Personally felt like this was a step in the wrong direction as far as how the Hulk has been built up. In this issue, the Hulk comes off as a "boogie man of justice" so to speak, and it's just not fitting IMO. Creeping around with subtlety really just isn't Hulk-ish. Maybe WWH, and Heart of the Monster spoiled me with the Green Scar and World Breaker Hulk incarnations, but to me they felt a lot more fitting than a heroic Jekyll and Hyde. But don't get it twisted, if this was a new character that wasn't the Hulk, this would have been amazing to me. The art was great(except Hulk's hair) and the suspense was there to keep me reading, I just don't think this is a Hulk I can enjoy near as much as the prior two stronger incarnations. Thoughts?

I'm not sure what your problem is. The "boogie man of justice" is very much in line with what Greg Pak did with green scar, we're just seeing it from a different angle. And this isn't the same Hulk we've seen before, it's a different incarnation, who by the way is still very much in line with Hulks overall, previous characterization(s).

Hulk was always the boogie man of justice actually, this just adds the horror element to it.

The beautiful thing about Hulk is you can really do any story with him because the character does have that range, especially thanks to his multiple personalities, it was reviled by Al in an interview that YES this is a new incarnation/personality of Hulk, he said in terms of strength it's in the top 5 strongest incarnations ever and in terms of intelligence is probably the smartest one ever.

There really is no wrong way to do Hulk as long as you follow those guidelines of having different incarnations. I mean if you ask me Doc Green felt so ridiculously different to any version of Hulk i've seen that it gave me whiplash just reading his issues, but at the same time i had to acknowledge that this is a completely different version of Hulk with his own set of rules, personality, objectives, morals, etc...

It's the same thing here, so i say just sit back and enjoy the ride and don't think of this as Green Scar because it isn't, it's a different Hulk.

I do not really understand your problem with the whole definition "boogie man of justice". When you look back at Hulk's history and his roots as a character, and go way way back, you will see that this whole description is at the core of the character. He has always been a representation of this. Also, Al Ewing isn't the first one to touch upon this roots, Peter David and Greg Pak have also done the same thing in their runs.

Honestly, I'm just happy we're getting ANY incarnation at all. I love Savage Hulk but his days are, or rather should be over. We've evolved from that version of the Hulk a long time ago, and it annoys me that we keep going back to it. I understand that new writers are tempted to go back to a familiar formula before they start world-building, but at this point it's very lazy, considering the fact that Banner's multiple-personality disorder pretty much gives you a free pass to come up with an interesting variation of the character. Immortal Hulk is a good example of a bold new direction and the maintenance of a character's history. Immortal Hulk may be a new incarnation but the core of his behavior is very much in line with what we know about Hulks, and or Banners character.

@azmoddan: Do you have a link for that interview with Ewing? I’m interested in the confirmation that Immortal Hulk is a new incarnation of Hulk as well as being in the top 5 strongest versions.

here:

http://wehaveahulk.co.uk/leamington-comic-con-al-ewing-interview/

Would you reckon that this incarnation is more powerful than the rest?

AE:

In a sense yeah. I don’t like the whole “who’s stronger” thing, I think that’s a boring story to tell, so I kind of get around it by assuming that the “Hulk is the strongest one there” – it’s like it says on the tin. In terms of one on one battles he’s powerful enough to win. If he’s fighting all of the Avengers then that’s going to be more of a fight, but the fights are less important than the stories, the emphasis on this book is really on the story.

It’s on story; it’s on tone, mysteries and strange happenings and stuff. Yes he’s powerful; he’s one of the more powerful incarnations of the Hulk – I think he’d certainly be in the top five. He might be the smartest version of the Hulk there’s been, but at the same time that’s not the point and that’s not the focus. We’ll see if people like that and go for it. I’m hoping people will be on board for a darker take on the Hulk. We’re focusing less on what he can bench press and more on the monster in the darkness.

also yeah, the hulk has stereotypically been like the "justice nuke" if not the boogie man of justice. In many, if not almost every, of hulk's solo series, the horror aspect has been touched upon, and it's known that the hulk is a scary guy. Also, he's not really creeping around. He's just moving fast, and brutally. He's not hiding at all.

