The Immortal Hulk, Vol. 4: Abomination

The Immortal Hulk (Collected Editions)

by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett (Illustrator)

Once upon a time, Rick Jones was the Hulk's best friend. Rick was there at ground zero on the fateful day the Hulk was born, and during the early days when the Hulk was a mindless brute roaming the New Mexico desert, Rick was right by his side. The only one who believed in him. Now Rick Jones is dead and gone. And the immortal Hulk wants to know why. But to obtain the answers he seeks, Bruce Banner will have to face roaming gamma experiments, a ruthless assassin out for his blood...and the one thing that can cage the Immortal Hulk. How far will he go to honor his friend?
COLLECTING: IMMORTAL HULK #16-20

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Horror, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2019

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 4 continues to be on par with the previous volumes in Ewing's excellent Hulk run.



These characters (not just Banner/Hulk) are all absolutely a perfect fit for the horror genre. It's one of those things that once you see it done well makes you wonder, why haven't they been doing this all along? It's almost impossible to imagine the character any other way now.
Ok, that's probably an exaggeration, but I'm betting this goes down as one of the best Hulk titles ever written and someday becomes a classic must-read for fans.
Calling it now. Just sayin.



Alright, so this volume does what it does best and then just freaks you the fuck out with what I guess is body horror. I'm not an expert with that genre but the imagery made my skin crawl a little - nothing that would give me nightmares, just in a whoooooaaaat the fuuuuuck is that?! kind of way. You know, fun.



Banner, Betty, Rick Jones, Doc Samson, & Abomination.
The gang's all here!
Why are you not reading this yet?
Highly Recommended.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Jones' body has been exhumed and the Hulk is looking for it. Too bad he's walking right into a trap...

Immortal Hulk: Abomination collects Hulk #16-20 and it's pretty damn spectacular.

Someone steals Rick Jones' body for nefarious purposes. It turns out they're planning on using it as a weapon against the Hulk. Fortunately, the Hulk and Doc Samson have other plans, plans that involve gore and mass destruction. Throw in one Betty Ross-Banner and it's like throwing matches into a powder keg.

As I've said in previous volumes, the Hulk as a horror book should have been done decades ago. Ewing's Hulk is a pissed off pitbull wandering your neighborhood and you're praying his gaze doesn't meet yours. Bennett's Abomination is a grotesque horror, hearkening back to Arcane's creations in Swamp Thing, just one of the ways Immortal Hulk reminds me of Swamp Thing on occasion.

The only thing I don't like about Immortal Hulk is that I know the ride has to end at some point. Al Ewing and Joe Bennett continue their horror take on the Hulk and this one keeps the winning streak alive. Four out of five rampaging Hulks.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bennett dials up the body horror mixing in some HR Giger elements into the new Abomination's design. I like how Ewing is incorporating elements from long ago in Peter David's run into this one, bringing characters like the Harpy back along with old Daredevil villains like Bushwacker. I like how he's giving fresh takes on old characters. It reminds me quite a bit of Swamp Thing. Joe Bennett is so much better at drawing horror than superheroes.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book just gets better and better... Seriously chilling stuff, with enough body-horror to delight any Clive Barker fan. It wears its influences on its sleeve but it all comes together as a potent, original mix. I’m loving it.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread: 09/01/2023

My god this volume just gets better and better, its body horror comic story telling at its peak like we get to see Hulk fight Bushwacker and then Abomination and it was so cool especially with the former and its brutal, the art there is insane and then the twists like I said before are awesome. Al does a good job analyzing the different identities of Hulk/Bruce and its so structured that as a reader you appreciate it even more, also those end twists at every issue just make this fun to read all over again!
_________________________________________________________________
Its Shadow base vs Hulk and its epic, first we have Samson and Hulk going to that site, the emergence of Joe fixit and Smason dying again and a fun face off with Bushwacker and then returning again to where Joe has been and Bruce trying to figure out his identities and then the coming of the Red harpy and her origin and finally the new Abomination and who it is is so awesome and its the final war between Shadow base and Hulk and only one will come on top! epic volume and just escalates the tension thats been building up for quite some time here.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been pretty amazed with the previous volumes of this Hulk run and this one doesn't let me down either.

Just think, from a pure horror bash, we've got the Immortal Hulk, complete with getting his heart torn out and eaten by Harpy, his poor wife Betty, while in the middle of a fight with a totally dead Jones who has been turned into the lovecraftian nightmare Abomination. Creature Feature!

But this is not just an amazingly f**ked up emotional roller coaster fight scene (or three). This is deeply introspective and intuitive and psychological and just plain DEEP.

At the same time.

The pacing is pretty much brilliant. Deep introspective moments populating a massively gory all-out. Horror? Yes. Psychological thriller? Yes. New rules to Hulk? Absolutely. The gamma, the green door, the Underneath... is awesome. I feel like this has taken over my imagination in a way only Moore's Swamp Thing had managed, before. :)

Al Ewing has earned a serious Fanboy here. :)

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I regret not catching up sooner to add Immortal Hulk to top 10 marvel books because goddamn is this good.

