Bruce Banner: The Hulk Appreciation 2020

[your_name_here]

No, it felt like the arc reached it's logical conclusion.

Agreed. This “third act” of the whole story was to let Immortal Hulk reach his high point...defeating Roxxon and finally working together (inside and outside) to achieve something great. Now it’s on The Leader to knock all that down for the logical final stretch of hard-fall then rise back up.

[your_name_here]

Just reread #33...anyone else notice as Hulk is trying to move the chains connected to Devil Hulk, Green Scar his head. Just very slightly as he does that, there’s a tinge of green light on his fingers. The next panel shows the chains having the same green tinge. So what’s going on with Green Scar? Because I originally thought it was something to do with The Leader, but I’m not quite sure.

[Immortal Hulk]

Just reread #33...anyone else notice as Hulk is trying to move the chains connected to Devil Hulk, Green Scar his head. Just very slightly as he does that, there’s a tinge of green light on his fingers. The next panel shows the chains having the same green tinge. So what’s going on with Green Scar? Because I originally thought it was something to do with The Leader, but I’m not quite sure.

Yeah, I've noticed ( a few friends of mine commented on this too). I thought about the Leader, but I don't think He has any control of the Hulk so far.

Maybe Green Scar has very good reasons to not let another intelligent, mean incarnation as being the main one in control. It could be much more complex than that, though.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Yeah, I've noticed ( a few friends of mine commented on this too). I thought about the Leader, but I don't think He has any control of the Hulk so far.

Maybe Green Scar has very good reasons to not let another intelligent, mean incarnation as being the main one in control. It could be much more complex than that, though.

I think the One Below All is responsible. His influence is pretty small (starting a bar fight, for instance), but precise. Swapping one Hulk for another, one already imprisoned and under his domain, wouldn't be impossible for him.

[Immortal Hulk]

I think the One Below All is responsible. His influence is pretty small (starting a bar fight, for instance), but precise. Swapping one Hulk for another, one already imprisoned and under his domain, wouldn't be impossible for him.

Maybe Leader, with his control of the Green Door, made it possible for TOBA to infect Banner more easily.

[Intothevoid]

Just reread #33...anyone else notice as Hulk is trying to move the chains connected to Devil Hulk, Green Scar his head. Just very slightly as he does that, there’s a tinge of green light on his fingers. The next panel shows the chains having the same green tinge. So what’s going on with Green Scar? Because I originally thought it was something to do with The Leader, but I’m not quite sure.

It's clear that Green Scar is the one that put those chains there, he has been reinforcing them all this time, he has also been lying to Savage Hulk when they talked as noted because Savage Hulk smelled something funny twice while talking to him. So whatever is going on Green Scar is not 100% himself, he is either lying for some reason, he is under the influence of the Leader or maybe it's not Green Scar at all, either way we will find out sooner or later.

[your_name_here]

I wonder if TOBA is actually going to be the big “final” bad here? Or if we are watching The Leaders biggest story yet. I get that Leader, for the time being, almost worships TOBA, but what if he tries to pull a Dr Doom and harness that for himself?

It would make the final battle more impactful being someone more complex than just “destroy everything”

That being said, at this point I really wouldn’t complain either way.

[Immortal Hulk]

It's clear that Green Scar is the one that put those chains there, he has been reinforcing them all this time, he has also been lying to Savage Hulk when they talked as noted because Savage Hulk smelled something funny twice while talking to him. So whatever is going on Green Scar is not 100% himself, he is either lying for some reason, he is under the influence of the Leader or maybe it's not Green Scar at all, either way we will find out sooner or later.

Maybe another "Alter" we've never seen before?

I wonder if TOBA is actually going to be the big “final” bad here? Or if we are watching The Leaders biggest story yet. I get that Leader, for the time being, almost worships TOBA, but what if he tries to pull a Dr Doom and harness that for himself?

