Bruce Banner - The Hulk Appreciation 2021

[Dinosaur Hulk]

Can someone explain to me one thing?
I've read Future Imperfect few months ago and just can't wrap my head around one thing since.
There was a huge fight between "our" Hulk and Maestro, his future evil version. Maestro was smarter and stronger than regular Hulk. But "our" Hulk managed to defeat him... by sending him back in past so Maestro would be blown up by gamma bomb explosion, the same one that turned Bruce into Hulk.
...how? Or should I ask "why"? Gamma just makes Hulk stronger and more mad. The same thing is what made him lose control and go rampage in Las Vegas. So why Maestro have died? Was he "too old" for this lol? Or am I missing something?

[Hypestyle]

Can someone explain to me one thing?
I've read Future Imperfect few months ago and just can't wrap my head around one thing since.
There was a huge fight between "our" Hulk and Maestro, his future evil version. Maestro was smarter and stronger than regular Hulk. But "our" Hulk managed to defeat him... by sending him back in past so Maestro would be blown up by gamma bomb explosion, the same one that turned Bruce into Hulk.
...how? Or should I ask "why"? Gamma just makes Hulk stronger and more mad. The same thing is what made him lose control and go rampage in Las Vegas. So why Maestro have died? Was he "too old" for this lol? Or am I missing something?

depends.. writers have evolved how durable the Hulk is. At the time of FI's publishing, circa 1992-93, Hulk was assumed to not be durable enough to endure a ground zero atomic blast-- the Maestro, by that time, was presumably always far away during the nuclear wars of his timeline, staying in shelters/caves and absorbing the ambient radiation (without all the heat, flames and force) after the blasts.

Or it could be something else altogether, lol.

[ChrisIII]

That version of the Maestro actually eventually regenerated, in part because of all the times Hulk returned to the site where he gave off some gamma. He briefly posessed the Destroyer and then was buried under a rockslide. He's been there ever since, really.

Since then he's either been shown earlier in his life (The current Maestro comics), or similar Maestros have shown up from various similar timelines such as the Contest of Champions version, or teased as a possible future for a Hulk incarnation (Professor/Merged, Doc Green, Devil etc).

[witchboy]

Can someone explain to me one thing?
I've read Future Imperfect few months ago and just can't wrap my head around one thing since.
There was a huge fight between "our" Hulk and Maestro, his future evil version. Maestro was smarter and stronger than regular Hulk. But "our" Hulk managed to defeat him... by sending him back in past so Maestro would be blown up by gamma bomb explosion, the same one that turned Bruce into Hulk.
...how? Or should I ask "why"? Gamma just makes Hulk stronger and more mad. The same thing is what made him lose control and go rampage in Las Vegas. So why Maestro have died? Was he "too old" for this lol? Or am I missing something?

I recently re-read this, and it was that he was ground zero that made the blast too much even for the Maestro. Even though he regenerated it still took close to a decade in Marvel time to do it, and only because of Hulk showing up so often to charge him up unknowingly.

[Intothevoid]

Can someone explain to me one thing?
I've read Future Imperfect few months ago and just can't wrap my head around one thing since.
There was a huge fight between "our" Hulk and Maestro, his future evil version. Maestro was smarter and stronger than regular Hulk. But "our" Hulk managed to defeat him... by sending him back in past so Maestro would be blown up by gamma bomb explosion, the same one that turned Bruce into Hulk.
...how? Or should I ask "why"? Gamma just makes Hulk stronger and more mad. The same thing is what made him lose control and go rampage in Las Vegas. So why Maestro have died? Was he "too old" for this lol? Or am I missing something?

That's always been PAD's thing, when it comes to power levels he tends to underrate powerhouses a lot. To him guys like Hulk and Thor usually cap at nukes or just above that level, compare that to someone like Pak who had Hulk walk through blasts that could split planets apart and it causes massive inconsistencies unfortunately....