Just when you think you know where this series is going it makes a hard right and heads in a new direction. Of course someone is after Banner, but this time that person gets real close. However, we bring out ANOTHER personality now? Who has returneD? On top of that we have a good old villain show up. From the title of this volume I'll leave it up to you to guess who. But let me tell you, this is a lot nastier, uglier, and fucked up version.

Overall, this is fantastic. Probably the most horror-like volume yet. Plenty of gross moments, even simple ones like the Hulk transforming is great. On top of that you get some great fights, mostly the last two issues, filled with pure carnage (not the character) and plenty of fucked up fights and deaths. Also, the art is great, for a double ship book this somehow contains some amazing art even with switching teams.

Overall, fantastic, brutal, and probably one of the best marvel books out right now. A 5 out of 5.

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is still bonkers! The horror is off the chart. Hulk faces his biggest challenge, but gets help from a close ally from his past. This is probably the best series that Marvel is putting out now.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series continues to get stronger and more interesting. Rick Jones and Betty Ross have now been drawn into the whirlwind of horror surrounding the Immortal Hulk and the consequences are shattering.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, Immortal Hulk is good. These five issues bring the Hulk back into battle with Shadow Base and General Fortean, with their newest weapon, a rejuvenated Abomination, leading the charge. Meanwhile, Betty Ross reappears, and Rick Jones finds himself at the heart of yet another Hulk crisis despite being totally and 100% dead.

Al Ewing can do no wrong with this book, I don't think. Each issue is introspective and offers interesting looks at the very idea of the Hulk, while also furthering the plot and giving us some gamma powered throwdowns as well. The balance is absolutely pitch perfect, as well as fucking terrifying 90% of the time.

Joe Bennett's art is one of the main reasons this book works so well. He can do monstrous, and he can do it well. The Hulk and the Harpy are one thing, but his reimagining of the Abomination is so horrible - I absolutely love it. Even with a few different inkers, his tone is consistent across the book.

Immortal Hulk is one of Marvel's best books right now - an Abomination, it is not.

[Corey Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is volume 4 of Immortal Hulk. (Going to have to start saying that now because of the title change on gn.)

I was really worried about this one. I was not a fan of the last volume Hulk in Hell. This was mainly due to not understanding a lot that was going on. I'm new to Hulk, so I had no idea about all these character interactions Bruce has had over the years. There was still some of that here, but I could still understand the story. Should I binge on a bunch of Hulk stories before continuing this series? Well, yeah probably. But my library doesn't have any of them, so I'll just keep reading this series, until I eventually subscribe to Marvel Unlimited again.

The art continues to be fantastic. I love how all the panels get turned to the side when a fight sequence is happening. It just keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I recommend!

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Immortal Hulk Vol. 4 Abomination collects issues 16-20 of the Marvel Comics series written by Al Ewing with art by Joe Bennett.

Shadow Base has exhumed Rick Jones’s body and created a new biological weapon created from the Abomination. The Hulk will go toe-to-toe with this new nightmare monster as well a return of The Harpy, now mixed with Red She-Hulk! Gamma Flight continues to close the gap on finding The Hulk.

This has been my favorite arc so far with a ton of gory action. I continue to be impressed and repulsed by the art in the series. I think biggest head scratching thoughts about this series is why the hell is Alpha Flight involved in the hunt for The Hulk? Am I really supposed to think Puck and the Gang could come close to stopping The Hulk? But back to the story, the arc was pure comic book fun!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The name of the volume refers to the fact that Hulk pal Rick Jones is back as the Abomination. And, points to Ewing, this is the only really abominable Abomination ever, a truly terrifying monster. Overall, this volume focuses on lots of different Hulk monsters, and although there's nice continuity, particularly based on some of the characters (like Rick), the parade of Gamma monsters could get old.

The other big question in this volume is whether Bruce Banner is mortal. There's some great, tense action-adventure on this topic that also does a great job of revisiting PAD's ideas of multiple personalities.

Overall, another strong volume with great writing from Ewing.

[Malum · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Hulk, Harpy, Abomination, and a mess of soldiers all trying to kill each other, this felt like a classic creature feature. Think one of the 1960s' Godzilla movies where they throw Godzilla in with a heap of other monsters and have them all duke it out.

The new Abomination also lives up to his name by being gruesome and disgusting rather than just an alligator guy, so that's a plus.

[Jesús · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, series writer Al Ewing gets out of the art team’s way and gives them the space they clearly wanted and needed since this book began.

This arc lives up to the promise of the book’s original premise (The Hulk meets classic EC horror) without falling prey to the over-written, pretentious, and self-serious mysticism of Ewing’s worst tendencies.

This is pure, pulpy fun. I’d also strongly recommend that folks just jump straight to this volume and skip what came before it. So good!

