and then has another character/introspective fight for dominance between TOBA and Devil Hulk ... and put some real tension in.

In other words ... I expect this "Hulk the World Eater" to be a rather crazy brawl fest to get some serious "Hulk Smash" out of the way so we can buckle in for another arc of mind games.

[GrandEleven]

I understood you well. What you don't seem to understand is what was written in the scan you posted and how I related it to issue #24, nor do you realize what Hulk and Metatron being the last two characters in the 8th iteration of the MU entering into the 9th means.

last two characters in 616. Not all universes. Not all realities. Just the 616. This is not a multiversal event. For someone who claims to understand what I'm saying, you keep misrepresenting the scenario. For someone who says they understand what the scan was saying, you're missing the entire core of the conversation that was being had.

Please show a link, anywhere, that says Metatron is TOAA. CLoser to reality is that this is a steping stone to allow Banner to accumulate cosmic power and take on the abstracts in the 9th iteration and amass even more power ... then assault TOAA directly from there. But Metatron is not TOAA. At all.

[xcoijoi]

Meh. This is a little too cosmic for me, I'd prefer to see Thanos or Guardians or Thor featured in these types of stories. But alas, we're living in an era where earth heroes like Wolverine are wielding Infinity Stones and holding their own against Thor and Maestro.

I'd rather see more of Fixit saving Banner's butt, outwitting the villain by being a semi-villain himself.

[FrazettaHulk]

I like this take, but must admit I don't actively think of the dominate personality as "Devil Hulk" anymore. There are not enough scenes in the arc to remind me that the dominant personality is that nefarious personality moled by the image of his father. Instead, everytime we see his father he seems to solely represent TOBA at this point ... he's hanging out in hell/afterlife taunting banner's personalities when they visit. What's left is a Hulk on a mission to clean up the gamma mess... a guy who is is running the show by intuition and efficiency, and just letting out the different personalities as needed. He almost doesn't feel evil anymore... just very determined.

I get that the dominant hulk is Devil Hulk, it is the father persona, it may even be what eventually becomes Maestro (he certainly leads and coordinates the other personalities well enough), but at least the shadow base arc feels like that was mostly put away so they can have an arc where Hulk punches things... but remind us that TOBA likes to wear his skin occasionally because we need to return to that narrative.

I suspect the next arc to be short. Like a Thanos Wins-like story where he wrecks the 9th universe and becomes a universal threat so that us, the reader, have some knowledge and consequence of what's at stake when Ewing eventually returns to present time in the followup arc and then has another character/introspective fight for dominance between TOBA and Devil Hulk ... and put some real tension in.

In other words ... I expect this "Hulk the World Eater" to be a rather crazy brawl fest to get some serious "Hulk Smash" out of the way so we can buckle in for another arc of mind games.

Ewing said originally, the 9th Cosmos story was going to be a 5 issue arc. But then he decided to condense it down to issue 25 as a double sized ish. I think he will revisit it as we progress. 33 will be Legacy issue 750. That seems like a no-brainer spot for it.

Really, ideally I think Hulk warrants a 2nd ongoing. Keep Immortal Hulk with Ewing/Bennett and focus on present day. Add a 9th Cosmos Breaker of Worlds ongoing with Ewing and another artist. Izaakse, Medina, Garcia, Larraz or Ribic as examples. In addition a Hulk centric event where we see a “Hulk kills the MU” as he described to Metatron. At some point during that event could bring back Gravage/Greenscar personality to “fix”/prevent this nightmare scenario from ever happening.

There’s a ton of directions Ewing can take this. He’s a dang genius so I’m sure he has plans that are way better/smarter and that’ll fit with his run than I described. So gonna really just enjoy the epic scale he’s delivering.

[PlatinumThorns]

Ewing's "endgame" with this particular run is to either ensure certain events play out that allows TOBA/Hulk to win in the end to become godlike in the 9th cosmos, or something happens to prevent it. I'm thinking the latter, because it allows more flexibility for other writers to play with the concept a bit or do more with the Hulk.

[ChrisIII]

It's interesting that the Carnage crossover pays tribute to Devil Hulk's original mental form from the Jenkins/Garney stuff (For some reason Romita Jr when drawing the later storyline with Devil trying to trick Banner with a perfect life took away the Hulkiness and made him thin and even more Snakelike).

[manymade1]

I'm a bit confused. Are you all talking about events that happened in the Carnage story? if so, does that mean the issue is required reading for the Immortal Hulk run?

[Vordan]

I'm a bit confused. Are you all talking about events that happened in the Carnage story? if so, does that mean the issue is required reading for the Immortal Hulk run?

Nah. If you want to know more about the current mental landscape status Banner has going on, then the Carnage issue is nice. It’s a great issue and feels like a second Immortal Hulk issue, but it’s not necessary at all for the ongoing Hulk story. We’re discussing the events of what happened at the end of issue 24 and the set up for the 9th Cosmos.

[manymade1]

Nah. If you want to know more about the current mental landscape status Banner has going on, then the Carnage issue is nice. It’s a great issue and feels like a second Immortal Hulk issue, but it’s not necessary at all for the ongoing Hulk story. We’re discussing the events of what happened at the end of issue 24 and the set up for the 9th Cosmos.

Oh shoot! I didn't realize that the newest issue came out last week

My mistake