It would make the final battle more impactful being someone more complex than just “destroy everything”

That being said, at this point I really wouldn’t complain either way.

I think, through the Leader, TOBA will truly unleash Hell on Earth. I can see him making every gamma being in his control transformed into evil/uncontrollable pawns: the First, Sasquatch (I'm positive he'll be raised from the dead), etc..Obviously, with more access to our world, his influence under humans (not gamma) would be greatly enhanced.

[Immortal Hulk]

DONNY CATES
@Doncates

I would LOVE to do a Hulk book with @RyanOttley.
Jesus, can you imagine? I mean, I’d love to do ANY book with Ryan but man. We would crush that.

https://twitter.com/Doncates/status/...962414592?s=20

[Vordan]

DONNY CATES
@Doncates

I would LOVE to do a Hulk book with @RyanOttley.
Jesus, can you imagine? I mean, I’d love to do ANY book with Ryan but man. We would crush that.

https://twitter.com/Doncates/status/...962414592?s=20

With only 15 issues to go, so about a year left, I’ve been thinking about the post-Ewing era and who will take the reigns up next. Cates is someone I could see getting the book, especially if he finishes up his Venom run around the same time as Ewing finishes his Hulk, and I could see it not being too bad. Cates has a very 90s sensibility and while the 90s were awful for a lot of Marvel, Hulk under PAD was actually great! So I could see Cates doing a good job.

But man I can’t stand Knull. I think he’s so incredibly lame and I don’t care about him at all. If Cates is going to be done with Knull after the King In Black event that would set my mind at ease. Otherwise I dread him getting the book and revealing that the One Below All is an aspect of Knull or created Knull or some other dumb bullshit like that.

[Immortal Hulk]

With only 15 issues to go, so about a year left, I’ve been thinking about the post-Ewing era and who will take the reigns up next. Cates is someone I could see getting the book, especially if he finishes up his Venom run around the same time as Ewing finishes his Hulk, and I could see it not being too bad. Cates has a very 90s sensibility and while the 90s were awful for a lot of Marvel, Hulk under PAD was actually great! So I could see Cates doing a good job.

But man I can’t stand Knull. I think he’s so incredibly lame and I don’t care about him at all. If Cates is going to be done with Knull after the King In Black event that would set my mind at ease. Otherwise I dread him getting the book and revealing that the One Below All is an aspect of Knull or created Knull or some other dumb bullshit like that.

Yeah...he repeats a lot of ideas some times. What He's doing right now in Thor is almost the same from his initial run on Venom (some reviewers pointed that out).

About Knull (actually Banner theorized Knull was only an aspect of TOBA, ehehehe), he's okay to me. But that's it.

Anyway, I think that, for the most part, he's a very good writer, with some big ideas. Also, after such a great run, Marvel will put a "star/top" talent in the next Hulk ongoing.

Who would fit role right now at Marvel? We know that, from DC, Geoff Johns and Scott Snyder are huge fans of the character, and they have big pitches for the Hulk. Will any of them be available by the end of Ewing's run?

Suggestions/ideas?

*Actually, I have one: Chip Zdarsky. The guy can write!

[Vordan]

Snyder was initially going to step away from DC since he wasn’t a fan of the 5G plan under Didio. With Didio gone those plans changed, and now I think he’s staying and is helping to plan the Post Death Metal line up. Snyder is a horror writer and his pitch Hulk Smashes Everything is a horror pitch, so I would love to see him write Hulk. Hulk would be perfect for Snyder, he’s got everything Snyder loves to focus on in Batman: Secret histories and societies, the importance of the father-son relationship, etc. One day hopefully, but I don’t think Snyder will leave DC within the next year or so.

