The Incredible Hulk, Vol. 1: Age of Monsters

The Incredible Hulk (2023)

by Phillip Kennedy Johnson

Collects Incredible Hulk (2023) #1-5, Hulk Annual (2023) #1.A new age of monsters! As an enraged Hulk tries to take permanent control of the body he shares with Bruce Banner, a mysterious immortal turns every monster on Earth against him in an attempt to free their creator, the primordial Mother of Horrors! With the help of an unlikely new friend, Banner must stop the world from being plunged into darkness - and his journeys take him from an abandoned coal-mining town that gives terrifying new meaning to the term "ghost town" to swamplands where a sultry seductress lures unsuspecting victims into her trap! What is her connection to Marvel's macabre muck-monster - and will the Hulk burn at the Man-Thing's touch?! A documentary crew on the Hulk's trail gets too close to the action!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Horror, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fantasy

161 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 16, 2024

About the author

Phillip Kennedy Johnson earned a Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas, where he served as Teaching Fellow for the Department of Jazz Studies, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastern Kentucky University. SFC Johnson has performed with the Lexington Philharmonic, Dallas Opera, Washington Symphonic Brass, and the Moscow Ballet, and was a member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 2004 to 2005. SFC Johnson remains active as a composer, arranger, teacher, and clinician, and also enjoys a second career as a writer of comics and graphic novels. His work has been published by DC Comics, Marvel Comics, BOOM! Studios, and more.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hulk is back and in full horror mode!



I lost interest in Hulk after Ewing's Immortal Hulk run, and had it not been for a friend here on Goodreads recommending that I snag this when it popped up as Bonus Borrow on Hoopla, I would have missed out. I didn't know who Phillip Kennedy Johnson was when I started reading this, but he's got my attention now. This was fantastic!



The skinny gist is that Hulk is out to get Banner. Due to whatever happened in the previous run, he's pissed and wants Banner gone. He's not playing the Avenger anymore, so when he gets loose, something is getting leveled and fuck whoever gets in his way.
Banner is hanging on to control by a thin thread, and his future is not looking bright.



Meanwhile, some primordial evil is out there stalking Hulk. The Eldest is determined to bring Mommy back, and she's waking up old monsters to hunt down this Fractured Son and usher in the Mother of Horrors.



A teenage girl named Charlie is on a collision course with Banner when she goes on the run to escape her abusive father for the final time. She should be terrified.
But Hulk is the strongest one there is, and she wants to sit at the feet of a master.
With a fangirl at his heels, ready to smash anything that gets in her way, Charlie adds the heart to the story.



I think this is going somewhere awesome, and I can't wait to read more.
Highly Recommended.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"It's really true, isn't it? There really are two of you in there." -- Charlie the teenager

"Not much longer." -- The Incredible Hulk, a.k.a. the beleaguered Dr Bruce Banner

My 'Marvel malaise' (see recent reviews on new initial volumes of Dr. Strange, the Fantastic Four and especially Hellcat) continues to roll on down with the latest in the Hulk series called Vol. 1: Age of Monsters. While I sort of liked its horror movie-like atmosphere - the tone was kept dark, gritty, and dangerous - the addition of an abused and suddenly orphaned teen sidekick didn't do much to enhance the storyline except to be a conversational avatar for our title character. (She's a fanatic about the Hulk, but pretty much treats Dr. Banner with dismissive contempt. Oh, how joyful.) I knew it wasn't quite all working for me when I cared more about the travesty of a restored '73 Mustang (resembling 'Eleanor' from the mid-70's cult film Gone In 60 Seconds) getting destroyed by the teen's drunken lout of brutish father in an early chapter than about nearly anything else that occurs here.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gruesome and violent return for the Hulk. The horrific and compelling storyline is greatly enhanced by the stunning visuals and artwork. And also, Man-Thing returns!

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hulk is BACK!

Phillip Kennedy Johnson smartly takes hulk back to his horror roots again. This feels like immortal hulk first did when it began. Basically Bruce just trying to be away from everyone yet somehow always gets dragged into things. When he meets a young girl who looks up to him the Hulk show's his true colors, and man oh man are their some vicious and disturbing kills and transformations here. Protecting someone is Hulk's best moments next to destroying.

