Bruce Banner - The Hulk Appreciation 2021

[The Cool Thatguy]

The problem is that he lacks motivation to threaten other heroes or act as a foil. What would be his hook?

[Intothevoid]

The problem is that he lacks motivation to threaten other heroes or act as a foil. What would be his hook?

His motivation should be exploring the gamma and the occult, that could be the hook that ties him to other characters as well. Seriously a "portal" to hell opens in New York for instance for like 30 seconds lets say and all these demons pour out of it and the Avengers obviously come to stop them, then they begin to investigate and one thing leads to another and Leader is once again playing with the powers of Hell/gamma.

[Immortal Hulk]

Btw, Bennett just said, one again, that Immortal Hulk ends with #50...

[Intothevoid]

Btw, Bennett just said, one again, that Immortal Hulk ends with #50...

Where did he say it on his instragram? I couldnt find it.

[Dinosaur Hulk]

Where did he say it on his instragram? I couldnt find it.

Can't find it neither, maybe it wasn't on IG? No way they are gonna wrap it in just 6 more issues...

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Incredible Hulk #310
“Banner Redux”

Cover Date: August 1985
Sale Date: May 7th, 1985
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Carl Potts
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: The Triad
Villains: Skeletal warriors
Synopsis: The Hulk and Triad, still on the mysterious world from last issue, now plod thru a swamp in hopes of finding signs of life. The Triad offer up another recap of recent events as they exit the swamp and come upon a caravan of robed beings marching towards a giant fortress. The Hulk appears agitated and it’s soon revealed that a beautiful woman is to be sacrificed for some mysterious ritual. He leaps to her defense but Guardian strikes the Hulk with a reason arrow, which leads to him being struck down by a group of skeletal warriors with death scythes. Instead of dying, the weapon triggers the transformation and the Hulk reverts back to Bruce Banner! The Triad disappears and Banner is taken to a podium where the woman he was trying to rescue is now about to sacrifice him…
Commentary: Bret Blevins steps in for the departing Buscema to make room for the new replacement. Bruce Banner is back!! But what does this mean for the Hulk? Are we back to the classic child-like version, or has did Guardian’s arrow restore Banner in control? Interesting note; Goblin states that Banner has been gone for almost a year and that puts these stories taking place in real-time...minus the two-parters from #302-303, #304-305 and #306-307. Remember, there is some unspecified amount of time from Annual #13 with Sym and last issue before he entered the current portal, and “almost a year” isn’t exactly specific to how many months he’s been truly suppressed.

[Intothevoid]

Bennett released 2 more very interesting images, it looks like it's Hulk vs everyone.

[Kolwyr]

Bennett released 2 more very interesting images, it looks like it's Hulk vs everyone.

Here they are...

And these are for IH #49.

[McFarlane's Green Hulk]

Incredible Hulk #311
“Life is a Four-Letter Word!”

Cover Date: September 1985
Sale Date: June 11th, 1985
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: Mike Mignola
Inker: Gerry Talaoc
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Carl Potts
Guest Stars/Supporting Cast: The Triad
Villain: Dr. Daniel DeCyst
Synopsis: Bruce Banner is about to be sacrificed by the woman his alter-ego was intent on saving when he’s suddenly spared by an Earthman with a Scottish accent and apparently several hundred years old named Daniel DeCyst. He’s an alchemist and after trying to find the secret to eternal life, had teleported himself to an alien world where he uses the blood of the beings to extend his life. Horrified, Banner escapes and DeCyst is murdered by the woman who was to be sacrificed. The stress on, meanwhile, causes Banner to transform back into the Hulk and the Triad reappears. Guardian shoots an arrow at the Hulk, prompting him inquire about the girl he wanted to rescue. Nowhere to be found, the Fail-Safe Spell is triggered and they return to the Crossroads.
Commentary: Mike Mignola steps in as the new artist, and he gets a Fat-Head Alert for the splash on page 18. I absolutely love his work during this time, and while I always have, will love and respect Sal Buscema’s work on the Hulk, this was a HUGE breath of fresh air. This was early Mignola and had not turned into the heavily stylized and hollow work he’ll get to in a couple of years. Talaoc’s inks mesh well and in some ways, it’s almost as if Sal hadn’t left. Apparently, Mignola wasn’t all that fond of super hero books, and it doesn’t last long, as he shifts from Hulk, to the Rocket Raccoon mini and then to Alpha Flight. Storywise, although Banner is back, the Hulk is still a mindless brute and any intelligence displayed is prompted by Guardian’s reason arrows…at least for now.

[Immortal Hulk]

Where did he say it on his instragram? I couldnt find it.

His facebook page. He always answers questions there (in portuguese).

Here they are...

And these are for IH #49.

This is gonna be good.

[Vordan]

Btw, Bennett just said, one again, that Immortal Hulk ends with #50...

I honestly don’t think 6 issues is too short, Hulk and Joe are already back in Hell and seem to be about confront Leader/OBA again. Ewing also can work pretty damn quickly when he wants to.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Shower thought: The "rogue's gallery" trope that heroes have to have specific villains is a product of the the Golden and Silver Ages, and is outdated.

The Leader spent his entire career only terrorizing The Hulk until he started to branch out in The Intelligencia, but even that was still in Hulkverse.

If Hulk was strength personified due to the gamma rays, and Leader is intelligence personified, I think he ought to have been more of a universal threat, appearing in other titles.

I know why it's a trope and sometimes it doesn't work to switch villains (like when Byrne had Superman vs Joker), but, still...

I'd say a strict or lengthy rogue gallery feels more cumbersome in a shared universe. It should be more fluid with villians going between different heroes because they have different goals etc.

Ewing's run relies mostly on outside villians for Hulk.

[The Cool Thatguy]

His motivation should be exploring the gamma and the occult, that could be the hook that ties him to other characters as well. Seriously a "portal" to hell opens in New York for instance for like 30 seconds lets say and all these demons pour out of it and the Avengers obviously come to stop them, then they begin to investigate and one thing leads to another and Leader is once again playing with the powers of Hell/gamma.

So basically, the exact same thing he's doing right now?

Yeah, he needs new material, and a motivation that people can sink their teeth into. 'For science' has been done to death.

If I were to use him across the board, I'd have him trying to uplift everyone to their true self via gamma, to unlock their 'potential'

[Intothevoid]

So basically, the exact same thing he's doing right now?

Yeah, he needs new material, and a motivation that people can sink their teeth into. 'For science' has been done to death.

If I were to use him across the board, I'd have him trying to uplift everyone to their true self via gamma, to unlock their 'potential'

That's fine, whatever the reason the writers can come up with it and then make it happen.

[Intothevoid]

I honestly don’t think 6 issues is too short, Hulk and Joe are already back in Hell and seem to be about confront Leader/OBA again. Ewing also can work pretty damn quickly when he wants to.

Maybe they aren't, it really depends on what Ewing does with them, the problem is there have been a few issues that felt like filler or like build up that didn't amount to much of anything, so if this ends with issue 50 it will feel like many of the issues were wasted opportunity to explore/explain more about the supporting cast, explain more regarding gamma, show what the hell happened to other Hulks, etc... I dunno if Ewing can cram all of that in 6 issues.