The Hulk is horrified at what is perceived as his own mistake in accidentally killing a large group of people. Gamma Flight moves to intercept in this tale by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Matt Milla, and VC’s Cory Petit.
Cori McCreery: Wow, it’s already Hulk time again? Gosh how time is flying during this horrific summer huh? Well speaking of horrific, I’m very excited to talk about this issue with you Robert.
Robert Secundus: Is Covid-ninet-GREEN anything?
Behold, I Cry Out of Wrong, But I Am Not Heard
CM: Oh hey, a Biblical reference I actually understand! While I’m sure you can provide more depth, I’m at least not completely lost this time around! I know the basic story of Job, and can see how it ties to this issue pretty clearly. Hulk is trying his very best to be a good man, but like Job, tragedy just continues to follow him. What do you think, Robert, will he hold faith, or will the Devil Leader prove victorious?
RS: So, Job has been an interesting point of comparison throughout this series. You see, the book of Job is one of the earlier references to a “Satan,” but that “Satan” isn’t exactly like what we think of “Satan” today. Job’s Satan doesn’t seem to be the devil; instead, Satan seems to be originally a member of God’s court. Indeed, שָּׂטָן, “the accuser” or “the adversary” might be translated in modern terms as God’s “prosecutor.” Later, the prosecutor would become the tempter, would become The Devil. The job of Job’s Satan is to test the faithful; Satan destroy’s Job’s life in order to determine whether or not he is truly virtuous. Throughout most of the series, The Devil Hulk has been pretty close to Job’s Satan. But the Devil Hulk is gone now, and, Cori, I think you’re correct that The Leader is filling that role, destroying everything in the Hulk’s life. But in the way he accomplishes that destruction, he’s closer to a classic Satan as we typically understand him: tempting everyone, getting in their heads, nudging them to sin, anger, violence. It’s Devil vs Devil or Satan vs Satan. Who will win? I honestly don’t know. The grand arc of this series has been one of rising victories for the Devil Hulk; this might be his fall.
CM: A perfect time for a fall, too, as we are approaching the climax of the whole series. We have just over a year left [Ed. Note: Or less!], so enough time for everything to go to pot, but still give us some potential for a happy ending? Am I just being overly optimistic? A happy ending could still be in the cards, right? RIGHT?!
RS: Does Job end happily? He gets some measure of his previous life back– but his children are still dead. And when he meets God, he is given no satisfying answers. He is lectured– where was Job when was made the Leviathan? The Behemoth? Who is he to seek answers? Solace? I don’t think we’re headed to pure eucatastrophe. We might get a happy ending– but I think it will be like Job’s, where we’re left with questions, we’re left with some unsatisfying Mystery.
CM: You’re probably right, but I like to at least hope for something bright and shiny at the end of terrifying horror, I mean it’s what I’m doing in real life right now, after all. *sob*
RS: And you know what other verse of Job I think applies? 41:25: “As he rises, the strong grow afraid; they are filled with dread by his smashing” (Secundus Translation)
HULK SMASH?
CM: Speaking of smashing, this issue was not quite the level of subtlety and nuance we expect from most issues of this series, as most of this issue was just one big slugfest. But ya know, sometimes a nice beatdown issue is all you really need to let your brain relax and rest a little bit. And the fight scene was really nicely done.
RS: It also lent an interesting pace to the issue; it gave the scenes at the homebase a sense of urgency, and also gave us an opportunity to check in with every character.
CM: For sure, everything felt fast. I’m a very fast reader, but usually issues of Immortal Hulk give me a lot more to digest and pore over, and thus take me longer to read. This one truly didn’t give me as much of that as usual. It’s still a fantastic issue, it just doesn’t quite have the depth I’m used to. And again, that can be a good thing, especially as you build to a dark and heavy climax as this arc appears to be doing. Gamma Creel was an inspired idea though, absolutely fantastic, that.
RS: Gamma Creel is one of those things that sounds like a cartoonishly hilarious idea, and looks like it– and then you remember that in this series, gamma is the gateway to Hell. That was a brilliant moment, and above anything else in this issue filled me with dread for what comes next. We’ve seen what happens when people become infected with the Hell Particle; what happens when you become it?
CM: Well judging by Rick’s reaction, certainly nothing good. Between that and what’s going on back at home base and things certainly don’t look great for our heroes.
RS: Speaking of Creel, let’s dig into his and his compatriots’ role here.
AFAB (All Flights Are Bastards)
CM: One thing I do want to call out here is how very easily Gamma Flight falls into the role of a militarized police force here. Hulk is very clearly not being an aggressor here, and yet Gamma Flight continue to escalate things. Puts a really terrifying parallel to our reality here, huh?
RS: Absolutely. It was uncomfortable to read. I think one key thing to point out about the parallel is the role of the Leader here. The members of Gamma Flight, we’ve seen, are good people. But that doesn’t matter. The Leader has orchestrated these events, and he’s controlling how they act within that situation. If you take a good person and put them in a bad system– if you do things that will change how they perceive threats (as cop training does), if you put them in a context where escalation and aggression is the answer (as cop culture does), it doesn’t matter what’s deep down in their hearts– they’re going to do harm.
CM: Exactly. We have absolutely learned that these people aren’t villainous or mean (at least not any more) over the course of the series, but put someone into the stress boiler that is a potentially violent confrontation, and all that good intention goes out the window. It was especially evident, and all too relevant, when Gamma Flight attacked Jackie McGee under the pretense of “protecting her” because they didn’t want media coverage of them escalating a peaceful situation, and as always, it’s that escalation that wound up provoking the peaceful to stop being such. If you’re going to treat them with violence anyway, what is the point of maintaining peace in the first place?
RS: This was also the most emotional part of the issue for me– when Hulk muttered “Little man?” Cori. [insert crying emoji here]
CM: Puck acting like this is absolutely the one that hurts the most. But in the end All Cops Are Bastards, yes, even Puck. What did you think of us going all the way back to our first Gamma victim there at the end? Our traditional last page cliffhanger and all.
RS: At first glance this appears to be Del Frye, the gamma irradiated football star found buried alive way back in Immortal Hulk #2 (An issue that also began with a quotation from the book of Job, a quotation from Job’s Satan: “And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life” [Job 2: 4, italicized part being the excerpt from the epigraph]). But Del Frye did not know Doc Sampson; there are a few possibilities here. The first is that the Leader is manipulating Del Frye– either he’s possessing the boy, or he implanted a command within him. The second, more interesting, is that the Leader lead Brian Banner through the Green Door and into Frye’s body.
CM: Well that’s just absolutely terrifying to think about, but makes an awful lot of sense considering the Leader focused issue that we got and the connections it had to Brian. Neither of those possession options bode well for our friends though, so, uh, good luck Doc.
RS: Did this issue do a fantastic job of creating a sense of dread for the next one, or is that just: the world right now? Who knows. But I’m excited to see what horror is still to come (in the comic. IN THE COMIC).
Marvelous Musings
- Knockin’ me out with those Titania thighs.
- Del Frye is an Easter Egg tying back to the old Incredible Hulk tv show.
- Rick’s distorted body scares the bejesus out of me.
Yes, it's Cori McCreery—strange visitor from DC fandom who came to Xavier Files with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal critics. Cori, who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, race a speeding bullet to its target, bend steel in her bare hands, and who, also works as an editor for a great Eisner winning website, Women Write About Comics, fights a never-ending battle for truth and justice.
Robert Secundus is an amateur-angelologist-for-hire.