(Read in single issues)

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At this point with Immortal Hulk, I'm just along for the ride. In Abomination, the big guy has a great fight with Bushwhacker, the liquid metal cyborg dude. Hulk also exhibits yet another long-forgotten personality (Joe Fixit??) that's fun, but baffling. Really, this whole series is baffling. Maybe it makes sense if you've read every prior Hulk book? The art is great and sometimes gross and the few moments that make sense are intriguing. I'll keep reading, but I'm not as rabid a fan as everyone else seems to be.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been a lot of fun so far. The re-imagined Abomination is pretty horrible.

[Adam M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no idea what I just read. I need to go back and refresh on some of the supernatural elements of what is going on with this green door.

This is a horror comic though. It's brutal. I'll probably keep reading out of morbid curiosity.

[The Lion's Share · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is insane.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful mythos-building exercise by Al Ewing as he further delves into the complex powers of the Hulk as he introduces an Abomination and some horrifying action-packed sequences to make it all so damn fun.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This outing is an improvement over the last as Ewing plays around with the many alters of Banner and those closest to him. It's basically just one long gory and gross fight scene but has some fun and imaginative twists.

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

That “End the world” stuff, yeah, sounds like he’s in the business.

[Ant Tellez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2/5.0

Abomination takes on a brand new nightmare-fueled form in this volume. The way Ewing expresses the demented nature of this Hulk is incredibly thought out and detailed to create a new Marvel horror classic.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still like it, still interesting. Good plot, fantastic artwork! On to the next one!

[Jordan Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al Ewing, does it again!! I love the horror aspects of this series and the Animal Man- like deconstruction of who the Hulk is. I would love to see him do something similar with Moon Knight and all of his different personalities reconciled in this way. Alex Ross’s covers are particularly fantastic this volume and everything that I don’t like about the art normally in this book works for this volume.

[Petergiaquinta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back when I was a kid, back in the early ‘70s, Betty Ross (actually, Betty Talbot at that point) transformed into the Harpy for the first time, beat the Hulk’s ass, transformed back, and then fell from the sky. But while she was falling, instead of being naked as a jay bird, suddenly she was enveloped in this all-concealing fabric. The Comics Code ruled supreme back in those days, kids.

And for whatever reason (I dunno why because Watergate was going on and Nixon was a maniac, so we all had much bigger things to worry about), the magical appearance of this concealing cloth became an extremely big deal. Folks wrote letters! (Every comic had a monthly letters page back then —The Incredible Hulk’s was called “Greenskin’s Grab Bag,” or sumpin like that.) And this topic of discussion went on for years. I kid you not.

So I bring this up because that ain’t nothin’ compared to what Betty Ross does here in these pages of the fourth volume of The Immortal Hulk. Holy Shee-it. But nobody wrote any letters about it. Or maybe they did. Who knows? I’m a little late to this party anyway. Perhaps it was a hot topic on Reddit, but I doubt it. Folks are too jaded these days.

However, without spoiling any of the fun here, take a look, and if you know your Stephen Crane, perhaps you’ll be reminded a wee bit of his poem “In the Desert.”

“Is it good, friend?”

Oh yeah. It’s good all right...

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the very best titles I'm reading, and I'm so excited to have a few volumes to catch up on. Bennett's art is at its absolute best here, you can tell that he's stepped his game up. Ewing is a very inventive writer, and I loved his Ultimates. He brings the same big picture world building to The Hulk, but with a deeply personal narrative thread full of abuse, an honest trainwreck of a life. I just want to read more immediately.

[Pádraic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continually surprised Marvel's letting Ewing get away with something so vividly and existentially horrific, such a bitter and nihilistic tearing at the guts of the status quo. It's magnificent in the same way, say, a Nine Inch Nails song is, this huge scratchy ode to death and destruction, a story that forces itself into the world against all will to hold it back.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume pits the Hulk against the new incarnation of the Abomination, which just happens to be inhabiting the body of an old friend (the identity of which you already know if you've read the official blurb). There's a lot of fantastic and disturbing body horror in this one which really dials up the horror factor of the book, and what Abomination manages to do to Hulk in this is quite shocking (and disturbing). I love how this Abomination's face (or faces, perhaps) is surrounded by creepy hands that can close around it for protection (or at times, seemingly to hide from its own handiwork).

We also finally get to see what happened to Betty after the previous volume, and speaking of horror, her current incarnation (longtime fans will certainly find it familiar) is considerably monstrous (in form and action). There's something really fun and deeply satisfying about seeing these horrific monsters all coming together and duking it out, while there's also this whole psychological exploration of what's going on in Bruce's/Hulk's head.

Joe Bennett's art just gets better and better with every issue. He always manages to one-up the horrific visuals from the previous story arc, which is perfectly fitting for a book like this. This is definitely a great read for Hulk fans and those with only a casual interest in the character.

[Ember · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some SICK BODY HORROR! Also the story and learning just how immortal Hulk and almost damn near everybody is. The art style in this comic is so good MRS. BANNERRRRR MY QUEEN I BOW!!