Comic Info
Comic Name: The Immortal Hulk
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Joe Bennett
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2020
The Immortal Hulk #38
Reprints The Immortal Hulk #36-40 (October 2020-January 2021). The Leader has made his move, and if there is one thing that the Leader is good at, it is executing a plan. He’s been putting his pieces in place for a while and the Hulk might not know what hit him when the Leader strikes out. Everyone in Hulk’s circle has a part and Doc Samson, Rick Jones, Del Frye, Jackie McGee, Dr. McGowan, and Gamma Flight all will play a part when the Leader is unleashed.
Written by Al Ewing, The Immortal Hulk Volume 8: The Keeper of the Door is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book collection. Following The Immortal Hulk Volume 7: Hulk Is Hulk, the collection features art by Joe Bennett.
I was pretty unsure about the hype surrounding The Immortal Hulk when it was relatively early in the run. I got the first volume and then COVID hit and everything fell apart. I finally got back on The Immortal Hulk wagon and started pounding down volumes. While the five issue collections read rather fast, it feels like they cover a lot of ground…and this volume takes place in a rather short time frame.
The Immortal Hulk hasn’t always been the easiest comic to follow. It twists and turns and the whole “Green Door” concept has always felt rather vague. This collection dives deep into the Green Door. I can’t honestly say I understand all the nuances of the Green Door, the layers of Banner, and the different personas of the Hulk that control him, but this volume asks for even more. The Leader (a common Hulk villain that was almost obvious ripe for a return) uses multiple doors and multiple levels of the Hulk to make his move…it is hard to follow, but if you do just go with it, it is fun and gory. Will you understand everything that is going on? No, but you don’t have to.
The Immortal Hulk #40
Reading The Immortal Hulk, it is obvious that Ewing loves the Hulk and grew up loving the Hulk. What is particularly fun in some of the play that Ewing does layering the story. You have references to Milton’s Paradise Lost which turned the Devil into the story’s “hero”…and the Devil Hulk is this story’s hero in many ways. In addition to that, Ewing continues to play with Hulk lore. Del Frye first appeared in the two-part Incredible Hulk TV episode called “The First” in 1981, and Ewing makes a point of getting him referred to as “the First” in a little scene. It is nice touches like this that make the comic fun.
While a lot of this collection almost feels like gobbledygook, it also feels like important set-up for the last ten issues of Ewing’s game-changing run. You have the Devil Hulk dead, the Leader in control, Samson in a different body, and Joe Fixit on the run…The Immortal Hulk fires on all cylinders and each time the game feels like it is ratcheting up more. With a lot of layers, The Immortal Hulk also lends itself to a re-read after the series is wrapped up. The Immortal Hulk 8: The Keeper of the Door is followed by The Immortal Hulk 9: The Weakest One There Is.
Related Links:
The Immortal Hulk 1: Or Is He Both?
The Immortal Hulk 2: The Green Door
The Immortal Hulk 3: Hulk in Hell
The Immortal Hulk 4: Abomination
The Immortal Hulk 5: Breaker of Worlds