Overall solid first arc, showcasing a protective Hulk against the odds as always and making sure he comes out on top by smashing anyone in his way.

Also Man Thing is in this, whohoo!

[Christian Schultheiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philip Kennedy must’ve crawled into my childhood hulk lovings brain because this was near perfection and I can’t seemingly find a negative thing to dock these team for when in truth everything from the artwork, the evolving storyline with a real rage and conflict driven Bruce banner and hulk, the sick evil of the queen of monsters and the amount of gore and outright body horror you’d except from a series like this I just feel like I could praise this on and on and I couldn’t have been happier or more fortunate to have picked up this tp and wherever this ride takes me I’m there. P.S. don’t even get me started on that bad*ss inclusion of man thing in the mix I mean come on. 4.75/5

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hulk want to smash Bruce Banner (for reasons), but in the meantime, Banner has picked up a stray teenage girl who wants to learn from the Hulk how to smash her abusive alcoholic asshole dad. On their travels, they run into a lot of monsters who are pissed at Banner/Hulk for closing the Green Door (see The Immortal Hulk series by Al Ewing), which probably makes sense to anybody who read that series and was paying attention. (I read it, but it was confusing, and I didn't get a lot of it. Plus, I wasn't really paying attention. I just like reading about Hulk smashing stuff.)

Phillip Kennedy Johnson is the writer of this run of The Incredible Hulk, and Volume 1, "Age of Monsters" is really good. Keeping in tone with Ewing's horror take, this volume has some great horror imagery that reminds me of Alan Moore's run of "Swamp Thing" back in the '80s. Even the artwork is heavily inspired by that series.

I'm excited about this series...

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give rhus book 3.5 stars. The final issue/chapter dropped it down for me. This is a lot better than the weird space/Multiverse Hulk. I can see the horror style fitting the Hulk. There are definitely aspects of the Immortal Hulk here as well.

Bruce Banner managed to lock the Hulk in his mind, using the Hulk's rage and pain to fuel starship Hulk. Now, the Hulk wants to their body all too himself. As Bruce battles the Hulk in his mind, an army of monsters has been unleashed to take him out. What is their connection to the Hulk himself?

I like the more brutal and bloody fights, I hated the Blair Witch Project style last story. That dropped the rating of the book down for me. Though I am interested to see what happens next. The book finishes with a varient covers gallery.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. This was pretty good. Hulk is trying to take complete control from Banner. Also, an ancient evil has risen once again and says the Hulk is the only one who can stop them and they want to take Hulk from Banner. Johnson adds some interesting lore around this ancient evil as well. They have summoned and taken control of a bunch of monsters and have sent them to take on the Hulk. Got to see the jade giant kick some major ass. I’m interested to see where this goes. The annual that was in here was just average. Brought the score down from being 4 stars. Some people are trying to film their own Hulk documentary and have been going around looking for him. Again, just ok. Travel Forman is a serviceable artist and does the last two issues. But when you make him go directly after an artist like Nic Klein, it makes his stuff look a little below serviceable. Klein on the the first 3 issues was looking really good.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A welcome return to the classic Hulk horror tales of wandering the Earth and getting in jams, more supernatural than scientific this time and nowhere near as High Concept as that ambitious Spaceship Hulk business. I really enjoyed the first volume, definitely one I will continue!


Swole-est Hulk Yet?

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Combining the body horror of Ewing's Immortal Hulk with the power levels of World War Hulk (he punches gods to death in a handful of panels here) and a classic homeless wandering Banner, this is a pretty fun start to Johnson's run.

The only things I didn't like were the overused tropes of Hulk acting like a terrifying monster but secretly being a softy deep inside and, worst of all, the plucky teenage sidekick. I hated it with Rick Jones and I hate it with Charlie here.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a restart of Hulk as horror genre, following up some chaos of the previous run and trying to recreate the magic of Ewing's Immortal Hulk. Will take some time to see if it's a success tho

[Willow Heath]

After reading Philip Kennedy Johnson's Action Comics: Warworld Rising, I fell in love with his approach to character writing. He gleefully brings his protagonists into a Golden Age-style world of strange science fiction and grotesque monsters. And the same is certainly true here.