Johns could be great too. He shares a love of continuity with Ewing and a fondness for bringing back characters that others deem “lame” and reinventing them to be great (Aquaman, JSA, etc). Johns is not really a horror guy, he’s more of a straightforward superhero guy, so I don’t know how his Hulk would be received post Ewing, although he has said Immortal Hulk is one of his favorite Hulk takes. What I’d love to see from Johns is him reinventing Hulk’s Rogues Gallery, Ewing has done a great job with Abomination and Leader, but there’s a ton of old Hulk Rogues that are just collecting dust, and I don’t think Ewing will be able to get to them all. Johns reinvented the Flash Rogues and reshaped them into their current form, so that’s what I’d want to see him do for Hulk. However Johns is mostly involved with TV and movies these days, he couldn’t even finish his Shazam run despite blocking anyone else from doing work with the character for years. So I don’t think he’ll be doing any ongoings for DC, with whom his production company has an exclusive contract, let alone Marvel.

Zdarsky did great on Two-In-One and Daredevil, I’d be up to see his Hulk. But there’s someone else I’m thinking of: Ram V. He wrote These Savage Shores, which views the Vampire story through an Indian lens, and I think is great. He also is currently writing JL Dark for DC, which is very much a horror book and is bloody fantastic. If DC is stupid enough to not give him one of their major books in the next relaunch, and it’s DC so they’ll probably ignore Ram and give a book to some washed up old creator who is a company man or friends with Lee, then I hope Marvel snags Ram V and gives Hulk to him. He’d be perfect as a follow up to Ewing imo.

[Immortal Hulk]

Snyder was initially going to step away from DC since he wasn’t a fan of the 5G plan under Didio. With Didio gone those plans changed, and now I think he’s staying and is helping to plan the Post Death Metal line up. Snyder is a horror writer and his pitch Hulk Smashes Everything is a horror pitch, so I would love to see him write Hulk. Hulk would be perfect for Snyder, he’s got everything Snyder loves to focus on in Batman: Secret histories and societies, the importance of the father-son relationship, etc. One day hopefully, but I don’t think Snyder will leave DC within the next year or so.

Johns could be great too. He shares a love of continuity with Ewing and a fondness for bringing back characters that others deem “lame” and reinventing them to be great (Aquaman, JSA, etc). Johns is not really a horror guy, he’s more of a straightforward superhero guy, so I don’t know how his Hulk would be received post Ewing, although he has said Immortal Hulk is one of his favorite Hulk takes. What I’d love to see from Johns is him reinventing Hulk’s Rogues Gallery, Ewing has done a great job with Abomination and Leader, but there’s a ton of old Hulk Rogues that are just collecting dust, and I don’t think Ewing will be able to get to them all. Johns reinvented the Flash Rogues and reshaped them into their current form, so that’s what I’d want to see him do for Hulk. However Johns is mostly involved with TV and movies these days, he couldn’t even finish his Shazam run despite blocking anyone else from doing work with the character for years. So I don’t think he’ll be doing any ongoings for DC, with whom his production company has an exclusive contract, let alone Marvel.

Zdarsky did great on Two-In-One and Daredevil, I’d be up to see his Hulk. But there’s someone else I’m thinking of: Ram V. He wrote These Savage Shores, which views the Vampire story through an Indian lens, and I think is great. He also is currently writing JL Dark for DC, which is very much a horror book and is bloody fantastic. If DC is stupid enough to not give him one of their major books in the next relaunch, and it’s DC so they’ll probably ignore Ram and give a book to some washed up old creator who is a company man or friends with Lee, then I hope Marvel snags Ram V and gives Hulk to him. He’d be perfect as a follow up to Ewing imo.

Good analysis! I still have a bit of hope concerning Snyder. LOL.

Gotta say Your suggestion about Ram V is absolutely brilliant. I'm still catching up on JLD, but, so far, is fantastic; one of the best titles out there. What do you think about Jeff Lemire? I have high hopes for his Immortal hulk mini, and it would give us a good idea about his skills to write the Hulk.

[Vordan]

Good analysis! I still have a bit of hope concerning Snyder. LOL.