[witchboy]

That's always been PAD's thing, when it comes to power levels he tends to underrate powerhouses a lot. To him guys like Hulk and Thor usually cap at nukes or just above that level, compare that to someone like Pak who had Hulk walk through blasts that could split planets apart and it causes massive inconsistencies unfortunately....

Hulk's varying power levels have been established as being something he goes through at least. If any character can be written inconsistently and have it work, it's the Hulk.

[The Cool Thatguy]

That version of the Maestro actually eventually regenerated, in part because of all the times Hulk returned to the site where he gave off some gamma. He briefly posessed the Destroyer and then was buried under a rockslide. He's been there ever since, really.

Since then he's either been shown earlier in his life (The current Maestro comics), or similar Maestros have shown up from various similar timelines such as the Contest of Champions version, or teased as a possible future for a Hulk incarnation (Professor/Merged, Doc Green, Devil etc).

Yeah, it's weird that we have at least 3 different Maestro's running around in mainstream canon.

The first, buried under rubble. Still.

The second from Contest of Champions, now held prisoner by Collector.

And one that fought Old Man Wolverine, and is in Forge's custody.

[Jness]

Oh wow. #48 was *intense*.

Man after all this I’m wondering if Joe comes out of this story intact. Maybe it’s better that Cates doesn’t appear to be focusing on Joe…after this I’m not entirely sure whether I want other writers touching him anymore.

Definitely one of the best issues of the series.

[your_name_here]

Wow only 2 issues to go, and there is SO MUCH that needs to get done. I’m starting to get slightly worried it might end up a little rushed. But I trust in Ewing, so I’ll keep my hopes up.

[Spiderfan001]

Wow only 2 issues to go, and there is SO MUCH that needs to get done. I’m starting to get slightly worried it might end up a little rushed. But I trust in Ewing, so I’ll keep my hopes up.

Same.
This issue felt like a lot of filler.
I mean it was still good but filler nonetheless.

[xcoijoi]

It's fine for Joe to be Banner's protector, and to care about Betty.

But please don't make him into an oversensitive therapeuticized normal person. He's a wise-cracker who doesn't take sht even from Thor.

Don't turn him into something he's not.

Two more issues. Make them great, but don't take away their identities.

[jwatson]

I just never imagined i could love a hulk run this much. This issue was amazing. My fave panel.

bouttogetreal.jpg

They getting caffeine'd up to get in dat gamma a$$. lol

[Intothevoid]

Wow only 2 issues to go, and there is SO MUCH that needs to get done. I’m starting to get slightly worried it might end up a little rushed. But I trust in Ewing, so I’ll keep my hopes up.

I am still worried, i know someone even expressed this to him in the letters he was answering but he was assuring them it will be alright in the end... still... I love Ewing but if there was a weakness to his stories it was his endings... I just hope he wasn't just chasing the number 50 because it sounds cool to end a run at 50 rather than worrying if he will end the run correctly wrapping up all those loose ends without it feeling rushed.

[Cth]

EDIT: Already covered.

[HeavenlyDemonic]

It's fine for Joe to be Banner's protector, and to care about Betty.

But please don't make him into an oversensitive therapeuticized normal person. He's a wise-cracker who doesn't take sht even from Thor.

Don't turn him into something he's not.

Two more issues. Make them great, but don't take away their identities.

That won’t happen. Joe says as much himself. He’ll always be a wise cracker who will beat up anyone who challenges him. He just won’t be a jerk to the people he cares about. The false bravado and unending meanness that he relied on as a way to prove that he’s different from Bruce and the Savage Hulk is gone, because Joe doesn’t feel that he needs to prove himself in that way anymore. He’s maturing, not fundamentally changing his personality. Basically, he’s at the point where he probably was headed in Peter David’s run, if the Savage Hulk hadn’t come back when he did and the big personality conflict of issue#376 never took place. There were plenty of visual callbacks to that time period in this issue.