This is Hulk being returned to the realm of horror. Monsters have been risen by an ancient evil known as Eldest, and each of them is now being thrown at Hulk. This means plenty of graphic transformations, plenty of visceral action scenes, and some real dark moments involving zombies, ghosts, and eldritch creatures.

There's a real 70s and 80s horror movie vibe to the tone and aesthetics here, and I am all for it. Hulk is a monster and he fits so well into a world of monsters. Beautiful, exciting, strange, and enthralling. Loved every panel.

[Jesse A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong start to this series. Definitely more in the Immortal Hulk direction than old school smash Hulk.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engana-se quem achar que essa nova fase do Incrível Hulk é uma continuação natura de Imortal Hulk de Al Ewing e do desenhista brasileiro bolsonarista. E vamos esquecer a fase de Donny Cates. Não se trata de uma continuação. Os únicos elementos que ainda estão ali é a transformação e destransforamção bizarra entre Hulk e Banner e o fato de que nada pode matar o Hulk. O fato de ser uma produção dentro do gênero do terror é uma diferença e não uma semelhança. O terror de Ewing era existencial e cósmico, enquanto que o de PKJ é um terror mais visceral, de monstruosidade, um terror mais visual e violento. Isso é comprovado na escolha dos desenhistas para esta fase: Nic Klein com seu estilo sujo e pesado e Travel Foreman com seus rostos deformados (obviamente prefiro Klein). A fase de PKJ promete e já trouxe novas camadas tanto para o Hulk como pra Bruce, coisa que Cates não fez, mas que ainda não é tão revolucionária quanto a fase de Ewing. Vai ser empolgante acompanhar ela também.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hulk is back!! No more of the meta crap of "Immortal Hulk" or "Spaceship Hulk" like they've done previously. (Again, I know the "Immortal" run is loved, but I didn't like it) When I read a Hulk book, I want some story, but lots of Hulk Smash...
This Volume is setting up something huge, involving a new "Age of Monsters" with the mysterious "Eldest", and it appears as we might actually get a separation of Hulk and Banner, or a full absorption of Banner into Hulk.
Looking forward to another Volume. Hope its not too long.
Recommend.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great hulk book- banner is still fighting the hulk inside his own mind and body and it seems like the hulk may be getting the upper hand. Lots of good body horror (the transformation into the hulk and the seeker creatures was gross) and had a hillbilly Hellboy vibe to the story. Overall a great start to a new hulk run!

[Sarospice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This gave me THE GOON crossed with HARROW COUNTY and someone threw The Hulk in. Now that The Green Door is closed I guess we're going to explore other magical creepy worlds. The girl sidekick? So. Unnecessary.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting start to a more monster vibe Hulk.
I'm getting a SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN vibe ..but that might be me.
Love TRAVEL FOREMAN'S art in a couple of issues of this.

[Kendel Sizemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars loved how it’s based in Kentucky but however didn’t really like the annual everything else I loved in it, it felt like preacher and hulk mixed

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid start to a new run that does a lot of "back to basics" kind of stuff while also acknowledging the fact that we're less than a couple years removed from one of most iconic runs in the lengthy history of the character (though I'm not as high on Immortal Hulk as many others seem to be). The influences from Ewing & Bennett run are abundantly clear here, as this series has no shortage of gruesome transformations and horror tropes. Phillip Kennedy Johnson even seems to pull a little from Alan Moore's iconic Saga of the Swamp Thing run with touches of Southern Gothic to boot.

The principle story here features the Hulk dealing with an unearthly entity known as the "Mother of Horrors" who seems to be connecting with the monsters of Earth. Hulk finds himself with another plucky young sidekick in Charlie, an orphaned young girl who deals with anger issues. She's basically a new Rick Jones but with a bit more thematic tie-in to where Hulk is at this point in his lengthy saga. There are several mentions of the "green door" concept from Immortal Hulk, and Hulk even coyly references the "Smashtronaut!" silliness from the Cates & Ottley run, which goes to show that PKJ is really invested in keeping the series respectful of the stuff from before while delving into some new horizons. Unfortunately, this arc doesn't really get to much of the new stuff yet and mostly played out like any old Hulk story. Though the foundations here are strong for better stuff to come (hopefully).

