Originally Posted by
GreenScar1990
It's been a long time since I've posted on this forum. I'll have to do it more often. Lots of things have been happening with THE IMMORTAL HULK, as Al Ewing continues to craft one of the all-time greatest Hulk/Banner runs. And it's continuing to sell extremely well, so I'm quite thankful of that, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming issues and arcs.
Now, in regards to FF #12-13, I can understand what Subzero89 and others are getting at in the matters, but I also look at it like this. It was written by Dan Slott, who at times isn't the most consistent writer there is. He's hit and miss with me. Don't love him or hate him. He had Ben withstand a blast from Galactus that'd split the mantle of a planet, something that Ben normally shouldn't be able to withstand, so I can only assume he's amped Ben Grimm quite a bit.
I'm not too worried about it affecting Immortal Hulk in any way for several major reasons.
First; Hulk was mostly under the control of the Puppet Master and, under normal circumstances, could and would kill Ben quickly if he so desired. I mean, this is the same Hulk who laid out a team of Avengers solo, fought against the hordes of the One Below All, etc. If he wanted Ben dead, he would have killed him. He's easily mauled Ben before, he could do it again just as effortlessly.
Secondly; the blow Ben delivered that totally damaged his arm to the point he's got to wear a vibranium cast, I believe wasn't all that resulted in the temporary KO of the Hulk, but was combined with the vast psychic backlash of the Puppet Master's control being severed. Besides, for all we know, the Hulk could have gotten up right after Ben, in his human form, collapsed on the beach.
Third; Ben won (barely and at the cost of his life), but it was extremely lucky, as in on in a billion chance, and he nearly got killed! He was unconscious for an entire week and had his entire arm and body badly damaged! If anything Ben's "win" was a miracle of miracles. It was also Slott's way of catering to the Thing/Ben, a gift for his honeymoon, if you will. Could it have been handled better? Yes. Could it have been handled worse? Oh, yeah. You don't think so? Imagine some of the past mediocre Hulk writers like Mark Waid, Jason Aaron and Gerry Duggan writing the fight.
If and when Hulk & Ben meet again, rest assured that Ben, alone or with back-up, will fair any better against the Hulk than he has in previous encounters like World War Hulk, Secret Empire, or past issues of Fantastic Four & The Incredible Hulk.
In other words, guys and gals, take these 2 issues of FF with a large grain of salt, much like Pak's underwhelming Hulkverines mini-series. They're inconsequential and have no meaning or impact on the main IMMORTAL HULK series.