Gotta say Your suggestion about Ram V is absolutely brilliant. I'm still catching up on JLD, but, so far, is fantastic; one of the best titles out there. What do you think about Jeff Lemire? I have high hopes for his Immortal hulk mini, and it would give us a good idea about his skills to write the Hulk.

He’d be great but I’m not sure how he feels about Marvel after all the stuff that went down with his X-Men. Monthlies and one shots are two different beasts. Plus he seems to have made the transition to indie work, with his stuff started to get adapted in outside medium, and once that happens those guys rarely want to freelance work. He gets more money and creative freedom at Image and Dark Horse, especially if Netflix starts adapting more of his work beyond Sweet Tooth.

On that note you know another creator who is disgruntled with Marvel, is a fantastic horror writer, and would be great on Hulk I think? Cullen Bunn. If you haven’t checked out his Harrow County you need to, goddamn but it’s good, it’s drawn by the artist who did The Goon. Bunn does great in morally ambiguous protagonists or even straight up villain protagonists like Sinestro and Magneto. He’d do a great Devil Hulk but I think Marvel torched that bridge. God I really loathe the X-Office editorial almost as much as I hate the DC higher ups, so many great creators they drove away with their bullshit: Lemire, Bunn, Remender...

[Immortal Hulk]

He’d be great but I’m not sure how he feels about Marvel after all the stuff that went down with his X-Men. Monthlies and one shots are two different beasts. Plus he seems to have made the transition to indie work, with his stuff started to get adapted in outside medium, and once that happens those guys rarely want to freelance work. He gets more money and creative freedom at Image and Dark Horse, especially if Netflix starts adapting more of his work beyond Sweet Tooth.

On that note you know another creator who is disgruntled with Marvel, is a fantastic horror writer, and would be great on Hulk I think? Cullen Bunn. If you haven’t checked out his Harrow County you need to, goddamn but it’s good, it’s drawn by the artist who did The Goon. Bunn does great in morally ambiguous protagonists or even straight up villain protagonists like Sinestro and Magneto. He’d do a great Devil Hulk but I think Marvel torched that bridge. God I really loathe the X-Office editorial almost as much as I hate the DC higher ups, so many great creators they drove away with their bullshit: Lemire, Bunn, Remender...

Damn..I didn't know about that.

But it's interesting you talked about Bunn. Did you know He had a pitch for the book? A friend of mine, FrazettaHulk (He posts here sometimes), posted this on another forum:

Cullen Bunn
Feb 18 at 1:20pm

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What Might Have Been - The Incredible Hulk

One of my patrons messaged me asking if I had ever pitched a story for THE INCREDIBLE HULK and what that pitch might look like. As it happens, waaaaaaaaaay back in 2011, I was hired to take over the Hulk book from Jason Aaron. I planned out a couple of initial arcs. While there wasn't a formal "pitch" process, I did map out several issues of the book. This was all approved, but somewhere along the way, plans at Marvel changed. A similar story was planned for another book (although I don't know if that ever happened). And I was assigned to a different project. It's too bad, really. Looking over this now, I think it would have been a lot of fun.

So, while it is not spelled out in the outline, the general idea was that Hulk would be exiled to a ultra-max omega level prison in the depths of space. A place where the most dangerous villains of all were housed. Banner was to be set up as a kind of villainous force. He was going to be the "Hulk" that the Hulk feared.

I've actually used bits and pieces from this outline in other projects. I doubt I'll ever write a Hulk story these days, but this could have been a lot of fun! I've actually used bits and pieces from this outline in other projects.

Enjoy! *end of free part*

Theres a 5 page outline describing what his plan was if anyone is interested. Its like $5 tier for month to get it (among other things) on his Patreon. Jason Aaron’s run would have ended at issue 7. Cuz on outline Bunn’s first issue was 7.1. As someone who loathed most of Aaron’s run. Then Waid’s. This was a bit bittersweet cuz it would have been so much better than what they did. As for who his Patron that asked him the question, anyone wanna guess who that was?