Nic Klein and Travel Foreman share the artwork duties and the hand off between story arcs works pretty well. Klein is definitely taking a lot from the art direction of Immortal Hulk here, while Foreman's designs are much more subdued. Both artists handle their arcs well, though I do think I have a preference for Klein's maximal stylish choices for this book. A decent start to what will hopefully be a strong run on the character.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Kennedy Johnson, Nick Klein, Travel Foreman, and Matt Wilson bring Hulk back to the body horror direction that Al Ewing introduced in Immortal Hulk. There’s also a bit of the old tv show here too, as Bruce Banner is hitchhiking around the country, bumping into monsters. It’s going to be hard to top Ewing’s run, but this is already giving it a run for its money. The art is better, and I like the almost “monster of the week” approach so far.

[Michael J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

  I’ve always preferred the monster version of The Hulk versus the super-hero version. The fifty issue run of IMMORTAL HULK is my favorite volume of the character, with Al Ewing focusing on the horror elements for most of the time. It ended with a sci-fi twist and ended with Banner closing the Green Door.

This series utilizes that plot element from IMMORTAL HULK. Closing the Green Door has opened the gates for a slew of giant monsters to return. Issue #1 sets the stage as an ancient evil is uncovered during an Iraq tomb excavation that definitely foreshadows a meeting to come.

     Philip Kennedy Johnson takes things in the horror direction, with the Hulk as the monster within Bruce Banner - who is barely keeping him under control as both fight for command. It’s such a struggle that Banner has to go on the run again in order to protect the rest of the world. 

In the remote area of Estill County, Kentucky Banner has his hands full with the FBI in pursuit after a diner incident. A teenage runaway girl named Charlie, who has some latent (possibly inherited) uncontrollable powers of her own, wants to partner with The Hulk. Meanwhile a U.S.-based horror called The Eldest / Mother of Horrors has called about all monsters to arise and hunt down The Hulk. 

Issues #2 and #3 contain the story of “That Old Time Religion”. There’s a Lovecraftian/Chthulu-like creature in an abandoned mine that is being worshipped by the brain-washed zombie-like townsfolk. The battle between Hulk and “Brother Deep” takes up most of Part Two, and it is depicted by Klein in glorious dialogue-free panels.His art is rather dark during the fight scenes and the style takes some getting used to. 

What I love most is the internal battle between Bruce Banner and The Hulk for control of his form and mental dominance. The Hulk here is the Hulk of old, a powerful and savage figure, simple-minded but cunning enough to carry on and keep Banner subdued. Young runaway Charlie is still hanging around, but Hulk wants her to leave. Charlie wins over Hulk when she mimics his speech patterns and attitudes. Quite the team-up.

Issues #4 and #5 round out Volume One with “Riddle Of The Man-Thing”. Now in Florida, Hulk meets up with Man-Thing, another monster-based Marvel character. Instead of the usual meet-and-fight Hulk seems to recognize how similar they are, as Ted Sallis is the man inside the Man-Thing. He warns Hulk that monsters across the Earth have awoken and are on the hunt for him. Meanwhile, Charlie has already encountered the new monster, who took the form of Charlie’s dead younger brother to lure her into a trap. Together they beat down the creature, a giant crab-like entity dwelling in the swamps. Yep, another Lovecraft-influenced monster.

Johnson’s run on THE INCREDIBLE HULK (Volume 6) lasted twenty issues. As much as I appreciated his version of the Hulk, I’d already grown tired of the episodic monster-of-the-month and didn’t pursue reading any further. I read this in the single monthly issues. It deserves better than a Three-Star rating, maybe 3.25-3.50 but Goodreads still doesn't accommodate fractions.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hulk/Bruce Banner return to their roots as a rageful monster and a hobo scientist. They pick up a punk kid somewhere along the way and punch a bunch of monsters. Age of Monsters is pretty clearly a reboot from all the cosmic weirdness that we've seen in Hulk comics of late, and that's fine, but it's also kinda dull. You see the big guy punch one monster, you've seen him punch them all.

