Maestro #4 - Marvel Comics

MAESTRO No. 4, January 2021

Described by “Marvel Worldwide” as “a pivotal moment” in the mini-series as part of the New York-based publisher’s pre-print publicity, Peter David’s narrative for Issue Four of “Maestro” definitely delivers a surprisingly severe incarnation of Bruce Banner’s alter-ego which must have somewhat stunned the majority of this comic book’s audience. For whilst the nuclear physicist would appear to have lost none of his scientific savvy in creating an army of giant robotic dogs and accompanying cloned riders, the biochemist undoubtedly crosses the line from being a misunderstood anti-hero to that of a cold-hearted super-villain by nonchalantly murdering his fellow Avenger, Hercules, with “the main ingredient of arsenic”, arsine.

This successful assassination attempt, consummately carried out on the Hulk’s direct orders by the deadly U-Foe, Vapor, is marvellously penned by the American author, and whilst it is clear from the moment an all-too civil jade giant arrives at the Lion of Olympus’s luxurious palace that trouble is just around the corner, the sudden savagery of the Greek god’s death is as shocking as it is grisly. Indeed, the Prince of Power’s ending is arguably only overshadowed in its abruptness by Ann Darnell’s own termination at the hands of the titular character, who shatters her crystalline form into a thousand fragments courtesy of some freezing gun he found inside the nearby abandoned Alchemax facility; “Take all these pieces and bury them individually. All over the kingdom. Out in the plains. Make sure that they can never re-integrate.”

Of course, some Hulk-Heads would probably argue that despite turning Betty Ross’ former husband into a homicidal murderer, the Haxtur Award-winner’s biggest bombshell in this twenty-page periodical actually arrives far sooner than Hercules’ gruesomely painful passing, and comes during this comic’s opening sequence when Bruce is battling the “Hero Of All Heroes” for control of Dystopia. Dynamically pencilled by German Peralta, and packed full of some outrageously deafening punches, this bout of pugilism would debatably only go one way if the Hulk “were mindless”. But because “Banner’s brain is in control” the jade behemoth is easily outmatched in the strength department, and eventually has to meekly surrender before his immortal assailant beats him to death.

The regular cover art of "MAESTRO" No. 4 by Dale Keown & Jason Keith