@stl9997:

Personally felt like this was a step in the wrong direction as far as how the Hulk has been built up. In this issue, the Hulk comes off as a "boogie man of justice" so to speak, and it's just not fitting IMO.

I completely disagree. I think it does completely make sense from a logical standpoint in terms of Hulk's characterization, baring in mind Banner and Hulk have been around for a long time now, they've been through a lot of shit. Banner knows how strong Hulk is, Hulk does, their characters are established, and recently they died, and then found out they can't die. The Hulk in No Surrender is the as this Hulk, the only difference is that he already had his moment of anger. It's far more Hulk-like than anything we've had since Pak's first run.

exact same

Creeping around with subtlety really just isn't Hulk-ish. Maybe WWH, and Heart of the Monster spoiled me with the Green Scar and World Breaker Hulk incarnations, but to me they felt a lot more fitting than a heroic Jekyll and Hyde.

Pak's Hulk was literally a heroic Jekyll and Hyde... The only difference is that he was more human and much closer to Banner, and he obviously smashed allot of stuff. As iconic as Pak's Hulk was, his Hulk is unlike pretty much any other incarnation and he accumulated 6 years out of nearly 60 that Hulk has existed for. That's one of the best -if not the best- Hulk runs of all time, and it's my favorite as well. But you can't just hold out hope that Hulk is going to be written like that again unless Pak is the one writing; Hulk is an extremely subjective character and that's Pak's personal take on him. I think it's unfair if not completely illogical to expect a writer to do that again, given that they can do anything they want with the character, so why copy something that's already been done (fairly recently in the grand scheme of things) and is regarded as one of the best Hulk runs ever? It's basically setting themselves up for failure - fans would just complain. Pak's Banner is especially different, pretty much no one has ever written Banner exactly like him, but his Banner is what I think of whenever I think Banner nowadays.

But don't get it twisted, if this was a new character that wasn't the Hulk, this would have been amazing to me. The art was great(except Hulk's hair) and the suspense was there to keep me reading, I just don't think this is a Hulk I can enjoy near as much as the prior two stronger incarnations. Thoughts?

From what I've read, your main problem seems to be that Hulk isn't going to smash enough or get enough feats. You shouldn't base your expectations on feats, writers don't care about that, they say it all the time, it's all added gratification when we do get them. I'd rather have a good story than see Hulk mindlessly break things for 20 issues because it's been done to death, that's basically all Hulk was for decades and we already got that during No Surrender. To be honest, Hulk has had pretty crap fights ever since Pak left in his own solo series, and Hulk himself has been written really badly. Waid basically didn't characterize him at all, he literally admitted he struggled to even find a voice for Hulk and had to make excuses in the actual comics for why he was so inconsistent. Aaron... Don't get me started, and Duggan basically wrote a different character in Hulk's body. As far as I'm concerned this:

Or this:

Are some of the best writing we've had for Hulk in years. I don't think you should lower your expectations, but you should try to change them. If you keep holding out for a writer to emulate Pak, or even match him (especially when it comes to feats), you're almost always going to be disappointed. Hulk has had dozens of writers over the years, there's a very good reason that only Mantlo, PAD and Pak stand out and the same is true for most other characters out there.

I mean who knows, Ewing's Hulk could be up there too.

@battle123axe: Thanks for the link. Ewing does make his usual 'doesn't care about power levels' line but it makes sense with what he's written of the Hulk so far. And Immortal Hulk is definitely a different version since he's more intelligent, transforms at night and is more driven by cold anger rather than blind anger.