I guess there's a bigger picture "Mother of Monsters" idea rolling around in the background, but it doesn't pick up a ton of steam here yet. I'll be honest: I read this book a few weeks ago and the plot has almost entirely washed from my mind. Not a great sign.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dug the horror elements of this book, but I feel like that was done better in Immortal than in this run. I feel like PKJ is still trying to find his footing with this run and the different artists don’t do a lot to help his case with this. My favorite scene by far was seeing the grotesque and horrible transformation that the Hulk made back into Bruce Banner within a few panels. That was pretty wild! I’m still on board to see where this goes, but I don’t think a ton has happened yet with this story.

[Joey Amorim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable start to this run. Not to dogpile on Cates’s run anymore, but this feels like a way more appropriate follow-up to Immortal Hulk. It seems like it’s going to be mostly focused on Hulk and Charlie character-wise, with Banner taking a bit more of a backseat. I loved all the monster action in this, I dig that Hulk has sorta become Marvel’s de facto gory body horror book.

[Keef Davidson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a really cool opening that introduces a fun and intriguing villain concept. At the end, it just feels like an introduction with almost no progress made throughout the series. I'm interested in continuing to the second volume.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the art for this, and the story has that classic Hulk feel to it.

[Carlex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars, good enough.

[S. Nemo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Promising start into the new story. And very creepy, great artwork that makes it even more monstrous. Can’t wait to find out what happens next.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hulk and Banner are back on Earth but Hulk is mad at Banner for having mentally locked him up for so long. And if there’s one thing you wouldn’t like Hulk to be, it’s… y’know. Meanwhile, an ancient evil is resurrected and with it awakens a new Age of Monsters. Their sights are set on the biggest monster of all: yo mama! Hulk.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein take over Hulk from Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley and their first book is actually pretty decent, though more for the art than anything else.

The first issue is absolutely cracking. Really fast-paced, exciting set-up issue where the premise, characters, and threats are well established with Klein really impressing with the art. I had low expectations going into this one because I haven’t enjoyed anything Johnson’s written to date but he wrote the hell out of that issue - great stuff.

Then… the not-so-great stuff, ie. the rest of the book, which doesn’t live up to the opener. The story of the undead Bible-bashers in an abandoned mining town sees Johnson emulating the worst traits of Tom King’s writing by copying out song lyrics in lieu of a script, in what wasn’t all that compelling a story either. But, again, Klein’s art is so damn strong that even if the words did nothing, the visuals definitely held the attention. The way he draws Hulk bursting out of Banner’s body is really something.

Travel Foreman takes over the art for the next story, which is a good choice given that he’s a talented horror artist and Johnson’s Hulk is ostensibly a horror book. Man-Thing cameos in this one, which is nice to see as he’s very much a fringe Marvel character, but the story is again no great shakes with Hulk and Man-Thing teaming up to fight a giant crab. None of these monsters are real threats to Hulk, so it’s not exciting to see him fight them as we know he’ll easily smash them (and does).

The final story is the annual, written by David Pepose with art from Caio Majado. It’s a found-footage story where a film crew sets out to do a Blair Witch-style doc about the Hulk. It has that “footage hasn’t been edited” disclaimer at the start but the chronology is very much in the style of a superhero comic which immediately shatters the already-feeble illusion. It’s also not much of a story - Hulk fights what looks to be Giganto - with Majado’s art failing to measure up to the heights of Klein or even Foreman’s that preceded it.

Banner’s new sidekick, the angry teen runaway Charlie, who idolises the Hulk but not Banner, is an intriguing new addition, mainly to see what role she’ll play in Hulk’s revenge on Banner. The monsters after Hulk are less so as they just don’t seem like a viable threat. And though I love me some horror, I’d’ve much preferred if the focus of this book had been on the conflict between Banner and Hulk, which is vastly more compelling than seeing Hulk effortlessly topple one contrived monster after another. Hopefully we see more of that in future books and less monster-of-the-week action.

The Incredible Hulk, Volume 1: Age of Monsters has some of the best art in a Hulk book I’ve seen for some time courtesy of Nic Klein, and Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s story has some promising excitement to it, like how Hulk and Banner resolve their current beef. A lot of the book though has too much blah Hulk/monster action that simply isn’t interesting enough, making this first book more of a visual treat than a storytelling one. Not a bad start to this new Hulk series though and I’ll keep an eye out for the next one.