Incredible Hulk #18 Goes Full-On Horror As Bruce Banner Literally Deals With The Devil [Exclusive Preview]
The Incredible Hulk is a horror character in a superhero world; like Henry Jekyll or Larry Talbot if their alter egos resembled Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster. Ever wonder why Bruce Banner has more alternate Hulk personas than he does memorable external villains? It's because his greatest battle will always be an internal one.
The 50-issue "Immortal Hulk" by Al Ewing and Joe Bennett was one of the defining Marvel comics of the 2010s, in part because it embraced the character the Hulk is meant to be. Ewing added fantastical layers to the jade giant, revealing Dr. Banner had not simply been mutated by the Gamma bomb explosion where the Hulk was born; the bomb opened a "Green Door" to the underworld.
There are two ongoing Marvel comics right now that could be called "Immortal Hulk" sequels. One is Ewing's "Immortal Thor," which features overlapping themes and villains (without sparing Marvel itself of some satirical bite). The other is "Incredible Hulk" as written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and drawn by Nic Klein, which has made itself a monster comic first and foremost.
The setup: a primordial demon, "the Eldest," is seeking to awaken her creator, "the Mother of Horrors." She thinks the Hulk is the key to this, so she has let loose her monstrous siblings to capture him. This has allowed "Incredible Hulk" to be an episodic monster-of-the-week series, like the Bill Bixby-led "Incredible Hulk" TV show but with body horror. Klein's art is the star of the book, from his toothy monster and zombie designs to how the heavy shadows and hatching he uses suggest cinematic lighting on the page. Colorist Matt Wilson's orange background palette in turn makes the Hulk's green skin stand out.
As for that body horror — the comic has reimagined the change between man and monster. Instead of Bruce Banner's body growing as he turns green, changes happen unevenly or the Hulk tears apart Bruce Banner's body when he emerges.
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But we won't be seeing one of those transformations soon. Hulk's companion in this series is Charlie Tidwell, a teenage runaway; she ran into the Hulk while fleeing her abusive father and has been following him ever since. Banner's tried to dissuade her, especially since he and the Hulk aren't on good terms right now. Those two threads met in issue #17; to save Charlie's stolen soul from the Eldest, Banner agreed to separate his "vessel" from the Hulk.
Marvel has shared the first pages of "Incredible Hulk" #18 with /Film. The released synopsis for the issue reads:
HULK MUST PROTECT HIS FRIEND! To save Charlie Tidwell, Banner has betrayed Hulk, leaving him a slave of the immortal Eldest! Meanwhile, Charlie finds a mysterious ally inside the cult of LYCANA ... one who could help Charlie escape or bind her fate to the skinwalkers forever!
See the issue's cover, drawn by Klein, below. Note the corner box, depicting the Eldest's true, demonic form that she revealed in "Incredible Hulk" #17.
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Marvel has embraced that the Incredible Hulk is a horror character
First page after the cover is, of course, a recap of the last issue. With the Hulk unable to defeat the Eldest and Charlie's soul on the line, Banner signed away his green "Godflesh" with an infernal contract. Whispering in Banner's ear is a ghostly Betty Ross, whose skin is shaded red to suggest the Eldest isn't the only Devil here.
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The actual comic opens on Charlie. Her predicament extends back to "Incredible Hulk" #9-11, when she and Bruce visited New Orleans. Charlie met a charming shop-owner, who turned out to be the Eldest's servant. Charlie's soul was then sealed inside a small figurine, stuck in "a purgatory of her own nightmares, running through a forest that never ends, from a monster that will never tire." The surreal setting is this purgatory — until Bruce signs the contract and the nightmare collapses.
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Charlie wakes up in a strange bed, once more flesh and blood, but she's not alone. "Incredible Hulk" #17 revealed there's a werewolf cult (the House of Lycana) in Las Vegas; the Eldest has them guarding Charlie to make sure she won't try and save Hulk.
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Marvel Comics
The comic then returns to where Issue #17 left us; the Hulk bound in glowing purple chains by the Eldest. She places her hand on the sigil she burnt into the Hulk's chest, apparently to take control of him ... but she's cut off mid-sentence. What's going on? A loophole in the contract? Unfortunately the page ends here.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
"Incredible Hulk" issue #18 will be "legacy issue" #799; solicitations for issue #19 (legacy #800) have suggested that the giant-size issue will be the big blow-out. So, be warned, it's likely that issue #18 is a middle chapter.
"Incredible Hulk" #18 will be available from digital and print retailers on October 23, 2024. The first 13 issues of the run can be read on digital reading service Marvel Unlimited.