Nice start, hope Bruce has some genuine agency in this and isn't just around for the ride

@tdk_1997: @theacidskull said:

This Hulk we're seeing isn't anything like the Green Scar if it's a new incarnation. During WWH, you never saw the Green Scar lurking around to sneak up and scare anyone. He wasn't a boogie man, he was literally a gladiator king. He just showed up in your face, ready to throw down. This Hulk comes off as more psychotic than warrior-like IMO. Not a bad comic by any means, I can totally see why someone would really enjoy this depiction of the Hulk.

@thedailybagel ALOT to reply to on that haha.

Firstly, I'd agree the Hulk and Bruce shared mind should be a bit taken back by the revelation that they can't die. I'm just not feeling the psychotic Hulk angle. Like I said, I guess the earlier Pak run spoiled me. I'm much more interested in the gladiator king from WWH/PH than I am with this Hulk, even though it more closely resembles the early days of the Hulk.( @tdk_1997)

I would disagree as far as Pak's run being "Jekyll and Hide" like PH and WWH did not carry that vibe at all. Hulk was a warrior. Through and through. Those runs showed how Hulk had faced so much to find happiness and peace, only to have it ripped from, and the anguish that followed. Then him going to earth going for everyone responsible, only to find out it had been inside job and that he was in the wrong despite how much anguish he was in. It was a tale of pain. The "monster" aspect of Hulk was gone, and even though the idea of the Hulk just being a dumb green strong monster is how Hulk was originally portrayed, I personally like the idea of a warrior constantly seeking peace, only to find fights at every turn. Sure, classic Hulk was always fighting, but it was never truly as personal as the WWH/PH issues, or the Heart of the Monster arc. I completely agree about waiting and hoping that Hulk is written like he was by Pak, I'm only saying SO FAR, from the bare bones of issue one and his other showing, I do enjoy Pak's Hulk better. I'm 100% going to follow this series to see if it grows on me since there's only one issue, and judging it only off that would be silly.

Feats aren't something I'm concerned with. They made him look pretty good in his first showing anyway( and IMO portrayed him better, especially when he's beating Wonderman). I do care for the story, I just really enjoy the kind of story I described in the paragraph above.

The issue was great, I just had trouble believing it was a Hulk comic. The dialogue would be amazing to me, if it was a character other than the Hulk. I don't want Hulk running around yelling "Hulk smash!" and oneshotting top tier opponents. I just struggle with Hulk going from a harsh warrior into an psychotic philosopher. I totally get why it's enjoyable to some. This Hulk is really more like the classic Hulk than most of Pak's work is, and the tone for what they're going for is perfect. It is creepy. The Hulk looks creepy. He's a nightmare to anyone that crosses him. But I'm not a mega fan of this.

These are just my personal opinions, and I can totally see why this is a great comic to many. I don't think it's anywhere near being a bad comic or anything like that. I just have a hard time putting the dialogue with the character. Still a good read.

let us know when you read hulk's classic days comic. he was brutal. This is what fit the hulk's line. they should write the hulk like this a long time ago. Am on bored with the horror aspect of the hulk. He is not too scary compare to ghost rider and punisher. Immortal hulk didn't even kill anyone in the first issue.

@medulaoblaganda: If you read any of my responses to other people, I have openly stated that this Hulk series seems to be very much like the original classic Hulk.

I'm tempted. I may buy the first paperback of this new series.

I liked it. It reminded me of some of the classic self contained stories that Peter David would occasionally do.

In my opinion he is definitely in the top 5 strongest incarnations of hulk, but i dont think he is stronger than world breaker hulk

I liked it quite a bit. Nice tribute to David's run where he turns into the Hulk at night. Not a huge Hulk fan but will definitely read the first arc.

Hulk regularly explored Horror elements, going all the way back to his first appearance. Part of the inspiration for the character was Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde. Those elements were brought back to the forefront and explored more thoroughly when Peter David was writing the book in the late 80s to the late 90s. I'm glad to see them return to this take on the character. After years of heavy sci-fi stories, returning to some horror elements feels refreshing.

This is aged like milk

Neat. And sad.